LEE (AP) – A baby who endured five surgeries during the first five weeks of his life died unexpectedly at the hospital where he spent his short life.

Nicholas Chandonait was 6 weeks old when he died Saturday in the pediatric intensive care unit at the Maine Medical Center.

His mother, Amy Chandonait, 26, of Lee, would say only, “It has been a terribly difficult time.”

Doctors said Nicholas was born with a hole between the ventricles of his heart. He also was missing a heart valve.

Doctors performed five microsurgeries during which they twice installed a shunt between Nicholas’ heart and lungs. They also repaired the collapsed diaphragm and did angioplasty on his pulmonary arteries.

More surgeries were scheduled, but the family was optimistic about his prognosis.

The baby’s problems were diagnosed before he was born. The Chandonaits’ friends recently held a potluck dinner that raised more than $2,900 to help the family with the debt incurred by the baby’s hospitalization.