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Visit Via Webcam: Parents build bond with babies in NICU [size=85]26 December 2009[/size] OGDEN -- Joel and Lisa Hillan were visiting relatives in Bountiful earlier this month when Lisa, 29, went into premature labor.
The Colorado woman wasn't expecting the couple's daughter to arrive for another two months. After Lisa was rushed to Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful on Dec. 15, baby Cara arrived weighing just 3 pounds, 3 ounces. She was transferred to McKay-Dee Hospital's Newborn Intensive Care Unit.
"The first thing I thought of was the fact that I had to be back to work on Monday," said Joel, a news anchor for an ABC-affiliated television station in Grand Junction. "My heart just sank."
Fortunately, McKay-Dee was just setting up a new pilot program for families to be able to watch their little ones in the NICU through a webcam.
"Right now, we have four webcams set up and expect to have one for every bed. It's really been a great tool so far," said NICU registered nurse Susan Walton.
"We have mothers who are ill for various reasons and can't see their babies. We also have fathers who have to get back to work and also fathers who are serving over in Afghanistan, so to be able to log on to the computer and watch their baby has really been wonderful for them."
Walton said each parent is given access to the NICU Web site along with a password.
A webcam that sits over the baby's incubator allows the parents to watch their baby 24 hours a day.
"What's really nice about that also is the fact that grandparents and siblings can also see the baby," Walton said.
"We have really strict rules in the NICU, especially with H1N1 going around.
"A lot of family members aren't able to come in and see the baby, but with the webcam, everyone can feel involved."
Joel said the webcam has been a blessing.
"I can see her whenever I want, and that has brought such a peaceful feeling," he said.
"To know that I can check in on my little angel anytime is just priceless.
"It's like the credit card slogan: Incubator, $10,000. Respirator, $5,000. Getting to see your baby on a webcam, priceless."
After she delivered Cara, Lisa came down with a cold and wasn't able to see her baby until this week.
She, too, was grateful for the webcam.
"I have horrible asthma, and with the inversion here, it caused me to come down with a cold," she said.
"It has been really hard not to be able to be in there and hold her, but having the webcam right there has been wonderful. It allows me to really bond with her, and to know that I can watch her anytime day or night is just a relief."
Joel said one of the things he cherishes the most are the notes left by the nurses.
"I mean, here they are in this critical care unit, changing IVs, taking care of some of the sickest little patients, and they still leave a little note by the incubator for the parents to read," he said.
"They will keep you up to date on their weight and how they are progressing. You can watch them change their diaper and feed them. It's just incredible. They make you feel like you are really part of the process."
Ogden Regional Medical Center does not have a webcam in the NICU but plans to add them soon. Davis Hospital & Medical Center in Layton does not have the cameras, a spokesman said.
Joel said there's an added coincidence to the story. All of his brothers were born at McKay-Dee Hospital. All of Lisa's brothers were born at Lakeview Hospital.
"So here we are, visiting Utah. Our baby is born at Lakeview and transferred to McKay-Dee," he said. "It really has been a wonderful experience. We feel so fortunate."
 Ladybugs all dressed in red, strolling through the flowerbed. If I were tiny just like you I'd creep among the flowers too!
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