When baby Eli entered the world at an Alabama hospital on March 4, his mother, even before the doctors, was the first to notice something wasn't quite right.
"I pulled back and said, 'Something's wrong!' And the doctor said, 'No, he's perfectly fine.' Then I shouted, 'He doesn't have a nose!' " the newborn's mother, Brandi McGlathery, told Al.com.
Doctors immediately took the newborn away. After a few minutes of anxious waiting, McGlathery's doctor re-entered the delivery room at South Baldwin Hospital and confirmed what she saw- her newborn was missing a nose.
Eli's mother and father Troy Thompson, from Summerdale, Alabama, never saw this coming. The only thing remarkable about her pregnancy was severe nausea and a 3D ultrasound that showed a bit of raised bone covered in skin where his nose should be. Still, both parents and doctors didn't suspect anything.
In addition to not having a nose, Eli was born without a nasal cavity or a sense of smell, characteristics of an extremely rare condition known as complete congenital arhinia, the mother told Al.com. She said chances of an infant being born with the condition is one in 197 million.
Her son- who was able to breath out of his mouth- was immediately taken to USA Children's and Women's Hospital in Mobile, Alabama. There, doctors performed a tracheotomy and inserted a breathing tube in the five-day-old infant.
"He has done wonderfully since then," McGlathery told Al.com "He's been a much happier baby."
Eli's condition has the medical community stumped. With only 37 known cases of congenital arhinia worldwide, McGlathery said, doctors and nurses were scrambling to find sufficient research on how to care for such a unique baby- including whether or not Eli could breastfeed.
But Eli defied the odds and McGlathery became the first mother to breastfeed a child with his condition at the Mobile hospital, the news site reported. The infant's doctors are now planning on writing an extensive study on Eli in the event of a future case.
After several weeks in the hospital, Eli's parents are preparing to take their 7-pound bundle of joy home on Monday. But the journey is far from over- Eli will need medical supervision and care for the rest of his life.
McGlathery isn't too worried though.
Eli is "100 percent healthy," his mother said. "He just doesn't have a nose. He has a few hormone deficiencies, but other than that he's healthy."
The condition has impacted Eli's pituitary gland and his brain is situated lower because his skull did not form properly, adding to the challenge of any reconstructive surgery, Al.com reported.
Doctors will also have to wait until Eli is past puberty before working on his nasal passageways. But his parents are not in any rush to change him.
"We think he's perfect the way he is," McGlathery said. "Until the day he wants to have a nose, we don't want to touch him. We have to take it day by day."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise funds for baby Eli's medical care.
