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| Liam 1 month old |
hard for him to feed. He came home from the hospital with a NG tube (feeding tube through his nose) & we were constantly having to use it to help give him his medications & complete feedings. We were grateful to have this option because he was only able to eat a few ounces at his own at most for a very long time but the NG tube had to be taped down on his face. He also had to wear a NAM which is kind of like a retainer that again had to be set into place by using small rubberbands & again that involved even more tape. Pretty soon Liam's face was covered with lots of tape & so all you could see were his gorgeous big (think they will be Blue) eyes.
Another downside to having the clefts is that with such a wide smile he swallowed lots of air which caused him to be extremely gassy. The need to repair the cleft quickly became a need for his own comfort versus the fact that it made him "look different". Although I was anxious to get this surgery completed I grew to Love his special look more & more with each passing day so when Liam finally hit 10 lbs & was ready for surgery, I found myself very nervous to be introduced to my new baby & began to cry when the nurse took him from my arms.
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| Day after surgery |
We waited anxiously to hear each update & to learn how he was doing. The feedback we got was always positive & then finally we were able to see him!! His face was very swollen from the procedure & we found that they had to stitch down his tongue to keep it in place. It was hard seeing him so uncomfortable & to know that he didn't understand what was happening but one thing was for sure, he was still my little precious Liam & he still looked the same to me.
Because Liam had the feeding tube they were able to keep him fed so that kept him more comfortable & allowed him to come home after 2 days. He had a lot of healing to do but everything looked great & we were very happy with the plastic surgeon that we chose & the care he received at Primary Children's Hospital.
