At birth, Candra and Cyler Battles weighed less together than many individual babies. On Sunday, the prematurely born twins reunited with some of the staff members who saw them through their tough early months at the seventh-anniversary celebration of the neonatal intensive-care unit at Parker Adventist Hospital in Parker.
“This was home,” their mother, 42-year-old Candice Battles, said of the unit, or NICU.
Battles gave birth to her twins via emergency cesarean section last August, when she was 32 weeks pregnant. Cyler weighed 3 pounds, 9 ounces. Candra weighed 2 pounds, 4 ounces. Cyler suffered from respiratory disease. After returning home from the NICU after about two months of constant care, Cyler had to return twice in a 10-day span because of illness. Battles said the nurses and doctors who cared for her and her children helped make the ordeal bearable.
“They were absolutely phenomenal,” Battles said.
The Battleses were among about 100 NICU alumni who came to Sunday’s party to swap stories and hugs with parents and nurses who have shared experiences at Parker Adventist’s NICU, which operates in partnership with Children’s Hospital in Denver. Kira Covill, the NICU manager, said the facility can support up to 10 babies at a time and often cares for six or more at a given time.
Covill said the Parker Adventist nurses receive training beyond the minimum level required, providing a first-rate environment for children born as early as two months premature.
“We have the best staff,” she said.
Other parents at the party, which included arts and crafts and face-painting for the children, agreed.
“I’m glad at least she was here,” said Chris Miller of Elizabeth.
Miller’s daughter, Averie, spent more than six weeks in the NICU in early 2010. Averie needed the help of an oxygen mask to breathe for six months after her birth and still receives weekly therapy at home.
“It was an amazing experience but one I don’t wish to go through again,” Miller said.
“I always knew I would be in perfect hands,” said Jennifer Scarbrough, who had NICU babies in 2005 and 2009.
Sarah Maness, a NICU nurse, said it was wonderful to see some of the children she knew as patients transformed into happy, healthy toddlers. Maness said seeing a family take their child home gives her the rewarding feeling of a job well-done.
Candra and Cyler now weigh 15 and 19 pounds, respectively, and their mother shared the sense of community accomplishment that Maness felt.
“It took a village to get them through,” Battles said.
Kyle Glazier: 303-954-1638 or kglazier@denverpost.com
