So, Tell Me More About the Cleft

Here's a 3D ultrasound photo of baby Self! The line that goes from her nose to her lip is the cleft.

A cleft lip and/or palate is a condition that occurs when a baby's face doesn't fully come together when it is forming. It can be as minor as the skin above the lip not coming together or as major as the bone that makes up the roof of the mouth not coming together. A cleft usually happens within the first 7 or 8 weeks of the baby's life, often before mom even knows that she's pregnant!

As far as what causes a cleft, doctors tell me they aren't exactly sure. In some cases, there could be some genetic predisposition that leads to a cleft, but that doesn't seem to be the case with our baby. With our baby, it just happened to happen. It's not like I did a crazy workout or ate some crazy food that caused our daughter's face to not fully form the way it should. Like I already said, it just happened. And so, Jon and I are in for a little more excitement than we thought we were when we first found out we were expecting!

The good thing about our daughter having a cleft is that it isn't a life or death condition. In fact, if she merely has a cleft lip, she'll only need a small cosmetic surgery at 6 months and then she should be good to go! If she has a cleft palate as well, we're in for a bit more of a ride. If this is the case, she'll get a surgery around 12 months to fix the roof of her mouth, and then she could need additional surgeries to help with her hearing, speech, and/or teeth in the coming years because these things are often affected when the palate isn't formed properly. Though ultrasounds suggest that our daughter only has a cleft lip at this point, we can't be completely sure until she arrives.

When it comes down to it, our little girl will be just like every other little girl. She might look a little different to start out with, but that just gives us all the more reason to love her! Now if she would just come...my ribs can only take so much bruising!

For More Info on Clefts:

The Cleft Palate Foundation:
http://www.cleftline.org/

Seattle Children's Craniofacial Website:
This is the hospital where our baby will have her surgeries.
http://www.seattlechildrens.org/clinics-programs/craniofacial/