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On October 16, 1990, our son Nickolas made his debut in the world! It was a defining moment that had a profound impact on who I am and what I do today.

The pregnancy wasn't difficult, but I noticed that he wasn't nearly as active in utero as his brother, born 3 years earlier, had been. I was cautioned not to compare pregnancies.

As it turned out, however, there were immediate causes for concern. Nick's absent birth cry, trouble nursing, difficulty maintaining appropriate body temperature, and a host of other neurological "soft signs" required many hospital admissions very early in his life to try to get a handle on what was going on inside his little body.

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