Help Baby Lucas

Help Save Baby Lucas! I am the mother of a beautiful daughter who is pregnant with a very sick baby boy named Lucas. Baby Lucas has been diagnosed with CDH and COA. He will need many major surgeries after he’s born in order to keep him alive. More information about our current and upcoming journey is down below ⬇️  At her 20 week anatomy scan we were told that baby Lucas has CDH (congenital diaphragmatic hernia) it’s where the diaphragm didn’t close like it was supposed to therefore the organs that are supposed to be in his abdomen are squished up into his chest which caused his heart to be shifted to the right side and his lungs are very small and unable to grow as they should. They told us baby Lucas has his intestines, stomach, spleen and part of his liver in his chest. He’ll need a surgery done after he’s born in order to fix his diaphragm. They asked my daughter if she wanted to terminate her pregnancy and that she would have to go to a different state to have it done. My daughter didn’t hesitate and said NO. They said CDH is rare and many hospitals aren’t equipped to deal with CDH babies. They referred us to a specialty hospital over an hour away that deals with CDH babies and that has a high survival rate. My daughter went into a depression and struggled and still struggles to find any happiness in this pregnancy. She wants and loves Baby Lucas but she’s scared as we all are. We went for 2 really long days of testing (fetal echocardiogram , MFM anatomy scan by their experts, fetal MRI ). We received more bad news… Baby Lucas has a Congenital Heart Defect called “Coarctation of the aorta”, which was caused by his organs shifting his heart to the right. The cardiologist said he will need heart surgery after he is born. On the same day as the fetal echocardiogram testing and diagnosis was made we had to do a high level anatomy scan with their specialist. The doctor told us the results had changed in the three week period and that Baby Lucas now has his small intestine, colon, stomach, spleen, and 50% of his liver up in his chest and his left kidney is at the opening of the diaphragm. They told us baby Lucas weighed 1 pound 5 oz and we got really excited, he was bigger than he should be!! First bit of good news. Two days later we had the fetal MRI, we were worried about getting more bad news.. We were told by the CDH surgeon that Baby Lucas would be a very challenging case and that he is very sick, the surgeon gave baby Lucas 80% survival rate. He said because of the heart defect it makes it so much worse. He said Baby Lucas has a 80% chance of needing ECMO. They said it’s the biggest life support system you can use. ECMO is a heart and lung bypass machine. When they put him on ECMO (more than likely the first day of his life) they will perform his CDH repair surgery and put all his little organs back in his belly and use a Gor-Tex patch to make him a diaphragm. He said baby Lucas will have a lot of ups and downs and will be in the hospital for a very long time. The surgeon said that when the baby is born my daughter will not get to hold him or see him. He will be handed directly to the special team who will put a breathing tube down his throat. They said that he won’t cry when he’s first born like other babies and we may hear a little squeak. Baby Lucas won’t be able to breathe on his own due to his lungs being too underdeveloped. They said once they have the tube in and stabilize him they will take him to a special area and run test. They said it can be months before my daughter can hold her baby boy. My daughter and I will be with Baby Lucas every step of the way. The surgeon said baby Lucas can have a normal life it’s just going to be very difficult and challenging. He looked right at my daughter and I and said “ I never said Lucas will die, it’s just going to be very difficult and challenging”. Baby Lucas will need a lot of help to survive and my daughter will need a lot of support. He said once baby Lucas comes home he will need a lot of help- different therapy’s, feeding tubes and possibly oxygen. The surgeon said we have a long road ahead of us and that they will be taking baby Lucas by C-Section at 37 weeks. He said they normally take these baby’s out by 38 weeks because they tend to pass away in the mother if left in any longer. My daughter and I will be moving into the Ronald McDonald house here soon till baby Lucas is born and leaves the hospital. We have to stay close to the hospital for monitoring and be near the team of doctors in case she goes into labor early. Baby Lucas will not make it if he is not at this hospital. We have to leave behind our family and her 1 year old son to save Baby Lucas. This journey will be 8 plus months after baby Lucas is born. Plus the 3 weeks before he is born when we move into the Ronald house. My daughter is not able to work and is a single mother. We are asking you to please help save Baby Lucas and allow his mom and I to be with him every day. We are asking for prayers far and wide and the love and faith of strangers. We have so much hope and love for Baby Lucas and want to see him grow and have an amazing life. My promise to you, we will keep you updated on Baby Lucas’s progress and on my daughters health and well being as this journey unfolds. I will read each one of your comments and prayers. I thank you for reading our story and for helping my family in the biggest battle in life that our family has gone through. Thank you for taking the time to read about our journey. Anything helps. Thank you! #HelpBabyLucas