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Many of you have written WHNT NEWS 19 over the years to tell us about your special connection with Huntsville Hospital's NICU. We invite you to share your comments here.
HUNTSVILLE, AL -
In the past year, more than 1,000 babies have been cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children. It's the first time the unit has seen that many admissions in a single fiscal year. But the care the babies get in the regional unit, is second to none.
We went inside the NICU to meet some of the people who see miracles every day. But sometimes, they have to deal with the worst day of people's lives.
Inside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is like being in a church. It's quiet. It's dark. And it's filled with hope for a miracle.
If you look around, you can also see the results of faith, prayer and loving care. NICU nurse Jennifer Godwin says that's part of being an intensive care nurse.
There are 45 beds in the unit. Most days, they're full. The day we were there, three babies were delivered to the unit in an hour. One arrived from another hospital. And two moms delivered early.
"When that happens, everybody has to pull together," said Godwin. "Everybody works. There are multiple people beside every bed side trying to get those babies stable of what's going on right at that moment."
Jennifer says everyone knows their job and they work as a team.
"You know exactly what to do with the most critical babies, what attention they need versus a baby that just needs stabilizing briefly versus the very small 24 weeker that would need several hours of intervention as soon as they come in," says Godwin.
Heather Hall delivered a baby girl 15 weeks early. Her daughter Kailynn weighed 1 pound 15 ounces when she was born March 9th. She was breathing on her own, got up to 2 pounds 9 ounces and was growing and eating when she took a turn for the worse.
Heather Hall says her daughter got pneumonia and it hit her real hard. Hall says Kailynn was too small and weak to fight it off. Kailynn battled for a month, but it was too much.
Fighting back tears, Hall said "My baby never got to come home."
And that may be one of the toughest parts of being a NICU nurse. When a family loses a child, the nurses hurt too.
NICU Nurse Melissa Woodard says, "You get in your car and cry for a few minutes. You take a deep breath and let it all out."
Woodard loves what she does but knows she faces an emotional roller coaster every day when she walks into the unit for her shift.
"It has ups and downs like any job. It's really tough when you lose a baby," says Woodard. It's tough because you see the moms and the dads hurt so much. That's what's hard to me but it's also rewarding to be there for them when they're going through that."
The nurses get attached to the parents and they treat the babies as their own. In 28 years, NICU nurse Dee Hampton has witnessed the circle of life.
Hampton says, "Being here that long, I've seen some of the babies that I took care of in the unit come back and have babies in the unit."
For Dee, doing what she does is a life mission.
She told us, "I think it is probably my calling. I think this is what God intended me to do, to be here with these babies, to make a difference in a family's life and to be a part of a family's life."
NICU Nurse Judy Dodd adds, "This is not one of those jobs you get into for the money because it's something that if you're not meant to do it, then you can't do it. It's heartbreaking. It is the most rewarding thing you can ever do."
We went inside the NICU to meet some of the people who see miracles every day. But sometimes, they have to deal with the worst day of people's lives.
Inside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is like being in a church. It's quiet. It's dark. And it's filled with hope for a miracle.
If you look around, you can also see the results of faith, prayer and loving care. NICU nurse Jennifer Godwin says that's part of being an intensive care nurse.
There are 45 beds in the unit. Most days, they're full. The day we were there, three babies were delivered to the unit in an hour. One arrived from another hospital. And two moms delivered early.
"When that happens, everybody has to pull together," said Godwin. "Everybody works. There are multiple people beside every bed side trying to get those babies stable of what's going on right at that moment."
Jennifer says everyone knows their job and they work as a team.
"You know exactly what to do with the most critical babies, what attention they need versus a baby that just needs stabilizing briefly versus the very small 24 weeker that would need several hours of intervention as soon as they come in," says Godwin.
Heather Hall delivered a baby girl 15 weeks early. Her daughter Kailynn weighed 1 pound 15 ounces when she was born March 9th. She was breathing on her own, got up to 2 pounds 9 ounces and was growing and eating when she took a turn for the worse.
Heather Hall says her daughter got pneumonia and it hit her real hard. Hall says Kailynn was too small and weak to fight it off. Kailynn battled for a month, but it was too much.
Fighting back tears, Hall said "My baby never got to come home."
And that may be one of the toughest parts of being a NICU nurse. When a family loses a child, the nurses hurt too.
NICU Nurse Melissa Woodard says, "You get in your car and cry for a few minutes. You take a deep breath and let it all out."
Woodard loves what she does but knows she faces an emotional roller coaster every day when she walks into the unit for her shift.
"It has ups and downs like any job. It's really tough when you lose a baby," says Woodard. It's tough because you see the moms and the dads hurt so much. That's what's hard to me but it's also rewarding to be there for them when they're going through that."
The nurses get attached to the parents and they treat the babies as their own. In 28 years, NICU nurse Dee Hampton has witnessed the circle of life.
Hampton says, "Being here that long, I've seen some of the babies that I took care of in the unit come back and have babies in the unit."
For Dee, doing what she does is a life mission.
She told us, "I think it is probably my calling. I think this is what God intended me to do, to be here with these babies, to make a difference in a family's life and to be a part of a family's life."
NICU Nurse Judy Dodd adds, "This is not one of those jobs you get into for the money because it's something that if you're not meant to do it, then you can't do it. It's heartbreaking. It is the most rewarding thing you can ever do."
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ivwwrnxesv @ 9:19 PM CST, Feb 13, 2010
I am so thankful for all of the nurses and doctors in th NICU. If it wasnt for them i dont know what would have happened to my daughter.
Caren R. @ 6:11 PM CST, Jan 26, 2010
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RamonaPerriera @ 8:14 AM CST, Jan 22, 2010
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