When Brad and Lin Mitchell's daughter arrived six weeks early, they spent a lot of time in the hospital with their newborn, Lillian. The couple truly weren't sure how much time they'd have with her.
So, in order to preserve the time they got, Brad began recording short videos of Lillian each day, Today reports. And when Lillian was finally released from the hospital, her parents decided to keep filming.
“As the days went on, we kept recording, and we decided that no matter how things went, we wanted to be sure we had full documentation of her first year that we could look back on and enjoy,” Mitchell told Today. And after posting the footage on YouTube in honor of Lillian's first birthday, the video has gone viral.
Titled "365 Days In 365 Seconds," the video begins with clips of Lillian in the hospital — she's connected to feeding tubes and a breathing mask, and surrounded by medical equipment. But as the montage of her first year goes on, we see Lillian's life filled with family members' embraces, baby babbling, playing with toys, and even chilling with the family's French bulldog, Pierre.
"As you look back, only 30 seconds of the video is being stuck in that hospital, and at the time, it felt just like an eternity," Mitchell says.
Beyond serving as an adorable keepsake for the family, the Mitchells' video is reassuring to other parents of preemie babies who are experiencing the same fears that they did during Lillian's time in the hospital. Preterm birth affects about 1 in 10 babies born in the U.S., — and the couple noted that reading comments from other parents of premature babies has been particularly rewarding.
Now more than a year old, Lillian is "doing great," the Mitchells report to Today: She's almost walking, and is "inseparable" from the family dog.