McLANE CHILDREN’S: PATIENT PROFILE
A miracle for Milo
A community of caregivers helped save baby Milo’s life.
Diagnosed at 18 weeks pregnant,
Abby Moreno heard the words that every
new mother fears: there’s something
wrong with your unborn baby.
Baby Milo had a hole about three
inches in diameter near his belly button,
allowing his small and large intestines
to extend outside his tiny body. This birth
defect, known as Gastroschisis, restricted
his growth so much that he only ranked in
the second percentile on the growth chart
for his gestational age. Abby was put on
bed rest with frequent appointments to
check on Milo’s development.
At 35 weeks, Milo was in distress and
doctors decided to induce labor. He was
born weighing just 4 lbs and 5.8 oz.
“I was terrified,” Abby says. “The hole
was so large it almost overwhelmed him.
I gave him a kiss and he was taken to
the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).”
Milo’s intestines were wrapped in a plastic
silo to prevent their exposure to air and
germs until he could undergo surgery
at one week old. “His surgery was the
longest three and a half hours of my life,”
his mother says.
While the surgery was successful,
Milo’s intestines were slow to function,
so he remained in the NICU. Milo faced
his second hurdle, when at about eight
weeks old, he contracted a serious
infection that can quickly prove fatal.
“Most of the time they discover the
“When you have a child in the NICU, it’s not just
your baby—it’s a piece of your heart that you leave
behind every day.”
— Abby Moreno
8
THE COMPASS / BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE CENTRAL TEXAS FOUNDATION NEWS / FALL 2019
infection because the baby’s stomach
becomes hard and red, but Milo’s was
already like that because of his surgery,”
Abby says. “One of the nurses just felt
that something was wrong, so they tested
him and caught it before it could do any
damage. That’s just how good they are.”
Care for the whole family
Milo went on to spend a total of 79
days in the McLane Children’s NICU.
Life in the NICU became the new
normal for Abby. “I would spend the
whole day in the NICU with Milo,” she
says. “I learned to cross-stitch just to pass
the time.”
Although no parent wants their baby
to be in the NICU, Abby says the staff
and other parents going through the
same thing made the experience more
bearable. From greeting her with a smile,
to keeping her informed about Milo’s
care, to even knowing which of Milo’s
blankets were her favorites, the NICU staff
worked to care not only for Milo, but for
Abby and her family as well.