Baby gets special homecoming parade after being in NICU for more than 3 months

A baby received a grand homecoming parade three months after he was born. He weighed only 1 pound and 15 ounces, as reported by GoodMorningAmerica. Samantha Desmond, 28, who hails from Peabody in Massachusetts, was 25 weeks pregnant when her water broke, about three months before her due date in February. Desmond told GMA, "It was a healthy pregnancy, up until it wasn't." "My water broke while I was at work. I didn't know what was happening, but surely I wasn't thinking that [my water broke] because I was only six months pregnant."

She drove herself to Salem Hospital before she was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in an ambulance. "The best case scenario would have been me staying [in the hospital] for three months," Desmond said. "The longer he stayed in my belly, the safer it was going to be for him, right? Well, I only lasted three days." Baby Mateo was born on October 28, 2022. They kept him in intensive care. Desmond said she and her husband, Marsid Jakic, would visit the child every day. "He's spent Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, all of the holidays in the NICU, and the nurses would make posters for him and take pictures, and they just really made every day special," said Desmond.

The couple traveled 40 minutes after work just to see their son. "Every single night, every holiday, every day, just doing our best," she said. One fine day, the family finally got the news they were waiting for months: baby Mateo could go home with them. "I said to myself, 'He can't just come home simply. He needs a big entrance,'" Desmond said. So, inspired by her husband's Albanian traditions, Desmond wanted to do a homecoming parade. In order to do so, she connected with her friends, Andrew Greenberg and his wife, Officer Sam Doherty, who both work at the Peabody Police Department, asking if they could help. Surprisingly, they quickly set up a police escort for baby Mateo on February 20.

"As we're coming down every street that we came down, every intersection was blocked off. It wasn't just one police escort. It was the entire day shift," Desmond said. "As soon as [other officers] got word of what was going on, everybody wanted part of it. And they're all waving. It was beautiful."

Peabody Police Lt. David Bonfanti said Sgt. Michael Bettencourt and the entire patrol team were ready to help out a community member who had a difficult time in the past few months. "Well, you know, we're all fathers and mothers first. You think of what that family is going through and we can take literally three minutes out of our day, to make something special for a family that's gone through so much. They were excited," Bonfanti said. "They were able to make a positive impact on a community member for the city."

Now, Mateo weighs more than 9 pounds and 13 ounces and is enjoying his time at home. Desmond is thankful for all the support her family has received. "[Mateo] has been so strong and has overcome everything that came up," she said. "I make this joke constantly, but he was literally just done cooking. He did not need [40 weeks] and he'll prove it for the rest of his life."