My name is Rachel and I’m a mama to a beautiful 7-month-old! On February 3, 2023, our lives were forever changed! At our anatomy scan we learned our baby girl had a possible cleft lip and palate. They sent us to a high-risk doctor for further imaging.

In the meantime, I was devastated. No one in our family that we knew of had a cleft. I felt anger, sadness, worried, but most importantly guilt. I felt my body had failed her. I did everything I was supposed to. To this day I think back and think maybe I was too careful. But we’re a religious family so after several months I realized God hand crafted this perfect little girl for us.

We had no idea how severe it was until Westlynn was born. On June 7, 2023, she made her appearance into the world. Our hearts instantly melted. We saw that perfectly unique hand crafted smile and fell in love. We also learned she had another condition called microphthalmia which can sometimes be related.

The next several weeks and months were rough as we were learning how to navigate a baby with cleft. We all had some good days and bad days. We all cried. But she’s had her first surgery and she’s doing amazing!

I miss her first smile more than anything, but my husband and I got to fall in love with two smiles. We had her first smile for 212 days and now we have her forever smile.

Just remember mamas and daddies, it may seem rough, and you may feel alone but I promise you you’re not!

-Rachel