Parenting | L'il Aussie Prems Blog

Premature Birth Stories

December 15, 2007 By Julia Toivonen Leave a Comment

Here is a collection of beautiful premature birth stories from parents around Australia. These inspirational premature birth stories will make you cry & cheer with delight as you read the journeys that these beautiful little premature babies endured.

http://www.lilaussieprems.com.au/10/lanes-story-born-at-26-weeks/

http://www.lilaussieprems.com.au/10/talias-story-born-at-26-weeks/

http://www.lilaussieprems.com.au/11/charlies-story-born-at-27-weeks/

http://www.lilaussieprems.com.au/10/ronans-story-born-at-27-weeks/

http://www.lilaussieprems.com.au/10/izabella-roses-story-born-at-31-weeks/

http://www.lilaussieprems.com.au/12/nixons-story-born-at-32-weeks/

http://www.lilaussieprems.com.au/10/jacks-story-born-35-weeks/

Filed Under: L'il Aussie Prems, Parenting, Premature Babies

Lifes Little Treasures ~ Photobook

December 6, 2007 By Julia Toivonen Leave a Comment

To register your child/children for their photography session with Gregorys Photography in Victoria

please fill out the

Online Form

Filed Under: Parenting

Lil Aussie Prem Bloggers

November 19, 2007 By Julia Toivonen Leave a Comment

I have been a busy little bee lately. After months of being asked to create a special journalling space on lil Aussie prems – here it is! I have been setting up a system where parents can create their own personal blog. After installing, deleting, and installing again i FINALLY have it set up. Parents wanted a place where they can create their own blog and journal their child’s journey. I have set one up for Ronan and plan to update it as often as i did with Ronan’s totsite which was my savour not only for me but also my family at the time.

Ronan’s new blog will be updated monthly or more depending on what new milestones he reaches and also with photos. I never really thought much of blogging before i had Ronan but i found it really helpful when Ronan was in hospital and have continued to blog. It is a great way to write down your thoughts not only for yourself but also so family and friends can see the progress. My family all still look at Ronan’s totsite because they all live interstate and it is their way of watching him grow.

If you wish to create your own blog you can do so HERE. Enjoy.

Filed Under: L'il Aussie Prems, Parenting, Premature Babies

Bonding with my (micro) premmie Part 1

November 7, 2007 By Bec Waterhouse Leave a Comment

On my first day of full time, solo parenting I managed to clip the tip off of Miss E’s big toe while trying to trim her toenails—I’ve not touched baby nail clippers since that day. I think that was one of the first times I’d ever really felt like her mother. I’d made, what seemed like, this huge mistake and there wasn’t a nurse hovering over my shoulder to fix it up for me.

If bonding with a healthy, full term baby is difficult than bonding with a premmie must be a whole different ball game. This is the story of my attempts at bonding with Miss E while in the NICU.

Miss E was born via emergency caesarean due to severe preeclampsia. I’ve said before that after she was born they pulled her resuscitaire up beside me to show me her face. What I didn’t say was that I really didn’t care. I don’t know if it was a result of the drugs or an emotional response, but it’s a great source of shame, sadness and disappointment for me. I never expected to react like that to the first time I saw my own baby. After that she was whisked away and I didn’t see her again, while lucid, until two days later.

I barely remember seeing her that time, even though the drugs had worn off and the addled knowledge that I was going to die mingled with a desperate need for sleep had gone away. Two days later I sat by her Perspex box in a wheelchair because I still couldn’t get my legs to work, swallowing back tears as Miss E’s nurse uncovered her isolette and lowered it so I could see in.

There, in a nest of wires and tubes, was my little girl and I felt nothing but fear. How do you bond with a creature that looks nothing like any baby you’d ever seen? A baby you’re afraid to touch because her skin is so fragile that it tears when she has her diaper changed and you can’t bear to cause her more pain. Even if you wanted to touch you can barely see enough skin to make contact.

Beyond just the physical limitations I was still dealing with the loss of my pregnancy and the birth I so desperately wanted. Not to mention shock. I think I lived in a bubble of shock and fear for two weeks. Afraid to touch or even talk to her with the portholes open in case I was sick and didn’t know. My mantra became “you’ll never forgive yourself if she dies because of you”. I don’t know how much time I spent making up excuses to not go to see her. I would have done almost anything to stay away from that horrible place.

The next four weeks were spent in a blur of expressing breast milk, containment holding and reading fairytales. I thought I was bonding. At the very least I wasn’t avoiding her.

Part 2 to come.

Filed Under: NICU Life, Parenting

Living With A Premature Baby

October 15, 2007 By Julia Toivonen Leave a Comment

Each parent will have their own unique experience of living with a premature baby. Some babies will go home on oxygen, need continuous special care and some will be re-admitted to hospital quite a few times in the first year of life because they are very septile to colds, flu and infections.

We have been very lucky with our journey since our son came home. He was born at 27 weeks gestation and after spending over 3 months in hospital we were overjoyed when we were able to bring him home with us. Within the first month we had endless appointments lined up with a paediatrician, respitory specialist, maternal child & health nurse, HITH (Hospital In The Home) which is a program for very premature babies leaving hospital (although programs are different for each hospital). The program we had ensured that a nurse came around to our home each day for a week or until they felt you as a parent are comfortable with looking after your baby. When you take your baby home it is a very different experience than having a full term baby as you have a lot of follow up care.

As the months go by and your child is growing you continue to have follow up care with hearing appointments, eye sight tests, paediatrician & other appointments depending on how your child is developing. My son is behind with his milestones so he is now having physio once a fortnight as recommended through his paediatrician – Shane O’Dea. We have daily exercises we work on to help strengthen his muscles which in the long run will help with his milestones of sitting, walking, crawling.

The biggest fear of having your premature baby at home is the fear of them stopping to breath. When you have a very early premature baby it is likely that they are on oxygen for a long time whilst in hospital. When suddenly there is no oxygen, no monitors attached to them, you have no idea how their oxygen levels are or heart rate are so it can be very daunting for some parents when you start to rely on them like the medical staff all the while you keep reminding yourself that they would not be discharged to go home if they were not physically capable to be off the machines. It is very hard to adjust to this new world of no more machines and takes quite a while to adjust to your own intuition. We found that the best way to help combat this fear was to buy a sound and movement monitor. It let us rest at night without the fear of waking to see our son not breathing. A lot of hospitals recommend that parents of premature babies purchase these.

Whilst there are many thoughts and fears when having your premature baby at home there are some beautiful moments that you will cherish forever. Watching them grow and thrive whilst at home is amazing. They adapt so easily and you fall more in love with them each passing day. Living with a premature baby can be very rewarding also. When you remember how fragile their life was when they were born to how much they have developed into a little person it really is an inspiring experience.

Filed Under: Parenting, Premature Babies

Ambiguous loss of premature birth

October 12, 2007 By Bec Waterhouse Leave a Comment

In one of my frequent searches of Google I found this article entitled Ambiguous loss of premature birth. It basically says that, while our babies may be a live there is still a grieving process associated with the loss of a healthy pregnancy and a full term baby.

When grief is related to loss of an experience, not a death, how does one grieve or cope? Boss (1999) coined the term “ambiguous loss” when studying the wives of pilots missing in action in Vietnam and Cambodia. They had no information and no official verification that anything had been lost, thus were filled with conflicting thoughts and feelings.

Filed Under: Parenting