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FAMILIES OF PREMMIES; GOING GREEN FOR THEIR CAUSE

February 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

After the resounding success of the first “Wear Green for Premmies” Day in 2011, Ms Julia Toivonen, founder of the L’il Aussie Prems website which hosted the inaugural event, is eagerly looking forward to this year’s fundraiser. The 2012 “Wear Green for Premmies” Day will be held on 4th April 2012.

Last year’s event attracted around 19,500 attendees and raised awareness of babies born prematurely.  It raised much needed funds for five different charities all which support children. 

In mid-January this year a Facebook event page was launched in an effort to reach as many families as possible in the lead up to April with over 3,000 already ‘attending’ the event. Word has spread through social networks of the fantastic work being done to raise funds through the “Wear Green for Premmies” Day. Ms Toivonen is expecting that this year’s event will attract an unprecedented number of attendees.

Funds will be raised through the sale of green wristbands sporting various premmie support messages chosen by the websites members. Funds will then be distributed amongst charities that support children throughout Australia. Attendees are also encouraged to fundraise on the day in support of the National Premmie Foundation.

Attendees do not attend a physical event but simply sign up to the event on the Wear Green for Premmies Day Facebook Page and encourage family and friends to wear something green on the 4th of April 2012.

L’il Aussie Prems was launched five years ago to provide families with an interactive online community that they can access anywhere anytime. Ms Toivonen gave birth to her first baby at 27 weeks gestation with her son spending 110 days at Monash Medical Centre in Clayton. He started his first day of school this week at Templeton Primary School in Wantirna. She knew that her experience could help families like her own through her online support network which now reaches thousands of families each month. Subsequently, with the launch of social media,  the Facebook page has also developed and has given L’il Aussie Prems the ability to reach a far wider audience of families needing assistance.

The website and Facebook page provide families with information and resources as well as the support needed through each stage of a premmie baby’s growth.

Visit our website for further details about our event and how you can support the day.

www.lilaussieprems.com.au

 

Filed Under: L'il Aussie Prems, Media Articles

My experience from being on TV!

November 5, 2009 By 2 Comments

October was an exciting month for myself and Li’l Aussie Prems because we were featured on a great new show on channel 9 called “Money for Jam”. We filmed the show back in May so it felt like a lifetime of waiting but so worth the wait!

Each week all my friends and family were watching the show waiting for my story to be shown. I lost count the amount of people that had asked me “when will you be on” but i had NO idea until i received a phone call from the producers telling me the morning of the show that i would be on that night.

It was 7.58pm and i was getting REALLY nervous. I had already decided to hide myself away for 30min whilst the show was airing. I went into Ronan’s room and kept myself busy thinking that i had 1/2hr to spare but before i knew it the door was opening and in walked my husband with tears streaming down his face. It was at that point that i knew it had been shown and my tummy was doing flips!

Not even a minute after my segment was on my sister was on the phone with my mum busting to get a hold of me at the same time, it was total chaos. They were telling me how fantastic it was, how professional i looked and sounded (which i didn’t believe a word) and that they were just so so proud of me. Even though i hadn’t seen the segment yet i had a lump in my throat because it was just so lovely to hear.

Once i finally got off the phone to my family i had received about 6 text messages and when i finally sat down at my PC again (my 2nd home) my facebook wall was FLOODED. I was just amazed with all the messages and how kind everyone was. I kept thinking to myself that i probably looked frumpy because i’d had only 4hrs sleep the night before we filmed and i certainly felt anything but professional on the day, i just couldn’t get out the words i wanted to say. I was curious but still unsure about whether i wanted to see myself on TV! “other” people are on TV not me, well besides my stint on Romper Room when i was 5yrs old but i had grown up quite a bit since then.

A friend of mine had uploaded the video on youtube and as i was sharing the link with friends it started to play in the background. It was now 11pm and i had still not seen it, not even a peak but now i was intrigued as i was listening to Shane Crawford talk about the internet. I decided that enough was enough and i took the plunge with my hands over my mouth and finally watched it….

You can click on the image below to view our segment…

mfj

I received a fantastic response and received endless emails with businesses wanting to advertise on the site and enquiries about sponsorship. I also received an email from Pinky McKay and Lynda Day, director of Earlybirds. The response was more than i ever expected and i am so grateful for the producers of the show for believing in my story and showing what the site is all about. It was an experience of a lifetime and one that i will admit would be happy to do again but next time i would make sure i had at least 8hrs sleep the night before!

A HUGE thank you to all the families that support the website and also my family and friends for their support over the years. Everyone has been fantastic and whilst the site keeps me extremely busy i am so glad to know that families are finding the information & support that they need because it’s all about sharing and helping others on their journey after a premature birth.

I am just one of MANY parents out there offering support and i am so humbled to know that i am able to help other families.

Filed Under: Media Articles

Eileen is a Treasure in many ways

April 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: Media Articles Tagged With:

In 2008 Our Premmie Baby Forum…

January 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Exploded! The forum saw over 400 members join in 2008 alone and on New Years eve we reached over 100,000 posts. It is truly an amazing effort on our members behalves and they have really turned the forum into a community over the past year.

When i started the forum almost 2 years ago it was slow to start with like any forum but over time it grew. I made sure i put the site “out there” not just via online but through other avenue’s. Everyone who i have personally spoken with over time has been very supportive of the site and when they hear how well it is doing they are very suprised, which is a great thing! The forums’ members meet in each state and have formed very solid friendships. Each and every member has a level of understanding whether their premmie baby was born at 23 weeks through to 36 weeks, everyone is very supportive and compassionate to all.

The members have made what L’il Aussie Prems is today and i cannot thank them enough.  I had a vision in 2007 and now the forum has so many families, 2009 will be the year that L’il Aussie Prems shines. We have idea’s coming from left right and centre which hopefully we will be implementing throughout the year.

If you wish to join our premmie baby forum please register today!

Filed Under: L'il Aussie Prems, Media Articles, Premature Babies, Premmie Baby Fundraising Tagged With:

Premature Baby Born at 22 weeks in 1909

August 1, 2008 By 1 Comment

Margaret Murphy began life about 18 weeks early weighing around 390 grams at St Margaret’s Hospital in Sydney. These days it’s still special, but not so unusual, for a prem baby to ‘make it’, but for Margaret, born September 19, 1909, it was and still is incredible.

“Wrapped in cotton wool inside a shoe-box, fed with an eye dropper, and she didn’t come home from hospital for three months,” says Elaine Murphy, Margaret’s daughter and only child. “Premmie girls are notorious for being the most determined,” chimes in Amanda Lonergan, President of the National Premmie Foundation.

Margaret survived at least one bubonic plague scare in Sydney prior to 1925. “Mum said that if you went out without your mask on you just got sent home, she never caught it.” “She was always a tenacious lady, but always a very quiet lady. “The vascular dementia, and the clots associated with it, gradually took away mum’s ability to hold long conversations, but right up until the day before she died she still communicated very easily. “She had a funny way of wiggling her eyebrows, so she didn’t say much but her expression was just amazing. “I’d always come away from visiting her buoyed up, because she always made me laugh,” says Elaine.

Margaret was never one to complain about anything, even when her husband Walter was beaten by street kids in Melbourne and passed away after 15 weeks in a coma. “She heard that attack, it happened right outside the front door of their Melbourne home in 1983 after Walter returned home from a dinner.

“Mum and dad had a routine, he’d ring the doorbell, take the dog for a walk and she would make the coffee.
“That night the dog came home and dad didn’t, mum went instantly deaf. She was shocked to the core, but she never complained about her lot in life.”

Margaret was always a spontaneous sort, Elaine reminisces. “On their honeymoon to Jenolan Caves, mum decided she’d climb the flag pole to tie a hankie at the top. “The flagpole is on the edge of a cliff, and when mum got to the top she froze up, then dad had to climb up and help her down.” Margaret was also a lover of fashion and hats, she was always a lady, always dressed up. “Whereas I’m a tomboy,” laughs Elaine.

“We lived in the Northern Territory for a while, and mum would ride around Arnhem Land on horseback.
“She loved the country and animals, she had a real way with animals.” Two days before Margaret died, Elaine hurt her hand and when she visited her mum, Margaret only expressed concern about the injury.

“It was a real mother thing. I thought, here you are dying and you’re still only concerned with my welfare, she was a mum right up to the end.

“I contacted Amanda because I thought that my mum’s story would give hope to parents of prem babies, that they can and do live full, happy lives,”

“Having a prem baby makes what should be a wonderul, happy time into something traumatic. “Mum was tenacious right to the end, she was born that way and she left that way,” says Elaine. Sadly, Margaret passed away earlier this month in her 99th year from the effects of her dementia.

Article in Bendigo Weekly 

Filed Under: Media Articles, Premature Babies

National Premmie Day

July 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment

This Friday is National Premmie Day!

Being apart of the premmie foundations committee we have been working on this day since last year and time certainly does fly! We have received A LOT of support from businesse, other parenting websites, the media and families which have all been fantastic.

Being a parent to a premature baby i have to say that this community is one that i would have never known if my son was never born early. There are so many amazing people in this world who volunteer their time and energy on helping families who have been in the same situation of having a premature baby. There are 1000s of premmie babies born each year and the number is growing. Each baby has had a unique experience and been through so much which is why our premmie babies need to be celebrated.

For a list of premmie events around Australia you can visit www.prembaby.org.au . There are also events listed on the L’il Aussie Prems forum www.lilaussieprems.com.au/premforum/australian-premmie-support-groups-f49.html

We would love to hear about your celebrations for National Premmie Day so be sure to join the forum and tell us all about it but remember have a great day!

Filed Under: L'il Aussie Prems, Media Articles, Premature Babies
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