We made it!

It's been 3 weeks since Judah's palate repair, and I can't believe how quickly the time flew! We've been really busy, which helped, and we had a weird week last week with Ezra being sick and then Eli missing 4 days of school because of the same virus. But all of a sudden we're here, and I took Judah in for his 3 week follow-up! The repair looks good. There's a small gap in the palate, not all that uncommon, which will probably close on its own. I've watched the gap over the last couple of weeks, wondering about it, and it has gotten smaller. It's more like a crack now. The PA said sometimes they have to do "revision surgery", but right away I said I wasn't ready to go down that road...so that was the end of that. Overall the news was good and disappointing. We got to take his restraints off right away, and Judah is lovin' that! He's been going nuts with his hands in his mouth & slobbering on anything else he can get up there. Apparently though, it's customary to keep the "no nippling" rule in place for 6 weeks. Well, that was news to me. So, based on my own research, I have decided to toss that "custom" out the window. CL/CP repair & recovery is pretty controversial, but there's enough information out there that I'm totally confident with my decision to give Judah his pacifier back. And start bottle feeding (or try) again. Funny thing, though... I wrapped up Judah's brand new pacifier in a box, got the video camera, and was all ready to capture this sweet reunion on tape. The child doesn't know what to do with the thing. He hasn't had it - or anything else for that matter - in his mouth for 3 weeks, and he's at a total loss! He plays with it and explores it with his hands, but he doesn't have a clue about what to do with it in his mouth. Tonight he fussed & cried himself to sleep in the sling, fighting the pacifier. Gr.

He's got his swallow study tomorrow morning. I'm even more nervous now. What is he going to do with a bottle?! So much hinges on this study. I'll be sooo disappointed if it goes badly. He's got a feeding eval. right after that. Ugh. I just have no idea what tomorrow morning will look like for him. For months I've begged God that Judah will show no signs of aspirating when we finally get to do the swallow study...but he has to take a bottle...and swallow something...and he won't even take the pacifier.

Oh my sweet boy... Don't you know that if you won't take anything in your mouth, we'll never get rid of that button?

OK, so it's only the 1st day... It's really not what I expected, though, and I'm sad about that.