Cleft Lip and Palette

Hello,
We have just come back from a specialist scan that told us that our wee baby boy has both cleft upper lip and cleft palette. Im currently 25 weeks pregnant and this has come as a shock. I feel very sad and sorry for my baby and am just devastated really. I understand things could be a lot worse but im still getting used to the idea that my baby wont be "perfect" or what we consider to be. Ive seen a previous post and am basically looking for any support or knowledge that will help me work through this and have a better understanding so I can be the best mum i can to my little prince. Look forward to any feedback, thanks.

Thanks so much for that, my2angels. I guess it seems a lot harder being at the start of this journey but as I get along and get more and more informed, it will be easier. Its so nice to know that there are others out there that are going through the same thing, its a really positive start. I have a few meetings booked in already so I'm excited to get as much info as possible particularly into feeding etc. Can I ask which bottles you used? I believe there are a couple out there, Chuchu and Rosti, and how you obtained them? Once again, thanks a lot. Look forward to hearing from you, Kind regards.

yeah i wouldnt go buying bottles yet cos chances are you will get them from the hospital or at least tell you the best place to get them. I know my friend just used a basic bottle though and was given a special thing to put in the teat to control the flow....will find out more abou that for you though.
Yeah the shock is the hardest. Just dont go googling pictures because they are not your baby and you are always going to be upset seeing other peoples kids but when its your own you feel completely different. and remember it comes down to a cosmetic thing, but at least one that can be fixed and once you are in the system its great for the kids. Kobe has had speech therapy, grommets and dental care all very normal things that lots of kids go through but because we are in the cleft clinic we get it all really quickly because you get referrals from the plastic surgeons etc... we go yearly and the orthodontist, plastic surgeon, speech therapist plus some others all see you at the same time and discuss how things are going and any concerns you have etc... and monitor how they are going. Kobe for example has a tooth that is crooked (he had knots in his gums) so the orthodontists looks at that even though they wont do anything till his adult teeth come through and if he needs braces they are all paid for and if he wants a nose job later he can get that for free too (his nose is actually fine but his nostrils are uneven which you cant tell unless you look up his nose and well its not like people look up his nose often!). So the point of my rambling is that they are taken care of and once you get the repairs done you wont even remember after a while. I was really sad after we had it done cos i felt like he wasnt my wee kobe anymore (but glad we got it done of course, it was just odd)