Choosing our Craniofacial Team

Grace, she carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips between her fingertips

She carries a pearl in perfect condition
What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings
Because Grace makes beauty out of everything.
- Grace, U2 from "All that You Can't Leave Behind"

Our beautiful Tessa is now 13 weeks old. Her surgery is coming up soon to repair the lip, gum, and nose. She will have another surgery when she is a bit older to repair the palate. We have been so blessed to have found a wonderful Craniofacial Team to work with. It is no coincindence however. We know God placed us in touch with this wonderful team through my OB/GYN. God works in wonderful ways. When we first learned about Tessa's wide smile we were not sure of what kind of doctor we could find to perform the surgery. Our pediatrician recommended a very well known, reputable plastic surgeon but we were unsure. It wasn't until some time in December that we learned of Dr. Franks and Dr. Wilson. We met with the staff but were still uncertain on which direction to go. We wanted a team that would provide the latest medical procedures to improve the condition of Tessa's lip and palate. Dr. Franks, as busy as he is took the time to stop by the hospital when Tessa was born. We knew immediately they were the team to work with. They were going to fit Tessa with a nasal alveolar molding device to start her journey of repair.

Grace Finds Beauty In Everything

Our beautiful Tessa Grace Marie was born on 01/23/08 at 8:39 PM weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces and 19 1/4 inches long. We knew via ultrasound at 18 weeks that Tessa would have a unilateral cleft lip and palate. Some people ask how we handled seeing her for the first time as the doctor delivered her. They imagine it was difficult for us, but it was not. God’s grace allowed us to see her big, beautiful, wide smile as a blessing. My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV) Mothers and fathers and anyone who has witnessed the miracle of a new little soul being born into the word knows that words cannot describe that moment – the moment when you feel her breathing and crying and moving on you. The moment when as you glance up at your husband you know he knows that you have both seen God in that moment. Tessa in that moment was a soft, warm light and she is still in every moment I hold her, feed her, sing to her, and watch that beautiful smile form on those imperfect little lips. Every one of those moments with her is a sort of holiday all its own.

Gabriel's Missing Touch

There is a Jewish tradition that Gabriel is the Angel of Birth.
It is said that he carefully spends the nine months of the pregnancy watching over each unborn child and instructing that child on the necessary knowledge of Heaven that is an inherent part of all people.
Just before birth, though, Gabriel touches each baby on the upper lip to seal them; to make the child unable to rememberall of the information about Heaven and so that the child’s soul cannot inadvertently blurt out all the wonders and mysteries of Heaven until the child returns to the spiritual state at death.
The sign of Gabriel’s Touch, the imprint of the angel’s seal upon the child’s lips, is the little divot just below the nose.
Most babies like Tessa who has a cleft lip and palate are born without that little divot. We like to believe that God’s grace allowed them to share some of the special mystery of Heaven with us when they are born.