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Neonatal Intensive Care Units, or NICUs, care for premature babies as small as 22 weeks of life. San Antonio’s Baptist Health System held a reunion event this month that celebrated former NICU patients and their families.
There was a festive atmosphere at San Antonio’s Brackenridge Park, where dozens of families enjoyed kiddie train rides, animal encounters, and bouncy houses while sharing some of the hardest memories of their lives.
Educational activities like the “Clear the Crib” challenge were on hand to promote safety in cribs for newborns. Kelly Culp, the NICU director at North Central Baptist Hospital, explained how the challenge works for fun and to educate parents.
“So they literally clear the items that do not belong in the baby's crib. So they take it out, they get a certificate for promoting safe sleep, and we call it clear the crib challenge. And then they also get a safe sleep handout as well, just reminders and like bullet points of what belongs and what doesn't belong in the crib,” said Culp.
Underneath all the excitement and family fun were heart wrenching stories of survival of mothers and their premature babies.
Brittany Strong became emotional as she recalled her experience of giving birth to her twin daughters, London and Lainey, the day of a routine OBGYN checkup. She was rushed to the hospital across the street where she gave birth on July 19, 2024.
“Sorry. I was scared, and very sad to leave them, but they were in great hands, so we knew that that was the safest place for them,” said Strong.
Strong had preeclampsia, a pregnancy condition that can cause high blood pressure and possible organ damage.
Strong said the New Braunfels staff assisted her through long days and nights during her babies’ NICU stay.
“I was there from like seven in the morning until it was time to go home and eat dinner with my older kids. So I feel very fortunate that I was able to be there so much, but it was definitely hard having to leave them every time, like when we first got discharged, I was a wreck,” said Strong. “They made it so easy, like after a couple days of me calling in the middle of the night, I felt comfortable and knew that they were being very well taken care of.”
Amber Moreno also gave birth to twins who ended up in the NICU in October 2024.
“At 34 weeks, I was diagnosed with preeclampsia. My blood pressure was very high, skyrocketing dangerous. So they gave me the option to have an emergency C section or wait two days and do a natural delivery for the health of my sons, I went ahead and did an emergency C section,” said Moreno.
Basaldu-Prado, a neonatologist in the Baptist Health System and the medical director at Mission Trails Baptist Hospital.
Basaldu-Prado said it’s very common in young and older mothers to have high blood pressure. She said it’s especially common if mothers have dealt with high blood pressure prior to pregnancy. She explained why it’s vital for babies to come out prematurely when their mothers have high blood pressure.
“It affects the baby in the sense that we can't let the mother's blood pressure get too high, or it can cause the mother to develop seizures, so whenever we get to that critical stage of blood pressure in the mother, then we have to deliver the babies," said Basaldu-Prado. “That's why some of these babies are delivered so prematurely to save their lives. And a lot of times, those babies have been affected in the sense that they're born very small because they were not getting appropriate blood supply because of mother's blood pressure, and so we have to support them during that time.”
Brianna Garza is the NICU director at St. Luke’s Baptist Hospital in San Antonio. She treasures these moments that she gets to reconnect with her former patients.
“And so it’s very cool to see them grow and see how much that they’ve flourished,” said Garza.
Amy Iruegas was a patient at St. Luke's. She and her daughter Jaylen attended the NICU reunion to express their appreciation for saving Jaylen’s life when she was born two months premature almost 16 years ago.
“There's at one point where she couldn't eat, so I really panicked that she wasn't going to make it around that time. But other than that, she pulled through. She was really strong at the end,” said Iruegas.
Jaylen is now a high school sophomore hoping to get a degree in architecture, a dream that would not be possible without the staff who helped her throughout her stay in the NICU.
