A mom thought her baby smelled like pancakes and maple syrup. It was actually a sign of a potentially deadly concern.

Megan Popps and her husband, Devaughn Debelak, welcomed their son Leo in February. After the newborn underwent his heel prick test to screen for rare genetic, metabolic and hormone disorders, he and his mother were discharged from the hospital, according to Kennedy News & Media.

While home, Popps, 30, thought Leo “smelled sickeningly sweet” and “very sugary,” like pancakes and maple syrup. She said she and Debelak “had noticed the smell in the hospital, but one of the breakfasts in the maternity ward was pancakes, so I thought some of it had just gotten onto the blanket.”

“We could only smell it sometimes,” continued the mother of one. “It wasn’t overpowering.”

Days later, however, Popps got a call from doctors that the results of Leo’s heel prick test were not normal. “We were told we needed to have the test redone as something had come back inconclusive,” she explained.

The next day, Popps and Debelak brought Leo back to the hospital to undergo the test again.

“I called up and found out it was Leo’s amino acid profile,” Popps said. After doing her own research online, the mom stumbled upon Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD).

The rare genetic disorder is when the body cannot break down three specific protein building blocks — leucine, isoleucine and valine — according to the Cleveland Clinic.

“When I looked up the disorder and saw how rare it was, it was hard for us to grasp our brains around the fact that was what was possibly happening,” Popps said of herself and Debelak.

Doctors eventually discovered that Leo’s amino acid levels were at a critical level, so he was put on haemodialysis to help clear his blood of toxins.

Leo was discharged home after three weeks in the NICU. He will have to stick to a specific diet going forward, should he choose to forgo a liver transplant in the future.

“He will be on a very strict vegan diet. He will have to avoid meat and dairy completely,” Popps said.

She added of her son: “He will have to count his protein intake for the rest of his life.
He is at risk for life of having another metabolic crisis.”

MSUD, which occurs in about one in every 185,000 babies, can lead to neurological problems and movement disorders, and coma and death can be caused by infection, stress or poor dietary control, per the Cleveland Clinic.

“It can be fatal if left untreated. Leo would’ve slipped into a coma within days or even lost his life,” Popps said.

“I think that pancake and maple syrup smell absolutely helped save his life,” she added. “I think if we didn’t have something concrete like the smell, we’d have been able to talk ourselves out of everything that was going on. I would have been able to convince myself it was new mom anxiety.”