Tristan’s NICU/SCN Journey

Day 1 19/06/09
Tristan Riley arrived at 10:04am on the 19/06/09 at 34+3 weeks gestation.
Weighing in at a whooping 3090 grams (exactly twice Brendan’s weight) HC 33cms and L 50cms. Apgars of 6:6:8

Labour…
Stage 1: 7 hours
Stage 2: 34 mins
Stage 3: 7 mins

Admitted into SCN 3 (NICU)
Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Ventilated -
CPAP - until 6:15pm
Incubator at 6:30pm
One dose of Caffeine
One dose of Survanta

Day 2 20/06/09
W 3080 grams

Feeds starting today
Newborn Hearing Test to be done as soon as he moves into SCN 2.
Moved into SCN 2 (Special Care) at 2:30pm
First nappy change
First cuddle
First Breastfeed attempt
All at approx 3pm

Day 3 21/06/09
W 2970 grams

Moved from the isolette and into an open cot at 10am

Day 4 22/06/09

IV removed at 1am.
Last tube feed 1am.
Pulled NGT out, not replaced.
7:30am Transferred to Satellite Nursery.
Feeds upped to 50ml every 3 hours.
Transferred into a wire cot at 3pm
First bath at 4pm

Day 5 23/06/09
W 2920 grams

No transfer today
Monitor for another 24 hours
Ringing Northam to try and arrange transfer
Phototherapy commenced at 10am

Day 6 24/06/09

Monitor off this morning
Phototherapy stopped at 9:30am
No transfer today, bloods tomorrow

Day 7 25/06/09

Transferred to Northam Regional Hospital for rooming in.

Day 8 26/06/09
Jaundice levels checked again.

Day 9 27/06/09
W - 3000 grams
HC - 33 cms

Discharged home!

Media Release: Mother of triplets sets the pace to win Australia’s first Local Premmie Hero award

Sophie Smith is an inspirational mother. After enduring the enormous personal tragedy of losing her three sons who were born prematurely in 2006, she set out to honour their memory by running a half marathon. Her aim was to raise enough money to enable the Royal Women’s Hospital in Randwick to purchase a single life-saving state-of-the-art humidicrib.

Sophie’s mission touched a chord and motivated so many people that in the last two years she, her husband Ash and their team of runners have raised over $250,000, enough to buy not just one but ten humidicribs, ensuring that many of Sydney’s tiniest and most fragile babies will benefit from this mother’s compassion for years to come.

Sophie is now being acclaimed as the winning nominee in the inaugural Local Premmie Hero awards – Australia’s first award to publicly recognise and honour the kindness and hard work of individual volunteers within the local premature baby community. These ordinary yet extraordinary people make a huge difference to the lives of families dealing with the challenges that come when their child is born too early, both during their hospital stay and beyond.

Awards were also presented to Karen Cuthbert, who lovingly sews tiny clothes for the smallest premature babies and gives them away to families around Australia, and Julie Clarke, who has been instrumental in founding support groups for parents of premature babies and helping other parents to do the same.

The Local Premmie Hero awards are the brainchild of the L’il Aussie Prems online support website and are proudly sponsored by L’il Aussie Prems and Practical Parenting magazine.

“It is an honour for us, as a community of parents, to be able to pay tribute to those people who go out of their way to make things easier for families travelling the often difficult road that premature birth can bring.” said Julia Toivonen, founder of the L’il Aussie Prems website and mother of two premature babies.

Nominations for the 2010 awards open on the 1st February.

(Our media release has been written by Kathryn Teale, mother to Talia born at 26 weeks)

Local Premmie Hero Award - Winners!

In February 2009 nominations were open to find Australia’s first ever “local premmie heroes”. The awards were created by parents of premature babies as a way to pay tribute and thank the amazing Australian’s who volunteer their time supporting families after the birth of their premature children.

After many nominations and a hard task ahead we are thrilled to announce the winners of L’il Aussie Prems “Local Premmie Hero Awards”.

We wish to thank everyone who was nominated for their hard work and hope you continue to support our families. With your help the NICU/SCN journey is that much easier.

This years winner is Sophie Smith. Sophie is the mum of triplet sons Henry, Jasper and Evan born prematurely in 2006 and who sadly lost their fight for life. To honour their memory Sophie and her husband Ash have together raised more than $250,000 to purchase life saving humidicribs for the Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick.

Awards were also presented to Karen Cuthbert, who lovingly sews tiny clothes for the smallest premature babies and gives them away to families around Australia, and Julie Clarke, who has been instrumental in founding support groups for parents of premature babies and helping other parents to do the same for over 17 years.

To read these amazing stories please visit our winners page

A one to one conversation with Sophie Smith

This is a powerful interview between Sophie Brown & Sophie Smith. Thank you to Peter from One to One Conversations for sharing this with us.

_____________________

INTERVIEWER: Sophie, thanks for joining us

SOPHIE: It’s a pleasure

INTERVIEWER: Now you have had an incredible life journey first of all, tell us when you fell pregnant with triplets.

SOPHIE: Well, in March 2006 my husband, Ash and I were absolutely delighted to find out we were pregnant and expecting a baby. We went along for an early ultrasound at about 6 weeks, because they had recorded that there had been a very high level of a pregnancy hormone in me, so they said come for an early ultrasound. We need to check that everything’s ok. We went along for the ultrasound and were totally shocked, but delighted to see not one, not two but three little heart beats on the screen. And to be told that we were expecting triplets.

INTERVIEWER: Good lord, what a shock!

SOPHIE: It was a shock, it was a shock but it was like I’d won the jackpot in pregnancy. I’d always wanted a big family and it was such an amazing blessing, and all I could think was that I was three times as lucky as anybody else to be having three babies. In the early ultrasound, they actually found that one of the little foetuses heart beat was a little bit slow and it was a little bit small, and they said to us “look there are three little foetuses with heart beats right now, but come back in two weeks time for another ultrasound and the chances are, there will more than likely only be two. This is something that happens in early pregnancy but because we usually don’t often have a scan this early, we just don’t know” So we went off thinking “gosh are we having two or three babies?” We went back two or three weeks later, and there were all three of them all exactly the same size, the same heart beat, there were no problems at all. So from then on we were able to get excited about our instant family.

INTERVIEWER: And how did the pregnancy progress after that point?

SOPHIE: The pregnancy progressed really well, I didn’t have much morning sickness at all, I was absolutely fine and able to continue everything as normal – going to work, going to the gym in the early days. Everything was fine, we had regular scans to check on the development of the babies and everything was fine, they were fraternal triplets, which meant they each had their own sack and made them much less complicated than identical triplets. So yeah, everything was going well and, even though I knew carrying triplets was a high risk pregnancy, I never believed that I wouldn’t be bringing home three babies and having three children.

INTERVIEWER: And so what happened towards the end of the pregnancy then?

SOPHIE: Well we only made it as far as 21 weeks.

INTERVIEWER: Oh dear

SOPHIE: And at 21 weeks I was in the supermarket when my waters broke. At the time I didn’t really know that that’s what had happened. I knew that something had happened, so I came up to the hospital and they confirmed that this was amniotic fluid. Ash was with me at the time and the doctor came in and said to us that my waters had broken and the chances are that we would be delivering our three babies within 24 hours.

INTERVIEWER: Oh, how did you feel at that point?

SOPHIE: My whole world just came crashing down around me, I couldn’t conceive of losing my babies. It was just so sudden; I couldn’t imagine how this could have happened. I begged the doctor to do anything they could do to stop the labour progressing, but they said it was so early, that there was nothing they could do and my babies were too young to probably be born alive. They might live for a few minutes. There was nothing they could do and we just had to wait and let nature take its course. So I was kept in hospital that night and I started to go into labour. However, the labour kind of stopped. The contractions stopped. It was five days before I delivered my first baby, Henry. In those five days, we started to get a glimmer of hope that everything might be ok. I remember asking one of the doctors after about three days “Is there any chance, any chance at all that all my three babies will be ok?” He said “there’s maybe a 1% chance that might happen”. At that time, when he said there was a 1% chance, I was so delighted, because to me 1% meant that they could all be ok. 1% is a greater chance than me falling pregnant with triplets, so I was clinging to this hope that everything would be ok. But it wasn’t and after five days I gave birth to my first little boy, Henry. Henry weighed 430gm. He was absolutely beautiful. He looked the spitting image of his dad. When he was born, he gave a little cry and lived for a whole hour, and in that time, now looking back, it was so great to have Henry for that hour that we had him. When that’s all the time you’re given, that’s so valuable. So we held Henry, I held him on my chest. His tiny hands held onto our fingers. He squeezed our fingers, he wriggled a little bit and I felt his little heart beating against me. It does give me great comfort to know that I held my son Henry for his entire life. He died exactly one hour after he was born.

At that time, we were waiting for his brothers. At that stage I didn’t know we were having three boys. The doctors said that probably I would continue to give birth to my other children.However, I didn’t give birth to Evan and Jasper at that time. By this stage I was 21 ½ weeks pregnant and intervention is not given to babies born before 24 weeks gestation. So we were a long way off the time when my babies would be able to be helped. At that point, I don’t think anyone had any hope for the other two boys. The doctors were very concerned that I would get an infection, which would be life threatening to me as well as my babies. So I was monitored very closely, and if my temperature was high, or if I had high blood pressure, or anything wasn’t right, they were going to have to induce me to make sure I did actually give birth. Amazingly, I never developed an infection. Everything settled down, my cervix closed and I was still holding Evan and Jasper. I still had a long way to go and I knew I had to get to 24 weeks gestation. I don’t think many people thought we’d make it that far. But then the days past, each day that past our hope grew and we made it to 23 weeks and then it was so terrifying because I didn’t want to get to just nearly 24 weeks. We made it to the 24 week mark, everything was fine. There was no sign of my babies coming. I was settled into my room in the hospital and looked after very well by all the midwives and doctors. There were thoughts of being there another 10 more weeks, but then at 24 ½ weeks, Jasper’s little foot slipped through my cervix. I went in for an emergency caesarean and the little boys had to be born. So Evan and Jasper were born at 24 ½ weeks gestation. At their birth, Ash and I were both full of hope for the future with Evan and Jasper.

INTERVIEWER: And what was their condition when they were born?

SOPHIE: Their condition was good. Evan weighed 630gm and Jasper weighed 760gm. They were immediately intubated as their lungs were too underdeveloped and they couldn’t breathe by themselves. They were put straight into the highest level of intensive care. They coped really well with the birth; they coped with all the handling that they had to go through with the birth. We were told that the first four days would be critical. And with babies extremely premature, as in the case of mine, often complications would arise in the first four days. So that was the first milestone we had to get to. After four days, everything was perfect. Both Evan and Jasper were taking my milk through a tube into their stomach. I was expressing milk and things were going well. So we had great hope for them. After nine days, I was discharged from hospital. I had been in hospital for four weeks or so. I got home, went to bed and received a phone call in the middle of the night asking me to come in quickly as Evan was very ill. We came in, and poor little Evan had developed pneumonia as well as another infection. It was too much for him. We sat with him through the night and he began to get very pale. In the morning they did a brain scan which confirmed that he had had a very high brain haemorrhage. We were told that we had no choice but to remove him from his life support and let him go. It was at that point that I got to hold him for the first time. Ash and I both held Evan, and cuddled him and kissed him and told him how much we loved him, and he died in our arms while we were holding him. That was a very difficult and tragic moment having to say goodbye to Evan. After Evan died, Jasper continued to do very well.

INTERVIEWER: Did you still have high hopes for Jasper at this point?

SOPHIE: Oh yes, even the day Evan died, we asked the priest to come in and baptise Evan. The priest asked me if I wanted him to baptise both Evan and Jasper. I said “no no, we can have a proper baptism for Jasper when he comes home”. Ash said “lets baptise them together so that we can tell Jasper that’s something he did with his brother” So we had both Evan and Jasper baptised. Before Evan died, we hadn’t really been able to touch our boys because they were so premature, they needed to have the time within their humidicrib not being disturbed or handled. But after Evan died, Jasper started to get a little bit stronger. Over the 58 days that Jasper lived we do have some really special and happy times and memories of things that we did together. Amidst the nightmare and the worry and the stress and the middle-of-the-night phone calls (Jasper included), I like to remember the happy times that we had. One of them was on his 12th day, two days after Evan died. Jasper opened his eyes for the first time. When they are born so premature their eyes are still sealed. On that day, we were turning him over from his tummy onto his back, as we turned him over, we suddenly saw, his right eye, and this one big bright blue eye staring back at us. We had no idea his eye was going to be open as we turned him over and he was looking back at us. We were so excited, cheering and clapping. And the rest of that day Ash and I sat looking at Jasper, talking to him and talking about this beautiful soul that we could see through this little eye and we kind of connected with him on a whole new level after we could look at each other. After a few days, Jasper could recognise my voice so when I walked into the ward and over to his crib and started talking, his eyes would be shut and you could see that he’d heard my voice and his eyes would open and he would turn around look up and look towards where I was. So that was really lovely to have that connection and to know that he knew his mum and would look for me when I came in. We got to change his nappy in the morning and in the evening. So Ash would change one nappy and I would change one nappy a day. It was always a special time. I would spend hours sitting by his bed and just putting my hand through the window of the crib and stroking his head and holding his hand and talking to him and singing to him and just willing and praying that he would continue to do so well.

INTERVIEWER: And he seemed to be going so well.

SOPHIE: He did for a couple of weeks. He did seem to be going very well. And during that time we organised to bury Evan and Henry together. Over the time of planning Evan and Henry’s funeral, Jasper was doing so well. We even were allowed to take him out of his crib to hold him. In his whole life I held him four times. Ash held him three times. One of those times that I held him, which was particularly special, was the day after Evan and Henry’s funeral. He got to have his only breast feed. It wasn’t a real breast feed in that he had a tube into his stomach so he couldn’t actually really swallow but I got to hold him on my boob and he latched on and took three strong sucks.

INTERVIEWER: Did he?

SOPHIE: Yeah, it was amazing, three strong sucks. I just couldn’t believe that he knew what to do. He was such a premature baby. And he was staring up into my eyes and it was just a really beautiful moment. I have a lovely photograph of me while I was breastfeeding him. After that Jasper’s developed chronic lung disease, which is so typical of such premature babies. His lungs just seemed to be getting worse. He was growing himself; he actually nearly doubled his birth weight and grew into a tiny little strap of a thing. He was 760gm at birth and 1.4kg by the end. He grew, but it was his lungs that worried everybody I think for quite a long time. I would cling to every little thing. I remember the doctor saying once that “his lungs are so bad that possibly when he goes home he’ll most probably be on oxygen” All I could hear there was “when he goes home…” And I was thinking “when he goes home”; that’s fine we’ll cope with oxygen. They talked about developmental delay, etc. I was just like “whatever”. We will deal with whatever happens. Jasper was coming home and I was just clinging to this. From about 50 days, Jasper’s lungs started collapsing. Each time his lungs would collapse, we’d rush into the hospital and think that we’re going to lose him but then he’d fight back. He was such a fighter and so strong. The nurses and the doctors couldn’t believe it. Each time we’d have a terrible moment, and then everything would be ok again, and you think everything’s going to be fine. Then when he was 58 days old, his lungs collapsed again and this time there was nothing the doctors could do to help him. And again for the third time, thankfully we were there, the doctors took Jasper out of his crib and I held him, and again later with Ash while he died.

INTERVIEWER: So, how were you two by this stage? You must have been a wreck.

SOPHIE: I had hope, right up until the time that Jasper actually died. Even when they took him out of the crib and said “you can hold him now, there’s nothing more we can do, he’s slipping away…” Even at that point I believed that again suddenly he’s going to amaze everybody and everyone will go “Wow Jasper”. And when he grows up I’ll be able to tell him about the time that I really thought we’d lost him.

INTERVIEWER: Where did you find the strength to go on?

SOPHIE: I definitely found the strength from babies, from Henry Evan and Jasper. After Jasper died, and after Jasper’s funeral I had these memories of these three amazing little boys who I made with my husband and who I had given birth to and who I had met. I knew each of my babies, and I knew they had struggled so hard to live and so hard to be with us. Even tiny little Henry, who we were told would only live a few minutes, all by himself, without any intervention, breathed for a whole hour. To give us that, and give us that memory. Evan and Jasper had put in such an incredible fight. And I think it was that fight, spirit and love that I had felt for them. As a first time mother, that incredible love that a mother has for her baby and her child, as you would know having children yourself, you would know that feeling of how much you love that baby and how that love will be with you forever until there’s a day that you die. For me, while my babies have died, my love for them was still as ‘real’ as your love for your children, or any mothers’ love for their children.

At that time, I was on the internet and I came across a poem. It was just a random poem and it was called ‘Mummy’. The final verse of the poem jumped out at me and I couldn’t get it out of my head. The last verse says ”most of all, be happy mummy, go on and live for me, it’s so important that you do, because it’s through your eyes I’ll see”. I would find myself saying it in my head and various times during the day this little rhyme would come into my mind. First thing in the morning when I woke up and I would feel so sad and so empty, this little poem would come into my mind and I would think “yes”. It gave me the strength to carry on for my boys, to honour their lives. I’m their mother, I have no choice.

INTERVIEWER: And as part of that moving on, you got the courage to try and start a family
again.

SOPHIE: Yes, I am 24 ½ weeks pregnant. I am the same gestation as when Evan and Jasper were born so it brings up a lot of feelings for Evan, Henry and Jasper and how much I miss them. But we are so happy to be having our fourth baby. It doesn’t take away, or lessen the loss of our first three but we feel blessed and excited to have another baby.

INTERVIEWER: And in memory of your three boys who you lost, tell us about the half marathon
that you ran.

SOPHIE: Not long after Jasper’s funeral, when I was contemplating the terrible few months ahead and wondering what on earth I was going to do to fill my time, and having so many months beforehand to get ready for this life that wouldn’t give me any time at all. I would be up to my neck in dirty nappies and crying babies, suddenly I was in an empty quiet house. I didn’t know what to do. Ash said ‘why don’t you get fit?” I used to love running; I hadn’t run for a long time. That gave me an idea to start running and I’ll run a half marathon. I knew there was a half marathon coming up in May, so I thought I’ll train for the half marathon and run it in Henry, Jasper and Evan’s memory and try and raise some money for the intensive care unit at the hospital as a memorial to Henry, Jasper and Evan. The idea quickly snowballed, and I wanted to see if any of my friends wanted to do it with me. So I put a few flyers out in some local café’s around Coogee and Randwick to see if there was anybody that would like to run with me and help me raise money. The response I received was absolutely overwhelming. I still can’t believe the response that I got. Basically, my goal was to raise $20,000. That’s what the cost of a humidicrib is and I thought it would be lovely to buy a new humidicrib in the hospital in memory of my little boys. The phone started ringing, emails started flooding in and before I knew it I had a team of 98 runners. It was phenomenal! Everybody who contacted me had either their own story or a personal reason for running. One girl, who was the first person to join my team, Hayley, had identical twin daughters that had died shortly after their birth ten years earlier. I had people who told me they had children who spent their first weeks and months here in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit due to their sickness or prematurity. They felt so grateful to have their children, and they wanted to give something back to the hospital so they wanted to run with me. I had people tell me that they themselves were premature babies. Many people told me that it was my baby boys and their great struggle to live that actually inspired them to train and run the half marathon with me. It was a fantastic event, and our team raised $80,000 for the hospital.

INTERVIEWER: How did that make you feel?

SOPHIE: I was so touched that so many people, most of them complete strangers, had been moved by Henry, Jasper and Evan. And their lives, being so brief yet so extraordinary, had inspired people to go out after a hard days work to train to run 21 km. I had people on the team that had probably never run more than 3-4km in their lives. Everybody completed the half marathon. It was at that stage I was talking with Penelope and saying that I’d like to do this every year. Penelope then helped me to set up the trust fund here at the hospital in Henry, Jasper and Evan’s name. That’s a permanent trust fund that will continue to raise money especially for the purposes of life saving equipment for the highest level of newborn intensive care.

INTERVIEWER: It must make you so proud to have that legacy in their names

SOPHIE: It makes me so proud to be their mum. I am in the middle of organising the team for this year’s run. So far we have 110 runners, 23 of which ran with us last year and the rest are all new runners. Obviously I am not able to run myself this year, but I will definitely run every year until I am too old to run half marathons, or I’m pregnant.

I don’t know what I would have done without the half marathon and organising the team. It gives me an excuse to talk about Henry, Jasper and Evan to anybody that wants to know about them. To tell them about how brave and strong and sweet and beautiful they were. Having the trust fund helps to keep their memory alive. Their lives may have been very very brief, but they’ll never be forgotten.

The Purpose of One2One Conversations is to be touched, inspired, motivated and educated. One2One Conversations provides a secure and relaxed environment for its paid members where the sharing and listening of true stories provides the emotions and insight for optimism in all our lives. Members are inspired through the words of people who have had to face events that have transformed their lives. Inside all of us lies a wonderful and beautiful person whose courage allows others to be transformed.

In the event you enjoyed this conversation, visit www.one2oneconversations.com
This conversation and many more on business, health, relationship, inspirational
and family are available in PDF and MP3 format.

AnEdge Designs

AnEdge Designs was created by a mum to two premature babies. Hunter was born at 35 weeks & Deegan was born at 32 weeks. Rachael has a passion for graphic design work and now creates beautiful work for her clients. She uses her creative skills and offers invitation designs, web-banners, business cards, brochures, flyers and can even touch up your photos.

Rachael has designed quite a few ideas for L’il Aussie Prems. From our Premmie of the Moment border, members forum signature images to our latest website banner.

Rachael offers all L’il Aussie Prems members a discount on all her work. For further information and to see more of her fantastic work please visit AnEdge Design

Eileen is a Treasure in many ways

Eileen from Bracken Ridge, is a mum living in a busy world consumed with helping families of premature babies for the past 10 years throughout Queensland.

Eileen has been a committee member of Preterm Infants Parent Association (PIPA) since the birth of her first son, William was born 11 weeks early 12 years ago, now has 2 sons. PIPA is a Queensland charity which formed in 1980 helping families struggle through the journey after giving birth to a premature baby. Eileen is the current Treasurer and hospital visitor co-ordinator of PIPA. Over the last few years she has worked tirelessly with holding coffee mornings in Brisbane, organising and attending Ronald McDonald House monthly afternoon teas. Eileen organises raffles, craft stalls and our special Day gifts for Mothers Day, Fathers Day and Christmas for all the Brisbane and country hospitals, which can be over 250 gifts to individually wrap.

Eileen has been a driving force for PIPA for many years, and is sometimes the glue that holds the Committee together when people move on. She actively visits news mums and mums in waiting at the hospital, and speaks with them at length about what they are experiencing, and offers them words of wisdom and kindness with small gifts to lift their spirits. She will keep in contact with those mothers throughout their hospital journey and follow up with them when they are home, and offer her support. Eileen is a self-sacrificing saint within the premmie world.

If you wish to nominate a “Local Premmie Hero” please visit www.lilaussieprems.com.au/hero before the 30th April 2009.

L’il Aussie Prems Turns 2 Years Old!

It is hard to believe that L’il Aussie Prems is 2 years old this month, then again at times i can believe it. There have been MANY MANY late nights of going to bed from 2am onwards just updating the site, adding new content, making sure everything is working and backing everything up. Thankfully i have two children (Ronan - 3yrs old & Tristan 4 months old) that love sleep so i still get plenty of rest at night myself.

When i started LAP in March 2007 my first son Ronan was a year old. Being a stay at home mum just wasn’t enough for me and i wanted to do more within the premature baby community. I had a coffee with a friend, Nicole and told her my vision about starting up a support site. She shared my vision and we decided to think about names. We both threw around a few names and for some reason the name L’il Aussie Prems just jumped into my head. It suited the vision we shared with offering support and the site was born. That same night before bed i had purchased the domain name, organised hosting, and was already starting to work on the sites design, layout and content and adding it all online. When i have an idea i like to implement it straight away and get things going, as my friends know! I don’t like to wait around.

Within a week the site was live and i was promoting LAP everywhere and anywhere i could. Many parenting and women magazines very kindly supported the site and featured LAP in their magazines which i am very grateful for. The premmie baby forum took a while to gain membership but most forums do. At times i felt like i was talking to myself and members came online in dribs and drabs. Once the forum gained a few “regulars” it all took off from there. The forum now has 742 members and over 120,000 posts which is just AMAZING. With the members dedication and support the site has become a very busy community. One thing i believe in is if people want to help, let them. If your members have an idea - listen and implement their ideas. The site is run by not only myself but also the members. The members are what make LAP the community with heart and their voices are as loud as mine so working together is something i have always believed in and that also includes other support sites and charities. Working towards the same goal, supporting families of premature babies is what we all aspire to and working together helps families find the support they need much quicker. In between LAP i am on the committees of Lifes Little Treasures and the National Premmie Foundation . You can always be sure to find me online doing something whether it is for LAP or those two charities. My work is never done.

LAP has achieved so much in the past 2 years and i am so proud of how far that vision has grown. LAP has implemented so many new features over the past year from birth announcements, premmie of the moment, premmie parents of the moment, monthly premmie newsletters, and most recently the local premmie hero awards plus many more.. The site is forever evolving as more ideas come to ahead. The local premmie hero awards came together after a small team of parents (inc myself) threw around ideas on what LAP could do to fill in that gap in the beginning of the year where there were no celebrations for premmie babies and their families. We decided to open the awards to all Australians and we have received some amazing nominations to date. We encourage everyone who knows a volunteer to nominate them for their selfless efforts with helping families of premature babies.

LAP will continue to grow and support families throughout Australia. We are in the process of organising and designing our very own unique premmie baby car signs (with suction cup) dedicated to our little ones. Prices are $10.00 for members and $13.00 for non members. If you are interested in purchasing one please fill out our online form with your expression of interest. (please see pic below)

I hope you can help us celebrate LAP’s 2nd Birthday. I always welcome ideas and support so please contact me if you wish to help as i would love to hear from you.

Two Years Ago Our Journey Began… *Finished*

23rd Feb 2007
I spent most of the day out of the room, due to the newborn and all the family visiting them. It’s coming up to DP’s 21st Birthday, and I had gained permission from my Ob team to go out for dinner between 6 and 8pm on the 24th of Feb, a Saturday night. My spirits were lifted; the idea of being out on the town celebrating my DP’s birthday and not stuck in the hospital was awesome.

24th Feb 2007
At approx 4am I woke with pains, they were coming regularly. I was due for Ob’s soon, so waited until then… except I fell asleep and the midwife was a really good one who managed my Ob’s without waking me!!
I woke at 6:30am in incredible pain, coming in waves every 2-3 mins. This time I call the midwife in who could feel them coming. Due to my previous experiences, they decided to monitor me in the ward first before sending me down to labour ward. Breakky came around 8am and I was feeling so ill and in so much pain I couldn’t eat it, although I wanted to, I just couldn’t. At 9am the midwife comes in and says they are sending me to the labour ward now, to pack my things and call my mum. I rang my mum who had gone home for the weekend; she was in town doing her shopping. I told her the situation and she came straight in, arriving around 10:30-11am. She didn’t even take the shopping home!!
I rang my DP and told him to cancel dinner, I was in labour and this time they weren’t going to be sending me back to the ward pregnant.
The day is VERY long, I tried attempting lunch but couldn’t, once again the pain was too much and I was feeling so ill. My Ob decided to get an IV in as a precaution, easier and nicer to get one in early.
By 6pm, when dinner arrives, I’ve been in the ward for 9 hours. I was starving, but wasn’t allowed to eat much… just in case I had to have a caesarean section. I nibbled on sandwiches and was allowed to only drink water.
I was given an internal around 7pm and I was only 3cms. I was exhausted, I felt so ill; I had gone so far without any pain relief except for heat packs. I was allowed to have a shower, and it was heaven! I was in there for a good 30 mins and then I started bleeding… I freaked out, not knowing what was going on!
I dried up and was given a nice warm hospital gown from the warmer. I felt better after my shower, but the pains came back harder and faster. At around 8pm, 11 hours since being admitted to the labour ward I was given some gas, I found though it did nothing but help with my breathing. At around 9pm I am given some morphine and told to sleep, I was only around 4cms. Sleep… yeah as if. The morphine did nothing but make me sick. I had had enough of vomiting throughout my pregnancy, but this vomiting was worse. My stomach already ached from continuous contractions each vomit was like having another contraction.
The next 3 hours are a blur of pain, dr’s, midwives, buzzers, screaming from down the hall and more internals.

25th Feb 2007
At approximately 2:30am the OB and midwife decide that it’s been too long, that something needs to happen NOW. I’m offered an epidural, just in case they need to do a caesarean section, I’m absolutely buggered I just want the pain over with. At approx 2:45am the Anaesthesiologist came in and started on the Epi… By 3am I felt nothing I was in bliss land. I was given an internal in which the midwife could then feel my baby’s head. I was urged to push with contractions. The problem was that I couldn’t feel the contractions anymore! I had my mum with her hand on my belly the midwife with her hand up my what’s-it telling me when to push.
At 3:15am I gave birth to a little boy, the cord was wrapped around his throat and he was purple, his eyes were open and he was in shock. He didn’t make any noise and the cord was clamped and cut so quickly that the blood splattered all over my face, I didn’t care, I wanted him to be alright. The neonatologist and NICU nurse worked on my little boy, at that point un-named, I could hear them counting and I could see them pushing slightly on his chest. The nurse was holding a mask over his face, time almost stood still. I was given a needle and told to push, my placenta was born. The best way to describe what it looked like is… a sea sponge, but red. It was all falling apart and spongy. The midwife was actually quite shocked that it had been working so well.
At approx 3:30am my little boy is shown to me and I name him, Brendan Ryan. He had a tube down his throat, but he looked so pink and nice now. I touched his hand and he curled his fingers around mine. The neonatologist said I had to let him go so he could go up to the NICU, problem was Brendan had me. His fingers were unwrapped from mine as they wheeled him away.
Then the ringing began… first on the list of course was DP…

And so began our NICU journey.

Happy Birthday for tomorrow Little man. Mummy is so proud of you.

Two Years Ago… Our Journey Began

I started writing this yesterday and will continue to add to it over the next 2 weeks.

I was meant to write this last night, but I actually forgot which isn’t such a bad thing…

Anyway Two years ago on the 10th of Feb I was 28 weeks exactly. I had a quiet day, sitting on the couch, caught a cat-nap, played cards with mum and was just generally relaxing. It was a Saturday and there wasn’t much really going on anyway. My grandparents were over visiting and we were all sitting out on the verandah chatting. I needed to go to the loo and excused myself. After going I had a small leak and my thought was ‘dammit I’ve peed myself!’ I was thinking that I didn’t empty my bladder fully, so I grabbed another pair of knickers went back to the loo changed and then the same thing happened… ‘hmm this is strange’ So this time I grabbed a pair of knickers and a pad…. I didn’t even get to change… but was lucky to be on the loo went splash… ‘hmmm that’s not right’ I put my clean knickers on with the pad and went back out and sat with my parents and grandparents, who were just about to leave anyway. I waited for them to leave and I said to mum, ‘I’ve just leaked a heap of clear liquid’ and her response was when? ‘just before when I went to the loo’ ‘I thought you’d been in there a while, sounds like your waters’ ‘and that means, what exactly?’ (yes I was pretty naive… ) ‘well it means that your waters have gone and you will probably be in labour soon’ ‘but I’m only 28 weeks!’ Anyway…. mum rang SDH who said get to a hospital ASAP if I am in any pain…’no shes not in pain’ the reply was how far from KEMH are you and can you get there, yes we can get there but it’s and hour and a half away. Start heading there, we can’t see you here she’s way too early. Ummm ok….

I chucked a few bits in a bag and we left, at approx 6:45pm we are only about 5 mins down the road and the phone rings, it’s SDH, forgot to say that if you start to experience ANY pain at all please call in here and we’ll put you in an ambulance.

At approx 8pm we arrive at KEMH emergency dept. Mum spoke to the lady at the desk and explained that I was 28 weeks my waters have broken and SDH have referred us here. Yes yes we are expecting you, grab a wheelchair and wait there. I had only just sat down in the wheelchair and someone came out and said ok lets go. (I’m thinking where are you taking me!) We go up to the Maternal Fetal Assessment Unit (MFAU) where they have a bed waiting for me along with a Dr and nurse. I’m strapped to a monitor, my BP is taken, I’m asked a whole range of questions, an iv is put in and I’m started on some drugs, including steroids. Many Dr’s come in to speak with me, I remember one Dr in particular, the neonatologist, he was such a handsome man. He was explaining what the steroids will do ect. We stay up there until around 11pm when they move me to the ward, and mum has to go home.

Mum slept in her car outside the hospital expecting to be called back in.

11 Feb 2007
In the morning mum was there at 8am on the dot. The neonatologist came in and told me what the chances of survival where for a 28 weeker He told me that my baby had approximately 70% chance of survival and of those 70% that survive 20% will have ongoing problems such as CP, Autism, ect. I asked him a bunch of questions including how long we’d be down here for. his reply was that generally most babies are in until their due date. He left and some other Dr’s came in after them a social worker came in and I had a good chat with him.

I had an u/s just after lunch which showed that my baby was approximately 1108grams (funny how I never leave of the my baby was doing very well despite the lack of fluids. (I didn’t want to know what we were having) The baby was fully engaged and it was ‘unlikely that I’d still be pregnant tomorrow’ (those were the exact words).

Throughout this whole thing, I was actually quite positive only had a little cry, I really thought that everything would be ‘normal’ and that the baby would be just small, even though the Dr’s had explained to me what might happen, I still thought, ‘no that wont happen to me’. It didn’t really sink in until Sunday afternoon, when my lovely midwife took me down to the SCN. She showed me the NICU, from the outside of course. I remember her pointing through the window at a little wee bub, and the words ‘this baby was born at around 28 weeks’. That’s when it sunk in… that’s when it hit me… all the machines… the wires… the tubes…

Needless to say I didn’t sleep well that night…. and neither did my mum, who actually managed some emergency accommodation next to the hospital.

12 Feb 2007
It’s been a rather an emotional day, I’m not sure what to expect anymore, how much longer I’m actually going to be pregnant. I’m sick of being on bed rest. I’m sick of not being able to go outside. Sick of being woken up every 4 hours for Obs!

I have also now completed the round of steroids and am taken of the labour stopping drugs. The only thing I am taking now is Antibiotics, to ward off infection. Now that the steroids are on board they were going to let my baby come.

13th of Feb…

The doctors are all still amazed that I am in fact still pregnant, they honestly thought that after my waters breaking my baby would be here within 24 hours, but to still be there 3 days later is awesome. My spirits were staring to get a bit higher today. I made friends with a lady in the same room as me, who had already been in hospital for 7 weeks.

By mid afternoon, the pains had started. I had mild back pain along with lightening’s and just generally uncomfortable. I was now experiencing pre-labour, The midwife kept checking on me as I think she fully expected me to progress into full labour very quickly. It was the start of a VERY long 10 days…. as soon as the real pains started to get more frequent I told my midwife, she came in and could feel mild contractions. Within 20 mins or so, they stopped. At this stage I wasn’t sure what was really happening and tried my best to stay calm and positive.

14th of Feb 2007…

Today started like it had the past few days, with Ob’s done at around 6am. Breakfast comes in at around 7:30 and then the Dr’s anywhere up to 11am. Mum is still staying down in Perth with me, she’s been to Target to buy the both of us some new clothes to wear. Today one of the ladies in the room with me gets to go home, she had the window bed. I pleaded with my midwife to get moved to the window side and she allowed me to!! I now have a view of Subiaco, Subiaco Oval and the city of Perth.

Nothing much really happened today, the same pains are still there but nothing seems to be progressing.

15th Feb 2007

Again this day started like the previous had done, Obs at 6am breakfast around 7:30-8am, Dr’s around by 11am. This day mum had been down to the shops and bought some cards for entertainment. I also decided that it appeared I was going to be in a while so ordered the TV. Around an hour or so after lunch is when all the fun began…. I was getting regular pains, some which were making it hard to breathe. I let my midwife know. She could feel some contractions as they were happening and I was rushed to the labour ward. Once down in the labour ward I was hooked up to the CTG, the only thing the machine picks up is my baby’s heartbeat…it doesn’t show the contractions! The midwife on that day said that the machine wasn’t accurate and was just a guide, and that because I was labouring in my back it was harder to pick up (or something like that) After 3-4 hours, things settled down and I was sent back to the ward.

16th Feb 2007

Another day of pains and Ob’s. Nothing really happened today.

17th Feb 2007

Still nothing progressing, still having pains. DP comes down to visit for an hour or so. Mum goes home to do some housework and change of clothes ect. She had been staying down with me since he previous Saturday, mostly sleeping in the car and random hotels if she was able to get a bed.

18th Feb 2007

Today, I’m starting to get really sick of the hospital food. They never put enough on your plate I’m pregnant feed me! lol.
Still in pain, pains are getting more intense and I am now started on some panadol and heat packs for pain relief. I’m also given sleeping tablets after my midnight Ob’s. 4 hours solid seep is better than none.
Some more family visit today, I now have some fresh fruit and some recent mags to read.

19th Feb 2007

Today starts as the last week has, obs and then breakfast. Mum comes in to visit as soon as the ward opens, 8am. Now we have a collection of things to do, UNO, poker, Canasta and Euchre. Cards are easy to pack away if need be. mum has also started bringing in outside food, the breakfast is not sufficient enough to hold me over until lunch comes and lunch is not sufficient enough to hold me over until dinner comes.

Today my team of doctors are happy with things appearing somewhat settled. I am actually given permission to go down into the town of Subiaco to do some shopping! OMG I dont think I could have left that room quick enough! We were given a time to be back by for Ob’s.

Mum and I were a bit naughty though, instead of going into Subiaco we actually went out to Carousel, which for those in Perth know that that’s not a little drive from Subiaco. LOL. While we were there I bought some more clothes and even bought a few tiny little things for bubs.

We were back by the designated time and everyone was happy.

After I had my Ob’s done we went up to the ward lounge to play some cards. During the game of cards I once again started to feel more regular contractions, bugger, must have been all that walking around! This time instead of going to the labour ward I was shipped of to MFAU (Maternal fetal Assessment Unit) There we stayed for around 2 hours and they were happy that things were going slowly and I was sent back to the ward…. just in time for dinner!

20th Feb 2007

Yet another day of pains and Ob’s. Hospital is really starting to get to me and I’m also making, what I now regret making, comments about how I just wanted it to be over. I just wanted him out.

21st Feb 2007

Is much the say as the day before. At least i’m getting otuside a bit more for fresh air….

22nd Feb 2007

When will it be over already! I’m sick of being in hospital, sick of being woken every 4 hours for ob’s, sick of hearing babies crying, sick of being woken because the lady next door wants to watch tv at 2am….. GET ME OUT OF HERE!
Oh and to top it all off, I now have a newborn in my shared room…BUT it’s not the newborn which is the issue I can sleep through that, it’s the damn mother who talks to her baby in a normal voice ALL NIGHT LONG! SHUT UP I’M TRYING to SLEEP!

Toddler Bed

Since Friday the 16Th of Jan, Brendan has been sleeping in a toddler bed.

My expectations were that we’d have to keep putting him back in it, that he’d cry and whinge and basically not go to sleep.

BUT… I have had NONE of that! Except the very first night, but that was because he hadn’t seen his dad for a few days….

So Anyway this is our bedtime routine…

I tell him to find his rag and dummy (can usually find the rag, but not the dummy)
I tell him its time to go to bed, and he follows me into his room
He goes straight to the dresser and motions for the dummy (unless he already has one)
Then he goes and lays down in his bed while I turn the night light on.
Then I kiss him goodnight and say “ni-nis”
And close the door.
Most mornings he wakes around 6:30-7am and comes into our room.

I cant believe how easy it has been, it has been easier to put him to sleep in his bed than his cot. I think the main reason for that is because he knows he can get out of the bed when he wants to.

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