Craniofacial Acceptance Month

September is National Craniofacial Acceptance Month. Before I had Ella I didn't know of too many people who were born with cleft lips or palates. When I found out she had one I wasn't too worried, knowing it was something that could easily be fixed. Then I found out that many babies are aborted based solely on clefts, a sad truth. While in Crouse we fought to get Ella eating, knowing we would have to start with a tube and bottle. This was a huge priority to us. We had one nurse by the name of Christan who worked the night shift. Fortunately for us, she loved to work overtime so she was there almost every night. She and Drew quickly formed a bond because she was so positive and willing to work with us to get Ella eating, any voice of hope was monumental and highly appreciated.  Every night they were working to overcome obstacles to get her eating. She was constantly reassuring us that she would eventually learn the bottle and everything was going to be ok. It wasn't until a couple weeks after Ella passed that I was looking at her facebook page, we had became friends and kept in touch. I saw that one of her sons looked like he had had a cleft lip surgery. Then I noticed that both of her sons had. WOW! Why had she never mentioned this? I was overjoyed and thought to myself that if she hadn't been through this with her own children that she may not have been such a positive influence on us in Crouse. It was through her own experiences that she knew how important it was to us to get Ella to feed from a bottle. This is just another example of how one's choosing life for "unusual circumstances" can be very positive for not only them, but for others as well. We are forever grateful for her work in our lives.