The first thing Orioles catcher James McCann remembers from the birth of his twins six years ago was the confusion.
Christian and Kane, born 10 weeks early, were immediately hauled off to the neonatal intensive care unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. McCann, a first-time dad, had no idea what this place even was.
“I knew what an ICU was, but I had never heard of NICU,” he said at the winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee, this month.
Then, McCann recalls the sadness. The twins were overall healthy, despite being born on Dec. 4 at just 30 weeks. But they needed care for another 10 weeks, spending their first holiday season in the hospital.
McCann and his wife, Jessica, broke away to celebrate with their families, but they didn’t get to enjoy their first holiday at home as a family of four. There are also strict rules in the NICU, most not allowing siblings or anyone besides parents to visit.
“I remember feeling like a piece of us wasn’t there for Christmas,” McCann said.
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A gift card from country music superstars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill provided an unexpected spark.
“The gift card didn’t change our lives, it was enough to buy diapers, but it was more the thought that there was someone out there that was thinking of us,” he said. “It was in that moment that we realized we wanted to give back.”
Now, McCann and his wife are aiming to follow in McGraw and Hill’s footsteps by giving families with children in the NICU that same cheer, while also spreading awareness of the unit for people like McCann, who couldn’t comprehend what it was like having a child there before he went through it.
McCann, who was playing for the Detroit Tigers at the time, and his family started giving back right away. They handed out just gift cards at first, but now they sponsor meals at Nashville-area hospitals for the nurses. On Mother’s Day — during McCann’s first season with the Orioles after being traded last offseason — the family traveled to MedStar Hospital in Baltimore to hand out gear to the families there.
“A lot of them were first-time moms,” McCann said. “For us, it’s just all about reminding them that there’s people out there who know what it’s like.”
This year, for the first time, they are taking Christian and Kane back to the NICU next week. McCann and Jessica want not only for the twins to see how far they’ve come but also for families there to see that there is hope. Christian and Kane, who six years ago couldn’t regulate their own temperatures or breathe on their own, are now thriving 6-year-olds who love playing baseball, just like their father.
“The NICU is just a special place,” McCann said. “It’s tough because, unless you have experienced it personally, if you haven’t been affected by it, you don’t really know what goes on. There’s literally miracles happening there daily.”
