Congratulations on the birth of little Emma! What a blessing you have been given.
We did not know ahead of time about our GD's cleft which is UCLBCP but the moment her little head emerged and I saw her face I said, "she's the most beautiful baby in the world". I was surprised but not shocked. Nor did it enter my mind at any moment to be appalled at her face.
Our Taylor now lives with us as hubby and I have custody since the parents were too immature to deal with her cleft. She was a blessing the moment she was born and still is at 9 months.
Taylor passed the hearing test at birth but at her 2 week check up she failed it. The cleft ENT saw her at 6 months and refused to test her again because they saw fluid build up behind her ear drum and said she would fail it again.
At 6 months they did her soft palate repair and put tubes in Taylor's ear even though she'd never had an ear infection or even so much as an ear ache. What an amazing difference we saw in her hearing. As soon as she started coming out of the anesthesia she was reacting to sounds she did not notice before. And now her hearing is perfect.
I wish you and your wife the best of luck with your new bundle of joy!
Jennifer
Nanny to Taylor (UCLBCP)
9 months old