CLEVELAND, Ohio — September is Neonatal Intensive Care Unit — or NICU — Awareness Month. Each year, nearly 14,000 babies are born preterm in Ohio. Many of these babies spend the start of their lives in the NICU. Spectrum News One has a firsthand account from a Cleveland family who spent several months there.
“They were delivered via emergency C-section,” said Emma Bango.
At just 22 weeks, Emma Bango went into premature labor. She and her husband, Anthony Bango, went to MetroHealth Medical Center where doctors gave her medicine to delay birth. But a week later, on August 22, 2019, Emma gave birth to twin girls, Ottilie and Cecilia.
“Cecilia was 1 pound, 2 ounces and Ottilie was 13 ounces,” said Emma Bango.
Ottilie, less than a pound, fought for her life before passing away nine days after she was born.
“The day Ottilie passed, you could feel it on the floor. And for a while when we were here, you could feel it,” said Anthony Bango.
Cecilia continued to face different health challenges and the couple’s strength was tested. They said baby Cecilia could go from doing well to doctors not knowing if she’d live in just a matter of hours.
“Sometimes you walk around the corner and there’s like ten staff standing anxiously around your child’s bed and you’re like, ‘oh my god, what happened?'” said Anthony Bango.
But not all days were bad. Anthony and Emma would have movie night with Cecilia on the weekends. They said staff would give her extra cuddles when they had extra time. And the nurses worked together to surprise Emma with a special moment during one of her visits.
“They both look at me and they’re like, ‘you’re gonna hold her today!’ And I was like, ‘uhh…’ and this was day 54 of life and we had yet to hold her. We’d only been able to like hold her hand or touch her head. And so, I’m sitting in this chair and they’re working their magic and they just pull out this little, I think, she may not have even been two pounds at that point, intubated baby and just like put her on my chest and having to wait 54 days to hold your child is a terrible thing to do. So it was just, it was one of these like aha moments of finally being able to hold her,” said Emma Bango.
Anthony and Emma said they never would have known what it’s like to have a baby in the NICU if they wouldn’t have experienced it firsthand. That’s why they want to share their story. They want people to know the NICU isn’t a typical nursery full of new baby bliss, but a specialized unit of uncertainty and loss. They credit their village for helping them through their time in the NICU and said the best way people can help is to simply be there.
“We had friends just randomly email us like Uber Eats gift cards and things like that which helped us because then we didn’t have to think about being here all day and then what are we going to do for dinner,” said Emma Bango.
After 233 days in the NICU, Cecilia was finally able to go home April 10, 2020. Her parents are enjoying watching her reach new milestones. They said they are proud of the strength and bravery their tiny one pound baby exhibits.
“Somehow through all of that, she persisted, and we think her sister has constantly been with us, with her, through this whole time,” said Emma Bango. “It’s a blessing to watch her grow after watching her go through so much.”
A managing nurse at the NICU at Metrohealth Medical Center said they care for anywhere from 450 to 600 babies in the NICU each year. Both the nurse and the Bangos said people can donate to the NICU or volunteer with organizations that support NICU families to help raise awareness.
