On Wednesday families going through possibly the most difficult time in their lives have something to smile about.
An announcement about the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Wolfson Children's Hospital means more families will be able to be with and help their babies as they fight for their lives. The Women’s Board at the hospital will announce their big fundraiser to raise money for the new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
This is a big deal to families like Lenyde and Jesse Huertas. Their daughter Faith is now more than a year old, but when she was born at 24 weeks she weighed 15 ounces.
"They even mentioned she's possibly one of the smallest, at least, within that vicinity, that's the smallest they've ever had," said Jesse Huertas.
The Huertas and their older daughter Hope spent five months with Faith in the NICU.
"That whole journey was, I think, most NICU parents would kind of deem it as like a roller coaster," Jesse said.
Part of what they say kept them going was the NICU staff. They say at one point their doctor moved his schedule for Faith so the family would not have to travel for Miami for a procedure.
"The number one person that it was like now that I feel like it's our family, it's Faith's primary nurse," said Lenyde. "Her name is Carissa."
The couple paused multiple times in the interview to thank the NICU staff.
"Sometimes they'll remind me like, 'you need to go take a break,'" said Lenyde. "You've been here for six, seven hours. I haven't seen you take a sip of water.'"
The hospital's new critical care tower will increase the number of NICU beds by a quarter and by 30 percent for the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. That means 272 beds total, making it the second largest children's hospital in Florida.
"To be able to kind of expand that care, because it's obviously desperately needed, it's huge," said Jesse. "Definitely for all families involved."
"It makes it easier for parents to be with their babies," added Lenyde.
The Huertases have a message to other parents who may be in the NICU now.
"It's okay if you feel down, but also you have to understand that you have to keep your faith up because they need you," said Lenyde. "The babies need you. Just us being there with her made her survival the greatest miracle that we had."
The plan is for construction on the critical care tower to be complete in February.
The Women's Board will announce the lineup of Emmy-winning and celebrity speakers, nationally renowned designers and artists, and exhibitors for the reimagined 2021 Winter Design Show at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.