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Ryan Cimino, age 18 months, and his mother, Edith Cimino, visit with Alreca Daly, R.N. (left), and neonatologist Alex Koetzle, M.D. (right), at the 14th annual reunion of The George Batchelor/Gloria Vasta Lewis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Baptist Children’s Hospital. In May 2005, just hours after Ryan was born, he underwent laparoscopic surgery to repair a birth defect of his esophagus and trachea, a condition that affects about one in every 6,000 newborns. Following a very successful surgery, he spent some time in the NICU before going home. Approximately 400 premature or critically ill infants are treated each year in the NICU, many weighing little more than a pound.

Ruby Douse, age one, and her mother Jodi Douse, reunite with Sheila Hecht, R.N. (left), neonatologist Gisela Diaz-Monroig, M.D., and Harriet Pomerantz, R.N. (right), at the 14th annual reunion of The George Batchelor/Gloria Vasta Lewis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Baptist Children’s Hospital. Last year, the Douse family was vacationing in Miami when Jodi went into early labor and delivered her baby at 24 weeks. Ruby weighed only 1.5 pounds and spent four months in the NICU. The Douse family made a special trip to Miami from Michigan to attend the NICU Reunion, and to present Ruby’s caregivers with a thank-you plaque. The annual reunion celebrates the giant strides and milestones the children have made since leaving the NICU.

Photos by Joshua Prezant