SHREVEPORT, La. -- Families gathered at CHRISTUS Health's annual NICU graduates celebration to honor children who overcame difficult starts in life and to recognize the caregivers who helped them along the way.
The yearly event celebrates babies who spent their first days in the neonatal intensive care unit, many born prematurely and weighing just a few pounds. Now healthy and thriving, the children return with their families to celebrate how far they've come.
One of those graduates is Scottie Onellion, who loves baby dolls and Disney princesses. Born at just 25 weeks, Scottie weighed less than 2 pounds and measured only 13 inches long at birth. Three years later, she is a healthy, energetic child — a milestone her family once could only hope for.
Scottie's father, Andrew Onellion, recalled how quickly everything changed during his wife's high-risk pregnancy.
"So it was at 25 weeks. We went to the high-risk doctor for an appointment and they told us, 'Leave here, go immediately to CHRISTUS. Do not go home, do not do anything else. You could bleed out at any minute. Go straight to the hospital. We are on our way to deliver her.' And that's what they did. Four hours later she was here," he said.
For families of premature babies, the NICU can be an overwhelming place filled with uncertainty and worry. Specialized nurses and physicians provide around-the-clock care while supporting parents through some of the most challenging moments of their lives.
"Seeing them at their most vulnerable and their tiniest," said CHRISTUS NICU nurse Dana Baca. "Some of them may only be with us for like seven days or so, but some were there with us for months."
Scottie was among those who spent months in the NICU.
"Almost three months," said her mother, Cari Onellion. "People were still getting COVID, and there was a huge stomach virus that went around. There were times that we could not come see her for her safety and for the safety of the other babies."
Despite those challenges, she said the video monitoring system and the NICU staff provided constant reassurance.
"The nurses were incredible. Every question that I had, they never made me feel like I asked too many questions. I would call them in the middle of the night and ask, 'She's okay?' They were reassuring the entire process," Cari Onellion said.
For families like the Onellions, the annual celebration is more than a reunion. It is an opportunity to celebrate milestones that once seemed uncertain and to thank the medical teams who helped make them possible.
"I mean, it's everything," Cari Onellion said. "This is our family."
CHRISTUS Health says the celebration is open each year to children who received care in its neonatal intensive care unit. The event is traditionally held on the third Sunday of July.