The Pediatrician whisked her away as soon as he could get his hands on her.
My husband noticed her lip right away, but he did not tell me until later. I could not see her, but I could hear her!!
Five minutes or so later the doctor finally brought her to me, and explained that
she had a cleft lip. He said that it could be repaired and she was very healthy. Nothing else was wrong.
Her palate was intact, so she would be able to suck fine, and wouldn't have any speech or ear problems.
I was completely shocked. I remember crying and feeling so many emotions, but I knew I
wanted to hold and kiss her. She was my beautiful, precious baby girl!
Carmen had her lip repair done when she was 4 months old by Dr. Mitchell Henry at
Bryan LGH West here in Lincoln, NE. That was a very hard time for me, but Carmen handled everything very well.
She healed fast and had no complications. I never even used the arm restraints after the first day because I held her
the whole time. I was her arm restraints!!
She will be having a lip revision surgery in September 2002 to help with the scar
tissue buildup. I am not looking forward to that, since she lives such a happy little life now. I hate to disturb
her with this surgery, but it will be beneficial for her appearance. Hopefully she will not have to have another surgery
on her nose as a teenager, as originally predicted when she was born. So far her nose looks normal.
We love Carmen so much. She is now a spunky 18-month-old and loves to be the
center of attention. I am fortunate to be able to be a stay-at-home-mom, so she definitely is the center of my attention!
(7-24-02)
Thank you to Carmen's family for their story.
