I remember when Ronan was in NICU and the music therapist came to see us. He was around 6 weeks old when she started chatting about music therapy and how it helps to settle premature babies in stressful situations. I listened to what she had to say but told her to come back as i wanted to have a think about it. This was one of the first decisions i was going to have to make for my newborn baby who was lying in a tiny humidicrib trying to fight for his life, so this was not something i wanted to make a decision about on the spot.

After doing a little research at home i realised that music might actually be a good thing for Ronan after being born prematurely. It wasn’t until he was moved down a bay and was more stable that i decided to contact the music therapist. She came in with a set of speakers, put them in Ronan’s bed either side of his head and softly turned on the music. She had a questionaire sheet that she filled out and gave one to me also. We sat there for about 20mins whilst the music was playing just watching Ronan’s cues to see how he would react. At first i don’t think he knew what was happening and seemed a little frustrated. After about 5mins of the music playing he seemed to relax and stop squirming so we decided to leave it in his bed for the time being.

The music was to only be played when he was having his “cares” and just after a bath so he could relax as these two events always seemed to stress him out. Over time we started turning on the music every time we left for the night and he seemed to settle straight away which was music to our ears!

To this day he loves music. I could turn on the radio and straight away he will look at me and smile no matter what song is playing. Whenever i sing to him he tries to sing/babble back and he loves his ocean aquarian we have left in his cot. He is also a very relaxed and calm child but whether this relates all the way back to music therapy and helped to pave the way for his calm personality i guess i may never know.

Did your premature baby have music therapy whilst they were in the hospital? Do you believe music is something that all premature babies should have?

There will be celebration in duplicate, triplicate and even quadruplicate on Sunday 9 March 2008 when Multiple Birth Awareness Week begins Australia-wide.

It is important to acknowledge that it is not only mothers who need this help with tips about carrying, delivering, caring for and raising multiples. Fathers and same-sex partners play a pivotal role in the family and often shoulder significant stress in a multiple birth family. There is a great pressure in being the sole breadwinner of a suddenly much larger family with a severe increase in financial, physical and emotional needs from the family, and balancing home duties with career is stressful at the best of times when babies abound. Just like mothers of multiples, fathers are significantly more likely to suffer depression both in the lead-up to and in the first year of their multiples’ lives and they too will call on AMBA’s services.

For further information please visit

www.amba.org.au

Please print out this page for your tickets to the Adelaide show.

Ronan is now walking around everywhere. He occasionally crawls but would prefer to walk. Whilst he is great with walking and his balance is incredible he still faces many hurdles with walking. Being born premature was a fight to begin life and what an amazing journey we have had. Ronan has been attending physio since he was 6 months “corrected” due to low muscle tone due to his premature birth. Ronan has taken a long time to reach many milestones, sitting was the longest one to reach but we finally got there.

Ronan was walking a long furniture for i think 7 months before he finally let go. Those premmie fighting instincts finally kicked in and he was a free man! He took his first step without support at 18 months corrected. To be honest i had no idea how much longer it would be before he would then one day he tried and has never looked back since. It was the proudest moment of our lives to see the look of excitement on his face.

Whilst he loves walking and the more he walks the more exercise his muscles get he still cannot bend his knee’s to pick something off the floor without holding onto support. His muscle tone is once again letting him down and we are forever trying to built that strength up by helping him to walk up stairs which is a real struggle for him.

Winning the “Local Hero” award with my council i hope to help other parents with premature babies around my area. I have a few idea’s in the pipeline and hopefully they come to fruitation but it will be a long process one that i hope premmie babies and their parents will use should their babies have milestone delays.

Ronan still has a long way to go with his walking but each and everyday he is growing and learning so much. What else can a parent of an ex 27 week premature baby wish for?