As many of you now know, Colton was born with a complete unilateral cleft lip and significant cleft palate. While we were fortunate to have found this and had it diagnosed early at our 20 week ultrasound it has been a huge educational experience. For those who do not know about cleft about one in every 800 babies are born with one and it is a lifelong condition that affects his hearing, breathing, eating, Teeth structure, facial structure and speech; amongst other things that we may not know until later as he grows and develops. We have been extremely blessed to be able to find what we would consider the best cleft team to care for Colton at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (CHOP) they began Colton‘s care when he was only eight days old, and they will continue to handle his lifelong care and the many surgeries, reconstructions and therapies that he will inevitably have to undergo. While we feel extremely fortunate to be able to work with such an incredible team, as you can imagine it comes with and a huge commitment to travel 10 hours every week (currently every Sunday-Monday) along with accommodations each week while we are there, in addition to the cost of his care and supplies. Currently Colton’s first surgery is February 3rd - this will be to repair his lip and reconstruct his nose. His second surgery is expected to take place around 8 weeks later, and will be to reconstruct both his soft and hard palates. Currently Colton is doing very well feeding - he is on a special formula and uses special bottles. He also is undergoing face taping (we change multiple times a day), and he is utilizing the NAM (a retainer like device made for him, to help close his palate). While most days are a struggle - he has been a champ through it all! (Even the long car rides/trips, and being poked in his mouth until he gags!) We are so proud of him, and the progress hes making in such a short time! We are expecting the 6-8 weeks after his first surgery to be challenging, and as soon as he will be recovering from his first surgery he will be undergoing his second surgery. This meal train will help his family to focus solely on Colton’s recovery, while still remembering to take care of themselves (& eat). If you’d like to help, but don’t want to commit to cooking an entire meal, gift cards for local restaurants is also an available option! 💙🙏💙 We appreciate everyone’s concern, support and prayers while trying to navigate this challenging chapter. Thank you in advance! 🙏