250 families celebrate Baby Homecoming at at Condell
When it comes to caring for babies and their mothers, Advocate Condell Medical Center delivers.
About 250 families and more than 700 people came to the center's Conference Center Sunday for a Baby Homecoming. The free event was offered to families of babies born at the hospital since October 2008.
There was no tailgating at this homecoming, but face painting, wagons filled with hay for baby hayrides and Libertyville fire and police vehicles.
“It's a good fall festival party for the kids,” said Sarah Decker of Grayslake, who visited with daughter Samantha, 2.
Catherine and Pawel Parada of Gurnee came with their three children, Dylan, nine months, Grayson, 2, and Connor, 4. All were delivered at Condell.
“It was a fast and furious delivery. They were great. I went into labor at 4. And he was born at 6,” Catherine Parada said.
She said the prenatal classes proved useful, particularly information about nursing and CPR.
Jennifer Johnson, perinatal educator at the center, said that in addition to the activities provided, guests were able to receive information from such important vendors as Mothers' Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes and the March of Dimes.
In addition, there were visits from Elmo and Ronald McDonald, as well as car seat inspections.
Johnson, who teaches prenatal classes, said it is fun to see her pupils return with “the end result.” Her own five children, who ranged in age from 5 to 16, joined her at Sunday's event.
One of the rooms in the Conference Center was reserved for receiving families who had delivered premature or high-risk babies.
Neonatologist Syd Foreman, whose duties involve taking care of high-risk babies and babies who have problems at birth, said, “It's great to see the babies coming back and seeing for the most part how well they are doing.”
Because his unit is smaller, he said there is more of a personal relationship with the parents.
This showed when Foreman, who said he was once a camp counselor, could be seen playing with a paddle and ball with 10-month-old twins Anika and Kai Nicol, who wearing Minnie and Mickey Mouse apparel, respectively.
For their mother, Emily, a Kenosha, Wis., resident, it was the first time she visited Condell since her delivery. Her twins were born prematurely at 34 weeks.
“It was stressful,” she said. “When they were born, they were taken to the special care nursery. Kai was in for eight days, and Anika was in for 10. It was crazy. But it was a really great place to have them. The staff was really wonderful. For being in such a stressful situation, the nurses were so great about easing your fears.”
Libertyville resident Windy Planeta, a special care nurse, experienced Condell's services firsthand when she gave birth to her 3-year-old son, Colin.
“It's wonderful. I really enjoy it because you get to see the growth of the babies and how well they are doing. It's nice to see all your hard work pay off,” she said.