Story
Name
Lorenzo Smith
Injury/Illness
Pregnancy-Related Illness
Lorenzo was diagnosed with esophageal atresia in utero. Esophageal Atresia is where the esophagus is not attached to the stomach, there is a gap. Therefore he cannot swallow or eat, it was a death sentence for babies diagnosed prior to 1948. This was a scary diagnosis because it could also be linked to something called VATERL syndrome, and none of this could be confirmed until after birth. Due to Lorenzo being unable to swallow amniotic fluid, I had a build up, which led to further complications during my pregnancy. Polyhydramnios is the term for excess amniotic fluid which put me at risk for premature labor.
Lorenzo's due date was originally 1/19/2024, because of complications we had an induction date of 12/29/2024. We did not make it to either of those dates. On Sunday 12/10/2024, I was not feeling movements and we went in to the hospital for monitoring. After a 30min ultrasound of no fetal movements, the doctor came in and rushed me down to the OR for an emergency c-section to save Lorenzo's life. He was taken that night by the Milwaukee childrens NICU transport team and brought to Childrens Hospital in Milwaukee. We live in Neenah, WI which is 1.5 hours from Milwaukee, WI. I followed the next day with my husband. My husband, myself and my other two children are currently staying at the Ronald McDonald house in Milwaukee across the street from the Childrens Hospital.
Lorenzo's stay in the NICU is predicted to be 4 to 6 months. This diagnosis is not an easy surgical fix because Lorenzo has to grow to hopefully shorten the gap between the esophagus and the stomach and he has to be at a certain weight for the big surgery. Lorenzo has already had one surgery to place a feeding tube in his stomach so that he can eat until they are able complete the attachment surgery. As many of the doctors, surgeons, nurses, specialists have said, this is going to be a long road. He will have to have therapy to make sure that he is able to swallow and eat by mouth before he can come home. We are doing our best to maintain during this time, unfortunately life back home doesn't stop.