Newborn Intensive Care Unit holds reunion Ryan Leight, 7, brought his baby album to the Welcomoe Back Celebration for Newborn ICU children and families on Saturday at St. Vincent Hospital. Leight was born weighing 1 pound, 12 ounces and was 13 inches long (photo by Tina Gohr). By Monique Balas News-Chronicle You'd never know it from looking at him, but Ryan Leicht weighed in at a mere 1 pound, 12 ounces when he was born. Today, he is a spunky 7-year-old blond boy who says he might like to become a rock star. Leicht was born with a perforated intestine and spent nearly four months at St. Vincent Hospital's Newborn Intensive Care Unit. On Saturday, he was able to celebrate his hard-won fight for his life with about 100 other "graduates" of the NICU, a group of 6- to 8-year-olds who were treated at the unit during the same time period. "We do this every few years," said Lynne Schuette, a registered nurse in the NICU. "This is a good age where they would start asking a lot of questions. These kids were born six or seven years ago. They just get curious about when they were born." The hospital's last NICU reunion was held in 1998, she said, and many parents were asking the unit to hold another one. The kids got a chance to have their faces painted, make T-shirts and make photo frames, while their parents got a chance to show off their healthy, happy kids. The families of the tiny patients often bond with each other and with the doctors and nurses who help them through what for some is the most difficult time of their lives. "These people up here are miracle workers," said De Pere mom Julie Geurts, "and they become people you never want to lose touch with. They become family." Both of Geurts' children were premature babies with complications and had to spend time in the NICU. Emily, now 4 1/2, was in for a month, but Jacob, 8, spent 75 days in the unit, including time at the Children's Hospital NICU in Milwaukee. Mary Huempfner's twins, Samantha and Jacob, were born prematurely at 32 weeks and weighed little more than 3 pounds each. Her detailed scrapbooks include many photos of the tiny, wrinkled babies in the isolette machines. "It kept me warm," Samantha Huempfner said softly, when she was able to inspect a display machine for herself. "I just think it's wonderful that they do this. It means a lot to the families to see the doctors and nurses," Mary Huempfner said. "You get really close to them. These are the people that we've entrusted our lives to. You like to show off how well they turned out." Dr. Joe Brand is a neonatologist who has been with the clinic since 1986. He estimates he has treated several thousand babies, including the Huempfner twins. "I thought when I walked in the room, I saw several hundred people, and it brought back memories of when these kids were sick. I can still remember talking to those families those first few days," Brand said. "So to come back to day and see the kids in school, doing well - it's just a great feeling."