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URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A special visitor at Carle’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) on Thursday afternoon made the day a bit happier for families with children fighting some of their toughest battles yet.
Santa made his rounds from baby to baby, passing out presents and taking photos with each one.
“It’s nice, and it makes it a little happier to come to the NICU when Santa came,” Syvanna Keith, a mother with a son receiving care, said.
Bryan Duane Basham, her two-week-old son, was born at the end of November and had a blockage in his intestine. He went through surgery and has been in the hospital ever since.
“It definitely helps to see them improve,” Keith said. “Whether they’re small leaps or large leaps, it helps to see them day by day.”
But, not everyone could be there in person and new technology helped to fill the gap.
Carle is the only hospital in the whole country using “vCreate Diaries,” an app where parents can see photos nurses take of their children receiving care. The healthcare organization got on board with the tech after a nurse learned about it at a conference and saw doctors using it in the United Kingdom.
“It’s really important families are able to see these special moments and milestones when they need to be away,” Kara Weigler, the NICU nurse manager, said.
She and her team care for about 600 infants with critical conditions each year, and now this app keeps moms and dads in the loop no matter where they are.
“We’ve had really great reactions from it,” Weigler added.
Keith said they’ll continue watching Bryan’s progress between now and Christmas, in hopes of bringing him home by then. They’ve recently started using the vCreate app when they’re not with him. Carle Health has been utilizing it for the past year.