Before Pictures

Rachel's profile will change pretty drastically with this surgery. Therefore we wanted to take some "before surgery pictures". These pictures were taken last week. 

Looking straight on, we don't think there will be much difference, however, maybe we could see a change in her nose perkiness. It will be hard to tell exactly what will look different until all the swelling subsides, which Dr. Martin says could take up to 6 months.

Where we will notice the biggest difference in Rachel's facial appearance is her side profiles. In each of these pictures, you can clearly see that Rachel's lower jaw extends out much further than her upper jaw. 

In people who were born with clefts, the middle of their faces don't grow completely, therefore Rachel's upper jaw does not match her lower jaw. This surgery is going to correct this. 

Rachel's excited to have this surgery done. As she's gotten older, she dislikes how much her chin sticks out, some of it is due to her cleft and her upper jaw not having grown, the other part is simply genetics - she has her fathers pointy chin, it runs in the family!