Baby Lucas

Everyone, meet Lucas! After originally having a due date of June 13, 2024, he came into the world much earlier than expected on March 5th, 2024, at only 25 weeks and 5 days gestational age (although doctors estimate that developmentally he was right at the cusp of viability at 24 weeks), weighing only 1 pound 0.9 ounces, or 480 grams, and 11 inches long.

Lucas’ Mom, Summer, had a relatively easy and normal pregnancy at first, but right around 20 weeks she started experiencing severe abdominal pain and other worrying symptoms (like fainting, etc) off and on, going to the emergency room on two separate occasions, each time being told that nothing was really wrong. The second time they monitored her blood pressure for a few hours, but once they had a normal reading she was free to go home that day and told that her symptoms were just because pregnancy can be uncomfortable. On March 4th her and Lucas’ Dad, Justin,’ went to the Emergency room around 6pm for the 3rd time after she felt like she couldn’t move or function due to the amount of pain she was having.

Finally, during the third ER visit, doctors ran a blood and urine test and discovered that Summer has not only severe pre-eclampsia, but had developed HELLP syndrome. They immediately gave her steroids to help develop Lucas’ lungs in the hopes of being able to stabilize her and maintain the pregnancy a week or so longer to give him more time. However, doctors also knew that Summer was critically ill, and would need to be transferred via helicopter to Johns Hopkins immediately to receive care. Unfortunately a storm in the area prevented that plan from happening and waiting for an ambulance transport became necessary.

After finally arriving to Johns Hopkins around 1:30am, it became clear that there was no chance Summer could remain pregnant for another week and that Lucas would need to be born within hours. Summers HELLP Syndrome was at an extremely severe state and she would need to be given blood transfusions and put under general anesthesia to receive a classical c-section, with doctors trying to not only save Lucas and deliver him, but also attempting to prevent her body from bleeding out (with her blood pressure so high and her platelet counts incredibly low—dangerously close to the point where her blood would be unable to clot and she could go into a state of DIC, this was a major concern). Around 4am, even with transfusions, Summer was still trending down and her liver enzyme levels were continuing to elevate, and the decision was made to deliver as soon as possible. Lucas was born at 6:55am.

A little more than a month old, on the surface Lucas looks peaceful, but the reality is that he has major hurdles and uphill battles to fight before he will be able to go home. He currently has severe worsening chronic lung disease, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, pulmonary interstitial emphysema, symmetrical intrauterine growth restriction, and a patent ductus arteriosus. As if he doesn’t have enough battles to fight, he contracted MRSA and developed an inguinal hernia. Currently the biggest concern for his care team is the worry that he may outgrow his lungs at some point, but they cannot predict if or when that will be.

Just as it seemed as if things were at their darkest thoughts, on Easter (April 1st) they experienced a miracle. Lucas was able to defy the odds and drastically decrease the amount of oxygen supplementation he needed, as well as transition off of the Jet ventilation meant for premies, to a conventional ventilator which doctors believe can help develop and expand his lungs. The same doctor who days before had essentially said there wasn’t much hope to be had said that she was speechless and she was amazed at what she was seeing—that for the first time she had hope for him too.

It took an entire month for Summer and Justin to be able to hold Lucas, and now they can hold him for around an hour each day. They visit him every day and talk to him, hold him, bring him pumped milk, and let him know that he is loved and they will never stop having hope for him and advocating for him.

For the first 5 or so weeks of Lucas’ life, his parents were fortunate enough to be provided with a hotel room to stay in that is walking distance to the hospital. This amazing Charity is called Children’s House / Believe in Tomorrow, but there is unfortunately a gap in the stay between 4/9 and 4/27. They are currently on an incredibly long waiting list for the Ronald McDonald house as well.

If they were unable to stay close to the hospital, they would have to commute from their home which is around 60 miles from the city. There are tolls, parking fees, and not to mention the additional added Baltimore area traffic from the Key Bridge catastrophe. Especially when events are happening in the city or there is construction and roadwork, it can take well over 60-90 minutes each way to get to the hospital.

Doctors estimate that if all goes well, Lucas will be in the NICU until June at least. We are hoping to raise money to help cover the cost of a hotel for his parents to stay nearby so they can bond and care for their son during this critical time without the added stress of being far away from him and commuting far distances to see him, to drop off milk, etc. Thank you so much for your support!