One of the hardest things about having a premature baby is going home from the hospital without the newest member of the family.
Dylan O'Shea had to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Howard County General Hospital for six weeks after he was born seven weeks early, weighing 4 pounds and 3 ounces. His parents, Christine and Kevin O'Shea of Ellicott City, stayed at the hospital as often as possible.
"We always felt bad leaving him," said Christine O'Shea. But the NICU staff told the parents not to feel bad, that it was important for them to take breaks. Go home, they'd say. Dylan is in good hands.
"Just having them reach out like that, it was a small gesture, but it meant a lot," said Kevin O'Shea, who was holding Dylan, now 4 months old, on the table in front of him. "To say that I'll be forever grateful is an understatement."
The O'Sheas, including big brother Riley, who is 3, were among an estimated 800 people attending the hospital's annual NICU reunion at Martin's West on Sunday afternoon.
Some families have been attending since the reunions started 15 years ago, said Mary Patton, director of public relations for the hospital. Each year, a stuffed animal is given away to all the children born in the NICU. This year, it was a soft lion wearing an orange Howard County General Hospital T-shirt. Some kids, she said, have collections of animals from each year.
Tyler Yobbagy of Elkridge now has his ninth stuffed animal. He has attended the reunion every year since he was born three months early, weighing 1 pound, 12 ounces, said his mother, Stephanie. "We see a lot of old faces and a lot of new ones," she said.
Kid food deluxe
The gathering is one of the more unusual events at Martin's West, known for its lavish weddings and other parties. On Sunday, servers wearing white gloves carried pizzas on platters, and silver chafing dishes held chicken nuggets. Enormous balloons in the shapes of animals served as centerpieces for the green-clothed round tables.
Maryland Public Television's Bob the Vid Tech - a celebrity to any young fan of Dragon Tales or Clifford The Big Red Dog - was master of ceremonies at an event that also featured face-painting and a puppet show.
Many of those present said they simply liked to see the doctors and nurses who had helped them through those early, difficult days, and to show off their healthy children, who now seemed so big compared to their Beanie Baby-size early days.
