MILLCREEK, Utah — After her son spent 76 days and Christmas last year in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), a Utah mom wants to spread hope and joy for families struggling while their babies are in the same spot this year — spreading holiday cheer for families who might be struggling this Christmas.
“Last year, we were in the NICU, my baby, he was born at 28 weeks, so we spent Christmas in the NICU,” explained McKenzie McCombs, who gave birth to her son Coleman in November last year when she was in a coma after being sick with COVID-19.
“I didn’t get to see Coleman for a week and a half after he was born,” remembers McCombs. “He was two pounds and six ounces.”
So, she knows what it’s like for a family to have a baby in the NICU, especially around the holidays.
“This year, I wanted to give back because we received so much love last year,” said McCombs.
She, her husband, and their son — now a healthy, one-year-old baby — came back to St. Mark's Hospital in Millcreek with little baskets of gifts to help these families know that they are not alone.
“Loved,” said McCombs, “And I hope it makes them feel like someone knows what they’re going through and how hard it is and just makes them feel... not better about the situation, but someone understands.”
The baskets include special ornaments, onesies, knitted hats, blankets, car seat covers and little cards with words of affirmation — such as "One day I will tell this story and it will be someone else’s survival guide," "I did everything right," and "It’s okay to be not okay."
She did it all with help from the community, as well.
“We got so many donations that it covered pretty much everything that we got, which was amazing,” said McCombs.
The nurses who took care of Coleman in the NICU got to see him, and the impact of the baskets, a year later.
“I just gave one to a mom that was tearful because she’s discharging today and she has to leave her little one in the NICU, and that’s always so hard to do — particularly around the holidays," said Louise Dressler, a clinical nurse coordinator at St. Mark's. "So having that little gift of someone that went through a situation like theirs just brings hope and comfort."
They're making this holiday season just a little brighter.
“They can push through and make it. It does get better, and it’s amazing when they come home,” said McCombs.
She says she hopes to make this an annual tradition by giving gift baskets or anything else to help spread joy and make sure families don’t feel alone.
