Bailey Coulter, 4, blows boggles as her sister Lexi, 15, watches at the 10th annual Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Reunion at The Medical Center auditorium Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. Their mother, Autumn Coulter, an R.N., dreamed up 10 years ago and has organized it ever since. (Photo by Joe Imel/jimel@bgdailynews.com)

If it seemed that Bowling Green’s largest family reunion was happening Sunday at The Medical Center auditorium, then Autumn Coulter achieved her goal.

Coulter, a nurse in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for the past 15 years, held babies, hugged parents and greeted old friends Sunday in an auditorium that at times was packed.

It was the hospital’s 10th annual NICU Reunion, an event that Coulter dreamed up 10 years ago and has organized ever since. Twins, triplets, babies in diapers and school-age youngsters who showed no signs of the health problems that once brought them to the NICU as babies intermingled with the doctors and nurses who had once cared for them.

“We had seen so many babies start out here, many of them very fragile,” said Coulter, explaining how the annual reunion came to be. “Then they would go home. We wondered how some of them were doing. We became very close to the parents, so we wanted to see them as well.

“Many of the children are unrecognizable because they’ve grown, but when I see the parents it sparks memories.”

Such sparks were in evidence Sunday.

Christine Jenkins of Alvaton enjoyed the “Pirates and Princesses”-themed reunion with son Wes and triplets Everly, Wyatt and Harper, all of whom spent time in the NICU. She was reunited with Dr. Aspa Fissikoudi, who performed the surgery that repaired Wes’ collapsed lung, and with many nurses who had cared for her triplets.

“There really is a bond because they are taking care of your baby when you can’t,” Jenkins said. “They’re like family. To be able to come back and see them is amazing.”

Fissikoudi said she enjoyed the reunion as much as the families.

“I think this is a very important event,” she said. “We get very close to the babies when they come to the NICU. When they come back and you see how they’ve grown, it’s very rewarding. The work is stressful sometimes. Thankfully, most of them get well.”

Getting well isn’t easy for some of the babies, many of whom are born prematurely.

Shanna Myers, mother of twins Lillian and Logan, had the healthy twins with her Sunday as she expressed her thanks for the care they received in the NICU.

“They were born eight weeks early,” she said. “Lillian was here seven weeks, and Logan was here four weeks. I couldn’t have asked for better care.”

Myers reunited with NICU staff and also with another mother, Gwen Johnson, who had her child in the NICU at the same time as Myers.

“She (Johnson) is like a sister to me,” Myers said. “We were both up there (the NICU) every day. It is great to see her and everybody else. I made some great friends here. I still talk to many of them and hope to for the rest of my life.”

As she greeted many of the 200 or so former patients and their parents who showed up Sunday, Coulter reflected on the value of her work and the reunion she created.

“We work with babies born as early as 28 weeks,” said Coulter, who has three children of her own. “Some need IV fluids and oxygen. Some are here a few days and some are here a couple of months. You naturally get attached to them. You form lasting friendships.”

Coulter has spent her entire nursing career in the NICU, and she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

“I went to nursing school just to take care of babies,” she said.

Dorcas Allen, who has been a NICU nurse for 13 years, expressed similar thoughts as she greeted many former patients and their families.

“Children are absolute blessings,” she said. “You form relationships with them and the parents. Sometimes the parents are very concerned, and you have to help them through that.

“The rewards are getting to see a healthy baby go home. It’s a great reward.”

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