I know this is not such a fun topic..but.... I recently found out that my baby daughter is going to be born with a cleft lip and hard palate. If there is anyone out there that has had a child with this, is there any advise you can give? I have done a lot of research and my wife and I will be going to a plastic surgeon to discuss what will be taking place. But, any advice from anyone experenced with this would be much appreciated. Thanks in adcance....
This is more common than many people know. My brother's first kid had the same. All I can recommend is to really research a good surgeon, but then you already knew that. Best of luck.
That sucks. But plastic surgery can do wonders for cleft lips and palates. Carmit Bachar from the Pussycat Dolls had cleft lip and palate and she's banging.
Yea plastic surgery does wonders. The problem has virtually been eliminated in this country thanks to surgery. I'm sure your hospital will give you details and info on how to fix this up because its really a minor and standard surgical procedure. Dont worry about it at all because no one's ever going to know post-surgery.
e-mail me cop2comic@aol.com One of my friends just went through the whole process with his newborn and she is/was beautiful! I'll hook the two of you up.
That makes me feel good...AS A FATHER! Jeez! Just kiddin....I know..I know surgery today is amazing!! Thanks
My thoughts are with you Bobblehead. There is an online support forum if you are interested. Maybe you can get the information you are looking through there. www.rubber-ducky.org My wife, having other issues, found good support and information there.
its a common condition which can be fixed with a surgery costing as little as $200 USD. assuming the surgery went well (which it does in nearly cases) there should be no complications.
From what I've seen on Discovery channel... Supposedly, doctors like to operate on children very young. This is for two reasons: a) because they have not yet grown, the surgery delivers much better results and the cleft lip and any indications of cleft lip or palate disappear as the child grows. and b) the child is less likely to remember having anything wrong as they grow. Sounds like, if you get it taken care of while they're young, they come out just fine.
Yeah I hope so. I've that as early as 10 weeks babies have their first surgery. I know that there will be multiple surgeries...up until she is almost a teen because the mouth grows as we get older. But again, I've seen before and after pictures and the children look great.
21st century surgery is amazing; my friends little girl had several \'plastic\' surgeries to repair one of eyes that kind of drooped (for lack of a better word) really bad and a big birthmark. i think there are called strawberry birthmarks. she is just as cute as can be now; she always was but you know what i mean no one will give here a second look as being out of the ordinary. she doesn\'t have any bad memories of the surgeries and there hasn\'t been any complications.
a few bits of advice from a pediatrician.... first have you and your wife look at a lot of pictures of newborns with this so it won't be such a shock. one of my worst days in the nursery is when a mother who's baby had CL/CP saw the baby for the first time she couldn't bear to hold the baby. granted she had no prenatal ultrasound to prepare her but i'm sure that even as the baby grows and she loves him, she will always feel guilty about the way she first reacted. so in other words be prepared because while a lot of posters are correct in that plastic surgery can do wonders, you need to be mentally prepared still. also prepare the family and close friends, as it's terrible to be a parent and feel that you constantly have to worry about your friends making an inappropriate comment that would break the mother's heart. feeding a newborn is tough at the beginning in any child but more difficult in children with cleft palate. be prepared to have a lot of patience as both breast feeding and bottle feeding can be done. hopefully you'll deliver at a big enough hospital that has experience with this (talk to the nursery head nurse first if you can). next while every parent wants the plastic surgeon to come see the baby in the nursery so you can start planning the future, don't be surprised if they don't see the baby for a few weeks. this isn't unusual since they don't really offer much help right away. this is usually the case in most private small to mid-size hospitals. if you're delivering at a tertiary hospital then often they are easier to consult inpatient. hope this helps...
Thanks. We are deliving at Hermann Memorial in the Med Center in Houston. My wife already has a specialist OB doctor part of the UT group. We are going to be meeting with a plastic surgeon where we will have a sort of orientation about this. Included will be a video. We feel blessed to be in Houston and have access to the Medical Center, one of the most recognized in the world. Yes....the pictures of newborns are not so pretty...but the "after" pictures are encouraging. We will need patience...which is already hard since we have a 6 year old and 21 month old. But we will do what we have to do. Thanks
good - thats a great hospital. really good feeding specialists also. let us know how things are going
Who are the doctors you are using? John Teichgraeber is incredible, if you are lucky enough to get him. Good Luck.
Incredible...that is our doctor. I'm very pleased to read what you wrote. We have an appt to meet with him next week.
She's good, she does alot of high risk OB. IMO the hospital and nursing staff is most important when it comes to giving birth. Hermann is an excellent choice. Teichgraber has a very impressive resume and he is a top notch surgeon. You did very well in choosing him. Keep us updated!
Well Dr. Mastro choose him. I guess they are all part of the UT system. They are all very nice and seem "on the ball!" We also have another problem with a piece of "banding" missing at the top of the brain. We won't know the effects, if any, until she is born. Luckly after a Ambeo, we found out she has no genetic problems. All 46 Chromosomes are there. We were really worred about a Trisomy issue at first. It's hard after having two perfect boys to have issues now...but life is such!!!
