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MARQUETTE -- Jessica Snell is celebrating her very first Mother's Day with new son, Hayden, but she's celebrating a bit differently than most...in Marquette General Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

"It's pretty crazy and scary, but exciting all at the same time," said Snell.  "He (Hayden) had a lot of stuff that he had to grow out of when he was first born--he was 2 pounds 10 ounces--but he's almost 6 pounds now so he's doing a lot better."

Hayden is 13 weeks premature, and with his lungs not completely developed, he was taken to the NICU for special care.  He's been there for 52 days.

Hayden should be able to go home in about two weeks, but for now, he and other sick babies celebrate mom in the NICU.  Since only mom and dad are allowed there, moms I spoke with said the holiday can be frustrating.

"I think it's important for any mom to want to show off their baby to everyone when they're born," said Ramona Johnson, mother of four-day-old NICU patient, Seliina.  "That's one of the special things when you give birth."

"It's exciting to come up here and get to spend time with him and hold him," Snell said.  "It makes it easier."

Research shows it's important for babies to bond with mom even though they can't go home.  Nurses at the NICU say that even babies as tiny and as young as 35-week-old Hayden realize when their mother is nearby.

"They are a more content baby when their mom is here and able to hold them," said NICU nurse Betty Martin.  "We want moms to be as hands-on as possible; changing the diaper and feedings and giving baths."

Nurses tried to make Mother's Day special for NICU moms by giving them potted plants, but they know the greatest gift will be their babies' health.