Any cleft lip/palate mommies?

Hi!

I am a mom of a cleft palate baby. Please read my blog at www.cleftpalatesupportsouthafrica.blogspot.com

Regards

Marida Strauss

Hi TaNasha

The feeding was extremely difficult as he couldn't suck the breast so i had to feed him using a spoon, but the doctor encourage that i continue breast feeding as the sucking motion would also assist in the healing and i could see a difference within weeks

Thanks betsa.

How did feeding go? Could you breastfeed?

We were told that if its only a cleft lip then i should be able to breastfeed but if she has a cleft palate aswell it will be difficult and might only be able to express?

Hi TaNasha, my son was born witha cleft palate, initially it was so bad that he couldn't even suck but the doctor assured us that if its not too severe it sometimes heals by itself as the child gets older, he's now completely healed, you wouldn't even notice that he had it.

Tanasha Mistymom's little boy who was born in April has a bit of a cleft palate, so maybe you can chat to her about her experience.

Hi Tanasha

As you know my little one has the cleft palet - but that is due to his syndrome.

I promise you will never think that she is ugly !!!! She will be beautiful no matter what. Once she is born your doctors will refer you to a cleft clinic and they will let you know all you need to.

When I went to the cleft palet clinic with Lior - I was scared because I thought I wouldnt be able to look at this children but it was the exact opposite - they were all just so beautiful and all just had the best nature ever.

One little girl in particular had the double cleft lip and the thing is you look past that, you dont even see it, and at the end of the day when she is older and the doctors have fixed it. you would never be able to tell

Are there any other mommies on here with cleft lip/palate babies? I havent seen anything on moomie so I fear i might be alone, but thought I might aswell take a shot.

We heard that our LG has a cleft lip(on the left side) at our 20 week scan. It dus not run in me or DH's family, I am still young and healthy, and i was taking folic acid for more than a year before I became pregnant, so it was quick a shock when we found out! We had an amnio to rule out any possible chromosone abnormalities but thankfully that came back fine.

We have accepted the cleft and I am trying as much as possible to prepare myself, especially for the birth. I am soo curious to see what she looks like, but I am also a little scared that I might be shocked or think that she is ugly

So I was hoping there might be some other mommies who could share their experiences.