The sounds of bells jingling filled the hallways of Bryan Medical Center’s NICU on Wednesday morning. Santa Claus paid a visit to the unit and brought holiday greetings to the babies and their families.
Often times, babies can be in the NICU for weeks or months at a time and they can even spend their first Christmas in the hospital. Santa visited over 20 of Bryan’s littlest patients. Nurses also helped decorate the unit, patient rooms and provided gift bags for each family. Santa’s visit is a tradition that’s taken place at Bryan Medical Center for well over a decade.
Presley and Tucker Bartlett of North Platte were among those Santa visited. After a scheduled visit with their doctor revealed complications, they came to Bryan Medical Center in Lincoln to see a maternal fetal medicine specialist.
Bryan officials say a few days later, their son, Bowen, was born. He arrived at 31 weeks gestation. Today, he is six weeks old and doing well. They say he’s hitting milestones and growing every day. The Bartlett family was excited to make memories and experience Bowen’s first visit with Santa, even if was in the NICU and not under the circumstances they expected.
“It’s nice because the staff is so welcoming and supportive and they make sure to make little special moments here and there,” says Bowen’s mother Presley Bartlett. “They make scrap book pages with us, and we have things on our doors, they just do a good job of celebrating with us so we don’t feel like we’re three hours away from home and that we have a little bit of a community here.”
The NICU at Bryan Medical Center has cared for thousands of premature babies and their families. It’s a level III facility led by a board-certified neonatologist and a highly trained, multidisciplinary team. Specialists from multiple departments come together and care for our tiniest patients.
