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Showing gratitude Ashland High School freshman Julia Petrone talks with one of the nurses that cared for her during the Miracle Baby Reunion at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Medical Center on Sunday. (Photo by: Larry Stauth Jr) Sunday Oct 23, 2016 at 8:57 PM Oct 23, 2016 at 9:25 PM Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune @teresathomas_MT Benaiah Gettman was born eight days past his due date, but he wasn’t breathing. He was diagnosed with neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a condition caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain, and was immediately put on a ventilator. Eight hours after he was born, his mom, Tory Gettman, was allowed to hold him for the first time for about five minutes before he began receiving hypothermia treatments to reduce the chances of severe brain damage. Gettman and her husband, Phil, were not able to hold their son again for three days and were not able to take him home for a week. “I was terrified, but (the nurses and doctors) were really good about bringing us back down to Earth,” said Tory Gettman. “When you go through these types of things, you tend to attach to people to get some semblance of what’s going on,” her husband chimed in. “It’s definitely something you don’t forget,” he said. On Sunday, Benaiah, now two and a half months old, nearly nine pounds and no longer on medication, was content nesting in his parent’s arms while they visited with many of the nurses who had cared for him during his stint in Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. For the past 25 years, the hospital has hosted an annual Miracle Baby Reunion for NICU graduates to give the parents a chance to say “Thank you” to the hospital staff who helped them and the nurses and doctors a chance to reunite with the youngsters they’d cared for. More than 200 families Sunday gathered in Asante’s lobby and cafeteria to visit with hospital staff and participate in a variety of fall-themed activities, including carnival games, face painting and pumpkin decorating. Many of the young graduates also got their photo taken while holding their NICU portraits. “I think these people are just as excited to come back and see us as we are to see them,” said Shirley Wilson, who’s been a registered nurse in NICU for the past 18 years. One of the graduates Sunday was a nine-year-old girl who brought the blanket she’d been given while in the NICU, and another was a 20-year-old man whose mom was making him play the carnival games, Wilson said. Asante houses the only NICU between Eugene and Redding and treats about 350 infants a year who were born prematurely and/or have special medical needs, said Lauren Van Sickle, an Asante spokeswoman. (Infants with surgical and heart cases are referred to Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.) Whereas normal human gestation is about 40 weeks, many of the graduates at Sunday’s event were born as early as 24 weeks. Julia Petrone, now 14, was one of those born at 24 weeks. On Sunday, Julia walked around filming other NICU graduates for a public service announcement, titled “Miracles and Gratitude,” that she’s making for Rogue Valley Community Television while her mom, LeAnne Petrone, visited with Julia’s neonatologist, Dr. Lee Harker. “She just came out early,” said Petrone. “I don’t know why. At that point, it was 50/50 for life.” Petrone could only hold Julia for about three hours each day and drove back and forth between the hospital and her home where her four-year-old daughter was. “There are so many things that can go wrong,” she said. “You just have to trust the doctors and nurses, pray, and take care of yourself and your family.” Harker, who has been a neonatologist for more than 20 years, said that seeing the joy on the children’s faces and hearing the parents' gratitude is “why we do what we do.” Even if the children don’t remember, the parents do, she said. One mom, Mandy Alves, said she is now good friends with many of the nurses who cared for her twin daughters, Bentlee and Whitlee, who were born at 27 weeks weighing 1 pound 9 ounces and 2 pounds 5 ounces, respectively. Bentlee was in the NICU 100 days, and Whitlee was there 90 days. Alves said she lived in a motor home in the parking lot for three months and only went home on the weekends. Now, two years later, Alves is still friends and Facebook friends with many of her daughters’ nurses and visits them in the hospital and, occasionally, even meets them for lunch. One-year-old Emmelyn Merritt was due in January but born in September, about 14 weeks early and weighing just over 2 pounds. Now Emmelyn is a healthy 22 pounds and a happy baby, who loves her older sister and brother, said her mom Heidi Merritt. Merritt said she recognized many of the NICU nurses at Sunday’s event. “They weren’t just taking their vitals,” Merritt said. “They were holding and rocking them. The babies weren’t just taken care of, they were loved on too.” Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt.