Something Unique About Rachel

Just a couple hours after Rachel was born, we found out that she had no uvula - or at least that's what we thought at the time. In case you're wondering what a uvula is, it's that little ball that hangs down over your throat at the back of your mouth! Anyways, the nurse practitioner told us that Rachel didn't have one. And when we peeked inside her mouth, sure enough! No little dangling ball in there! This seemed to explain why she was making some funny noises when nursing, which indicated that she maybe wasn't eating well enough. Well, we were slightly worried. Since having no uvula is quite rare, there isn't all that much info about it to give help to parents wondering what kind of future issues their kid might have with a condition like this. And as of yesterday evening, no one around here really had any good answers either. Most everyone on our floor shrugged and said, "what's a uvula?!" We wouldn't know anything real definitive until late this morning when we had a chance to talk with the pediatrician here. Her assessment was helpful.

It turns out that Rachel does indeed have a uvula, it just doesn't look like most people's. In fact, her uvula is separated and basically attached to the sides of her mouth, almost like an extension of her soft palate. And it is her palate that is much of the issue. Her hard palate is fine (that firm part of the roof of your mouth you feel when you stick your tongue to it). But her soft palate (the soft part of the roof of your mouth you feel when you reach your tongue back as far as you can) is only 1/4 complete. The rest of it is split, or cleft. And her uvula is split, having not developed correctly. That's a bit of a problem for eating and would also be an issue for speaking down the road.

The bottom line, Rachel will need surgery, likely within the first year of her life. She's going to need to have her palate repaired, as well as her uvula restructured. The great news is that once she does have the surgery, she should be completely healthy and function normally. We can't have the surgery now, however, because her mouth is still growing and developing and to rush the surgery could complicate things in the future. In the meantime, her eating is a little more difficult than it is for most babies. She won't be able to get the really great suction that most infants do, so please pray for Rachel and for Becca as they work together as a team to feed and eat. Additionally, because some portions of her palate are incomplete, her nasal cavity is extra-exposed, which means that spit up will tend to come through her nose sometimes. She's also more prone to prolonged gagging than most babies might be. This is obviously uncomfortable and will mean some extra love and attention from us as we nurse and feed her. Pray for us as we learn Rachel's signals and try to get her what she needs and protect her from choking.

Yes, we were at times a bit nervous about what this condition might bring. And we still are to some extent. Parents don't usually desire that their infants have to have surgery. But we're grateful for the news that this is a relatively small issue, and we are praying that, Lord-willing, what we know now won't end up being anything more severe later.

Please join us in praying for Rachel as she develops. And please pray for our family as we make multiple doctors' visits and learn new things in the coming weeks and months leading up to her surgery.

I'll leave you tonight with my favorite moment of the last couple days. Here is my dad - teary-eyed - holding his granddaughter, Rachel Pugh, just an hour after her birth. I still remember walking into our house 23 years ago as a young boy and seeing my parents weeping, as my dad held his daughter, Rachel Pugh, in his arms just moments after she had passed away. What a gift my sister Rachel was. And what gift my daughter Rachel is. How precious is the God we serve.