Biggest Smile in the world! :D: Two days till surgery....

Blake's Journey

Blake Tyler James Fenton born on the 17th June 2011

''This blog is about a journey through pregnancy, finding out that our child would be born with a Cleft lip & Palate, and also coping with a rare pregnancy condition. Dealing with the everything that comes our way, as a family. Caring and supporting our beautiful son Blake... and his amazing big sister Tia, this blog has been written by me, Jemma Kathleen Fenton (was Paley) in the hope that it touches many peoples hearts as Blake has touched ours. My goal is to help raise awareness and money, I hope to helps other parents going through the same situation.''

I am happy to support any parents out there you can contact me through email: brassbuttons@hotmail.co.uk

Sunday 13 November 2011

Two days till surgery....

WOW I cant begin to put into words how I am feeling right now! scared, anxious, nervous, stressed, sad, happy, even fear. So I am doing my best to keep myself busy, I have been making baby food all morning, dinners and puddings. We started weening Blake on to solids this week as one of our cleft nurses Maureen (who I think is wonderful) gave us the advice that it would be better for Blake after surgery. so I made two pudding Apple, Pear and Banana, and Apple, Forrest Berries and banana... yummy!! and I made Carrot, Swede, Parsnip with Apple, then I made Sweet potato and Carrot, potted the lot up the put them in the fridge. With some in the freezer so Chris can bring some to the hospital when Blake runs out. Blake's been enjoying his food he loves porridge in the morning!

Blakes Hospital bag is almost packed, just need to add few bits, made sure that I packed vests that button up that way we wont catch his lip when we have to change his clothes. while i was folding his cloths I was thinking to myself that I wonder if Blake will be wondering whats going on, I hope I will be enough to comfort him, I better not forget his mouse he loves his mousy. Me and Chris were talking the other night about after surgery whether Blake will still stick his tongue out ! it made us laugh.... he's just so darn cute. I will probably cry a lot as just writing this is making me feel emotional.

Chris's Sister Clare is coming to help us for a few days... She will be arriving early hours. She's going to be entertaining Tia 'good luck with that' Tia has become a little monkey of late but its very hard to be mad at her as she also is too darn cute :)
So a massive thank you to Clare! we love you very much and we appreciate all the help you can give!

There's so much I want to say but feel a little numb....and excited at the same time. We have taken lots of pictures of Blake and if I was to give any advise to someone, that is what it would be! snap snapp snappady! these memories are very precious and in the future Blake will have some idea of his lip looked like before the surgery ! even if its just to do a show and tell at school... (if he wanted to of course)

My boy is going to have a different smile! but he's going to be the same boy. I love him so much.

So if you are reading this please take a minute on Tuesday 15th November after 3.00pm wish my baby boy your best-est wishes to keep him safe. His Angel's will be watching over him, and he will be in excellent hands under Mr Cadier at Salisbury Hospital.

Thank You..... Next time I blog Blake will still have The Biggest Smile in the World!

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What is a Cleft?

A cleft is a separation or split in either the upper lip or the roof of the mouth (palate) or sometimes both. It occurs when separate areas of the face do not join together properly when a baby is developing in the womb.
The development of the face and the upper lip takes place during the fifth to ninth week of pregnancy.
Cleft lips and palates can occur on their own (non-syndromic) or are sometimes part of a wider series of birth defects (syndromic).
A cleft lip and palate is the most common facial birth defect in the UK. One in every 700 babies is born with a cleft. The type of cleft and how severe it is varies between children.

About Smile Train

Unlike many charities that do many different things, Smile Train's mission is focused on solving a single problem: cleft lip and cleft palate.

Clefts are a major problem in developing countries where there are millions of children who are suffering with unrepaired clefts. Most cannot eat or speak properly. Aren't allowed to attend school or hold a job. And face very difficult lives filled with shame and isolation, pain and heartache. Their clefts usually go untreated because they are poor – too poor to pay for a simple surgery that has been around for decades.

About Operation Smile

Founded in 1982 by Dr William Magee a leading plastic and craniofacial surgeon and his wife Kathleen Magee, a former nurse and clinical social worker, Operation .Smile’s team is driven by our universal compassion to care for children and give the gift of a smile. As an international children’s medical charity, the global partnerships we create in our work to provide free cleft palate and cleft lip surgery is long-lasting. The knowledge we share, the medical and professional infrastructure we build, all leaves a legacy that lives well beyond our medical projects and makes a lasting difference around the world

About my OC condition

Obstetric cholestasis (OC) is a liver disorder that occurs in around one in 200 pregnancies in the UK¹. Also referred to as intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), it is a condition in which the normal flow of bile out of the liver is reduced. Chemicals in the bile called bile salts (also often referred to as bile acids) can then build up and ‘leak’ into the bloodstream. This causes affected women to have increased levels of bile salts in their blood.

OC is also characterised by itching, known as pruritus. The itching generally appears in the last three months of pregnancy but can appear sooner². It is of variable severity and can be extremely distressing for the mother. Both the raised bile salts and pruritus completely disappear soon after the birth and do not appear to cause
long-term health problems for mothers.

Several fetal complications have been reported in OC pregnancies. There is an increased risk of preterm delivery (both spontaneous and induced) and fetal distress. Some case studies have also reported stillbirth occurring near the end of pregnancy in women with OC². Therefore it is essential that the condition is recognised and treated in time.

At present, most obstetricians in the UK managing OC pregnancies deliver babies early, at around 37 or 38 weeks. This is done because it is thought that it may help prevent the possibility of stillbirth.

I have to say a massive thank you to everyone on the OC Support group on Facebook and i give out lots of LOVE to Jenny Chambers! Thank you all.