The next stage

I remember writing in this post last year when we were on holiday in Egypt, about a friend of a friend whose boy was born with a cleft lip and palate. He wrote to me to say that his son had been through both operations and they were getting on with their lives quite nicely. I also remember thinking that I couldn't wait to be at that stage where the only thing to worry about was a bit of speech therapy maybe. Well, we're there now. Jake came though the operation really well and was up and smiling less than 24 hours later. Piet Haers came round after the operation and said that he had a slightly short palate (which can cause speech issues) but that he was able to lengthen it.

We're back home now and are settling into the routine of administering pain killers every few hours and keeping Jake as happy as possible. He won't touch his bottle, which we were warned might happen, but is eating really well. His sleep pattern has gone back to that of a new born and is up screaming several times a night. This is especially hard as we can't give him milk to placate him and he doesn't fancy a yoghurt in the dead of night.

Feeling washed out and drained today, hence the lacklustre blog, however there is a sense of relief in our house that the second of the three major operations is over, done and dusted. If we're unlucky there could be a revision operation or two but for now it's a nice feeling that he's got through and is now back on track with a 'normal' palate and development can continue.

As always all the staff at the Evelina hospital were lovely and we continue to be thankful that there are people in the world prepared to do that sort of work, well and for sod all money.

Will write more when feeling more inspired.