Albert Einstein once said: “There are two ways to live. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.” For many us living the rush of the day-to-day, we don’t often stop to think about miracles around us. Albert Einstein had a different perspective on life than most, born premature in 1879. One hundred years later in 1979, Mary Bixler, RN, started her career as a nurse, passionate for caring for the youngest and smallest of patients, miracles in many ways. “Working in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has been my dream job for a long time,” she shares. Fellow Lovelace Women’s Hospital NICU nurse Laurie Shirai Akau, RN, says it has been a perfect fit for her since day one. “Babies - no question - once you work with them it is a no brainer.” Together, Mary and Laurie had an idea to help make what is a trying time for NICU families, especially during the holidays, a special memory for years to come.
“I want them to remember not just the hard times in the NICU, but also that the staff cares and I want them to have some joyous moments that put a smile on their faces,” adds Laurie.
The inspiration for photographing NICU babies in Christmas stockings with Santa came after a story from Facebook was shared among nurses. “We got the ideas to make the stockings for babies after we were sent a cute story on Facebook 
about nurses who had made super hero Halloween costumes for their babies," explains Mary. "We’d like to try and do those for next year, but there was no time this year. Since it was already November, we thought Christmas stockings would be cute, and possible to create.”
Mary started making rough calculations on how much fabric they would need and the cost. She had an idea to partner with Laura Huval, the March of Dimes NICU Family Support Program coordinator at Lovelace Women’s Hospital. (The NICU Family Support Program is the only program of its kind in New Mexico.) March of Dimes covered the cost of materials and Mary and Laurie started working on designs. “I took a tape measure and actually measured a bunch of babies,” Mary explains. “We have stockings sized to hold full-term babies, premature babies and stocking-shaped ‘blankets’ to lay over the micro-preemies (babies weighing less than two pounds) who are too fragile to be placed into a stocking,” she says of the 25 hours of work she and Laurie put in on their off time, cutting, sewing and decorating.
The Christmas stockings – 65 in total - are handmade, tangible expressions of how Lovelace Women’s Hospital NICU nurses not only care for their patients, but also their families. “Our staff frequently goes above and beyond taking care of the baby, while also taking care of mom and dad,” Mary adds. “We help with securing a place to stay and providing meals and transportation vouchers when needed. Our nurses have been invited to birthday parties years after babies graduate from the NICU. I believe that anything we, as a staff, can do to make the NICU friendlier and less scary, the better.”
“As you can imagine it is very difficult for parents to have their babies in the NICU - to come and go leaving their baby every day for a few days, for weeks, and sometimes for months,” shares Laurie.
Mary adds, “Our hope is that these Christmas stockings and photos with Santa (neonatologist Dr. Gary Kaselonis) will make a happy memory during a stressful time, and they will take the stockings home with them to use however they want in the future.”
A baby’s first holiday is a milestone parents will always remember. Lovelace Women’s Hospital and the generosity of their dedicated NICU nurses, in partnership with the March of Dimes, wants to ensure their families have something special to remember this year. “This gift is a way to show the love we have for our patients and their families,” says Mary.
Photography credit: Amy Crooks Photography, Britianie Tyler Photography and JJ Holtey Photography
Bottom photo: (L to R) Mary Bixler, RN, Laura Huval, Laurie Akau, RN, and Santa (Dr. Gary Kaselonis)