NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nearly 7,000 babies have been taken care of at TriStar Centennial's NICU in the last 5 years.
On Sunday, the hospital reunited patients and their care teams.
Nearly 500 families attended the hospital's NICU reunion. It was the first big gathering of NICU graduates in five years. There was no shortage of gratitude at the event which was held in the Garden Center at the hospital.
The Durham Family was with their son, Thorin, who was born 8 weeks early.
"He was a miracle," Harley Durham said. "Thank you for taking such good care of us."
While Harley Durham was pregnant, she found out she had leukemia. Chemo stunted her son's growth and she had to deliver him at 32 weeks pregnant.
"They had heard that there was a pregnant cancer patient here at Sarah Cannon and that there may be a chance they'd do an emergency C-section. So they were fully prepared. The NICU was already prepared for him," Durham said.
A hospital neonatologist estimated roughly 10% of babies go to the NICU for low birth weight, a health problem or after a difficult birth.
"I was not expecting her to come early. And to be taken care of when you have a bundle of joy that's coming early... it means the world to us," Artetta Webster, a NICU mom, said.
The hospital invited magicians and other entertainers for the children. There was also face-painting, bounce houses, nutritional food and information about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
Without the NICU, parents said their children wouldn't be who they are today.
"It's extraordinary to see a weak baby come out and then see this strong, robust guy in our arms a year later," Andrew Rozario, a father to a one-year-old who spent 22 days in the NICU, said.
