Raphael was born

He came into the world with raspy, gurgly breathing (stridor), a crooked mouth and a funny ear but that didn’t stop us from instantly loving him. A bit of suctioning by the nurse did not improve his gurgle.


He added to our little family nicely:

• Paul and Annie Bartlett
• Faith Bartlett (3yo)
• Zachariah Bartlett (2yo)
• and now Raphael Bartlett (0yo)

After a few days in hospital there was a small concern that he wasn't starting to gain weight correctly. His suck was strong but he seemed to choke a lot and get tired quickly while on the breast. Follow up nurse visits after leaving hospital resulted in a gradual increase in concern over his weight gain. Our other children were slow weight gainers too so we weren't that concerned, but it took ages to feed Raphael and lactation herbs didn't seem to be helping the weight gain. If anything he would become overwhelmed by the milk and turn away to stop drinking.

Here is a photo showing his wonky ear and crooked mouth. Normally he is extremely passive but we managed to catch him in this moment of rage when he was 4 days old. Check out the creases on his head!