Jaxtyn's Story
Jaxtyn lip and tongue tie
A testimonial from Jaxtyn's mom:
My beautiful baby, Jaxtyn, came into our world on February 16, 2018.
I knew as soon as I found out I was pregnant that I wanted to nurse my son. Jaxtyn struggled with nursing right away. I thought (because I was told) that it was a “first time mom thing” and I would eventually get the hang of it. Upon bringing Jax home, I continued the nursing process but quickly noticed something wasn’t right. Not really knowing what I was doing, I wasn’t sure if it was the latch or if he wasn’t getting enough milk. Jax became very crabby, would cry often and would wiggle in pain due to gas. He was an extremely gassy baby. I continued trying to nurse for about 2 weeks but I started to become very anxious. I was unsure of why my baby was crying and so uncomfortable. This was a very difficult time for me and Jax! Jax began to spit up. This was not your normal baby spit up that you would expect from a newborn. Jax would spit up right after eating, an hour after eating, and sometimes even the next morning before he had been fed yet! Something didn’t feel right so, being a first time mom, I took him to my doctor. It was there I was told, babies spit up. Unless its projectile or he’s not gaining weight, he was fine.
I knew there was something more going on and I couldn’t help my son. I swiftly fell into postpartum depression. I felt like I had failed my son. About two weeks after he was born I stopped putting him on the breast and only pumped, hoping this would give him the milk he needed. By 4 weeks I was having to supplement formula into his day because I thought something was wrong with my milk. I tried multiple kinds of formulas and the issue still wasn’t resolved. After a lot of research on my part, and nothing being solved, I finally came to terms that this was just going to be how it was. I would have to learn to live with the anxiety, live with an extremely un-content baby, and hold my breath every time someone held him praying he didn’t spit up on them.
In my research I came across a lot of information on chiropractic care for babies. I brought Jax a handful of times for an adjustment, in hopes this would resolve his issues. When Jax was around 6-8 weeks old I noticed he couldn’t turn his neck to one side. He would especially favor having his face one direction while sleeping on his tummy and was hating tummy time! My motherly instincts told me to get him into a pediatric chiropractor. I called Infinity Chiropractic (Dr. Josh is amazing!) and turns out Jax had several reflexes that were off and also had neck issues. We sought care from Dr. Josh for several months and we were seeing some progress with these issues.
On June 27, 2018 (Jax was a little over 4 months old) Dr. Josh checked Jax for a lip and tongue tie and he was positive he had at least one and most likely both. He then referred us to Dr. Jeff Dahm, who was my life long dentist. I called Dahm Dental that day to schedule a consultation and got in the next day! Prior to the consult, I was shown a number of videos on the tie procedure and given information on what to expect and things I might begin to notice. Jax was examined and was determined to have both lip and tongue tie. We scheduled the appointment for the following week. The day of the appointment I brought Jax to the procedure room and was welcomed by the nurses and Dr. Jeff. I was so anxious, but the procedure only took about two minutes and was able to feed him right away. His very first bottle after the procedure I could already see a difference in the way he was sucking his bottle. Dr. Jeff did a great job of showing me how to perform the exercises to help with the healing process.
Jax was a happy boy after the procedure and the days following we noticed an extreme decrease in the spitting up as well as his overall mood. Jax appeared to be less uncomfortable, and less gassy. He had gained more mobility in his tongue and was able to stick it out past his gums, as well as range of motion in his neck. Jax was opening his mouth wider, when given food. He is more alert to his surroundings and responds by moving his head side to side much easier. The night after the procedure I received a check in call from Dr. Jeff. I really appreciated the call and to know that he was thinking of Jax. Dr. Jeff’s love and concern for his patients is nothing I’ve ever experienced in the medical field.
In follow up appointments and at home we continue to see improvements in our little guy. Jax is able to sit up on his own at just 5 months and has gained so much strength in his posture. Jax also had a high gag reflex. He would gag at the first knuckle of your finger and is now able to get to the second knuckle! Jax continues to learn how to suck on his bottle instead of chew, with continuous work I am confident this will continue to improve also. Jax continues to work with Dr. Josh at Infinity Chiropractic, which I feel helps a lot with the natural healing process. I am forever thankful for this procedure and the care we received through Dr. Jeff and his staff at Dahm Dental. We believe when medical professionals work together, great things can happen! Our little boy Jax is doing great, we are blessed to have such a great dental practice that can perform these procedures so close to home! Thank you, Dr. Jeff and staff at Dahm Dental.