Franklin, MA residents Adrianna and Joe Costanzo know firsthand how to handle the unexpected curveballs that life can throw at you. Their son Anthony, now a healthy three-year old boy, spent four months in the NICU after he was born three months premature - just months after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s safety precautions added another layer of complexity to baby Anthony’s NICU stay at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Adrianna and Joe couldn’t visit him at the same time, they had to be masked, and their family couldn’t meet the baby yet. 

“It was tough, but everyone made us feel comfortable and were so caring, all the way from the nurses and doctors to the security guards at the front desk,” said Adrianna. The experience was tough for them, but the care from the staff helped them to feel more comfortable.

During that time, the new parents found that regularly reading aloud to Anthony helped them bond as a family and offered a reprieve from the uncertainty that accompanies having a baby in the NICU. 

“Early on, when we couldn’t hold him because he was so tiny, the nurses suggested opening up the sides of the incubator so he could hear our voices,” Adrianna said. “I would adjust the chair, so I was right next to him and read. If he was having a bad day, I swear, hearing our voice or reading a book, helped calm him down; and it calmed us down too.” Anthony’s favorite book, then and now, is Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site

With the holidays around the corner, the family wanted to do something to support families who are in the NICU now.  Joe and Adrianna invited their friends and families to purchase children’s books and recently donated 332 books, each with a special message on the back, for parents to read to their newborns. Anthony, who is still an enthusiastic reader, was there to help his parents drop off the books. 

This was their first gift, but the family hopes to make the drive an annual event and aims to double the number of books donated next year. The donation is a critical contribution to the hospital’s early literacy and reading initiative at Brigham’s NICU known as the Brigham Baby Academy (BBA). 

“With the specific book that they get, I hope the parents will always remember reading that book to them just like we did with Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. Whenever I read that to him now, I’ll think back to when he was in the NICU. It makes you feel so grateful to be able to look at your child, no matter what the situation is, and be able to say ‘Hey, my son or daughter is home with me right now and I’m reading to him.’” The donation is a critical contribution to the hospital’s early literacy and reading initiative at Brigham’s NICU known as the Brigham Baby Academy (BBA), founded by neonatologist Dr. Carmina Erdei. For more information about the initiative, visit https://www.longwoodcollective.org/news/brigham-baby-academy .