"Why We Give" - Meet the Sam Chee Family!
When Amber and Mark Sam Chee thought about the day their first child would be born, they could not have imagined it would turn out as it did. Amber’s OB was in Silver Spring, and she planned to deliver at Holy Cross, as that’s where her physician practiced. But things took a different turn, and they ended up the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Sinai Hospital.
How did you end up becoming acquainted with Sinai’s NICU? Amber: It was by chance, not our decision. I was working in Westminster, in Carroll County, and I stepped out of the car and found bleeding. My doctor said to go to the nearest hospital, which was Carroll Hospital, and with an hour of arrival, I had an emergency C-section due to placental abruption. Our daughter Alana was born at 31 weeks and four days. Within 20 minutes after delivery, Dr. Susan Kim showed up from Sinai with an incubator and rushed Alana off to the Level III NICU at Sinai. Mark: It was emotional enough for us that she had to be delivered so early. And then, for Amber not to be able to go with her to Sinai brought an added level of emotion. So I went to Sinai to be with Alana while Amber stayed back with her parents. Then, two days later, Amber was discharged, and I took her right over to Sinai, where we would spend the next three-plus weeks.
What motivated you to make a gift to Sinai’s NICU Campaign? Amber and Mark: We believe in our hearts that Alana has flourished – she is advanced physically and educationally – because of the care she received at the very beginning of her life. She is five years old now and is in Kindergarten but already doing 1st-grade Math and English. She’s been riding her bicycle without training wheels since she was 3 ½ and already rides a hoverboard. The care she received in the NICU was amazing. They kept us involved from the first moment she got there. Stephanie in the NICU could tell we were first-time parents who had no idea what to expect, and she was more than empathetic. Nurse Marie gave us a preemie app to record milestones. They embraced us like family from Day 1. They prepared us to be parents in a way we probably wouldn’t have been otherwise. If we hadn’t ended up at Sinai’s NICU, we wouldn’t have had as much coaching – they were there for her first bath, coaching on breastfeeding, and more. The nurses and doctors had prepared us for her being there through her original due date, which would have been another eight-plus weeks; she did so well that they kept moving up her date to come home. In the three-plus weeks we spent at “Hotel Sinai,” we bonded in the overnight stay rooms and built friendships with the staff who became part of our family. The least we could do for all they did for us was to give back to them.
As a tradition, we visit every year for Alana’s birthday. We stopped by the last two years and delivered lunch for the NICU staff working that day. When we learned about the NICU being expanded and renovated for the first time in 40 years, we wanted to be a part of it somehow. We initially decided to give for a tile on the NICU Patchwork of Love Wall so that Alana could come back and see the photo of our family with the tile dedicated to her getting her start here. Then we said, you know what, we can do more. We had the opportunity, so we named one of the patient bays/rooms to show our appreciation and gratitude for the nurses and doctors in Sinai’s NICU. If not for them, Alana would not be doing as wonderfully as she is. It’s a legacy to Alana and our gratitude.
Why do you feel it’s important to give? Amber and Mark: When deciding where to give, we’ve struggled to find organizations that we believe in, where we know where the money is truly going. Deciding to donate here was super easy – we have a special bond with the place and the people that were Alana’s first home. They are part of our extended family. Everyone in the NICU remembers our names. We’ve left an impact on them, and they on us.The transformation of the space is amazing, from the NICU built 40 years ago to what it is today, in 2021.