Cleft-lip...

Hi W.!

Congrats on the baby boy! My son was born with cleft lip and palate. We didn't know before he was born which is hard to deal with righ tafter delivery. he had his lip repair at 3 1/2 mo and his palate at 7 1/2 mo. He's thirteen mo now and you can't really tell. It is an on going process and his teeth are now growing out of order but needless to say a healthy boy! the best part is he doesn't have the typical teething symptoms! message me if you have any questions!

L. C.

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/bfhelp-cleft.html#BF

The link above has lots of links related to cleft lip and cleft palate. It focuses more on the breastfeeding aspect but that's a topic near and dear to my heart. Hopefully you can find some good information on there that your health care professionals might not think about this early.
P.s. Congrats on a healthy baby boy!!

my daughter was born w/ cleft lip & palate. she had her first surgery/lip repair in June 2006 & her palate repair in May 2007-- she did very well with both & the md's did a really good job too! it's all pretty normal from the time you give birth (even though you probably don't feel like it's going to be that way at the moment, but it is). the only thing is he may not be able to feed like most babies & they have special bottles specifically for that, but i think he'll be able to feed like any other baby. & in the case of a cleft palate they're more susceptible to ear infections. if you have any questions feel free to write me. until then, congratulations!

Hi W.,

Sounds like you are approaching this from the right angle. Go on www.drgreene.com for more information and on About.com and click on pediatrician - I forgot his name.

I bet you the healing time is fast because his body is still developing even after birth.

Good Luck,C. N.

Hi W.~ I know what you are going through. I was 20wks pregnant when I found out that our baby had a bilateral cleft lip/palate. He is now 5months. He just had his first surgery on Sept 6th. He did great! He had he's lip repaired, nose, soft palate and tubes put into his ears. When he is 10months he will have his hard palate done.

When I found out I was in shock my husband was out to sea and I was home with a 19month old and no family. What I did I just got on the net and got as much information as I could. So when I went to all the coming dr's appt I would have the questions to ask.

I didn't have a normal pregnancy (NOT do to the cleft) and at 36 weeks I had an emergency C/S. I was planning on having a C/S, but he wanted to come early. Anyways as far as his cleft goes when he was born treatment was the same. He did have to be feed with a special bottle(nipple) and still is. I have not been able to get him to latch on so I pump and give him brestmilk. Sometimes with cleft babies it does take them longer to gain weight so just be prepared for that.

One thing that I want to tell you is, that you still have 20 wonderful weeks of being pregnant. Enjoy that baby growing inside of you. Nothing can be done about his cleft until he is born so enjoy your pregnancy. I wish someone would have given me that advise. My pregnancy went by to fast and to cought up in all the Dr appt. Enjoy that little boy growing.

I will be more than happy to talk more with you if you have any questions.

Take Care,
M.