Elizabeth’s Story
Elizabeth’s son Albie was born in December with an incomplete bilateral cleft lip and palate. Elizabeth reflects on their journey so far and the support they received along the way.
Albie was born with an incomplete bilateral cleft lip. He was diagnosed at the 20-week antenatal routine scan, and we left the room confused and extremely worried with so many questions.
We wondered if he would be ok; how would we feel when he was born? What would family and friends think? How do we explain this to his older brother? But most of all, I wondered what I had done wrong and if it was my fault.
After that, we attended a 3rd scan where the sonographer wasn’t wholly confident his brain had developed correctly in the womb. We were devastated and went for another scan, where the specialist told us there was nothing wrong with his brain. This news put into perspective that his cleft was only a little thing that needed to be treated and eventually would not affect any part of his life.
We then had a fantastic cleft nurse who introduced us to CLAPA, answered all of our questions, helped with feeding and was excellent support for our family.
We then had a fantastic cleft nurse who introduced us to CLAPA, answered all of our questions, helped with feeding and was excellent support for our family.
Albie was born in December and is now nine months old. We always look back at his pictures and miss his huge beautiful smile.
His cleft made him unique and special, but we are so proud of how far he has come, and he is thriving and meeting all of his milestones; he is a very content and happy baby who never fails to make us smile every single day.
Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing your story!
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