A Look Back - June 2014

Editorial

The highlights of June were the announcement of our first workshop for parents, a grant to Parents of Prems and the launch of our Messages of Thanks page. The workshop and grant would not have been possible without the support of our community who took part in HBF Run for a Reason, thank you!

Workshops will be held monthly on various topics that we think will interest our community.  Our first workshop on the 30th July is entitled 'Issues facing 0-5 year olds born with respiratory distress'. Please click here to register.

Parents of Prems provide care packages for parents of premature babies.  The grant will cover approximately 20% of costs for the next six months to ensure all parents of babies born micro or extremely prematurely at King Edward Memorial Hospital receive these wonderful care packages.

Our 'Messages of Thanks' page was launched with a beautiful poem of thanks contributed by Krystle L. We would love you to keep sending us you messages so that the community understands the depth of our gratitude. You can submit your thanks here. 

Our Toddler Tuesdays activities are in full swing now, so if you are keen for ideas to keep them active. take a look at the blog here.

Community Conversations

Facebook has seen us jump to 750 likes, and the community is taking advantage of the forum to share. Here are a few of those conversations.

Donations of Premmie Clothes

Mums have generously offered donations of premmie clothes to the community. If you would like to donate or be on the list for donations, please do not hesitate to contact us. Alternatively, the Women and Infants Research Foundation appreciates donations of clothing for their Op Shop at King Edward Memorial Hospital. 

Sharing Updates and Memories

Families are starting to share photos of their little ones growing up. A family also shared a touching celebration of their baby boy who is no longer with us.

Family and Friends - Providing Support

We asked for input for a new page for our website "Family and Friends - Providing Support".  Theresa M said "I know for us having my family rally around and take over the smallest tasks like walking the dogs and leaving us cooked dinners, cleaning the house etc was a big help because it freed us up to be with our baby for longer periods of time". We would love more of this feedback as we develop our page. Please email admin@tinysparkswa.org.au with your tips and ideas.

Thanks for the Support

Thanks to Bunnings Claremont for supporting our Bake Sale on the 7th June. Although shoppers seemed few and far between that day, we appreciated the opportunity.

Coming Up

31st July - Workshop: Issues facing 0-5 year olds born with respiratory distress

Dr Veena Judge presents a workshop entitled 'Issues facing 0-5 year olds born with respiratory distress'. Dr Judge is a very experienced and well respected paediatric respiratory and sleep physician. She is looking forward to tailoring the workshop to suit the attendees concerns and background. You are welcome to list those concerns as part of the registration process. Click here to register.

8-10th August - PBC Expo

The annual Pregnancy, Babies & Children's Expo is on at the Claremont Showgrounds from August 8 to 10.  The expo is a fun day out for the entire family with plenty of free entertainment and loads of interesting vendors.  You can get your free tickets here.

We will be having a stall at the expo and are looking for volunteers who may be able to assist in the running of the stall. If you are interested in volunteering, please submit your interest here.

20th August - Workshop

Topic to be advised.

31st August - Chevron City to Surf

On the 31st of August we will have a team in the Chevron City to Surf.  You can find out details on the run/walk here, and join our team to fundraise here.  Each adult participant will receive a Tiny Sparks running cap.

A Look Back - May 2014

Editorial

Another incredible month has flown by!  Each month is getting busier as more and more people are becoming aware of Tiny Sparks WA.  We have now reached over 700 Likes on our Facebook page with some posts reaching 20,000+ people all over the world!  Having such a strong community behind us has been vital for events such as the HBF Run for a Reason, which saw 21 participants for The Team for Tiny Sparks, and the success of our Bunnings Sausage Sizzle.  Thanks also to Grill'd Claremont for including us in their Local Matters program for May.  We can't wait to share with you where the funds raised will be spent over the coming month.  Thankyou all for your continued support.

Community Conversations

"Do you remember a particular midwife who made a difference?"

From LH - 'Yes! In fact I have been meaning to find out if I can research her name. I would love to write to her and tell her that her presence in the birth of my daughter was essential to me. I can't even describe it properly. My husband and doctor hadn't arrived. It was just the midwife and I. A beautiful (albeit scary) experience.'

From BR - 'I can't remember her name but she was my night angel whilst on bedrest. Always on night shift, she was an older lady with blond greying hair and always wore it in a bun. She was an incredibly calming influence in what was a very stressful time.'

Sharing experiences with tongue tie and upper lip tie.

From SB - 'My ex-30 weeker had a severe tongue tie (similar to the pic) which even with all the specialists etc wasn't picked up until closer to 12 months by our CHN. It still annoys me that something so common & so easily fixed as an infant wasn't picked up. We had so many issues with breastfeeding & solid feeding that he was labelled a 'lazy eater'. After the referrals all went through etc it was fixed under a GA at 18 months old. Within a week he was eating more solid type foods, within around 3-4 weeks he was eating sandwiches!'

Celebrations

There were quite a few community days to celebrate/observe this past month!  They included -

  • Preeclampsia Awareness Month
  • May 4 International Bereaved Mothers Day
  • May 5 International Day of the Midwife
  • May 11 Mother's Day
  • May 15 International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day
  • May 26 National Sorry Day
  • May 27 - June 3 National Reconciliation Week

Handy Reminders

The cold and flu season has started and many of the little ones in our community have already become sick and some hospitalised.  It's important to be vigilant over the coming months and observe stricter hygiene than usual.  If you need a reminder of things to consider you can find great information on our Hygiene Page.

Thanks for the Support

Grill'd Claremont

Grill'd runs a hugely successful 'Local Matters' programs through their restaurants.  For the entire month of May Tiny Sparks had a jar alongside Redkite and Cottesole Surf Life Saving Club at their Claremont store.  On last check in we were sitting in second place place but we look forward to hearing the final result in the coming days.  Not only does this program provide financial support for local community groups it also helps to raise their profile and spread awareness within the community.  We are very thankful to Grill'd for the opportunity.

Bunnings Claremont

Bunnings has for many years allowed community groups to conduct sausage sizzles where profits taken on the day go to benefit the community group.  On the 10th of May we held our first sausage sizzle at Bunnings Claremont.  The weather had looked threatening but managed to hold out for the day and the sausage sizzle was a sell out about 10 minutes before close.  We could not have done so well without our fabulous volunteers on the day.  Many thanks to each of them.

HBF Run for a Reason

Amazing effort by Team for Tiny Sparks in all categories of the fun run.  Each participant received their very own Tiny Sparks running cap.  You can see more of the fun we had on the blog.  We have two further fun runs coming up this season.  Please look here for details about the Swan River Run (City 2 Swan) and the City to Surf.

Requests for Support

Do you currently have a baby in NICU/SCN?  We have a little project that we would like some assistance with.  It will not be terribly time consuming as we know first hand how precious time it when you have a baby in NICU/SCN.  If you are interested in finding out more please e-mail abates@tinysparkswa.org.au

Coming Up

Swan River Run

On the 13th of July we will have a team in the Swan River Run.  You can find out details about the run/walk here, and join our team to fundraise here.  Each participant will receive a Tiny Sparks running cap.

City to Surf

On the 31st of August we will have a team in the Chevron City to Surf.  You can find out details on the run/walk here, and join our team to fundraise here.  Each participant will receive a Tiny Sparks running cap.

Toddler Tuesdays - The 12 Weeks of Winter

We understand that winter is a tough time for families.  There are so many germs about and the rainy weather often means you are housebound for sometimes days or weeks on end.  Over the 12 Weeks of Winter we will be bringing you Toddler Tuesdays on the blog.  Each week we will feature an engaging activity suitable for your toddler.  Look out for our first post in this series this Tuesday. 

A Look Back - April 2014

Editorial

We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our community this month. After only a few short days fundraising for the HBF Run for a Reason we surpassed our goal of $1,000. Thankyou! Having reached our initial target we are thrilled to confirm that we will be printing and posting posters and flyers to hospitals, child health nurses and family planning clinics across Western Australia, to enable all families to be aware of and access the support Tiny Sparks WA provides. We have now set our second goal of a further $1,000. Our leading fundraiser is a family with a beautiful baby girl born at 23 weeks still in NICU, so we think a grant to Parents of Prems to provide care packages to families with micro and extremely premature babies is a fitting use of part of these funds. The remainder will be used for development of workshops specific to the needs of our community that we plan on rolling out over the next six months. There is still time if you would like to join our team.  Please read more on our fundraising page and our fun run blog. 

Community Conversations

We celebrated one of our community getting to 34 weeks after having an extremely premature baby. Chat about how parents celebrated each milestone.

We loved this response from Pamela J "I got myself a bottle of Edenvale De-alcoholized sparkling wine from Woolies and toasted our success every few weeks.  It is actually quite tasty and I tell all pregnant mummas out there to get one. It makes you feel really special, particularly if you drink it out of your fancy glasses, and it is safe for the baby :)"

Interesting Articles

Group Prenatal Care Boosts Pregnancy Outcomes - New results are forcing health care providers to reconsider the best ways for preventing preterm birth. (read more)

Messy Diapers Help Show Nutrition need for Premature, Full-Term Babies - Messy diapers are helping scientists to understand how nutrition helps babies grow into healthy children. (read more)

"Preterm birth is the single greatest cause of death and disability in young children in our society." We are so pleased to see  Women and Infants Research Foundation pushing hard to find answers and make changes in this area. (read more)

Handy Reminders

We have a Bunnings Sausage Sizzle planned for 7th May at Bunnings Claremont.  It isn't too late to volunteer your time please get in touch ASAP if you have an hour or two to spare.

Thanks for the Support!

5 families came along to our Family Photo Evening Fundraiser.  They had a fabulous time and were delighted with their images.  We plan to run this fundraiser again later in the year so please keep your eye out so you don't miss out.

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Erin Cooper Designs have continued their support this month donating 20% of their total sales until 30/4 to Tiny Sparks WA.

Requests for Support

Printing

Does anyone in our community work at a print/copy shop (think Snap Printing, Officeworks or similar) or have a partner, relative, friend etc who does? If you could e-mail abates@tinysparkswa.org.au we would love to chat to you.

Going Home News

Our congratulations are extended to everyone who took home their baby from NICU/SCN this month.  Special mention to the Draman family who took home their beautiful daughter just in time for Easter, article here.

Coming Up

Fun Run Season