Reprint from the Progress Times - October 3, 2008
©Progress Times 2008 - All Rights Reserved

Bundles of Joy
MRMC hosts neonatal unit reunion

By Mary Nichols

Most newborns are born healthy, strong and able to go home with their families, after just a couple of days. Others, like pre-mature babies born too soon, must call the hospital home—for weeks to months—for their survival.

Preemie babies with their small, delicate bodies are almost weightless and must be attached to machines and monitors. Families are filled with heartache and concern, wondering if their baby’s 50 percent chance of living will increase to a 100 percent. It’s an emotional rollercoaster and an indescribable experience for parents and hospital personal that care and love the babies.

However, Mission Regional Medical Center’s, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has made the well being of premature babies their priority. On Wednesday, October 1, at the Mission Community Center, the hospital celebrated three years of success, with a reunion of NICU baby graduates.

Mayra Garza, a registered nurse with NICU Mission and who organized the reunion, says this event is something they look forward to every year.

“This is a very special event. We get to see our graduates and see how they have progressed years later,” said Garza. “We get to see that they are doing well and it’s a rewarding feeling. That’s why it is so special.”

The NICU Celebration

NICU is a level three unit, which means it cares for premature and sick newborns. The unit consists of neonatologists, nurses, and respiratory therapists, all of whom made an appearance at the Sesame Street-themed reunion. Volunteers, such as Winter Texans, also made an appearance wearing their colorful, floral scrubs. Their services of helping rock, feed and nurture the babies adds to the success of the NICU unit.

Joan Moyers, who has been volunteering her services for three years, feels she has the best job in the world.

“It’s such a loving experience. We get to cradle them, feed them and give them the extra love and attention they need to get healthy,” said Moyers. “It is such an honor to come to the reunion and see how they have progressed. It’s so rewarding.”

One hundred and fifty people RSVP for the event, out of the estimated 1,500 babies the NICU has cared for over the last three years.

Lynn Tomasick, chief nursing officer, feels the strides in medicine and technology have made saving ill neonates possible.

“We work hard as healthcare providers and have the opportunity to touch lives,” she said.  “Medical advances have allowed us to save children, which 10 years ago we couldn’t. Just from this reunion you can tell it’s a service the community really needs. It’s just phenomenal.”

The need from the community and the gratitude felt toward the NICU was apparent from all the guests that made it to the celebration. Invites were ranging from the oldest to the youngest patients.  Young guests were welcomed to the reunion with a variety of yellow and orange balloons filling the entrance and the centerpieces of the tables. Children were given gift bags with the Elmo face patched on. Sesame Street music filled the air, which was drowned out by the oooos and aaahs from reactions to patient’s positive progression.

Babies were bombarded with laughter and love and taken to a simulated bird’s nest posing as a photo booth. The booth was being guarded by Elmo and Count Dracula impersonators. Personnel and family members took turns taking pictures of the miracle babies that appeared to be awaiting delivery from a stork’s nest. Staff and past patients gathered and shared updates and baby stories. This seemed natural from the obvious connections and experiences both shared in taking part in the ill neonate’s lives.

Some of the Successes

One of NICU’s first patients was Sky Lynn Medrano, who is now three years old. Her mother, Krista Cheney, said Sky was born with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and was cared for by the unit for a week and a half. Sky was born Aug. 19, 2005, and was supposed to have been born eight days earlier.

“They had just opened and were new, but the unit was a great help,” said Cheney, fixing her daughter’s pig tails. “Having her stay in the hospital was very hard especially for a first time mother such as myself. So it was an overwhelming feeling to finally take her home.”

Not being able to take their newborn baby home was a shared hard experience, which most of the mothers related at the reunion. Two mothers that shared the anticipation of being able to bring their children home were Alicia Carlos and Veronica Sanchez.

Carlos’ preemie baby was born at six months on April 3, 2008, weighing about a pound. Milagros Guadalupe Carlos, named for being a miracle, was born with a hole in one of her heart arteries and had respiratory problems which have now ceased. The baby is still small in size, even at five months, and now weighs 10 pounds. Milagros was dressed in an all-pink outfit and a white-laced headband. She was passed from nurse to nurse, all of whom cared for her the three months she spent at the NICU.

“I never thought she would be born so small,” said Carlos. “It was very emotional for me to leave her there, but I had to stay strong. “Then she got better and I was able to take her home. I’m very grateful to them. If it wasn’t for the NICU, she wouldn’t be here.”

Veronica Sanchez’s baby was also born at a pound, born 25 weeks premature on May 24, 2008. Baby Angela is still attached to an oxygen tank, to help her continue breathing. Veronica, weighing six pounds, wiggles on her mother’s lap. Her small gray eyes attempt to catch a glimpse of the passing Elmo impersonator, showing she’s an energetic fighter.

“When they told me she had a 50 percent chance to live or die, that was the hardest thing I had to ever hear,” she said, cleaning Angela’s spittle. “Especially comparing her to normal births, and then having to see her suffer. In the end, we both fought through and we’re here now.” 

The NICU also treated the hospital’s first set of quadruplets. Jesus Jr., Adrian, Fabian and Ignacio Ramirez were born a minute apart on March 25, 2008.  Esther Ramirez, the lucky mother, rolled them into the celebration in red double-attached strollers, and the family-like nurses greeted them with hugs and smiles. Three of the boys were born at three pounds except Ignacio who was born at two pounds. Hospital personnel had the boys stay for at least a month until they were at a healthy weight of five pounds.

Ramirez says when she had her C-section; she heard one boy cry and heard nothing from the others. She just saw them roll away in their trays to the NICU. She then had to wait 24 hours to see them, which was a tormenting experience. The boys had feeding and breathing complications, which have now dissipated.

“It was difficult. One day they were good and then they were doing badly, but the staff would tell me it was normal and comfort me,” said Ramirez holding Jesus. “It was difficult to see them [in the incubator] with I-V lines and oxygen masks. All I could do was pray.”

Ramirez had to take cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) classes in case she had to treat one of the quads for choking. She also had to stay at a hotel-like room in the hospital for 12 hours to demonstrate that she was emotionally stable to take her boys home.

“They [NICU] were amazing. They were always calling me with updates on the babies, when I couldn’t see them everyday,” said Ramirez. “They were a great help. Now that I have them home, it is overwhelming, but a blessing.”

More Hope to Come

As the festivities progressed, families and NICU staff gathered to eat lunch. Laughter and small cries from babies filled the community center. Flashes from cameras lighted the room, to create everlasting memories.

Mission Regional Chief Operating Officer Carlos Trevino feels success and memories will continue, especially with the advancements that will continue to be added to NICU.

“We have dedicated a lot of money to the program. We are the best NICU in the Valley. We have the best outcomes, best staff and the best transport team,” said Trevino. “We are dedicated to this endeavor and will continue to be.”

NICU Photo Gallery