Baby Samara’s Journey to Her Heavenly Home

It is with a broken heart that I write these words…

On Thursday, June 1st, 2023, our newest Church addition, Samara Isabel Lorenzo, was born a little after 3:30 in the morning. Baby girl’s heart was beating at 139; however, just a few seconds later, her heart stopped beating in her mother’s arms. She passed surrounded by love as her mommy, her daddy, both her maternal and paternal grandmothers, and her maternal grandfather were present during her birth and her passing.

Samara Isabel had a form of skeletal dysplasia that affected the size of her head, her ribcage and her extremities such as her arms and legs; also, her bones were affected as they were fractured while within the womb. Samara did not get to take her first breath. Her family didn’t get to hear her cry. Why? Because her lungs couldn’t expand due to the smallness of her ribcage.

What is skeletal dysplasia?

Skeletal dysplasia is a category of about 400 rare genetic disorders and/or conditions that cause abnormal development of a baby’s bones, joins, and cartilage. Skeletal dysplasia affects bone development, neurological function and cartilage growth. About 1 in 5,000 babies is born with skeletal dysplasia, which varies in severity.

Samara’s mother, J. Mariel Lorenzo, endured so much during the pregnancy. In December 2022, Mariel was notified that baby girl may have a rare genetic disorder. In January 2023, the diagnosis was confirmed through amniocentesis. She saw specialists during her pregnancy and had amniotic fluid removed in three occasions during her pregnancy, a very painful process, in attempt to prolong the pregnancy, as the amniotic fluid was building up, causing Mariel to carry as if she was further along in her pregnancy; therefore, her body was reacting as such; going into cramping and contractions, preparing for labor.

Samara was due in late June; however, Mariel was sent to the hospital on Tuesday, May 30th to be induced, as her contractions were only minutes away from one another, and, when measured, she was measuring at 60+ weeks, per doctor.

It was on June 1st that Mariel got to say hello to her beautiful baby girl but it was also on that day that she had to give the hardest goodbye of her life together along with her husband.

The family has two little boys (6 and 3) who ask day in and day out for their baby sister.

Please keep them in prayers; and, if possible, please donate to the cause of helping this family with expenses.

We appreciate you, your prayers and your donations greatly. God bless!