Our hope is anyone that is in that situation would receive the same type of care and encouragement.
Logan and Joshua Thomas are parents to two growing boys, 4-year-old Dylan and 2-year-old Mason. But both boys had challenging beginnings as they were both born prematurely and spent the first weeks of their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Bronson Children’s Hospital.
“Dylan was born at 32 weeks,” says Logan, who explains that her water broke out of the blue and just four hours later Dylan entered the world. “We were in the NICU for a solid 28 days. It was scary and definitely a roller coaster ride with lots of ups and downs.”
Two years later, Mason was born at just 30 weeks, and the Thomases found themselves back at the NICU. “Mason needed some extra care that we hadn’t experienced our first time, but it was nice to see familiar faces, some doctors and nurses that we already knew which was extremely helpful and comforting. We had what I would say is the best possible experience that you could have during a stay in the NICU.”
“It’s a really, really difficult situation,” says Joshua as he reflects on the experience. “I think the Bronson staff realizes where you are, and while their primary concern is taking care of your baby, they are also aware you are in this high anxiety situation, so they are helping take care of you too. They are letting you know everything is ok and making you aware of every situation you are in.”
From their first experience with Dylan, the Thomases decided they wanted to give back to support staff and families in the NICU. “We asked what we could do that might be immediately impactful for the NICU staff and also for babies that were being cared for there,” says Logan. Through generous gifts to Bronson Health Foundation, they’ve helped to fund sleep sacks, vein visualization technology, phototherapy blankets.
“We had people that made us feel as much at home as we possibly could,” says Logan. So, our hope is anyone that is in that situation would receive the same type of care, and encouragement.”
Joshua explains further that through his own work experience, he was eager to help support the Once Upon a Preemie program. “The trainings that I’ve gone through have helped me realize some unconscious bias that I have that I’ve wanted to eliminate. It’s the realization that we don’t always have the understanding of what’s going on in the communities that we are working with and various people from different backgrounds.” When NICU leaders expressed an interest in bringing the training to Bronson, Thomases got behind it right away. “We want everyone to have the amazing experience we had when they walk in those doors on the fourth or fifth floor and just feel that they are at home and their child is in the best place possible.”
