Eden Blayke

It was two days later when we found the cleft. My midwife was texting me some questions checking on us when I made a comment about milk coming out of her nose. “Reach into the top of her mouth and see if you feel a hole.” So I did. And she did have a hole. When my midwife didn’t respond in .02 seconds, I did a quick search and realized what she had me checking for: cleft palate. I saw the word “surgery.”

I held that tiny two day old baby in the bath and sobbed. How on earth did this happen? That’s where it all began.

Fast forward to now, and we are on the other side of it. Still healing and recovering but the surgery is done. We did it. She did it. That one little cleft that caused aspirating, reflux, failure to thrive, feeding tube, thickening milk, different bottles, different nipples, weight gain issues….is closed.

It feels so surreal to be on this side of it. The goodness of God has been so incredibly evident and beautiful the entire time. Here she is two days post-op, smiling. Dancing. Laughing. She amazes me. We still definitely have a road to recovery but she’s healing like a champ. Eden Blayke, you are a light that has shined bright since the moment you showed up. Our family needed you and so does the world.