Isla’s Story: A Little Piece of Normal in the NICU

September is NICU Awareness Month, a time to honor the tiniest and most vulnerable babies, the families who love them, and the heroic medical teams who care for them.

At Bonsie, NICU Awareness Month is particularly special to us. From the very beginning, our mission has been rooted in helping families connect with their babies through skin-to-skin contact, even when their journey looks very different from what they imagined. We believe that every parent deserves the opportunity to experience those moments of closeness and bonding whenever it is medically possible, and that families navigating the NICU deserve education, support, community, and babywear designed with their unique needs in mind.

This month, we are honored to share Bridget’s story and the story of her daughter, Isla. Isla was born with an incredibly rare condition that meant her first 100 days of life looked very different from what her family had imagined. Bridget generously shared her experience with Bonsie, shining a light not only on Isla’s incredible journey, but on the importance of finding ways to preserve connection and those precious pieces of “normal” during a NICU stay.

Isla in the NICU

Isla’s Story

Isla was born with long-gap esophageal atresia, meaning her esophagus didn’t connect to her stomach. Right after delivery, she was rushed away from her mom, and within 10 minutes she was in the NICU at Boston Children’s Hospital. She would spend the next 100 days there and go through more than seven surgeries and procedures.

“When Isla was born, so many of the moments I had pictured as a new mom disappeared almost instantly. There was no golden hour. No uninterrupted skin-to-skin. No quiet first few hours together. No dressing her in the tiny newborn outfits I had picked out while I was pregnant and taking her home a few days later,” Bridget said. 

For most of that time, Isla’s tiny body was covered in machines that were keeping her safe and helping her heal. She had PICC lines, IVs, a feeding tube, a Replogle, monitors, dressings, ventilators, and fresh surgical incisions that needed to be checked constantly. There were many days when almost every part of her body was attached to something. Because of her many medical attachments, regular baby clothes weren’t always realistic. Her nurses needed easy access to her lines, monitors, and incisions, and fully dressing and undressing her could be too much after everything her body had already been through.

Isla in the NICU

“That’s where Bonsie became our little piece of normal. I could actually dress my baby while still allowing her nurses to get to everything they needed. And when I was allowed to do skin to skin, I didn’t have to completely undress her and overstimulate her just to get her onto my chest. Skin to skin was something I had imagined doing immediately after she was born, and instead it became something I had to wait for, work around tubes and wires, and appreciate in a completely different way.”

The Importance of Skin-to-Skin in the NICU

For NICU families, skin-to-skin can mean so much more than a quiet moment of cuddling. It can be an important part of a baby’s care and a powerful way for parents to feel connected during a time when so much of their baby’s care is happening in the hands of doctors and nurses.

Research has shown that skin-to-skin contact, also known as kangaroo care, can support a number of important outcomes for newborns. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, skin-to-skin care in the NICU has been associated with improved breastfeeding outcomes, longer periods of quiet sleep, increased parent enjoyment and confidence, and decreased pain perception during procedures. It can also be practiced with babies who require significant medical support, including some infants receiving ventilator support, when their care team determines it is safe to do so.  

Research on kangaroo mother care has also found benefits for preterm and low-birth-weight babies, including improved physiologic stability and reductions in certain risks such as infection and hypothermia. The World Health Organization now recommends kangaroo mother care as routine care for preterm and low-birth-weight newborns and emphasizes that skin-to-skin contact can continue throughout a baby’s hospital stay and after discharge.

Isla and Bridget practice skin-to-skin contact in the NICU

Of course, every NICU baby is different, and not every baby will be ready for skin-to-skin right away. For medically complex babies like Isla, when and how skin-to-skin can happen is something that must be determined with the baby’s medical team. But when those precious moments are possible, they can give parents an opportunity to simply be parents—to hold, comfort, bond, and connect with their baby.

At Bonsie, this is exactly why we believe babywear should make skin-to-skin easier, not harder. Our babywear was created to help parents keep their babies cozy while allowing easier access for medical equipment and making it possible to practice skin-to-skin without completely undressing baby. It is a small thing in the middle of a very big experience, but sometimes the small things matter so much.

“Being able to hold her against me, dressed in something that still made her feel like my baby instead of just a patient, meant everything. I missed out on a lot of the normal newborn firsts. Getting to do something as simple as dress her and hold her close gave me back a tiny piece of what I had imagined motherhood would feel like.”

Greg, Isla’s dad, also spent time snuggling skin-to-skin with Isla as a way to help them both relax, heal, and bond. 

The Angels of 10 Bert and 11 Hale

Bridget also mentioned the heroic nurses that cared for Isla, describing them as selfless angels.

“The nurses of 10 Bert at Boston Children’s Hospital and 11 Hale were incredible. They cared for Isla with so much love and compassion, and they worked tirelessly to help her reach the moment we had been waiting 100 days for: going home.”

 Isla and her parents celebrate NICU graduation 

NICU nurses hold such a special place in the stories we share at Bonsie. They are there for the hardest moments, the tiny victories, the procedures, the setbacks, and the milestones families spend days, weeks, or even months waiting to celebrate. They become part of a family’s story in ways that are difficult to put into words.

And for parents, having a care team that understands how important bonding and connection are can make an incredibly difficult experience feel a little less lonely.

After 100 days, Isla finally got the moment her family had been waiting for.

“Now Isla is finally home, and three months later we still use her Bonsies for skin to skin, g-tube access, and because they are just so cute and cozy!”

We love that Bonsie can continue to be useful long after a baby leaves the NICU. For families like Isla’s, medical equipment and appointments may continue to be part of everyday life even after coming home. Having babywear that makes those realities a little easier can give parents one less thing to think about, and one more opportunity to simply enjoy parenthood.

A Little Piece of Normal

We are so grateful to Bridget for trusting us with Isla’s story and for sharing such an intimate part of their journey. Her story is a beautiful reminder that NICU parents are navigating so much more than medical uncertainty. They are becoming parents while learning a completely new language, living around hospital schedules, watching their babies endure procedures, and often missing out on the newborn moments they had imagined for months.

Isla smiling at home

For every NICU family who has missed the golden hour, waited days to hold their baby, or had to find a new way to experience something as simple as getting dressed, know that you are not alone.

At Bonsie, we are committed to supporting NICU families and the hospitals and care teams who serve them. We will continue working to spread awareness about the importance of skin-to-skin, share the stories of brave babies and their families, and help create community for our most vulnerable citizens.

When you are already carrying the weight of a NICU journey, the last thing you should have to worry about is whether your baby’s clothing is comfortable, accessible, or compatible with the medical care they need.

“Thank you, Bonsie Baby, for giving us a little bit of normal during Isla’s first 100 days.”

Thank you, Bridget, for your bravery and for allowing us to share Isla’s miraculous story. And thank you, Isla, for reminding us just how much strength can live in the tiniest of people.