Dan and Jenna Sauro

Shanna Salzman is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Dan, Jenna and William Sauro.

Dan and Jenna Sauro were blessed with a baby boy, William, on January 1st. He was born 13 weeks premature and weighed only 400 grams at birth. He was on a good path for the first five weeks and then he became very sick. After needing exploratory abdominal surgery, they discovered he had a kinked intestine in between two hernias. Any surgery for a tiny preemie baby is extremely scary and extremely difficult. The surgeon was able to do a temporary fix on Will's hernias. It has been a slow and scary recovery for all three of them. It was like starting out from birth again but scarier because he had a huge incision on his belly. The unfortunate part of this surgery is that it is a temporary fix due to the situation at the time, so they know that the surgeon will need to go back in to fix the hernias the correct way. They are hoping to wait until Will doubles his weight. They currently estimate his present weight at almost 4 pounds.

Dan and Jenna know they have a long journey ahead of themselves. Will has come a long way since his birth and has amazingly met some milestones, but in reality, he has many more to achieve.

Dan and Jenna's best bonding time with Will is when they can hold him, and, of course, they haven't been able to hold him nearly as much as they would love to. Hard to imagine, not holding your baby every day. Emotionally physically, and financially, it has been a whirlwind for them. Tiny preemies are so susceptible to illnesses, so the doctors want him home with Jenna and Dan to keep him healthy for the first year. This is actually a blessing because they are going to finally have time to bond with him in a way that all parents should. This amazing couple just want to be parents and enjoy their baby boy.

There is no magical time as to when he will be able to go home so it is an every day trip to the hospital for them to be with their baby. All of these things are a huge financial burden for them.

Dan is continuing to work to the best of his ability around visiting Will on a daily basis. Jenna is not returning to work at this time so that she is able to be there for Will each day and bond and spend time with Will. As you can imagine, this is as important to Will as it is for Jenna and Dan.

This is where Dan and Jenna could use your help. They are very humble people and did not want me to do this, but I can see the financial impact this has on them. I am asking if you can please help by donating to assist with the many expenses Dan and Jenna have incurred and will continue to incur. These funds will assist with all medical and living expenses until Jenna is able to return to work.

If you would like to read more about Will’s journey and continue to get updates, you can follow the CaringBridge site (https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/willsauro).