These NICU babies are in tiny costumes for their first Halloween

This year’s theme at the neonatal intensive care unit is a western one.

The tiny babies in the NICU at Mass General Brigham for Children at Brigham and Women’s Hospital will be dressed up as cowboys and cowgirls — because it is their first rodeo.

The staff starts planning Halloween costumes in June. In the past, themes have included Winnie the Pooh, Sesame Street and Monsters Inc.

“A lot of people think that the newborn intensive care unit can be a sad place, and it can be,” said Elisa Abdulhayoglu, the NICU’s medical director. “But babies are ounce for ounce, pound for pound, stronger than any adult on the planet.”

Madisen Glaze was 22 weeks pregnant with her twins when she went into labor in June 2023. The hospital near her home in New Hampshire didn’t treat babies born so early, so Glaze and her husband went to Boston to get care for their sons, Gavin and Wyatt.

“They were both one pound,” Glaze said. “It was really scary.”

Glaze spent as much time as she could in the NICU sitting with her boys reading them Harry Potter books. She temporarily relocated to Boston, paying out of pocket for a place to stay near the hospital until an organization stepped in. She thought of her growing twins as the “boys who lived,” as Harry Potter is known in the books.

“I was just showing up in the only way that I could at that time, which was to be by their bedside,” Glaze said.

Abdulhayoglu knew that Harry Potter was bringing Glaze comfort, so she planned a special photo shoot for her and the twins. Glaze still loves looking at the photos.

“They’re such happy memories,” Glaze said. “I think about all the nurses and Elisa and everyone laughing while we’re trying to get the boys to cooperate and all the little mishaps that happen.”

Sarah Tuyo still remembers her son Nigel being dressed as a little Celtics player for Jaylen Brown Day last year, celebrating the famous basketball player. For Halloween a week later, he was Cookie Monster.

“It made me feel like I was having a normal experience with my baby,” Tuyo said. When she couldn’t be at the NICU with him, she would look at the pictures.

“Halloween’s coming up. What do other families that have babies at home do? They dress them up,” Abdulhayoglu said. “We can dress up NICU babies too so that you don’t miss that first Halloween experience.”

Nigel turned 1 last month, and he’s doing well after spending 50 days in the NICU. He was born at 32 weeks. Tuyo said that after going into the hospital every day, the NICU started to feel like a community. She’s still in touch with some of the nurses.

“They still help me to this day,” said Tuyo.

Glaze is also still in touch with Abdulhayoglu, who has attended her twins’ birthday parties. After spending months in the NICU, her now 3-year-old boys are doing well.

“They’re happy and healthy,” Glaze said. “We’re very, very lucky.”