Meet our January!
Friends of the Month!
We love celebrating these amazing kids all month long through our social media pages and special gifts through the mail. Read their amazing stories below!
Case-
Case was born at 25 weeks old. He weighed 1.3 ounces and spent 110 days in the NICU on a ventilator and feeding tube. At 38 weeks he was diagnosed after a routine MRI with Perivinticular Leukomalacia (PVL) which is a type of Brain Trauma that affects Gross and Fine motor skills as well as verbal skills and later on Cerebral Palsy. We brought Case home on oxygen due to chronic lung disease and he was on Nasal Canuala Oxygen for the first 3 months he was home. As soon as we got home we immediately started multiple therapies for Case such as PT, OT, feeding and later on Speech and Hippo Therapy . He has also attended therapies out of state to help him gain as much independence as possible. Case has such a contagious and infectious smile and personality that can brighten anyone’s day .He is so smart and is such inspiration to our community . He is a true fighter and does not let his diagnosis define him. Case loves the outdoors and his Farm that we live on . He is a true farm boy and loves all his farm animals and tractors !
Charlotte-
Charlotte Adelia Whitaker was born 5/25/24 at 1:19 am. She was diagnosed with Trisomy 13/Patau Syndrome during the pregnancy. It was rough, our doctors at her birth hospital gave her little to no chance of survival. She was 6 lbs 6 oz at birth. She exceeded their expectations, however she hit many bumps in the road at that hospital. Other than her omphalocele surgery that was performed the day after she was born, they refused to perform life saving and prolonging interventions. The pediatric surgeon worked completely separate from her neonatal team as he agreed with us on the omphalocele repair. That in itself caused friction between us and the neonatal team that had refused the repair and any other interventions. Then after causing her to become critically ill, her neonatal team tried to convince us to move her to comfort care. Thankfully our refusal to give up on our sweet girl added with the support of some wonderful people we meet through the Trisomy community, and two amazing doctors, we were able to get Charlotte transferred to another hospital. There she received her tracheostomy. She was transferred back to our home state after she recovered, but this time to a more Trisomy friendly hospital.
She has thrived in her new hospital. The entire medical team call her a rockstar. They are just as proud of her as we are. She is our little warrior princess. She will be four months old on September 25th. She is on CPAP settings, and they believe she will come off the ventilator completely in the future. She is over 13 lbs now. She is extremely sweet, and loves cuddles. She loves her soft loveys and plush blankets. She enjoys being read to, and listening to music. She adores her Mommy and Daddy, and we adore her. She has four siblings that love her to pieces, and the way she reacts to their voices the feeling is mutual. Charlotte graduated from the NICU October 8th.
Evie (angel)-
I’m sharing this on behalf of my daughter, Evie, who had Trisomy 13. She passed away in 2021, but her legacy still lives on.
I would like the world to know how special she was. Despite her having Trisomy 13 and many other medical issues, she was so perfect, loved, and wanted. She only lived for 56 days, but she knew how much she was cared for. She knew mine (her mom) and her dad’s voice. She would “watch” her fish TV. She loved to snuggle with her fact smashed into my chest. She loved when her dad was at the hospital with us. She taught the people around her, even her doctors and nurses so much about loving a child that couldn’t stay. She changed the hearts of many people that crossed her path. She was cherished every day of her life. She will never, even be forgotten.
Please nominate your Born Abel child as a Friend of the Month! We would love to feature them on our social media pages, illustrate them, make a reel with their story, and send them a special gift in the mail!
FIll in this form to nominate your child today!
