Nathaniel David Bowman
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Nathaniel (Nate) was born March 25, 2003, 5 weeks early. It was an easy and uneventful pregnancy until March 24, when I noticed that I hadn't felt my baby move in the past 24 hours. Labor was induced and Nathaniel David was born just after midnight. He wasn't breathing and was intubated
immediately and whisked away to the NICU. Doctors suspected a chromosomal abnormality from the beginning. We spent the next couple of weeks waiting for test results and much to our relief all the chromosome and genetic testing came back normal.
Eventually the doctors had other concerns. Nate didn't suck, swallow or gag. He ended up with pneumonia (presumably from aspirating) and continue to struggle with breathing. The
neonatologist recommended we transfer to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City (about 3 hours from home) where we could see a geneticist. While at Mercy, Nate had a fundo, g-tube and
tracheostomy. He spent a total of 7 ½ weeks in the hospital, from his birth to his discharge after surgery. We drove Nate home from Kansas City in our car packed with medical supplies and equipment. We felt both fear and anticipation of what the future held.
Nate is now 13 months old. Some days our lives seem to revolve around visits from therapists and nurses and doctors' appointments. But we have settled into a somewhat normal
routine. Nate is making some developmental progress. His most recent and exciting milestone was smiling!! He's working hard on head control and we hope to have him sitting (for at least a few seconds) in the next couple of months.
Nate has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, but the underlying cause has never been identified. The doctors still seem to believe he has some "syndrome". We continue to feel fear and anticipation of the future. But with each day, the fear begins to diminish and the anticipation grows!
Nate lives in Kansas with his parents, Jeremy and Marcie Bowman and his sisters, Brianna (12/94) and Allison (5/96).
