Eighteen years ago, newborn Elizabeth Sandman was fighting for her life in UCI Medical Center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, after being born with chronic kidney disease.
With the help of hospital staff, her condition improved over the course of several months and she was finally able to go home to her family.
On Sunday, Oct. 6, Sandman and hundreds of other NICU “graduates” got the chance to mingle with each other and the hospital staff who cared for them during the 2024 UCI NICU Reunion Carnival.
Sandman, who has since had two kidney transplants, attended the event with her two younger sisters, who also spent time in area NICUs when they were born.
“It’s really fun to be here, and see how far I’ve come,” she said. “I wasn’t supposed to make it. So having them give me that chance and believe in me, I really appreciate it.”
The UCI NICU Reunion had typically been held every other year as a way to celebrate graduates’ achievements, reunite them with their care teams, and introduce them to other former NICU patients and families, organizers said. It would often draw about 500 people.
But the popular event hasn’t been held since 2018. This first reunion since the pandemic drew a record 2,000 RSVPs and had to be moved to accommodate the larger crowd, organizers said.
UCI’s NICU is one of only two Level III NICUs in Orange County, a designation given to units that meet rigorous state standards and are equipped to care for newborns who are premature, extremely sick, or may need surgery.
The reunion allows those with connections to the UCI NICU to build lasting relationships with each other and the hospital, said UCI spokesman John Murray.
“We love seeing how the kids have grown up,” he said. “It’s helpful for the nurses and the physicians to see this, and it’s also a great opportunity for the families to come back, see the people who provided care for them and also meet others that may have also been in the NICU at the same time.”
Scores of attendees, including NICU graduates dressed up in princess, firefighter, dinosaur and other costumes, gathered in the pavilion’s parking lot for the afternoon Sunday that was filled with food, music, carnival games, a petting zoo, and more.
Candelaria Estrada and her family attended the event out of gratitude for how the hospital helped both of her daughters – now ages 5 and 10 – through difficult times.
Estrada had preeclampsia during both pregnancies, and both girls were delivered at 31 weeks. They weighed just 2 pounds and 3 pounds, respectively, and needed to stay in the NICU until they weighed more than 5 pounds each.
Watching her youngest daughter meander through the carnival dressed like Disney’s Princess Ariel, Estrada said she was happy to be there because it means her daughters are now healthy enough to enjoy normal activities.
“I think it’s a very joyful thing because they get to experience life after experiencing hard times,” she said. “They are our miracle babies.”
For Roman and Lourdes Gomez, of Santa Ana, the carnival was an opportunity to reflect on the past while also looking toward the future.
Their daughter Mila, dressed up as Marvel character Gwen Stacy, spent about four months in UCI’s NICU after being born prematurely at 25 weeks.
The couple was looking forward to seeing the doctors and nurses who impacted their daughter’s life, and to possibly meeting other families that have faced similar circumstances.
“They were fantastic,” Roman said, of his daughter’s medical team. “Thanks to them, she was able to make it through.”
Kimberly Strickler, of Buena Park, also attended the event with her family.
Her son, Kyler, was born two months premature and stayed in UCI’s NICU for a month, growing from being “itty bitty in a little incubator” into a healthy NICU graduate ready to go home, she said.
During the reunion, Strickler reconnected with one of the nurses who cared for her son, now 17 months old, during his time in the NICU.
“I knew he was in good hands because she was a good nurse,” she said. “It’s awesome to see the nurses that cared for our kids when we weren’t around.”
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Reunion organizers Summer Coleman, an interim assistant nurse manager for UCI, and Cindy Gameros, an assistant nurse manager for UCI, said the event is also special for hospital employees because it allows them to celebrate their former patients’ victories alongside them and their families.
Coleman, for example, said she was particularly touched to learn at a previous reunion that one of her former NICU patients had grown into a happy, healthy high school student.
“It’s great to see them go from being so critically ill to thriving adolescents and kids,” she said.
Gameros added that it’s “very rewarding” for her to see patients’ progress during the NICU reunions. It’s especially gratifying to see those who may weigh less than one pound at birth return to the NICU reunion as “chubby little toddlers” or “big 10-year-olds,” she said.
“I think it keeps us going through the hard times,” she said.
For Sandman, the UCI NICU Reunion has become a symbol of hope and triumph, as it brings together those who’ve faced health challenges and those who helped them through those challenges. And she is already looking forward to attending the next one.
“I think it’s amazing,” she said. “Having us come together, seeing all the hardships people have had, and just being there for each other, is great.”
