DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Brent and Megan Marshall say even before he was born, music made their son Cohen happy.

“We got a 4-D picture of the baby,” explained Brent. “We happened to be playing a song at the time, and he smiled. It’s crazy.”

“We did the earphones on my belly when I was pregnant with him as well,” Megan added.

While in utero, Cohen was diagnosed with several heart defects.

So the Tulsa, Oklahoma couple chose Children’s Medical Center in Dallas to help.

Cohen’s first surgery was at two-days-old. While he fought to stay alive, Brent and Megan noticed music continued to calm their boy.

“You could tell by his vitals when he listened to music, they were a little more steady,” explained Megan. “We felt like it was soothing to him.”

Cohen lived only 12 days. So to honor his life, the Marshalls, with their healthy 10-month-old twins in tow, donated 20 iPod Touch devices to Children’s CardiacIntensive Care Unit.

“It’s a lot of waiting,” explained a tearful Brent. “It’s a lot of worrying. A single song can pick u up. It can take you away. So those are things that really helped us, and we think it’ll help others too. We thought it’d be a great way for famililes to be interactive with each other, even if people couldn’t be here. So just plug it in.”

The Marshalls say being at the hospital brought back the emotions and the memories of their first born son–memories they were able to preserve and replay.
And now, thanks to their donation, other families can preserve theirs too.

“Pictures, the video, those are things we’re really really glad we have. We want people to have access too, so they can always have those memories, no matter how long they have their children with them.”

Music Therapist Shannon Wilson at Children’s says the right kind of music can help support baby’s healing, improve oxygen saturation, and help steady baby’s vital signs and heart rate.