Oh, Baby! Preemie Babies Celebrate First Halloween

Looking terrifically adorable in their first Halloween costumes, Advocate Children’s Hospital-Oak Lawn’s tiniest patients held their own monster mash in the neonatal intensive care unit.

The Oak Lawn campus’ first preemie Halloween costume contest got underway Friday with babies dressed as superheroes, kitties, ballerinas, monsters -- even a Subway wrap.

While most of the babies just wanted to chew on their pacifiers or sleep without a lot of TV news cameras filming their adorableness, their parents beamed showing off their precious little ones’ outfits.

“The NICU can be an extremely stressful place for our families, but today it’s a happy, exciting place,” said neonatal nurse Deb Skopec. “Parents got to go to Babies R Us and pick out a preemie costume. They’re excited to show the world their babies and for some of our parents it’s the first time their families and friends will be seeing their babies.”

Advocate Children’s Hospital-Park Ridge at Lutheran General Medical Center has been holding a preemie Halloween costume contest for the past three years. Skopec said this was the Oak Lawn campus’s first costume contest for preemies, which Advocate Children’s-Oak Lawn plans to make an annual event.

Skopec said there are about 49 babies currently in the Oak Lawn NICU, some born prematurely or with other medical issues.

“We have babies born as early as 23 weeks in our NICU that weigh less than a pound or 500 grams,” she said. “Some babies stay with us for three days and some babies may stay with us for three months. We’ve become quite the family.”

Prizes will be handed out to the first, second and third place winners in the costume contest, as well as awards for just general cuteness.

Readers can also vote for their favorite baby on the Advocate Children’s Hospital Facebook page up until noon Monday, Nov. 2. The baby with the most votes will win a gift card.

Photo 1 - Twins Johnnie and Jordan, of Country Club Hills, take a break from fighting crime in their Batman and Superman costumes.

Photo 2 - Caiden, of Alsip, is one sharp shark.

Photo 3 - Nasir came to the monster mash as Hans Solo.

Photo 4 - One-day-old Amira, of Schaumburg, was a scary skeleton.

Photo 5 - Three-day-old Eve, with her mom and dad, Katie and Steve Skalko, of Palos Heights, purrs in her kitty costume.

Photo 6 - Azyr Clerk, of Joliet, is practicing for his future career as a linebacker. Azyr is a Joliet Spartans fan.

Photo 7 - Scarlet Detjen, of Beecher, and mom, Sandra, was exercising her lungs in her Eve outfit.

Photo 8 - The lion sleeps tonight, baby Jamal, of Chicago.

Photo 9 - Tiny ballerina Laylah, of Chicago, is already a diva.

Photo 10 - 24-week-old Judson as the Great Pumpkin, of Mokena.

Photo 11 - Adorable LaDarius, of Chicago, was a Subway wrap.

Photo 12 - New Lenox twin brothers Chance, as Tigger, and Landon, a monster.