Rachel is now 7 weeks old. She's gaining weight and growing well, and has no problems when it comes to feeding. At her 6 week check up with her pediatrician, she weighed 11lbs 12oz and was almost 22 inches long. It's a huge relief to not worry about her feeding and her gaining weight.
Rachel is starting to make little noises which is so cute to hear. While she's been a good sleeper from the very beginning, the last 5 nights Rachel has slept 10-4:30/5:30am. We're so thankful for the Lord blessing us with a baby that sleeps so well!
We met with the craniofacial team at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital on September 27. We met with a total of 6 doctors, including the plastic surgeon. We are currently waiting for the plastic surgeon to fit us into his schedule for Rachel's first surgery. Because Rachel's cleft lip is so wide, the plastic surgeon said her lip would require 2 surgeries to fully repair. The first surgery could be anytime now, and the second surgery will be 3 months from the first surgery. Her palate will repaired when she is closer to 12 months old.
It's hard to imagine Rachel without her 'wide smile' as I've grown used to it. I've read accounts online of other cleft families who were a bit sad after the initial lip repair because they missed seeing the wide smile. The more and more I look at Rachel's wide smile, I think I understand what they mean.
