Special Visitor Spreads Holiday Cheer at Overlake

The jolly old elf himself stopped by Overlake on Dec. 7 to visit with a few of our precious special deliveries.

Santa, also known as Paul Davie—who hails from the North Pole via East Bellevue—made the rounds at Overlake’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the childbirth center.

Davie’s grandchildren were born at Overlake, including Victor, who was born in February and spent time in the NICU.

Baby Sienna Lee wiggled her delicate fingers as Santa cooed at her sweet face. She was born Dec. 2, 2018, at 35 weeks’ gestation. “It’s great for the babies to have this opportunity to see Santa and for the families to have a little bit of normalcy,” said her father Raymond Lee. 

Little Varun Gunda, born Sept. 28, 2018, at 28 weeks’ gestation, slept soundly as Santa rocked him gently amid the clicks of multiple cameras. His mom Srividya Arisetty and dad Vijay Gunda said they were happy to have Santa visit.

“Even if we were home, we wouldn't be able to take him out to see Santa,” Gunda explained. “So this is very nice.”

This was the seventh year of Santa visits to Overlake. “Christmas is so important to families, and baby’s first Christmas is even more important,” explained Lynne Saunders, NICU manager. “They’ve missed so much having their baby in the unit already. To have him come here and to have that first Christmas with Santa Claus is so important to them and to us.”