Saturday was a day of celebration at the Detroit Medical Center's Sinai-Grace Hospital.

Families with children who spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit reunited with the doctors and nurses who cared for them.

Nyesha Hoye was all smiles as she held 11-month-old Nala-Reine at the NICU reunion.

"When you here at the NICU and you spend so much time, they take care of the baby, they're a part of their lives. A very essential part," Hoye said.

At 30 weeks, Nala-Reine came into the world earlier than expected.

"They did what they could to try and keep her inside for as long as they could, but she was more than ready, and so I went in for an emergency C-section," Hoye said.

Nala-Reine spent nearly 140 days in the NICU.

"It was rough, but I had a lot of support from the staff and a lot of encouragement," Hoye said.

Diedra Field, DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital's director of women's health, knows firsthand what families in the NICU are going through. Her daughter was born prematurely 21 years ago.

"We just want to make sure we give them everything they need, to provide them with the tools so that they're ready to take care of their babies at home," Field said.

For Hoye, the day she took Nala-Reine home, there was relief but also anxiety.

 "You want to make sure that she's receiving the same care, if not better, at home, in which she receives all the love," she said.

Now, Nala-Reine, her family and so many others can reconnect with the doctors and nurses who were so crucial in the beginning.

"When you get to see them, it just warms your heart. It is the best thing in the world. I just want to give them all hugs and kisses," Field said.

Nala-Reine still has a feeding tube, but she's thriving.

"I love the NICU staff. My experience of the NICU at Sinai-Grace, it's been great," Hoye said.