Our son was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) and has been in speech therapy since he was 18 months of age. I value private speech therapy and we are faithful in keeping our weekly appointments, incorporating speech techniques at home to gain consistency and working on a great deal of repetition. It’s just that at this point we have now added orthodontic appointments to our ‘have to’ weekly list and he has a palatal expander and…
Having a child born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate is difficult, especially when considering the extra work that goes into feeding. Your baby will initially be in in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) of your hospital right after being born. A feeding tube will be inserted through one nostril and will go down the back of your baby’s throat and into his stomach. The nurses will attach a syringe and push formula or breast milk through that…
Our pregnancy was a surprise. Leading up to this moment I had gone through a divorce and left that tragedy with a beautiful daughter who joined me in our journey forward. Along our journey we fell in love and he fell in love with us. We took it slow and really made sure that our relationship was going to be one that lasted. We married and both of us had talked about trying to have a child together. I had…
