Your First Appointment

What to Expect & How to Prepare for Your First Visit

At your appointment Dr. Prather will talk to you about symptoms you or your baby may be experiencing and will perform an oral exam. The exam involves not only a visual but a functional assessment. Dr. Prather has advanced training in assessing ties and will be able to advise you on the possible need for revision.

She is also experienced enough to be aware of other causes that may contribute to the symptoms you or your baby are experiencing. Because the issue is often multifactorial it is important to see a knowledgeable provider who is trained and experienced to assess ties specifically for resolution of functional issues not just physical appearance. This type of assessment takes much more time but is extremely important for making the best decision for your little one.

Once you have spoken with Dr. Prather if a revision is recommended, it can often be completed same day.

Before your Appointment:

• We strongly encourage you to have a visit with lactation support before your visit with us. It is helpful to already have this support in place. They can provide suggestions for improving latch pre and post revision and can help with supplementing nutrition as needed in our babies who are struggling to gain weight. They can also do a weighted feed which is information that is helpful to us in deciding if a revision would be beneficial. We find our moms and babies that have pre and post op visits with lactation support have the best recovery and quickest resolution of feeding problems.

• Take note of some basics like how often you are feeding, how long each feeding session lasts, and how baby behaves during feedings and generally throughout the day and night. We will ask you these questions at your visit.

Some other things that are helpful to have on hand are:

• Pain relief items you plan to use so you will have them available immediately. Some examples include Children/Infant Acetaminophen, Children/Infant Ibuprofen (for babies 6 months or older), homeopathic teething gel, essential oils, hot or cold packs
• A headlight like you would use for camping
• Coconut oil for the post-operative stretches
• Swaddles to help keep baby’s hands out of the way during stretches, and while you can use any you prefer, we like Swaddle Me wraps by Summer Infant.

Things you may want to bring:

• Any medication or comfort items you plan to use to help manage discomfort
• Any nursing aids baby has become accustomed to such as a nipple shield, syringe, etc.
• Bottle with formula or pumped milk if baby does take bottles
• A support person to help allow you to focus on baby 100%
• Your phone or other recording device so you or we can record the stretches as we demonstrated them.