You’d never know it to look at her now, but little Trinity gave her parents a very rocky introduction to parenthood… she was born with a cleft palate.

Peter Wirth – father of Trinity says, “So she was basically, you take away the roof of your mouth… and you can see all the way into the nasal cavities and everything.”

Martha Wirth – mother of Trinity says, “The days progressed and she wasn’t eating and she wasn’t sleeping very well, we had to sit in a recliner pretty much all night with her so she could sleep upright, because she would constantly be throwing up or choking or whatever.”

Cleft palate is normally correctable with surgery when a child is a few months old, but until the operation is performed, it’s difficult to deal with.

Martha Wirth says, “It was very much of a struggle for the first two weeks that she was alive, and just wondering if she was going to stop breathing in the middle of the night…just the constant stress and worry of that.”

As Trinity’s condition deteriorated, doctors decided to move up the surgery – leaving these first time parents confused and hurting.

Peter says, “It was the longest 2½ hours it seemed like of our lives, just sitting out there waiting… and just to see her in pain, and there was nothing you could do… that whole, you’re the father, you’re supposed to provide, you’re supposed to do everything, there was nothing I could do.”

Fortunately, her surgery went well, and Trinity now has a clean bill of health. Through it all, the Wirths discovered that when dealing with a child’s medical problems, it is crucial to stick together and support each other.

Martha says, “Our relationship as a husband and wife was very much strengthened by the whole process, because we had to come together and we had to be there for her.”

In the end, Trinity herself helped her parents get through.

Martha says, “I would look at her face when I was depressed or extremely frustrated or afraid for her life, and she would just give me this smile and talk to me or something, and it really helped to get me through some of those harder, harder days.”