Feeding Time

My little angel face was born with a cleft lip and palate.  Technically, he has a double cleft in his palate, one on each side of his septum, resulting in a need for patience come feeding time.

I have to say that the medical team at the hospital was amazing.  He was only hours old when a nutritionist visited him, tested a few nipples out, and found one that accommodated his needs so he could latch on and eat.  We also were scheduled for a clinic they hold monthly to have him evaluated and review what steps would be taken to have everything corrected.

The down side to all this is that I wasn't able to breast feed.  It had been the goal, but I was okay with having to pump.  It wouldn't be a big deal - or so I thought.

I just did not have the urge to pump on a schedule.  Add to this the fact that there is no such thing as a breast pump for a large breasted woman, and we should just be happy I was able to get the colostrum pumped and in him before I was ready to chuck the whole apparatus out the living room window.

Seriously, how do they expect someone to do this?  I have a close friend who I remember saying once that she was afraid to breastfeed for fear of smothering the baby due to her large breast size.  I completely understand that fear, especially now.  These things get heavy when they are full!  Now try getting them in a position where you can pump milk from them....

It suddenly makes sense as to why cows have udders that hang down underneath them.  There is no need to try and manipulate them into a strange position for milking!

Back to the baby....

As of now, we've found a formula that doesn't bother him.  He has three of these special and expensive nipples to eat with.  And he is gaining weight and length at a rate that has me proud while also wanting to tell him to stop.

We don't have to go to the next clinic in July, but will in August to have him evaluated again.  My son will undergo surgery in September at some point to correct the cleft in his upper lip.  Then next Spring he will go back under the knife to have the palate corrected before it begins to impact his speech development.

And I thought having him immunized was going to be the roughest part of this first year....