ROCK HILL, S.C. -- A local nurse is going above and beyond for her patients. She cares for preemie babies who have to stay in the NICU at Rock Hill's Piedmont Medical Center. Stays at the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit can be a tough thing for parents, but this nurse is doing what she can to make it a little easier.

Being pregnant can be an exciting time for mothers, but for Stacey Kirkley the excitement turned to fear when she learned her son was born much too early. Kirkley kept hope, but for 180 days she says she watched as Piedmont NICU nurses worked to heal a small hole in her child's premature heart.

"It was very scary," Kirkley said. "I didn't know the expectations of what was to come because he was so early."

Kirkley says surviving the ups and downs of the NICU stay was only made possible with help from a standout nurse. Leeta Brown works in Piedmont Medical Center's NICU, and says she wants work in that unit her whole career.

"We get to watch these babies come in and we get to help them thrive," Brown said. She's seen the effect the NICU can have on families. Brown has worked to make the experience easier on parents by using her spare time and money to craft gifts for babies born too soon. She started off her crafts for preemies with homemade footprint keychains. The first keychain was given to Kirkley and her son. Now, Brown makes entire graduation outfits for the babies she's helped to grow out of the NICU. She crafts custom onesies, bows, graduation caps, booties, bracelets, and bags.

"It just makes me happy to see the parents so excited whenever they're going through something so challenging," Brown said.

Brown has no plans to quit gift making anytime soon. She says it is another part of her care for babies in the NICU.

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