Counting our blessings...

When Grayson was born and I looked at his beautiful face I didn't even notice his lip, but I do remember Charlie talking to a nurse from across the room and asking her about it. "What about his lip?" I asked. I was told he has a cleft lip. Immediate dread set in. When he was brought back to me I looked at his sweet face. Sure enough, he has a small cleft lip on his right side. Luckily, it is incomplete and doesn't extend to his nose or include his palate. Charlie and I were really surprised. And I admit, we were upset too. I don't think anyone wants to hear about birth defects minutes after your baby is born. The nurse said that a pediatrician would come and talk to us the next day.
Charlie and I looked and looked at his lip, and we have had countless conversations over the last few weeks about it. We were immediately really funny about sending pictures or taking pictures of Grayson. We just didn't want anyone to comment on facebook and say something about it. When I did finally post pictures I was super selective about which ones I chose to post. I now think that I shouldn't worry about that so much. I am proud of my little boy, and I don't want to hide him! He is such a good baby and we are enjoying him so much.
The pediatrician set us up an appointment with a plastic surgeon and feeding/speech pathologist. The pediatrician said that the surgery would be in the next few months and would completely correct his lip. We felt relieved that the problem could be fixed, but we really hate that Grayson has to go through the surgery at all.
Grayson's lip has been a constant reminder of God's mysterious ways. In the midst of dealing with Grayson's lip, we have realized how much we have been blessed. There are so many things to be thankful for, such as the fact that his lip isn't that bad and that I have been able to breastfeed him at all.
We think Grayson is beautiful, even with his lip. Here he is in the hospital when I got to dress him for the first time.