Hi Jennifer!!

[Yvonne]

hello jennifer, yeah i saw our last post and it was off the
page so i hope you see this post so we can start over since our
emails dont work. yes i do know what ya mean about not knowing
how you will love let alone handle another child. I cant imagine
having another one although I do want one. I suppose it will just
come naturally! i have seen so many different articles on folic
acid however none were specific on how much to take and if you
take it along with your prenatal vitamin. since clefts do seem to
run in my family im not sure how much the folic acid would help
anyway. i do know however that i was so sick while pregnant that
i never took not one prenatal vitamin and i was so tired all the
time and so sick i just couldnt keep it down. that also worries
me about having another child i was prescribed sleeping pills and
B complex and that helped me not get sick as much but still
couldnt take normal vitamins. and you know another strange thing
i just found out? my mother told me each of the people in my
family who had children with clefts during pregnancy were so sick
none of them could take vitamins either. my brother has a cleft
and my mom was sick with him but not with me so she took her
vitamins while pregnant with me and i dont have a cleft. strange
stuff isnt it??? I wonder if there is any correlation? how was
your pregnancy? were you sick at all? well hope your studying is
going well. hope to hear from you soon. p.s nope Alyssa is not
walking yet!! we're still waiting ha! how is Mackenzie?

[Jennifer]

Well, my computer is once again being pocessed. I have no idea
why that other reply got posted, I was just typing away & it
posted in the middle of my reply. Anyway, I'm not so sure about
your mom's theory. I had a model pregnancy. No morning sickness
& I took my vitamins faithfully. I had no problems until I
went into active labor & my water broke. It was then
determined that Kenzie was breech & after she was born, her
cleft was seen & her bilateral hip dysplasia, and the cleft
in her ear were all found by the neonatologist. Tomorrow is her 1
year check-up with the plastic surgeon, and I hope that he thinks
her lip looks as good as I do. The only thing that worries me is
the fact that she looses a lot of skin around the suture area.
Has Alyssa had any problems with this yet? Everyone that I talk
to says that this is a normal occurence of a surgical incision,
but I've never had any stitches so I'm not sure. Any ideas? Is
Alyssa walking yet? It should be any time now. How does her lip
look? Is it starting to heal more & not be as puffy? Kenzie
is just great. She is starting to get such a strong personality.
She nows what she wants & how to get it (with her finger)
Anyway, School is going good so far, but this semester feels like
an uphill struggle. I just keep plugging away cause I know the
end is in site. I need to go put Kenzie down for bed so that we
can get up bright & early & hed off to the surgeon. Hope
to hear from you soon. Jennifer

[Dale Mc]

Yvonne: Just to let you know...when I became pregnant i was
taking vitamins for a long time and am considered to be very
healthy. I now have been taking the pre-nat vits along with a
lower dose of my vitamins and have just found out (24 weeks
prego) that my baby has a clft lip on left lateral. Neither
families have this in their backgrounds....I was told it just
happens most of the time!!!

[yvonne]

hi jennifer, sorry havent wrote sooner, i changed internet
carriers and had heck of a time getting set up.plus Alyssa had a
terrible ear infection and as soon as she got better we all came
down with the stomach flu. we were not spared this season at all
ha! well the only skin Alyssa loses is in the center red part of
her upper lip i just peel it off but as far as on the scar part
none yet maybe its still to fresh. the more it heals
unforntunatly the more i feel the doctor didnt do such a great
job matter of fact when we went back for her check up he was
already talking about another surgery to fix the first one. her
lip is still uneven and the one side of her lip is alot larger
then the other making it look like a fat lip. the doctor said
that will stay that way unless she has another surgery to correct
it. i orriginally thought this surgeon had worked on alot of
babies i saw some of his before and after photos however now come
to find out Alyssa was the first cleft he has done in the 2yrs.
im very upset about this and feel mislead. i also feel guilty
because i should have done more research. i thought she was in
the best hands because the surgeon was referred to me by Alyssa's
ped. and another doctor. well nothing i can do about it now. will
just wait and see how it turns out and if needed when she is a
little older we will see what can be done then. well Alyssa still
is not walking she is turning 14mos in 2days. she is trying
though but her balance is not to good. she gets so frustrated
that when she falls she will scream horrible. did Makenzie do
that?? its becoming quite frustrating for me as well because she
is miserable most of the time now. well hope everything is going
good for you and your schooling. hope you didnt get the flu bug
going around its awful!! hope to hear from you soon

[Jennifer]

Hello! You have to stop feeling guilty about Alyssa's surgeon.
You did what you felt was best at the time with the information
you had. Think of all the emotions that surround getting ready
for your child's first surgery & in your case it was around
the holidays..lots of stress. I don't remember Kenzie falling
down & screaming. She just kinda gradually started walking.
How big of an emphasis are you putting on her walking, or anyone
else pushing her? She might be frustrated that She can't get
around well either? Is she around any kids a little older than
her very much? I know that in Kenzie's case she was around a
friend of mine's kids a lot. They are 3, 7, and 10. She plays a
lot with the 3 year old & tried constantly to keep up with
him. She did a lot of her 'firsts' with him. I'm sure it won't be
long for Alyssa. Kenzie's surgeon told us at her one year check
that we would need to plan another surgery in the summer/fall of
2000. He said that this surgery would be more or less touch up.
When we walked in the office we walked by him as he was talking
to another person & when he came into the exam room with us,
he said that when he first saw us he was not sure why we were in
the office. He had not noticed her lip. That made me feel really
good. Anyway, it is test time again & I have a huge renal
test tommorrow that I haven't studied for yet, so I must go. Hope
to hear from you soon Maybe with a new carrier our email will
work? Jennifer

[yvonne]

hi jennifer, well i know i did what was best for Alyssa so i
must get over it. im getting much more educated about clefts and
if i did have another cleft affected child i think it would go so
much smoother just because i know more of what to ask and things
of that nature. well glad to hear the check up went well. were
you suprised that he suggested a touch up surgery? Alyssa's
surgeon suggested the same thing but it was on 2wk check up that
he discovered that. so it must have been apparent to him right
away. i didnt know they could do touch ups so soon. our surgeon
suggested we do Alyssa's when she is 5 or 6yrs. but i would
prefer it done before she goes to school. what do you think? what
exactly will the touch up do? is her nose affected? Alyssa's nose
is still quite crooked even though he tried to pull in in during
the surgery. does that all fit in during a touch up? im just not
sure what all they do with a touch up. do they have to re-open
the lip? i would love to know more about the precedure of a touch
up since thats probably what we will be looking into also. oh
yeah try my new email add it crockers@bemail.com it should work.
oh and did you once say you had pictures of your daughter i would
love to see her. i also have some pictures of Alyssa i havent
tried it yet on this new service but if i could get your email
add again i could try. about the walking thing, she has this
little car that has a walking bar on the back she walks with it
but whens she hits the wall she cant back it up and she screams
if we dont immediatly go get her and put it back where she can
walk. it gets so tiring that i am letting her try to figure it
out herself and thats when she throws a huge fit. when i try to
walk with her she doesnt want my help so basically im just
letting her throw her fits. i dont know what else to do. well
better get going naps are getting shortened these days. hope to
hear from you soon yvonne

[yvonne]

congrats on your pregnancy! i know the vitamin thing i was
talking about was just a strange occurence in my family. not sure
why the women in my family who have cleft affected children were
too sick to take their prenatals including myself. just so odd!
well best wishes to you and your family and your new baby will be
just fine! i didnt know my daughter who is 14mos now had a cleft
(lip only) untill she was born so i wasnt able to meet with the
surgical team beforehand. but its best to know early if you can
to prepare.let us know if we can help. we just went through my
daughters first surgery 3mos. ago. take care Yvonne

[DALE MC]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORDS AND I HOPE THE SURGERY RESULTS ARE
GREAT! I THANK GOD THAT I WAS ABLE TO FIND OUT EARLY AND NOW I AM
JUST FILLING MYSELF AND FAMILY WITH RESEARCH AND INFORMATION. NOW
THAT I HAVE HAD A WEEK AND A HALF TO ABSORB THIS I FIND THAT
PEOPLE WHO ARE UNINFORMED ABOUT THIS BIRTH DEFECT ARE THE ONES
THAT DO NOT UNDERSTAND AND ARE SOMETIMES IGNORANT TO IT. THIS
BEING MY FIRST CHILD, AND NOT BEING AROUND CHILDREN AT ALL DURING
GROWING UP, I JUST WANTED EVERYTHING TO BE PERFECT. SEE I WAS ONE
OF THOSE IGNORANT ONES!! NOT ANYMORE...THAT SUPERFICIAL IGNORANCE
HAS GONE THANKS TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU, JENNIFER AND ALL OTHERS THAT
HAVE E MAILED ME AND SENT ME INFORMATION. I THANK YOU ALL AND SO
DOES THE BABY.



MY PRAYERS GO OUT TO YOUR CHILD AND ALL THAT MUST ENDURE
THIS. BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE FIXED.



DALE MC