Babies in NICUs treated to Halloween costume dress-up

In their parents’ eyes, Sofia and Valentina Garza were born as princesses.

So it only seemed natural to dress the twin girls as princesses Elsa and Anna from Disney’s “Frozen” for Halloween.

“It was a perfect fit for them,” said their mother, Milica Garza of McHenry.

[ See the full gallery of NICU babies dressed up for Halloween ]

Born to Milica and Christian Garza on Sept. 13, the newborns were among several babies from McHenry County and Lake County to take part in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Halloween Costume Bash hosted by Advocate Children’s Hospital.

The event also included a social media contest, with photos of the dressed-up infants featured on Advocate Children’s Hospital’s Facebook page. The photos with the most reactions earned a prize.

Along with princesses, costumes included a Barbie, Hostess Twinkies, a pharaoh, Yoda and more.

Lauren Specchio of Crystal Lake dressed her newborn Frankie in a skeleton costume made by his grandmother, while Rachel Sharp of Fox Lake dressed her newborn Gracelynn as Super Girl.

More than a contest, the event was a way to simply lighten up what can be a stressful and difficult time for many families.

“I was surprised but really excited that the NICU does stuff like this,” said Garza, whose twins were born early at 32 weeks and four days, at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, the Park Ridge campus of Advocate Children’s Hospital.

Sofia and Valentina weighed only 2 pounds, 14 ounces at birth. Their mother was diagnosed with twin-twin transfusion syndrome, a rare, serious condition that happens when identical twins share a placenta. Abnormal blood vessel connections form in the placenta and allow blood to flow unevenly between the fetuses.

Diagnosed at 19 weeks, Garza had surgery at 20 weeks at Advocate Lutheran General to keep the babies in her womb as long as possible.

“Without the doctors there and everything, I don’t know if my girls would have made it,” she said.

Released from the hospital a few days after their birth, Garza had to travel back and forth from home to see them daily.

The NICU Halloween Costume Bash was one of many ways the hospital helped make the experience as manageable as possible.

“It’s not just coming in and visiting the baby and going home. They actually try to make it a positive experience,” Garza said. “I was really excited to think of a costume to put them in and what kind of decorations I could do.”

The twins’ grandmother, who lives in California, went right to work creating the homemade costumes for Sofia and Valentina.

After weeks in the NICU, Sofia was able to go home a couple weeks ago, while Valentina was expected to be released in the coming days.

“I’m just looking forward to them being home,” Garza said. “The holidays are coming around, and I’m so thankful they’re able to grow so much in the NICU, and that they’re healthy and they’re able to be home and enjoy the holidays.”

The NICU Halloween Costume Bash has taken place at Advocate Children’s Hospital for many years, with a pause in 2020 because of COVID-19 precautions. It returned in 2021 with extra safeguards that remained in place this year, including parents taking the photos themselves and submitting them.

“We know that caring for our patients on their NICU journey involves more than medications and procedures,” said Michelle Tracy, Advocate Children’s Hospital chief nursing officer. “Supporting our tiniest patients also means bringing smiles and a touch of normalcy to the entire family. Helping these babies dress up for Halloween is one way that we can celebrate their resilience and create the joy that they so deserve.”

Dressing up NICU babies for Halloween has become a tradition in other hospitals too.

At Javon Bea Hospital-Riverside in Rockford, NICU nurse JoAnn Gorsline made more than 50 costumes for babies staying in the unit this October.

Javon Bea is run by Mercyhealth, which also operates hospitals in Harvard and Crystal Lake.