Written by Jenna Caldwell, Cash's Mom (Age 6)
It’s a moment you long for when you are told your child has a suspected cleft lip and palate. You are feeling rushed with emotion, research, questions, and not many answers because that incredible little baby hasn’t even made his or her way into this world.
You are swarmed by an army of incredible specialists. You fill up your calendar with ultrasounds, appointments, and clinic visits. You learn as much as you can for the day your baby arrives; all while secretly clinging to the idea that you can’t figure out how you will manage. But you will.
You rotate through a host of amazing specialists: plastic surgeons; speech and feeding therapists; and ear, nose, and throat specialists, as they share ways to improve and grow with your child. You can’t really understand how or why they are so at ease discussing the matters at hand. Eventually, you look back and realize it’s because although you may have been surprised, these professionals were ready to see you, and your child.
The first year is full of appointments, pre-ops, surgeries, and post-ops. You shuffle through the feedings and timeline of surgeries, all while balancing your life. You stumble through the daily requirements of being a mom, your family’s life, and this incredible cranio-child’s life. You have figured out how to feed, what tools work best and how you have fallen in love with your child’s beautiful smile.
A couple surgeries are behind you. Interventions are in place, if needed. You have landed in the moment of annual appointments. Now what? At first, I was flooded with the anxiousness of feeling that I needed to do more. We went from multiple appointments a month, to this? What is this? This is “cruise control.” This is where you get to sit back and watch in amazement and gratitude at how far your little one has come. This is where you rest and catch your breath because before you know it, you will be back in the shuffle of pre-ops, surgeries, and post-ops.
But for now, enjoy it … set your cruise control.
