What is Cleft Lip & Cleft Palate?

The following blogs will take a closer look at the definition of Cleft lips and Cleft Palates and be more informative to you the reader.  It will have pictures of different types of cleft lips and cleft palate. 

So what is Cleft lip & Palate?

Cleft lip (cheiloschisis) and cleft palate (palatoschisis), which can also occur together as cleft lip and palate, are variations of a type of clefting congenital deformity caused by abnormal facial development during gestation. A cleft is a fissure or opening—a gap. It is the non-fusion of the body's natural structures that form before birth. Approximately 1 in 700 children born have a cleft lip and/or a cleft palate. There are different types of cleft lip and cleft palate.  

Incomplete Cleft Lip- A cleft on one side of the lip that does not extend into the nose is called unilateral incomplete.-

Nathan has what is called a Bilateral Cleft Lip Complete, which is extremely rare.

Complete Cleft Lip- A cleft on one side of the lip that extends into the nose is called unilateral complete

Cleft palate - Cleft palate occurs when the roof of the mouth does not completely close, leaving an opening that can extend into the nasal cavity. The cleft may involve either side of the palate. It can extend from the front of the mouth (hard palate) to the throat (soft palate). Often the cleft will also include the lip. Cleft palate is not as noticeable as cleft lip because it is inside the mouth. It may be the only abnormality in the child, or it may be associated with cleft lip or other syndromes. In many cases, other family members have also had a cleft palate at birth.

More than 4 million babies are born each year in the United States and that means 5417 babies are born with cleft lip or cleft palate in the United States.  There is still no clear cut reason as to why babies are born with these abnormalities. 

Over the coming days, weeks and months I will be posting more information about these birth defects and how there affecting our family.  Please contact me anytime with any questions, comments, or concerns that you have about this blog.  

Resources Used for this article

http://www.chw.org/display/PPF/DocID/21809/router.asp

"Baby Nathan is Finally Here"

At 12:30 PM today Baby Nathan was born weighing in at 6 lbs 8 ounces and 20 inches long.  He is the most handsome boy ever and i couldn't be any prouder at this moment.  As soon as baby Nathan was born he was carried away so the NIC unit could take care of and make sure that he was ok.  After a few minutes i had a chance to see my son.  He was doing great and he had a lot of hair and i mean i full head. 

Nathan definitely has a cleft lip and palate and what we found out is that the palate is completely gone and his nasal cavity is completely exposed. This means that my son will have to be in the NIC unit until they can monitor his milk intake and make sure that he is doing well feeding. They just put in a feeding tube a few hours ago and he seems to be doing fine with the tube in.  We will have the cranio facial consult tomorrow and hopefully we can have a plan put in place that will allow Nathan to come home sooner than later. 

Bianca is doing great and is currently resting.  Thank you for all your support and prayers during these last few days.  Your prayers are what helped and will continue to help us.

Thanks again

"It will only be a few hours"

We're only a few hours away from welcoming Nathan into the world.  We're also have this unsettling feeling about this birth versus the birth of our daughter Briana.  They will have the NIC (Neonatal Intensive Care) unit team in the room at delivery to assist with any complications if they arise.  This is something that were definitely not used too since we didn't have to worry about that with Briana as well.  None the less we're very excited to welcome Nathan into the world and our family.  Please say a prayer for us as we wait for the birth of our son Nathan.  Thanks again and stay tuned as we will update this when our son is born.

A Waiting Game

The waiting game is something that i don't do very well and with only a few days to go it is very tough to stay patient. My wife says OUCH every 8 seconds and she is tired of me asking if she is OK. However, i keep telling her that if she didn't say ouch that i wouldn't ask her if she is OK. None the less this is the worst time of her pregnancy for me as we're in the last phase. We just can't wait to welcome Nathan into the world. Please stay tuned as i will be updating the blog during labor if my wife lets me. Also i will post pictures as soon as i have them.

With Love Jonathan
A Fathers Story

University Of Michigan

All parents want the best for their kids, the best clothes, the best schools and for us the best doctors. We recently went to the University of Michigan and sat down with the staff of the Craniofacial Anomalies program. The appointment was by far the best appointment that we have been to yet. The nurse practitioner was able to reassure us that the extremes rarely happen and the most common cases of Cleft lip and palate are very manageable. She also explained to us that the entire team will meet with us over the next few months and come up with a game plan for Nathan. This entire process has been tough on my wife and I and after having the appointment at U OF M, we felt so much better...

Stay Tuned because baby Nathan is going to be born in a few weeks...

With Love Jonathan
"A Fathers Story"