Beau was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. We always knew our future children would have a higher chance of having a cleft lip and/or palate as my husband ( Adam Bighill ) was also born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate.
Because of this our 20 week anatomy scans were always done at a specialized hospital with an actual doctor. When we received our results that Beau would in fact be born with a cleft lip and possible palate I was devastated. I felt prepared for what was in store for Beau surgery wise but I also spent A LOT of the remaining weeks of this pregnancy crying. There are so many unknowns when it comes to cleft babies and their journeys, how will they feed? Will they have breathing issues? How will their speech develop? The minute Beau was born all of those worries faded and my heart was filled with so much love.
Flash forward to today and Beau is now 10 months old has had two surgeries (lip repair at 4.5 months and palate repair at 9 months). We recently had our first virtual consultation with our speech therapist and were now working on Beau’s first words and what to watch for in potential speech issues. I like to call Beau our little warrior baby. ❤️