A baby has been born with a very rare condition of having no nose yet breathes perfectly just like those that have one.
23-year-old Brandi McGlathery welcomed her baby boy, Eli Thompson, in the afternoon of Wednesday, March 10, 2015.
The mother of three said everything was just fine on that day and that the baby looked perfectly healthy until she realised he had no nose.
She said, “The day I delivered, everything went fine. At 4:42 when he was born, he came out and the doctor put him on my chest. When I took a closer look at him, I said, ‘He doesn’t have a nose,’ and they took him out of the room.”
She further disclosed how the doctor calmly sat beside her in the hospital bed to explain her son’s condition to her with an apologetic mien.
“He had the most apologetic look on his face. I knew right away that something was wrong,” she said.
According to ABC News, although her baby showed no signs of additional abnormalities, McGlathery said she was at first shocked and upset to hear the news from her doctor.
McGlathery’s obstetrician, Dr. R. Craig Brown, said his own research has revealed only 38 cases of “absolutely nothing being wrong other than no nose.” That’s very, very rare.
“I’ve seen facial abnormalities, cleft lip and palate, but this is the first time I’ve seen a case with just no nose.”
Dr Brown said the woman who became his patient early in her pregnancy showed no signs of a high risks, and tests showed that her baby had a nasal bone.
Dr Brown said, “She came in right at 37 weeks and went into labor. Once I delivered him and we cleaned him off I could tell something wasn’t right, but I didn’t want to alarm her.”
He said the baby is doing great asides the fact that he doesn’t have a nose.
He added, “He’s a super cute kid and you could tell he was fighting. I recounted everything I did throughout my pregnancy to figure out if i did something wrong,” McGlathery said. “I realized it was nothing anyone did. I mean, he’s perfect. I’m not going to say I was sad. I was just scared for him because I didn’t think he’d make it.”
Now in order to breathe well, the baby has to use a tracheostomy, a tube that will assist his breathing.
McGlathery said she and her family have all been trained in controlling her child’s equipment, and all received CPR training.
“After I realized nothing wrong was him health-wise, I was scared what other people would say. I don’t ever want my son to come home and say ‘mommy, somebody made fun of my nose.’ But I also don’t want others to pity him.”
The boy and his mum were discharged from the hospital on Monday, March 30, 2015 and he has since been doing great..
“He’s an extremely happy baby and does cute stuff all the time. There’s a reason aside from his health issue and not having a nose as to why we call him our miracle baby. He just tugs on people’s heart strings. It’s his demeanor,” said the baby’s mum.
She added, “I don’t think my son will ever have an idea of how much he’s impacted people.
“He’s definitely started something and has got a big purpose in life. He’s going to have one hell of a testimony to tell people one day.”
