NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — For five years, Kim Meek has been creating costumes for the babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Ascension St. Thomas Hospital Midtown.
She creates the costumes with her colleague, Olivia Sizemore.
"Nobody has a baby and says 'I want to go to the NICU,' Meek said. "It makes a hard situation a little happier when they can celebrate and have fun and dress up their little ones!"
Her daughter was in the NICU for five months, and it's what made her decide to go back to school and become an RN, so she could work in the NICU.
"All these different projects that we do with the family has been emotionally very healing for me as well," she said.
Families who have babies that left the NICU but want to participate can also send pictures of their little ones all dressed up.
Meek said this year, a lot of the families sent photos of babies who were micropreemies when they were in the NICU, meaning they were less than a pound.
"Seeing some of those little tiny babies that were in costumes, just growing leaps and bounds, it's humbling and it helps us remember why we're here," Meek said. "To watch these little tiny fighters grow up."
