AdventHealth Littleton NICU families reunite with nurses and doctors

LITTLETON, Colo. ( KDVR ) — Sunday was a day for celebration as families whose babies were born in the AdventHealth Littleton NICU got to see their doctors and nurses again.

The Kincaid family said their story began over a year and a half ago when their baby, Lincoln, was born at 28 weeks.

“I got something called HELLP syndrome, which is what prompted the early arrival,” said Sam Kincaid.

Despite Lincoln coming earlier than expected, he was doing relatively well in the NICU.

“He didn’t have to be intubated or anything, he just was put straight on C-PAP and then did all of his milestones from there,” Kincaid said.

Still, his 81 days in the NICU were laced with doubt and fear of the unknown.

“Family and friends would just say, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ And we’re like, ‘You don’t know that,'” Kincaid said.

They said one thing that helped them through was nurses and doctors coming alongside them offering their own success stories.

“Doctors and nurses that would do their rounds and come find us and say, ‘Hey, I wanted to talk to you in particular. I had a baby at 28 plus six — they’re five now. They’re totally fine,'” said Sam’s husband, Jason. “And that was more comforting in the midst of the chaos.”

Now, the Kincaids said some of their nurses still check in from time to time.

“Lincoln gets babysat by our NICU nurses,” Jason said with a chuckle. “They would fight over who got to watch him at night on their night rounds or night shifts. So, we’ve had them at the last week at our house.”

It’s these relationships and outcomes, that AdventHealth Littleton hoped to continue to foster through their NICU reunion.

“It’s an opportunity for all of our patients from the past to come back and see their nurses, doctors, therapists, all sorts of people,” said Katie Nichols, a NICU nurse at AdventHealth Littleton. “We have children just released from the NICU to all the way up to 20 years old and plus.”

Nichols said it is a special thing getting to see her patients again and getting to watch them thrive outside of the hospital.

“It is just absolutely fulfilling and reinvigorates our passion and excitement of what we do every day because we can see the long-term impact of our care,” Nichols said.

While no parent ever wants to have their child end up in the NICU, families and hospital staff agree the resulting bonds and friendships make that time a little bit brighter.

“It is a trauma to go through the NICU stay, and these families deserve both the celebration, the recognition and also being able to connect with other families who can understand what they’ve been through,” Nichols said.

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