‘We made it’: Windsor NICU graduates reunited

The Trella triplets are graduates of the NICU at Windsor Regional Hospital. (Michelle Maluske/CTV Windsor)

A reunion for NICU graduates was held Saturday in LaSalle, organized by the parent members of the Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) Family Advisory Care Team.

It’s a group of volunteer parents who all had children who needed the neonatal intensive care unit at WRH.

Parent chairwoman Michelle Ladouceur’s twin daughters were in the NICU for 79 days, eight years ago. Today?

“They are active. They’re going into Grade 3 this year, (and) meeting all the great milestones,” Ladouceur said.

“We’re so grateful for Windsor Regional (Hospital) NICU to be able to celebrate that success.”

70 graduates of the specialized unit participated in a picnic at the Vollmer Complex.

They were treated to snacks, prizes, face-painting, and a chance to ride in a first responder vehicle.

Essex-Windsor EMS paramedics joined LaSalle police officers and firefighters for the event.

Ladouceur said the event is meant to reunite parents with staff they learned to lean on while in hospital.

“It’s completely just about getting together and sharing that learned experience,” Ladouceur said.

“And then, also, just reframing that lens of the experience to say, ‘Hey, we made it! We’re on the other side.’”

WRH’s NICU, located at the Metropolitan campus, can care for newborns as young as 26 weeks gestation.