Hi, I'm Karen. I was born with a complete cleft palate 33 years ago. I have had about 12 surgeries to repair it. I've had jaw realignment and also have a donor bone in the roof of my mouth. I still have a tiny hole in the roof of my mouth and at 19, I decided enough surgeries for me.
On November 30, 2006 my husband and I welcomed our daughter Karley Daytona into the world who was also born with a complete cleft palate(hard and soft). She weighed 7lbs and 4 ozs, 20 inches long. We didn't find out about it until she was born but had some ideas of a possibility of it since I had way too much amniotic fluid throughout the pregnancy. We also noticed her recessed chin in alot of the sonograms. When my husband told me she had a cleft palate once I was in recovery from my c-section, I can't say I was really upset or devastated. I have it, I know what I'm dealing with and things could have been worse. To me and my husband she is beautiful no matter what her birth defect is. Plus with all the new medical technology these days compared to when I was born, I know we'll be in good hands. I will admit though, I've had my moments of crying, wishing she wouldn't have to go through what I did, especially when the formula is pouring out of her nose and she gets frustrated. Those are the times I wish I could make it all go away for her but then I realize she'll be okay and it will be repaired and she'll be as good as new. Right now our biggest struggle with her is her formula intake and her poor weight gain. She is only at 8lbs 10 ozs. They have raised her to a 24 calorie formula and it seems to be working.
I absolutely love this website and look forward to meeting and making new friends.
Here is a picture of her at 1 month. Sorry it's so big.