His name is official: TALEN WILLIAM STALLINGS!!!! Talen (because we like it) and William (Jeff chose to be named after Papa and his dad)!!!! I am just thankful he has an official name!! Soo stressful picking a name that he will have FOREVER!! We have his bedding too, but nothing much past that. Nothing much new medically other than they are now watching his weight. Apparently after his fair share of M & M's, McDonald's french fries, and ice cream, they think he is a little bigger than average.....Go figure, I don't get it!! :)

Hello everyone! Well, we have done 2 of the 3D/4D ultrasounds in the last week and a half to learn more or at least try to! The first one was with Dr. Stanley (perinatal specialist) on September 28th, but we couldn't see his lip or nose very well because he either had a foot or hand in front of his face, being bashful ! At the end he ended up just "palming" his face like a basketball!! :) However, we were able to look at the gumline which looked great and unaffected and then were able to get probably the best look at the palate until he's here and it too LOOKS to be unaffected!!! Woohoo!!! We are trying not to get too excited because it is still a possibility until everything is confirmed the day he arrives! On another note....he was measuring approx. 3lbs 1 oz.

Then, I went to Mom's office where she works (OB/GYN clinic in Denton) and we did another one a week later! He is now measuring 4 lbs. 2 oz. I am currently 29 weeks and measuring 32!!! OUCH!! We were able to get a great look at his nose and lip and I feel great about it all!! The nose does not appear to be very distorted, just a little pulled on the cleft side and the cleft gap seems to be pretty minimal!!!!!

Here are a couple recent photos of Talen and I , we are still working on Talen's middle name!! Decisions, Decisions!!!!!

Hello Everyone! Better late than never, but here is the latest update after meeting with the surgeon last Thursday.

First of all, he was exactly what we were hoping for! AWESOME!! He spent over an hour with us answering questions we had and ones we hadn't thought of yet. In addition, Dr. Smith went over the steps and timeline of what will happen when Talen/ Tallen is born (haven't figured out the spelling yet). Soo, here is the latest:

He confirmed that we will not know the status of the palate until the little man arrives....so assuming and hoping that he only has a cleft lip, here are the surgeries:

1. Repair of the lip (approx. 10 weeks old), he will also do as much as he can with the nose if the nostril is also affected on the cleft side.
2. His next surgery will not be until before kindergarten and that will be to polish the first surgery with the lip, nose, or both
3. The "bone grafting" on the cleft side in his gums to eventually put in a false tooth.
4. Anything left that needs repair around the age of 14 or when his face is fully developed.

If his palate is affected:
1. Closure of the palate around a year old. (I am meeting with a feeding specialist this week...who knew there was such a thing?!?!). She will help me prepare for this as he will not be able to eat like other babies.
2. Pharyongoplasty at around 2 years ( if his speech is affected).
3. Jaw surgery at completion of growth if jaws noticeably do not bite down to one another!

I asked Dr. Smith at the end of our meeting, "with all due respect, Jeff and I naturally want what is best for our child, if your child was born with a cleft lip or palate, would you want your team to perform the operations?" His answer was exactly what I was hoping he would say: "I have done my soul searching about a decade ago. When I rotated at the Austrailia World Children's Center, I realized the passion I had when I was able to grow with my patients and watch the rewards take place at my fingertips. I realized that the repairs I had done were either as good as or mostly better than those I had seen before and those currently being repaired."

Long story short, Dr. Smith just earned a spot on the Stallings' Christmas card list!!!

If any of you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me at bethanie.stallings@gmail.com or just post it on the blog.

Love you all,
Beth, Jeff and Talen/Tallen

Hello everyone! Well as most of you know, we went in for our ultrasound last Friday to find out the sex of the baby. However, we also went to a perinatal center to check for cleft lip/ cleft palate. As it turns out, it looks as though our Baby BOY will have a cleft lip.

First, we will go meet Dr. Kevin Smith with the oral maxifacial surgeon team at OU Children's Center. Apparently, this guy is THE MAN when it comes to cleft lip or palate repair. We have heard nothing but amazing things about him from my OBGYN, the perinatal center, as well as a friend of my I graduated high school who happens to be doing his rotations under him right now!!!! Small world!! Until we meet with him, I don't have many anwers to very many questions; however, we meet with him AUGUST 30th and we will ask him as much as we can think of between now and then. Then back to the periatal center for another ultrasound to see if we can determine anything else with the palate or the severity of the lip on September 26th.

For those who don't know what this means:
This is the basics of what I am aware of.....I was born with a unilateral cleft lip (just one side effected), my palate was completely intact. I am hoping and praying that this is what our little boy has if it has to be this way!! If so, he will most likely go through several operations: 1. to close and repair the lip, 2. probably a cosmetic surgery before he starts to school to polish the lip, scar tissue, etc. 3. he will need bone grafting (take bone from his jaw to place into his gums to eventually provide support for a false tooth--bone is typically absent from the cleft side), 4. a nose repair at some point. If he does have a cleft palate, it means a whole new "can of worms" as eating will be different, more surgeries and procedures, and speech help most likely.

With each visit, I plan to post what the doctors are saying on this site. I am too good right now at being scatter brained and not remembering who all I have told and each of you are probably getting different details, I am sure of it!!

So , until the 30th, Jeff and I ask for your prayers for a miracle and for best case scenario!!