CHI St. Luke’s Health-The Woodlands Hospital hosts 13th annual holiday NICU reunion

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Families who were cared for by the neonatal intensive care staff at CHI St. Luke’s Health - The Woodlands were invited to reunite with their nurses at the organization’s annual holiday NICU reunion on Sunday, December 6.

Debra Staley, Manager of Community Development and Executive Health, said about 2,000 babies are born each year at The Woodlands Hospital, and the smallest and sickest ones are placed in their NICU, which cares for infants from 28 weeks of gestation to full term. If the newborn is under 28 weeks, it is sent to St. Luke’s pediatrics partner, Texas Children’s Hospital.

Greeting her former patients with joy was neonatologist Alice Obuobi, MD, who takes care of the families and infants in the NICU at CHI St. Luke’s Health The Woodlands and Lakeside Hospitals. She said she was glad to see her patients happy and healthy, because when she initially meets them, it’s at a time when pregnancy and delivery have not gone according to plan.

“Everyone wants to have a healthy, full-term baby born, but I’m a neonatologist, and I take care of sick and premature babies,” Obuobi said. “It’s always a difficult time for the family, but by God’s grace, many babies do well now, and we don’t see them much after they’ve been discharged. It’s just wonderful to see them back and how well they have done since birth. It gives me a lot of pleasure and joy.”

While the event holds several holiday activities for the kids, including pictures with Santa and a Christmas cookie decorating booth, the real treat is for the parents to reengage with the NICU staff that helped them persevere through a difficult time. Kimberly Fellman, who gave birth to triplets, stayed three weeks at CHI St. Luke’s NICU. Two of the triplets were transferred to Texas Children’s. Since her kids were born, the family has only missed the reunion twice and said that ultimately, they just want to reconnect with their nurses and impart to their children the appreciation of life.

“They were eight weeks early. Without these people they may not have made it,” Fellman said. “Without them, they may not be our family, so it’s important for [our kids] to see that and to understand that they helped them along the way to where they’re at and to be healthy.”

Many patients in the NICU are there because of premature birth, but for Lashana Koneswaran and her daughter, it was a different story. Koneswaran had a placental eruption and started bleeding, and was rushed to the hospital. By the time she arrived to the emergency room, her then-unborn daughter had no heartbeat and Koneswaran had an emergency C-Section and safely delivered the baby. Knowing that this was a very serious situation, Koneswaran said the staff remained calm during her procedure.

“I think everything was just so precisely done. The staff was very calm through it all, and I knew it was serious, but you could never tell just from their demeanor,” Koneswarn said. “They were very professional, very calm, very systematic, very efficient, and they got her out in time.”

Pleased with her first time attending the NICU reunion, Koneswaran said the nurses have been like second mothers to her children, and she will definitely participate in future reunions.

“I love how the nurses greet all their former patients, which is with pure joy,” Koneswaran said. “They remember most of them, and it just makes me feel special because it was a very, very personal time for me. When I see the nurses—and I think this is common for a lot of parents—they raise them out for that experience, and it’s just very comforting to show you how far you’ve come. It just reminds you that there are people in hospitals who care to get it right. I really appreciate that.”