Having a child in the neonatal intensive care unit is a stressful experience, to put it mildly. Every day, you long for your child to be home. But the NICU, under the watchful eye of medical professionals is often the safest place for them while they heal and grow.
Thankfully, the people who work in these environments know this and often go above and beyond to make the unpleasantness of a NICU stay a little more bearable.
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NICU staffers at one Texas hospital wanted to do something special for the parents.
The care team at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth did something extra special for the families traveling back and forth to the hospital every day: They staged a Barbie-themed photoshoot. Barbie was one of the hottest movies of the summer, attracting audiences who dressed in pink for the show and eventually earning $594.8 million in domestic ticket sales, according to USA Today. And these little ones got to be a part of the action.
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The boys were placed in boxes with 'Ken' labels.
Two baby girls wore pink bows as they were placed in Barbie doll boxes, set to look like one you’d find in the toy aisle. And the boys weren’t left out. The four boys, including a set of twins, were in boxes labeled “Ken.” The NICU staffers, who often dress in themed outfits to brighten the parents’ moods, thought the photo shoot could take it to the next level.
'Activities like these give us the opportunity to bond with these families,' a NICU nurse said.
“We took advantage of the Barbie popularity to do a little something special for our families," Kathryn Callahan, a NICU nurse at Texas Health Southwest Fort Worth, said in a statement, reported Good Morning America.
"Having a baby in the NICU is not easy but activities like these give us the opportunity to bond with these families and help make their hospital stay just a bit brighter."
The images were a hit on social media.
The hospital also shared some of the images on the hospital network’s social media page and they were a hit.
“Cutest Barbies,” one user wrote in response.
Another was so inspired by the thoughtfulness, she’d like to join the team. “I want to work there,” the commenter wrote in the comments.
We’re sure these photos will not only go a long way in bringing a little sunshine to these parents’ long days, but they'll also always be amazing keepsakes as they look back on their child’s early days in this world and what they’ve been able to overcome.
