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| 2 years old |
Savannah Corrinne W. was born on October 22, 1999 with a bilateral incomplete
cleft lip and bilateral complete cleft palate. She was Chris and Keri's first baby. Although feeding initially
was very difficult, once those difficulties were overcome, she did very well.
She began sleeping through the night at six weeks of age and was always a very good baby. She had her
lip repair done at 3 months of age. Although the repair was very good, it was a difficult "new look" to get
used to. I cried for a long time. I missed that beautiful wide smile, that was now gone. We fed her with
a Mead Johnson bottle and Ross Cleft Palate Nipple after surgery. It worked wonderfully, although she wasn't terribly
interested in eating. We had to spend 5 days in the hospital because she wouldn't eat for us. I found the
arm restraints more difficult for me than for her. I couldn't stand the horrible comments we would get from people...ignorant
people. She got more stares with the arm restraints than she ever did before surgery.
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| Savannah and her "brudder." |
Not long after Savannah had recovered from surgery, I decided to start up a support group.
I stayed up one night until about 4 a.m., trying to come up with a good name. I also set about making flyers and our
first newsletter, which I planned to take to as many pediatric and OB/Gyn offices that I could. I made 25 copies and
distributed them to professional offices and the other two families I knew.
I also began organizing support group meetings. I had lined up several professionals to
speak over the next 8 months. FOCUS was off to a great start!! Who would have ever imagined how many people would
be involved in just 2 years.
Savannah's palate surgery was scheduled for the day after her first birthday. Although
I felt a little better about the whole idea, I was still a nervous wreck. I was probably more prepared this time, but
it was still a very difficult trial for me. We also decided to go ahead and have a new set of tubes put in, rather than
have them fall out and have to go get tubes as a separate procedure. We also had them scope her vocal cords to see if
there was any physical reason why she was so hoarse all of the time.
Although the surgery went well and there was nothing abnormal from her laryngoscopy, I don't
think I was prepared for how she would look. She had sores on the corners of her mouth from the retractors used to hold
her mouth open. Her mouth was so swollen and when she cried, it absolutely broke my heart.
She ended up staying six days in the hospital due to a mysterious illness.
She developed a high fever, became lethargic and still wasn't eating or drinking. They never did discover what was wrong
with her and went ahead and sent us home even though she still was drinking very little and eating even less.
Since her palate repair, her speech sound repertoire simply exploded.
She began talking much more and dropping the signs she had been using to communicate until then. She now talks non-stop.
And, oh, the things she comes up with!! We used obturators several times
to improve her speech and decrease the audible nasal emission she was experiencing, until it was decided that it would be
easier simply to close the hole that was causing the problems for her. Once that hole was closed at around 3 years-3
1/2 years....her speech is nearly imperceptable as far as differences from others go. She became a peer in her preschool
her last year...her speech was so good and language excellent. She's now
a first-grader, and is doing very well in school. She's active in dance, loves to sing, enjoys reading, writing,
drawing and helping me in the kitchen. We've learned a lot along the way,
and I'm so grateful! She's been a blessing from the very beginning. She will always be my beautiful baby
girl!
| Summer 2003 |
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| Savannah became quite the swimmer this year!! |
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| My sweet angels reading a book together. Awwww!!!!! |
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Before we had you, I remember praying to God for a healthy baby.
I didn't care if we had a boy or a girl, but simply wanted a healthy baby. God gave us exactly what we had prayed for...and
much, much more!
I remember how uncertain I was when you arrived. I remember
feeling uncertain as a new mom, much like I'm sure most new moms are when they take their new baby home for the first time.
However, I felt fear when I took you home. I think I just wanted to appear confident, while inside I was terrified.
You were so tiny. I couldn't imagine letting someone take you
away and perform surgery on you. Even when the day of surgery was set, it seemed so far away...and now it's all past.
Even though you will have many more surgeries, I'm sure I'll feel more prepared and be able to provide support to you as you
undergo each surgery.
You are my little angel, my perfect little girl. When I hear
you say, "I love you Mommy," I almost can't believe you are in my life! You are such a blessing. I thank God each
day for allowing me to share my life with you. I pray that you'll grow up confident about who you are, how important
you are, with a love of God and a realization that no matter what others say, God and your family will always love you....no
matter what.
I love you Savannah.
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