Baby bottles, smiles, food and ornament decorating were just a part of the 6th Annual Sharp – Grossmont Hospital’s NICU reunion. The reunion was held Dec. 1 in Sharp-Grossmont Hospital’s auditorium.
“This is our 6th anniversary of our annual NICU reunion,” said Cathey Kelley, materials specialist I with Sharp. “Once they graduate from NICU, we celebrate them. We had 100 adults and 100 kids RSVP.”
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is a unit that specializes in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. Babies and their families who graduated out of the unit were invited. Kelley noted the first reunion had 75 attendees.
Alpine resident Sharon Hable witnessed two of her great-grandchildren stay in the NICU after their births, she also saw those great-grandchildren leave the unit.
One of those is Addisyn Belio. Her mother, Melissa “Missy” Belio noted Addisyn was born prematurely— at 29 weeks—with one kidney, and ended up in the NICU. Belio and “Chunky Monkey”—as Addisyn is nicknamed—were unable to attend the reunion because Addisyn was sick.
Sharon Hable’s family reunion entourage numbered 15. The family included multiple generations related to both great-grandchildren — aunts, grandmothers, grandfather, cousins, there to celebrate the happy outcome for their babies and to see some of the nurses and staff that were involved in helping the babies thrive.
Hable’s granddaughter, Jessica Sassi, attended with 8-months-old daughter Tatum, and Tatum’s father, Shae Watkins.
The family had to grapple with Tatum’s medical issues and mom Jessica Sassi’s brain surgery shortly after Tatum’s birth.
How did Carrie Watkins, Tatum’s grandmother, react to Tatum’s NICU admittance? “I was frightened at first,” she said, “Then I met some of the nurses and saw the baby was well taken care of.”
Watkins commuted from Lake Elsinore on a regular basis to visit her grandchild. Hable commuted from Alpine to visit her great grandchild as well. Several individuals in the family mentioned the warm atmosphere at the reunion and mentioned how amazing the nurses were when Addisyn and Tatum stayed in NICU.
“We have families here from six years ago,” said Shirley Gardner, director of women’s services. “We are a Level III NICU with 24 beds. We have delivered 3,500 babies, about 450-500 come to NICU.”
“I plan on being here next year,” said Watkins.
Vegetable platters, pizza, fruit platters, appetizers, cakes, and horchata cotton candy courtesy of Swoonfull, along with a Hawaiian Santa, all contributed to the welcoming atmosphere.