Rockford Sun

Mercy Rockford Health System issued the following announcement on Sept. 17.

Nicole Block was born on October 1, 1988, weighing 1 pound, 3 ounces. She had just a 25 percent chance of survival. Her mother, Sherry, said every hour for four months, she didn’t know if Nicole was going to live or die.

“Her eyes didn’t open for two weeks,” said Sherry. “She looked like a baby bird with its eyes shut. I just tell her she’s a miracle baby.”

Nicole is now 30 years old and in great health. She is one of hundreds of Mercyhealth Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) graduates who came back to a reunion for other families just like them. The “Celebration of Miracles” was held at Café 2400 inside the Mercyhealth Rockton Avenue Campus on Sunday, September 16.

It’s been 25 years since Sherry has come to the NICU reunion at Javon Bea Hospital.

“I want to support other parents if I can, especially when your baby is in the first year and it’s that small,” said Sherry. “So you need someone there that’s been through it to talk to about it.”

Since1984, the NICU at the Mercyhealth Rockton Avenue Campus has held an annual reunion in September. NICU graduates and their families are invited back to visit with the medical staff that provided their care and other families who have shared experiences. Because many NICU patients spend several days to months in the unit, strong bonds are formed and the reunion is a way to reconnect.

“Having a baby in the NICU is a traumatic experience,” said Anne Herkert, Mercyhealth NICU Family Support Coordinator. “They informally start to form a support system with other parents in the unit as well as the staff while they’re going through the experience. Once they’re discharged from the unit, they still feel connected to the people who supported them. So the reunion is a time when they can come back and reunite with those people.”

Herkert knows this first hand. She and Sherry Block were in the same NICU unit 30 years ago when their daughters were born prematurely. Herkert’s daughter, Stephanie, was born at 28 weeks, weighing 2 pounds, 3 ounces.

“Sherry and I just got to know each other through that experience in the NICU,” said Herkert. “I don’t remember the specifics of what we talked about; I just remember how she made me feel.”

This Sunday’s NICU reunion was their first time seeing each other in 25 years. Sherry works at a law office in Rockford now. Herkert eventually went back to work after having her daughter right where she had her: in the Mercyhealth NICU.

“I started doing coffee meetings for mothers who were in the NICU unit,” said Herkert. “Now it’s a more permanent, support coordinator position. I just knew this was my calling after going through the experience and having someone like Sherry there for me.”

The NICU reunion was put on by the NICU staff. This year’s monster theme was chosen by them, as were all the snacks and games for the children.

“It is deeply gratifying to see the patients and their families at our annual NICU Reunion,” said Dr. Gillian Headley, MD, neonatologist and medical director of the NICU at Mercyhealth. “The joy in the faces of the children and the gratitude expressed by the parents makes all the hard work and sacrifice worthwhile.”

Original source can be found here.

Source: Mercy Rockford Health System