: 1227215239

The monitor was showing a flat line and the baby wasn’t breathing. Nineteen minutes later the doctor was still trying to resuscitate him while doing chest compressions and feeding medication into his umbilical line. On the 20th minute, a heartbeat was heard and 11-pound baby Aziz was transferred to Long Island Jewish Medical Center for a brain cooling process to prevent more damage to his brain caused by seizures.

Aziz Farrakh, born 10 days early and now a five-month-old healthy baby, is just one of the babies welcomed back to the Queens Hospital Center last Friday for a Graduates Reunion Party for its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“It’s amazing to have him come back to us,” said Dr. Jacob Go, the doctor who revived him.

With pumpkins on the orange and black covered tables in the QHC‘s atrium, James Brown’s “I Feel Good” blasting from the DJ’s speakers and doctors, parents and children walking around in costumes, the community gathered to celebrate life and promote its Developmental Care Initiative unveiled in April.

“It’s a program that in a sense recreates the womb,” said Dr. Ivan Hand, director of neonatology. “We keep the sound levels down, the lights low and the incubator warm.” Babies are kept in a room with about five to six cribs and incubators, a sound meter, and sign saying “Quiet Zone Babies are Growing in Here” outside the door.

“I’m just so happy,” said Antonio Martin, executive director of QHC. “It’s a celebration of life for NICU babies some less than 1,000 grams.”

Premature babies have a high risk of slow development and infection in the blood and intestines, like Sophia Ishmael who was born three months early. She weighed about one pound six ounces, her lungs weren’t fully developed, she needed oxygen and was fed through a feeding tube for three months in an incubator until she was released from the hospital.

“We gave her a chance and she did well,” Dr. Hand said. “It used to be babies this small wouldn’t survive but now she’s happy and like a regular kid.”

“It was a tough time for us and we prayed every day,” said Shireen Ishmael, 42, Sophia’s mother.

Sophia, dressed as a little pumpkin, is now 10 months old and shakes herself when she hears the sound of music. She has normal breathing patterns, has not gotten sick since she’s been released from the hospital, weighs about nine pounds and is 26 inches tall.

“It’s absolutely extraordinary to see them come back vibrant and healthy four to five years later,” said Dr. Marcy Stein-Albert, director of Pediatrics. “At this point we’re offering state of the art care and have great results.”