“As I held our son, I wept for his first mommy and daddy. Their sacrifice and dedication to love were beyond unfathomable. I kissed him on his little forehead, and quietly promised to first mommy and daddy I would continue the torch lit by their sacrifice. I would adore our son. I would honor his story. And I would teach him about sacrificial love.”
‘I’m sending over a file. It’s a little boy with medical needs.’ I was in the middle of a Waffle House. The day, the time, the minute came when I could finally hold him.’: Family adopt boy with facial difference, hearing impairment, ‘We will continue the torch’
‘He has a growth.’ No one came to help. We had to watch a YouTube video on how to feed our newborn.’: Mom shares son’s journey with cleft palate, ‘We do it for our babies’
“The nurse dropped the bottle on the counter and left. It gave him a massive blister on the little bit of palate he had. He lost over a pounds in 3 days. He was starving!”
‘Did you get kicked in the face by a horse?’ In that moment, I saw red.’: Woman shares cleft lip and palate surgeries to give other parents hope
“To tell you I was hurt doesn’t do it justice. In that moment, I saw red. ‘No, I was born with a cleft lip and palate.”
‘The doctor wants to speak with you.’ I always imagined what she’d look like. Now, I’m afraid to meet her.’: Mom of ‘cleft cutie’ says ‘I fell in love with her smile twice’
“When she tried to look at her face, she paused for a while. I will never forget that pause. It was like the air had been sucked out of the room. I turned away. I grieved over the vision of my daughter I had created.”
‘It took him nearly an hour and a half to finish a bottle. Milk would come out from his nose, his ears. EVERYWHERE.’: Boy’s cleft lip and palate ‘gave him a chance to know why he’s special from an early age’
“I was alone when they told me. I do remember carrying my still squirming baby boy up the stairs to his room and collapsing on the ground next to his dresser, unable to move, unable to even cry. A strange thing happened during this time. I grew up. I got tough. To the rest of the world, it was a defect, but to us, it was precious.”
