Blessed

So it's been a couple of months since Blake had his first surgery and I am very pleased to say he is doing brilliantly! he is feeding and eating really well, we are still using the special mam bottles for Blakes milk feeds. My little man has found his thumb! which is really sweet, Tia had a dummy when she was a baby so she calls it Blake's dummy thumb bless her, he even puts his thumb in his mouth while im feeding him his solids which at first was quite frustrating and very messy! especially when there's food coming out of his nose but its even messier when he sneezes, it makes me laugh, he hates having his nose wiped though I guess it will be uncomfortable, but I am sure it will get better with time. Once his hard palate is repaired that wont happen anymore.  I was a little concerned at first that he was using his thumb to push the food in the hole in his hard palate, but I guess its a comfort thing he has taken too.

Blake had lots of visitors after his surgery and he received lots of get well soon cards from family and friends, The support we have received was amazing and everybody was amazed by the wonderful job the cleft team had done. It took about a two weeks for the purple glue strip to drop off and the more that fell off the more exciting it became to see how he looked, it was amazing the difference was shocking but he was so happy and he was still Blake always smiling, even though it was sore. He is going to have a cute scare I call it his Harry Potter scare as it has a slight zig zag just like the one on Harry's forehead!

We went on a trip to visit family in Yorkshire as we knew everyone wanted to see how Blake was doing My mum was so excited and chuffed to bits with the repair! we had a lovely time and Blake and Tia were spoilt rotten as usual. We as a family were looking forward to Christmas this year its like a lot of stress and worry had been lifted after the surgery... and we knew we would be spending it in Yorkshire with both our families. Even though we know there will be more repairs to come we were just glad we got through the first stage.

We have been watching Blake grow and change,  his personality is really shining through he has such an infectious laugh and I think he will start crawling soon hes not quite figured out how to move but he goes on all fours and starts rocking away!and the way he interacts with Tia is amazing he loves her so so much I love watching them play together. He's a mummy's boy and a daddy's boy..... so so loving I swear my boy never stops smiling and now his lip is really healing he's more able to smile... I was worried his smiles wouldn't be as big as before but I tell you they are just as beautiful he really does have the biggest smile in the world..... to me. I am so blessed to have two beautiful children.

My blogs seems to have become very popular and it has been read by people all over the world, I am so pleased as I decided to write this as I wanted to help other families, mothers that are going through the motions as we have, if it helps just one person its been worthwhile. A popular magazine in the British market called That's Life has read my blog via Facebook and contacted me as they wanted to publish Blakes story in there health page I was delighted it would mean raising more awareness for cleft lip and palate, I said yes straight away to me it was a wonderful opportunity! I was interviewed over the phone, which I found very emotional recalling everything that had happened during and after my pregnancy and realized I had pushed a lot of feelings and emotions aside, like I had left them in a shoe box. that same evening the article was read back to me over the phone.......... it left a lump in my throat, and it touched my heart. I was told I would be receiving £250 for my story I will be donating some to CLAPA and buying something for my special boy and Tia my children are so inspiring, they deserve a massive treat. If your in England 'That's Life Magazine' issue 8 out end of February 2012 So exciting! hope you all can read it.

We had a great Christmas and we are hoping fore a wonderful new year but in the back of my mind I have already been thinking about the next surgery, but in a more positive light, stronger, happier and incredibly proud.