One of the most important events that could occur in any of our lives is the birth of a child. From the moment that we find out that we are expecting, our lives are forever changed. We begin getting the home ready for the delivery and we are probably reading every book we can possibly find on the subject. We look forward to a lifetime together with our little one, making memories and building a relationship that will stand the test of time.
When Michael and Angela Bakker found out that they were expecting a baby girl, they were so excited. They were looking forward to all of their hopes and dreams coming true once the baby arrived. The unfortunate reality for them, however, is that the baby was born 15 weeks early. As a result of their baby girl, Naomi Joy being so small, it was highly unlikely that she was going to survive.
The staff at Renown Regional Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit worked tirelessly to ensure that Naomi had a safe environment. It took two weeks but finally, Angela and Michael were allowed to hold their beautiful baby girl.
One of the most important things for a mother and child to experience after birth is skin on skin contact. Since Naomi had been inside of a plastic NICU bubble for two weeks, it was a rare occurrence for any contact to take place.
The type of skin to skin contact that is beneficial is known as kangaroo care. It is especially important for a premature baby, so the NICU staff decided it was time to bring Naomi out and let her parents hold her.
She was less than a pound at birth but they still thought that Naomi was stable enough to handle it. There were 8 NICU nurses on hand to transfer Naomi from the bubble to Angela’s chest. Everything went smoothly and Naomi was resting comfortably.
You can see the look of sheer joy on Angela’s face as she held her beautiful baby girl. The medical team is working hard around her and she starts beaming from ear to ear.
We are thankful that Angela and Michael were able to hold their baby girl. She still had 128 more days until she could leave the hospital. The NICU staff was on hand to ensure that everything went as smoothly as possible.
You can see the first time that Angela was able to hold her baby girl in this video: