SAN ANTONIO - Spending the holidays in the hospital is no fun, especially for little babies.
- Volunteers cuddle newborns in NICU
- Volunteers undergo health screenings
- Hospital still seeking volunteers
For the past year Lila DeVries has come to the Children's Hospital of San Antonio once a week for four hours. She and other volunteers have a very important job. They cuddle and nurture the babies in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.
For DeVries, Friday was a special day.
"This is the first time I've held the baby that's come out of the incubator," she said.
She's a mom, grandma, and great-grandma, but holding tiny babies isn't something she gets to do all that much anymore.
"It makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I'm doing something that I've always wanted to do," DeVries said.
"Just having someone to love them and hold them helps them to get better faster, to get closer to going home faster. For whatever reason they may not be able to have someone here to hold them all the time. So that love, whether it be us or volunteers, helps them to do better," said Katie Barnes, a registered nurse.
It's a great way to volunteer, but there's a few steps to go through like a health screen, an orientation, and flu shots.
"Everybody that comes into our unit, they scrub in from their hands to their elbows for 15 seconds to help reduce the risk of infection. For extra precaution they can wear a mask. And they wear gowns," Barnes said.
For DeVries, she's just grateful she can be here during the holidays and all year long.
"I always said I'd like to be a rocking grandma. It came true, it's a blessing to me," she said.
For more information on volunteering, click here.