Having a child in the NICU can be an emotional roller coaster for parents, and for so many, nothing compares to the joy of bringing their baby home for the first time.
A hospital in North Carolina is helping NICU parents celebrate this milestone in a heartwarming way.
Preemies at CaroMont Health in Gastonia get their own “graduation days” when they leave the NICU.On a baby’s “graduation day,” he or she receives a homemade grad cap, a little goodbye ceremony and a complimentary photo shoot.
The graduation program is the brainchild of NICU nurse Melissa Jordan.
Jordan, who has been a nurse for over eight years, started working in the CaroMont NICU almost three years ago.
“As a nurse working in the NICU, you become so close with not only the patients but their families as well,” she told HuffPost. “Some babies stay in the NICU a month to two months so it’s very easy to form a special bond with the family and baby.”
Jordan said she got the idea about six months ago after the parents of a baby boy born at 28 weeks bought him a onesie that said “NICU GRAD” in honor of his discharge from the hospital.
Excited for the family, the nurse brainstormed ways to make baby Wyatt’s discharge day even more special.
In keeping with the graduation theme, she figured out a way to make a little graduation cap, and when the baby’s last day arrived, Jordan and the NICU staff gathered to present the cap to Wyatt while singing and dancing to “Graduation” by Vitamin C.“The parents smiled ear-to-ear and that brought me an immense amount of joy!” Jordan recalled. “I wanted to keep making parents…
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