New mom in Oshawa!

Amie - posted on 11/23/2011

Hi Jenna...hope you beautiful daughter is doing well. I am just reading your post now (I know its like 2 yeras old lol...so I hope all went well with your baby's surgery and she is doing well?) I myself have had a baby boy 2 months ago now with a cleft lip and I was wondering where you purchased the haberman feeder bottle in Oshawa? I am just online looking in our area and I cant seem to find anywhere then I came across your article so since you are in Oshawa, I thought I would ask. Thanks in advance if you can assist !

Jenna - posted on 03/30/2009

oh wow I didn't know that she won't be able to haberman feed... so now in between healing from her other surgeries before the palate repair we have to wean her to a sippy cup?? ugh... she doesn't even fully feed from a bottle yet! Most of her feeds are with a feeding tube...... *sigh* Already she is a bit behind in her development with everything that she has gone through and this will mess with things too! Oh well...

congrats on your baby's lip repair going so well and good luck with the palate repair! Dr. Fisher is awesome! And yes Sick Kids is amazing... I know it all too well.. I've lived there on and off for 3 months.. 6 weeks stright at one point and I can say yes it is amazing but after a while it just becomes depressing. I'm so glad I have my baby home now!

Wendy - posted on 03/30/2009

Hi Jenna,  i'm in Markham, Ontario.  My little girl has unilateral celft lip and palate.  She had her lip repaired in November.  Isn't Sick Kids such a fantastic hospital?  It is just amazing what they are able to do these days.  It is still unknown the cause of the cleft.  We have no history in our family of clefts but it still happened.  Your baby is a cutie.

We have our palate repair coming up soon, no date yet, but should be in the next few months.  The lip repair went amazing and Maddy recovered very well.  They look swollen in the face after surgery but it goes away in a day or two.  The arm restraints was hard for her to deal with b/c she loved having her hands in her mouth all the time.  Plus she was able to get out of them.  They do get used to it after couple of days or so.  Children are amazinly resilient.  I forget sometimes that she even has a cleft palate b/c the surgery looks so amazing on her lip.  You daughter will do great after all that she has been through already...Poor little baby.

We just had our Appointment with Dr. Fisher about her palate repair  and i have to admit that i am more nervous and scared with this surgery than the lip repair...They tell me that she has to be able to dribk from a sippie cup b/c she won't be able to use her haberman bottle...It's not easy weaning her from her bottle and i just can't do it b/c she find such comfort and joy from her bottle.  Anyway, i guess i have to find a way to do it.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Wendy

Jenna - posted on 03/29/2009

Hi wow I didn't even think about the change that will happen with her voice now I'm curious! Yup the Haberman is still around and I love it, it really helps cut down on her gas too because of the one way valve, but I agree it is a pain to clean lol. Thank you for your encouragement, I'm not looking forward to the restraints she loves to chew on her fingers so she won't be happy

Kayla - posted on 03/29/2009

Hi Jenna, your daughter is gorgeous. The arm restraints take a bit of getting used to but I assure you that your daughter will be fine with them; although she may feel a bit frustrated.  My girl had her full cleft palette repair at 13mths old and its amazing how quickly they recover, I can still remember how her voice had changed after the op (wasnt changed as such, just the sound was different as the hole was closed up).  She is 16 today and I couldnt be more proud of her, she put herself through a full re-repair last year to improve it.  Wow, Habermann bottles still going?  They were brill but fiddly to clean with the valve etc.  Good luck with her op. xx