NICU Reunion - One Year Later

Saturday, October 27th, one year and one day after the babies were born there, we returned to Banner Desert Medical Center to attend our first NICU Reunion. The NICU reunion is a once a year event where alumni who have graduated from the NICU can come back and see the nurses and doctors and other staff that took such good care of them. It is something we have really been looking forward to for awhile.

Georgia was in the NICU for 5 weeks, but Jolynne and Mickey were there for almost 3 months. Dare I say there were times during those months, I did not know how things would turn out or if we would ever be able to bring all 3 of them home. While we were there, we got to know the nurses that cared for the babies on a daily basis. I spent every day and a lot of nights with them during that time, the babies spent every night with them. There is no way we will ever be able to re pay those doctors and nurses for not only caring for the babies, but saving their lives and keeping them alive when their tiny bodies were simply not ready to sustain themselves on their own.

I was excited for them to see how much the babies had grown and how well they were doing, without needing all of extra therapy or treatments which was our life for awhile even after the babies came home. When they came home, they were averaging about 3-4 doctor appointments per week between the three of them and all the specialists. I realize there are still some challenges and obstacles ahead but the fact that the babies are happy, healthy and they overcame what they did, what would have been impossible maybe even 20 years ago, is amazing and I have those doctors and nurses to thank for that.

We arrived in costume, Mickey as Winnie the Pooh, Jolynne as Tigger and Georgia as Piglet. They were the cutest babies there. I am not exaggerating. We immediately saw Nancy, one of our primary nurses, who came over and gave us a big hug. She was in awe with how much the babies had changed. We got to meet her son and it was so touching to see her reunited with the babies, especially Mickey who I think she had a soft spot for. But really Nancy has a soft spot for all babies. She is a wonderful person with a big heart! We saw one of the doctors, the one who gave us the news that Jolynne may not make it two days after she was born. She remembered all the babies but mostly Jo and was happy to see them doing so well. Towards the end we saw, Erin, another one of our primary nurses,  who said "Are you kidding me right now?" when she saw the babies. I almost cried. She just couldn't even believe they were the same babies. She said "where is your runt (Jo)" and we told her we didn't have a runt anymore. Of course, Jolynne will always be our runt in some ways even though she now weighs more than her brother. There were a few people missing, a couple of the nurse practitioners who were very involved in the babies care and another one of our primary nurses. We missed you Tammy!

It was a pretty special moment to walk into the place my babies were born one year later, after all the time they spent there and say we made it, and thank you to those that helped us through what were the most pivotal months of our lives. It could have gone either way, and we are very lucky, all three of our blessings are home with us now. I will be forever grateful to all those people and that place. We'll see you again next year!