TYLER, Texas — It’s hard not to have a smile on your face among so much love.
Tyler's Caldwell Zoo hosted a NICU family reunion event Sunday, filled with faces of triumph after so many setbacks.
“I cried every day because I'm like, 'what did I do?''" said NICU parent Joi Hart.
She spent weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit with her now for year old son, Justin.
For another mom, Bethnie, her NICU experience was 3 months riddled with uncertainty and faith.
"It was scary, but the nurses really helped give us encouragement and make us feel really good about her being there, and that she was going to be okay,” Bethnie remembered.
This is an experience Ruth DiBacco, Clinical Director for the Christus Trinity Mother Frances NICU, knows personally.
"We all have that dream that our babies are going to be healthy and go home with us," DiBacco said. "But it doesn't always happen that way. Sometimes our babies get in trouble.”
According to UNICEF, the neonatal period – or the first 28 days of life- are the most vulnerable time for a child’s survival. Globally, 2.4 million children died in the first month of life in 2020 – about 6,500 neonatal deaths every day.
For the first time since the pandemic began, these East Texas families remember the fire that molded them as parents and gave them the best gift of all.
“I thank God every day for his miracle," Hart said.