As moms we have experienced the emotional roller coaster we call pregnancy, leaving you elated and low within a matter of minutes.
Having someone not only to support you as you spare no detail in this beautiful life-changing journey, but to live it right alongside you is priceless.
A hospital in Kansas City had it all, giving one unit more baby love than they ever thought possible.
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri is having a busy year, and not just fiscally.
In an amazing sequence of events, a whopping 36 nurses on the unit have either just had a baby or are going to this year!
That image may be hard to imagine, which is why the hospital recently released a photo of all the moms together.
And it is adorable!
The picture features 21 babies that have already made their grand debut, and 15 happy mommas who are still waiting to meet their little ones.
Beginning the wave of buns in the oven is Allison Ronco, reports Good Morning America. She was the first to have her son, Henry, on January 7th.
While this many moms having children in the same year from the same unit is a rarity, the 32-year-old critical care education coordinator and nurse reveals that it’s not rare for nurses throughout the hospital to get pregnant at the same time.
“We always have a baby boom going on like this,” Ronco said jovially. “For us, it is just our normal. Patients joke to not drink the water in this place unless you want to get pregnant.”
Running into another pregnant woman while you are with child gives you an instant bond and plenty to talk about.
Can you imagine how chatty a floor of 36 pregnant women would be?! Or what the hospital nursery looks like?!
Along with discussions on birth plans, feeding, and diaper choices; there is a lot of room for judgement and strong opinions.
Miraculously, Ronco reported to Good Morning America that all the nurses were a great support to one another.
Ronco gleefully boasted:
“We have an amazing support system. There is no shortage of prenatal advice among us.”
It’s great to have a working family that is so close and cohesive. Many professional environments don’t offer such luxuries.
One of the blessed moms-to-be, Melanie Cole, had this to say about the baby boom:
“You’re immediately swept into this Mama Tribe, you and your baby. It is just a fun group to be able to grow with, learn from and always feel like you have someone in your corner that supports you and your baby.”
While having so many baby showers in such close proximity to one another is exciting (hello cake pop binge!), they may have to tuck away the tutus and bows for next year, because 19 of the little ones born so far have been boys.
Working with babies who are having complications, and at times fighting for their life, can be incredibly disheartening for a mom who is about to come face-to-face with the world of possible issues that can arise around delivering a baby.
Not only is it a NICU unit with all the typical cases that come through, but Children’s Mercy Hospital is the region’s only Level IV NICU.
This means that they receive “some of the most complex and critically ill infants in the Midwest,” according to a statement from the hospital.
So, relying on one another for emotional support has never been more important for a group of co-workers and friends.
No one knows this as well as Sarah Carboneau, who had to face the trials of her patients when her son Ben was born on February 9th with a heart defect.
Carboneau had this to say to Good Morning America:
“I was a mess because I’ve seen a lot of things [as a nurse]. It was an out-of-body experience because I knew what to expect when he was getting transported to the NICU. I was surrounded by everyone I knew. Feeling all of the love was overwhelming, but [Children’s Mercy] took amazing care of him and was able to [be] fixed with surgery a couple days later.”
Thankfully, Ben made a full recovery, but Carboneau doesn’t know what she would have done without the amazing staff support.
All the women are excited to go through their pregnancies together, and as the celebrations continue, they grow fonder of one another.
It may seem like a given, but Ronco confirmed that “we love babies.”
Hopefully we will see a follow-up picture after all the women give birth.
The NICU staff at Children’s Mercy Hospital are a great example of how a professional environment can also be a friendly supportive one.
Please let us know in the comments section if you have had a baby boom at your place of employment, or how many of your friends have been pregnant at once.