Today marks a very special day for all Preemies and their families- World Prematurity Day to raise awareness for premature babies. 

It is also the week where my preemie baby, Sophia, turns 2! We are so very grateful for obstetricians, paediatricians, NICU nurses and staff who supported and cared for our little miracle. We got to bring Sophia home, and I will remember that day forever. Being excited, ecstatically happy but also so sad for those friends that were left behind, and those that didn't get to bring their angel babies home. We counted our blessings and still do, every day..

Its been 2 years since this journey started, 2 years since our lives changed forever... And whilst most people assume that we should get over it, the truth is, we haven't and never will. We are so extremely lucky we got to bring our miracle home, and are so very blessed that she is happy and healthy. The one thing we learnt to survive the NICU journey was to be strong, to be positive, to be proactive.....but what happens when you finally come out the other side? There are days that it suddenly hits you and you find yourself having to deal with trauma you never allowed yourself to before.... for me this happens on occasions like her birthday, today, world prematurity day and when I have a tough day.....

I recently tried to reason what it is that has made my outlook on life different, to appreciate the little things, to put my family first..... Parents having to go though unique situations like this, have to learn to put their heart and soul on the line....To love something that you have a strong possibility of ultimately losing. For me this was a very hard thing to do at first, and as harsh at it sounds, coming from a medical background - I tried very hard in the early days to "not love her" just in case.....to try protect myself from pain and hurt...
This all changed on day 3, when I was told to remove her eye mask from the jaundice treatment. Sophia stared right back at me, she melted my heart, stared into my soul and I was a blubbering mess. I made a vow that day, that if the only thing I could do was to love her, I would love her to death and a miracle was sure to happen.....and it did.
No one will understand this feeling unless you have been though it, this is the bond my family share with all our "NICU family", parents we met in NICU who are friends for life and people we cannot live without. 

Having 2 children, one that was term and one that was preemie, I always tell my friends, "my first born made me a better person and my second made me a better mother"....

I want to end this blog with a special message to my 6 year old son, Ethan. The whole journey we have been though has been hard on us as parents, emotionally, physically and mentally. I cannot even begin to imagine what it has been like for a 5 year old, now 6 year old sibling. He has been my rock, my strength and I am in absolute awe how well he has coped and made everything easy. He has seen our tears, our anger, our pain and always been so positive. He has learnt patience, compassion and the importance of family and sticking together. Mummy has missed school pick ups and drop offs, reading groups and christmas concerts, but you always smile and tell me its ok. On days that are tough you tell me "I love you mummy and daddy and Sophia - my family". You are the piece that holds this whole family together. Mummy is strong, but you are stronger. I love you to the moon and back.
 ​xoxox














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Today is International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day. I hope all our preemie parents are enjoying Australia's first Kangaroo-a-thon today! A flashback to one of the many cuddles Sophia had with her Dad. It took 4 weeks before we could hold her, but we remember that moment forever. ❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏🙏

 The Gumdrop Dummies have been our saviour over the last 15 months. From Sophia having problems with her "breathe-suck-swallow reflex", the preemie version was essential in training her how to eventually suck-feed. Fast forward to today - loving her pink Gumdrop to help soothe her to sleep and settle her. Last night these were a life saver (it was one of those nights!)! We also use these to help her take her medicines via syringe, and she loves the fridge, cold ones to soothe her sore gums.

I cannot recommend these enough! I get asked ALL the time, where did I get these dummies and how different they are!

Love

Ali x

New year, new focus, new product! What an amazing, whirlwind of a year. Our little miracle turned 1 in November, and since then and the months following we have been reminiscing our journey 1 year on... It has been the most emotional, life changing and challenging year and not a day goes by that we don't look at Sophia in awe of how far she has come and her fight for survival.

By far the best thing that came out of our experience is meeting and helping others that have been through similar experiences. We have loved sharing products and stories that have help us, as parents of a preemie, and sourcing them for all of you. I have personally enjoyed wrapping and sending all your purchases, some as gifts and some as much sought after products. We have even sent products as far as Borneo where products for preemies are scarce.

Our best sellers to date have been our skin to skin shirts, Como Bottles and Gumdrop dummies. If you haven't tried them out or have wondered about whether these products will help your precious bub, please do try them out! They really have changed our lives and provided so much comfort to many other preemies.

This year we have stocked the new NICU Prema Tube. I personally remember how upset I would get cutting short of "kangaroo care" to breast pump. This product allows mums to do both! It also allows access for examination of bubs by doctors and for the many "leads and wires" of the monitoring equipment. We hope it will make many NICU mums happy!

We wish you all a very Happy New Year 2015, full of hope and joy. For those whos baby/ babies spent their first Christmas and New Years in NICU, as ours did, next Christmas will be that much more special, and there is so much look forward to...

Love and Hugs

Alison x

They are finally here! Como Tomo bottles. Great for combining bottle and breast feeding! Comotomo Natural-Feel Baby Bottle is the next evolution in baby feeding and unique in the Australian market place! 

It's body and nipple are made of pure medical grade silicone that provide a safe, hypoallergenic way to feed baby. Silicone is a natural material that is closest to human skin and has no open pores to harbour bacteria, thereby ensuring feeding time is joyful and safe for both parents and baby without the leaching of harmful chemicals.  

The Comotomo bottle is designed to naturally mimic breastfeeding as much as possible with it’s soft, skin-like feel that’s a little squeeze too! It also has super-wide mound and naturally shaped nipple to help breastfed babies switch or wean from breast seamlessly.

The Comotomo Natural-Feel Bottle is super easy to clean and does not require any implements. The wide neck allows for cleaning by hand and as silicone is extremely resistant to heat you can boil or sterilise or even put them in the top rack of the dishwasher!

Bottles should be in store at end of next week. Bottle sizes 150mls and 250mls and slow, medium, fast and variable flow teats. You may pre-order by emailing us on info@babysavings.com.au 

Happy feeding!


Ali x

Exciting news...Baby K'Tan in stock now! I cannot tell you how much I love this carrier. It has a similar concept to our Vija Skin-to-Skin shirts and suits bubs between 3.5 - 16kg. A cross between a wrap, sling and carrier but so much easier to use than most wraps and no buckles or "hard bits". We love this carrier and so does Sophia! >>>>K'Tan Baby Carrier>>>

Also more exciting news - ComoTomo is in Australia! I first discovered these amazing bottles on a trip to Singapore when I was pregnant. Their wide design is so easy to clean (no bottle brush required!) and their large, soft teat and design, mimics breastfeeding. The silicone, BPA free bottle is so soft and squishy, babies love the "natural" feel of this.
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When Sophia was in NICU she was unable to breastfeed due to her Chronic Lung DIsease - breathing, sucking and swallowing was too hard for her. I tried many bottles and this was the ONLY one she could suck from without having any desaturations in her oxygen. The soft teat is incomparable and unique, and so well suited to the soft sucking you often get from preemies. The best thing for me was, once her little lungs improved when she was home, she easily switched to breastfeeding without an issue at all. Sophia now breasts and bottle feeds (with the ComoTomo) with no issues or confusion.

I had been trying to source these bottles since then, and have finally discovered they are coming to Australia in July! Watch this space, I will let you know when they are in stock!



Love                                            >>>go to K'Tan Baby Carrier>>>>

Ali x

Unfortunately the day came where I had to go back to work.... Whilst its been nice to be back, I feel I often have to re-focus on what's important in life and how precious it can be - just looking at Sophia does that. But it is so easy to get sucked back into where work and social life can become consuming.

My wake up call this week has been finding out a mum I met in NICU with her 24 weeker is in the same position again with threatened pre-term labour of her twins girls. Life can be so confusing, and no one deserves to go though that experience twice. I have admired her strength and positivity, and every morning eagerly and anxiously await her daily update. Someone once told me, God only specially chooses mums that can care and have the qualities to raise such special children....I believe that, and she certainly has all those qualities and more....

This week I found a product that has similar features to the Skin-to-Skin shirts/ carrier we stock, but suit older babies as well. Now Sophia has out-grown her Skin-to-Skin shirt/ carrier I had been searching for something similar. These K'Tan Carriers keeps them snuggled against your chest with supportive fabric, like the skin to skin experience. The abscence of buckles, clips and sliders make it a bonus on baby's and mum/dad's skin! I particularly love how you can keep their ears and head warm in this, especially now the weather is getting colder.
Look out for these carriers in our store- they should be in stock in the next couple of weeks.

Remember we are raising money for Miracle Babies Foundation - purchase one of their fundraising products in our store.

Stay warm,

Love

Ali xx

We are helping to support the great work from Miracle Babies Foundation. Please purchase some of their fundraising products (all proceeds from these products go to the Miracle Babies Foundation)  - see products- 

Spending NICU on Christmas, we will always remember the little santa sack gift from Miracle Babies, that Sophia and all her friends got next to their incubators. It brought a smile to all the parents on Christmas  morning, and in NICU every little smile counts! Thank you to all the hard work this amazing organisation does.

Ali x

This week I have been doing a lot of reflecting on how life "outside" NICU in the real world can be a shock after months and months in NICU. The everyday commute, constant washing hands, disinfecting, pumping 3 hourly and excitement of cares and kangaroo cuddles had been our every day for 3 months - it began to feel the normal and what we relate to the survival and care of our precious babies.  Don't get me wrong, I don't miss the emotional roller coaster or the constant up and downs! But there is something about a community, a family of NICU nurses, doctors, fellow NICU parents and social workers that makes one feel stronger and that the impossible is possible...

Now that we have been home for some time now, our biggest support has been the NICU families that we met and have remained close to. Our Facebook groups, texts and regular catch up has been a god send to helping us ask the constant questions, ease our worries and get ideas and tips on raising a preemie. Going through such a traumatic journey, which often starts from early in the pregnancy, changes your life forever; you will never be the same person you were before you entered this journey. We found the generosity and kindness from strangers and unexpected places, and how big people's hearts can be. 

Simple everyday things. like going to the shops and crowded places, after being in antenatal and NICU for months, would stress me easily and give me a headache. Explaining to people her age - corrected versus actual and then why she was born preemie would be stressful - recalling our journey would sometimes be too overwhelming. My comparison to this would be "post-traumatic stress"- We all spend so long trying to be strong in NICU and soldier on that the tears often come later...much later, often only once you are home.

This is one of the reason I set up My Preemie Baby - not only do I want to recommend products, that will help when all of you are finally home, but to have that comfort and support of knowing that all these products, advise and stories are from fellow NICU mums and dads who had a preemie too. That the journey never ends when you get home, but it continues for long after. That sometimes it is the "after" part, where you need the most support, but don't have (now that all the nurses and doctors are gone!). 

A lot of preemies suffer from reflux and this often shows itself in full force once you are home. I am currently on a mission to find products that help ease this and bring relief to parents as well as bubs. This week we stocked Dr Brown bottles, a well known product that helps relieve colic and reflux. The best thing is it comes in small sizes (60ml) and with preemie teats - prefect for expressed breast milk. We also found the Gia breastfeeding pillow which has an incline (almost like a wedge shape), so reflux babies can still breastfeed without regurgitating/ spit up.

We are always open for suggestions on products you have found useful for your preemie and would love to hear from other mums and dads. Please also share your story on our "Preemie Stories" page - a lot of mums have found this a help to the healing process, and knowing you are helping give hope to other parents is invaluable. E-mail: info@babysavings.com.au

I often get asked by other preemie mums if I still cry when I hold Sophia and recall our journey....my answer is "at least once a day!"....

Ali xox

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