Cullen

In September we learned that Cullen would be born with a cleft lip and palate. Needless to say we were shocked by this news but were thankful to be given a few months to get our minds around what would be required to get this corrected.

Cleft lip and palate occurs very early in pregnancy. The fetus' face grows from the outside (ears) inward to the nose. When the two sides don't meet this causes cleft lip and/or palate. It can be genetic (not in our case), environmental (not in our case) or purely random (that's us!). There are varying types of clefts, ranging from one side of the lip not forming correctly to both sides of the lip and palate not forming. In Cullen's case it was the later. His upper lip did not connect, neither did the roof of his mouth. Since his lip was not connected, the section of gum where his four front teeth will be moved forward outside his gumline. This was shown to us using 3D ultrasound technology so we had a bit of an idea of what he would look like at birth.

Cullen will require multiple surgeries to correct his lip, palate and gumline as well as significant dental work. These interventions begin early in his life as the intent is to have the majority of the surgeries completed by the time he is one. When he was two weeks old he met with a dentist specializing in craniofacial orthodontics. He took a mold of Cullen's mouth that will be used to create a Latham device. This device will be surgically implanted into Cullen's mouth. It will then move the protruding front section back into alignment with his gums and pull his palate/lips together as much as possible. We are expecting to have the device inserted within the next 8 weeks. Cullen will need to wear the device for up to 8 weeks. It will then be removed and a plastic surgeon will repair his lip and as much of his palate as possible. We anticipate that this will occur when he is about 6 months old.