Hunter O'Pry and Alexis Findley enjoy the activities at Angels in April.

Heather and Stephen O’Pry were all smiles Sunday afternoon at Spalding Regional Medical Center. This was a much different occasion than they experienced three years ago at the hospital when their son, Hunter, was born premature and had to spend his early life on a ventilator.

“The nurses really made a difference in our lives,” Heather O’Pry said about the experience. “When you think it’s the worst thing you can go through, they are there to give you that ray of hope that there is light at the end of a tunnel. My son was on a ventilator and he fought for every breath he took. They really helped me and my husband through the hardest time of our lives.”

Kelley and Aaron Gregory, along with their 11-year-old daughter, Morgan, and 8-year-old son, Slade, have been attending for the last 10 years. Morgan was born at 28 weeks, weighed only 2 pounds, 6 ounces, and spent the first 11 weeks of her life in a hospital.

The O’Prys and Gregorys were among the 40 angels and their families present at the hospital’s 10th annual “Angels in April” newborn reunion.

According to Liz Tarleton, Spalding Regional’s community educator, including the angels’ siblings, parents, grandparents and extended family, there were more than 150 people at the reunion for “newborns who spent extra time in the nursery.”

“We have kids who are 12 and 14 who have been coming every year,” Tarleton said. “They mark their calendars each year for it and really look forward to it. It’s a real meaningful event.”

Although Hunter is only 3 years old, this is the O’Prys fourth year. Their first was when he was only 6 weeks old.

“Every year when we go back, the nurses remember who we are,” Heather O’Pry said, fighting back tears as she thought about what their son had been through and how he almost didn’t make it. “It’s just a wonderful time to reminisce with other moms and see all the nurses. I spoke with a set of parents yesterday and, although their son is 4 or 5 years old, this was their first year coming out. They were very impressed. They didn’t know what to expect.”

Amanda Lee, RN, helps Teagan Jones play one of the carnival games.

The hospital, as with previous years, went all out. There were carnival games, pictures, caricatures and picnic food. “The biggest part was the DVD pictures of all the kids that showed the progression of where they started and where they are now,” Tarleton said.

“I always love the video presentation that they do,” Kelley Gregory said. “We have a copy of the DVD from every year.”

As part of the program, parents introduced their angels and shared their stories. The hospital then dedicated the DVD to the angels and balloons were passed out.

Tarleton read a poem, by an unknown author, that captured the spirit of the occasion - “This is for all the caterpillars that never became butterflies, all butterflies that never caught the wind in their wings and all the hearts that had hopes and dreams of a wondrous flight together.”

And the balloons were released for the angels who didn’t make it.

“As long as they have it (Angels in April), we will be there,” Kelley Gregory said.