Reunion party brings together Denver Health NICU staff and NICU graduates

Across the U.S., about one in ten babies are admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after birth. As part of NICU Awareness Month, Denver Health celebrated it's NICU doctors and nurses as well as the families and babies they care for.

"We love to see the families after they've been able to go home and see how they're doing and see how big they've gotten," said Jacqueline Dicharry, a nurse in the NICU at Denver Health.

Isabella Farielo and her baby boy, Noah were at the reunion party to visit with their nurse Nicole. Noah had to be in the NICU for 48-days after he was born.

"It was so hard for me. It was really hard," Farielo told CBS News Colorado.

Farielo worried about her newborn constantly and was hesitant to leave him alone in the hospital.

"I remember that for 20-days I slept here everyday on the couch. After I met Nicole and I connected with her, I went home every night to sleep because I was like, 'You know what I feel comfortable with these people caring for my baby,'" Farielo explained.

Now months out of the NICU, Noah is a healthy, happy baby. He joined a dozen other NICU graduates for the celebration. His mother is so grateful for the compassionate care he got at Denver Health.