Cleft Palate

big hugs hun!

you should flick my2angels a pm, her boy kobe had a cleft palate and you wouldn't know it when you look at him now

Hey there Shelley. Don't despair, as cleft palates can be surgically repaired and like mum2paris said, it sort of depends if it is just the lip or involves the hard and soft palate, if its one side/both sides etc.

I work (well I'm on mat leave now) in the plastics theatre, and we usually do clefts once every fortnight. Usually the first op is done at 3 months (the lip), then the palate at 9 months and any revisions after that. Sometimes further down the track as your baby grows, they may need some revisions as the palate and teeth develop and sometimes breathing can be affected, but again, depends on what structures are involved.

You will be referred to the cleft team where you are who includes surgeons, speech and language therapists, nutritionists, nurses, etc. so you'll be well looked after and they will all have expertise in the area.

I know its tough when you find your bubs isn't 'perfect' but see if you can talk to some other families that have gone through the same thing to give you another perspective.

Oh and also it can be good in the future cos Kobe will get a nose job when he is 18 if he wants it plus if he needs braces it will be paid for and we have regular check ups and things like speech therapy and grommets dont take long to get if you are through the cleft clinic rather than general waiting list

Thanks for the support everyone it's been a pretty rough night and day. We found out this morning that she has a cleft lip and it also affects the gum, we have to go back at 26 weeks to find out more about how far back into the hard and soft palate it goes, with a 3d scan. It's going to be tough waiting for that 6 weeks!
I didn't get any sleep last night I just had so much going on in my head, I realise that it isn't the end of the world, and we are going to cope, I'm just trying to get my head around the fact that my poor little girl is going to need surgery, she's going to have a bit of a tough start. I'm worried about how this will affect Ollie, he's so young but he knows that somethings wrong. I'm not going to be able to breast feed, she isn't going to be what every one would deem as 'perfect' and I just feel this overwhelming grief over my lost expectations of having a new born again. It's been a real emotional rollercoaster I seem to feel fine and able to get on with things one minute and then it feels like things are crashing down around me.

I know it will get better. I have a fantastic husband who has been so brilliant and a gorgeous son who has been giving me losts of lovely cuddles. I just feel so guilty we've told a few people today and they've all been so brilliant, but it's been one of the hardest things I think I've had to do.

Edited by Shells

Oh and congratulations on your wee girl

Yes its going to be rough and people do stare but just remember that the lip will be repaired at about 4 months and you cant see the palate (if that is effected) and after the lip repair she will look totally normal. You probably can still breastfeed if you want to, they come and show you how to do it. And it doesnt need to cloud your excitement of her arrival if you dont let it, she will still be perfect to you and Ollie probably wont even realise that its a big deal. My neices who were between 2-4yrs didnt even think of him as different and told people he had a 'sore lip'

** bump **