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ALL RIGHT JOSH THANK YOU. SIX BABIES FROM FIVE FAMILIES, ALL BORN WITHIN DAYS. ALL TOO PREMATURE TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL. IN TODAY’S FIVE FOR GOOD. HOW? THEIR PARENTS FORMED A SPECIAL BOND AT THE BRIGHAM ERIKA TARANTAL TAKES US TO THEIR REUNION. FIVE YEARS LATER. YEAH, RIGHT THERE. THAT’S YOU AND HER. IT’S HARD TO REMEMBER THE DOCTOR WHO CARED FOR YOU IN THE NICU WHEN YOU’RE NOW FIVE YEARS OLD. THIS IS A SPECIAL REUNION AT BRIGHAM AND WOMEN’S HOSPITAL. WAIT. HOW ARE YOU DOING? FIVE FAMILIES WHO MET IN THE NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT BACK IN BOSTON. THEY’RE REGULARLY IN TOUCH, BUT DON’T ALWAYS GET TO SEE THE NURSES AND DOCTORS WHO SO CAREFULLY CARED FOR THEIR CHILDREN. OUR KIDS ARE ALL BORN WITHIN DAYS OF EACH OTHER. AND THEN WE WERE ALL THERE FOR MONTHS. SO YOU GET TO KNOW PEOPLE BETWEEN THE FIVE FAMILIES ARE SIX NICU KIDS, CAITLIN AND CHRIS CUMMINGS ARE MOM AND DAD TO TWINS. HI, MY NAME IS MARY. HI, MY NAME IS JANE. SO JANE WAS 2 POUNDS, FIVE OUNCES AND MARY WAS 2.10 POUNDS. YEAH, THESE NICU BUDDIES HELPED EACH OTHER THROUGH THE CONSTANT WORRY. TO JUST HAVE SOMEONE THAT UNDERSTOOD, LIKE OUR REAL LIVES. RIGHT? LIKE OUTSIDE OF THE NICU, BECAUSE THE NICU IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT WORLD. PEOPLE JUST ARE LIKE, OH, BABIES, THEY’RE BORN EARLY. THEY’RE JUST SMALL. BUT THEY ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD THE MEDICAL SIDE OF IT AND WHAT IT MEANT TO HAVE A BABY BORN. SO EARLY. YEAH. ZENA WAS BORN AT 22 WEEKS. HER PARENTS WERE TOLD SHE WOULDN’T SURVIVE AT HER LOCAL HOSPITAL IN RHODE ISLAND. SO THEY DROVE HERE. SHE SPENT 144 DAYS IN THE NICU. REALITY SET IN AFTER LIKE, DAY SEVEN. I WAS JUST LIKE, WOW, WE’RE REALLY IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL. CONSIDERING HOW EARLY SHE WAS BORN. AND I JUST REMEMBER GOING TO THE FAMILY LOUNGE AND MEETING SOME OTHER FAMILIES, AND IT WAS JUST LIKE, OKAY, WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. EVEN AFTER ALL THE KIDS WERE DISCHARGED, THEY STAYED IN TOUCH HERE TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE TURNING THREE. AND AGAIN, WHEN THEY TURNED FIVE. SEE ALL THE TWINS? YEAH. ALL THESE FAMILIES KNEW EACH OTHER IN THE NICU TO. DOCTOR ALISA ABDULHAYOGLU SAYS HAVING SUPPORT AFTER LEAVING THE HOSPITAL IS CRITICAL, ESPECIALLY IN THE BEGINNING. THEY HAVE THAT SENSE OF, WHOA, I HAD ALL THESE MONITORS. I HAD THE NURSES THERE 24 OVER SEVEN. ALL OF THIS HELP. AND NOW THEY’RE LIKE, OH MY GOSH, I HAVE TO TAKE MY MY SON, MY DAUGHTER HOME. AND THAT ADDITIONAL SUPPORT OF FAMILIES THAT ARE GOING THROUGH THE SAME THING IS REALLY IMPORTANT. WE HAVE A LITTLE GROUP CHAT AND WE LEAN ON EACH OTHER WHEN OUR KIDS GET SICK, AND WE START FREAKING OUT AND WE’LL TEXT EACH OTHER AND WE FEEL LIKE WE’RE THE ONLY ONES THAT REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW EACH OTHER FEELS. THIS OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT WITH THE BRIGHAM TEAM WAS VERY MEANINGFUL TO ALL. I MEAN, THEY’RE THE ONES THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY CRIED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND WE WEREN’T HERE, THAT TOOK CARE OF THEM. OUR TIME HERE, THE THE NURSES BECAME, I MEAN, LIKE OUR FAMILY, WE JUST I CAN’T THANK THEM ENOUGH. AND IT TRULY IS AMAZING THE WORK DONE IN THE NICU 24 WEEKS IS OFTEN CONSIDERED THE YOUNGEST. A BABY CAN SURVIVE OUTSIDE THE WOMB, BUT DOCTORS AT THE BRIGHAM SAY THAT IS SLOWLY CHANGING. 223 EVEN 22 WEEKS, AS WAS THE CA
Five families who met in NICU reunite with doctors and nurses in Boston
Five families who met in the neonatal intensive care unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital reunited with their care teams in Boston.Mom Caitlin Cummings said the families have stayed in touch since their children were born more than five years ago."Our kids were all born within days of each other, and then we were all there for months,” she said. “So, you get to know people."Mom Elizabeth Faboyede said the families helped each other through constant worry when their children were too fragile to go home. Her daughter was born at just 22 weeks gestation. She spent 144 days in the NICU."Reality set in after, like, Day 7. I was just like, ‘Wow, we're really in it for the long haul,’” Faboyede said. “I just remember going to the family lounge and meeting some other families, and I was just like, ‘OK, we're all in this together.’"Medical director Dr. Elisa Abdulhayoglu said having support after leaving the hospital is just as critical, especially in the beginning."They have that sense of, ‘Whoa, I had all these monitors; I had the nurses there 24/7, all of this help,'’’ Abdulhayoglu said. “Now they're like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to take my, my son, my daughter home,’ and that additional support of families that are going through the same thing is really important.""We have a little group chat, and we lean on each other when our kids get sick, and we start freaking out,” Cummings said. “We'll text each other, and we feel like we're the only ones that really understand."While the families are in touch, they don't always get to see the nurses and doctors who so carefully cared for their children. Cummings said the recent opportunity to connect with the Brigham team was meaningful."I mean, they're the ones that, you know, when they cried in the middle of the night and we weren’t here, they took care of them,” she said. "Our time here, the, the nurses became, I mean, like our family ... I can't thank them enough."
BOSTON —
Five families who met in the neonatal intensive care unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital reunited with their care teams in Boston.
Mom Caitlin Cummings said the families have stayed in touch since their children were born more than five years ago.
"Our kids were all born within days of each other, and then we were all there for months,” she said. “So, you get to know people."
Mom Elizabeth Faboyede said the families helped each other through constant worry when their children were too fragile to go home. Her daughter was born at just 22 weeks gestation. She spent 144 days in the NICU.
"Reality set in after, like, Day 7. I was just like, ‘Wow, we're really in it for the long haul,’” Faboyede said. “I just remember going to the family lounge and meeting some other families, and I was just like, ‘OK, we're all in this together.’"
Medical director Dr. Elisa Abdulhayoglu said having support after leaving the hospital is just as critical, especially in the beginning.
"They have that sense of, ‘Whoa, I had all these monitors; I had the nurses there 24/7, all of this help,'’’ Abdulhayoglu said. “Now they're like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to take my, my son, my daughter home,’ and that additional support of families that are going through the same thing is really important."
"We have a little group chat, and we lean on each other when our kids get sick, and we start freaking out,” Cummings said. “We'll text each other, and we feel like we're the only ones that really understand."
While the families are in touch, they don't always get to see the nurses and doctors who so carefully cared for their children. Cummings said the recent opportunity to connect with the Brigham team was meaningful.
"I mean, they're the ones that, you know, when they cried in the middle of the night and we weren’t here, they took care of them,” she said. "Our time here, the, the nurses became, I mean, like our family ... I can't thank them enough."