Back to (Paid) Work

Guest blog post by Kendal Drew.  Kendal Drew is a Career Adviser based in Perth.  Having made a joyful leap back into work after a break raising three children, Kendal is keenly aware of the challenges faced by women returning to work and optimistic about the possibility of achieving deep career satisfaction alongside managing a family.

Are you thinking about returning to paid work after a break?  If you are looking at a return to work, through necessity or desire, there are a few things to consider.

Chances are, motherhood has changed your expectations, interests and developed your skills in ways you may never have previously imagined.  Now is a good time to take stock of where you are at and how you would like to spend the next few years professionally.

It is a good idea to do a review of your previous roles and a skills assessment including those skills and any others you have developed in your new role as parent or in volunteer roles.  Take a good, long look at all the skills.  Some will be ones you are good at, but don’t enjoy very much.  Others will be ones you are good at, enjoy and want to use more often, and others again may be things you would like to get better at.  It is worth listing them all, in order of preference and noting skill level for each.

The first question is can I/do I want to go back to my previous work/position?

If this is the case, your first step is to dust off your resume and polish up (or create) your LinkedIn profile to ensure both are up to date.  The next step is to reconnect with your old networks and let a few key people know that you are ready to return to the workplace.  While there may be no immediate opportunities within your old workplace, many jobs are filled through network connections and referrals and some of the best positions may never be advertised.  Reconnecting with peers, and old colleagues provide you with more eyes and ears keeping a lookout to opportunities for you.

If you’ve decided it’s time to move away from your earlier roles and try your hand at something new, then this is where the fun begins!  Some soul searching and research are required.  What is it you would like to do?  Is there such a job?  Good question and the My Futures website www.myfuture.edu.au is a good place to start looking for some answers.  This website will provide information on a variety of work roles, salary information, job outlook and even the personal qualities required.  If you’re not that far along, it is possible to take some personal profiling tests (some good ones are available online, try http://www.groper.com.au/career-test and do a free mini test http://www.groper.com.au/assessOptions.php?start= choose free mini test on career interests).  

You may need to undertake some further training to bridge the gap between your current skills and those required for the role.  Training and education are very flexible options these days, with offerings available via distance/online learning, full time, part time and after hours options.  The My Future website will again provide information on what is available in your area for your chosen field of interest.

To recap, some key points to consider when looking at a return to paid work are:

• Consider childcare options (and the costs involved)
• Update your resume (including volunteer roles)
• Conduct a skills assessment
• Retrain if necessary
• Refresh your networks
• Target your job search

It can be a daunting process, but it is worth doing the groundwork to understand what you want to achieve and which roles will bring you satisfaction.  This is the first step in facilitating a smooth transition back into the world of paid work.

Good luck on your next chapter!

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HBF Run for a Reason

The weather looked threatening this morning but that didn't deter members of Team for Tiny Sparks WA in todays HBF Run for a Reason.  We had 21 entrants in various sections of the fun run and whilst we didn't manage to catch up with all of them, as the field was well over 30,000 people we do have some pics to share with you below.  

We'd like to thank all of our team members for helping us raise $3,310.  Special thanks to the Cooper family who ran today for their little girl who is currently in KEMH NICU.  Over the coming weeks, we'll be providing details of how the funds raised have been allocated.

The Challenges Continue for Adison

This is part 3 of a 4 part series.  You can read part 1 here and part 2 here.

Bringing Adison home to our family was amazing.  His entire NICU stay he was unable to meet his siblings as the NICU has a strict parents only visitation policy.  The children were overjoyed at meeting their new brother but also cautious knowing just how fragile he was and how close he'd come to never coming home at all.

Around 6 weeks after coming home i became concerned for Adison's health.  He was lethargic, not nursing well, irritable and having grey spells when travelling in the car.  Both the local ER and his followup NICU paediatrician brushed off my concerns but i knew something wasn't right.  At our routine cardiology appointment it was revealed that Adison was in the preliminary stages of heart failure.  He had left the NICU with a patent ductus arteriosis (PDA) which had now caused pulmonary hypertension, meaning that the blood rushing to his lungs was at too high pressures thus putting his heart under extra pressure.

The cardiologist was confident that the pressures could be controlled with medication so that was organised and we were sent on our way.  The plan was for a catheter procedure to plug the PDA when Adison was around 1 year old or 10kg whichever came first.  Just 3 days later, after 5 doses of medication we landed ourselves in the local hospital ER.  Adison had rapidly deteriorated and had had an unprecedented reaction to the medication where the pressures drop too low, it was a scary time.  We were immediately transferred to PMH and the Doctors kept us waiting a couple more days whilst they worked out a plan of attack and made sure PICU beds were available.

Post op in PICU.  I had a mild irrational panic when i saw him, my baby, on a big bed, with no side rails.  He was heavily sedated and not going anywhere!

Yet again we were at life and death cross roads.  I was taken to the surgeons office to consent to a thoracotomy and PDA ligation.  They would make an incision on Adison's back under his shoulder blade, enter between the ribs and manually tie off the offending artery which runs between the heart and lungs.  The surgeon made it clear that without the surgery Adison's heart would ultimately fail and he would pass away.  With the surgery there was a very real risk that the main artery to the heart may tear as they went to tie off the PDA which would cause him to bleed out on the table.  I had to trust in the steady hands of the surgeon and the strength of my son and sign the consent.  There was no other real option.  Russell and our other children were home in Australind and again I was faced with this confronting situation alone.

Whilst 6 months had passed since Adison's birth he was still a tiny 4.5kg.  Hours past and finally I was told that everything was successful and Adison would be spending quite some time in PICU ventilated and sedated until they were sure that everything would be ok.  10 days later we were discharged.  Adison was doing much better but this had been a significant setback that would take him many months to overcome.  Adison came home on a hospital apnoea monitor and nocturnal oxygen.  Damage had been caused to his lungs and he required additional support whilst sleeping.  He was also having regular apnoeas and no one was quite sure why.  Sleep studies later revealed the apnoeas were caused by his premature central nervous system.

Home oxygen.

I can sit!  1 year old and still tiny in size 000 clothes.

3 years on and we have had numerous admissions to hospital for pneumonia requiring oxygen for many days, sleep studies, MRI, 2 sets of grommets and his adenoids removed.

Adison's gross motor skills were very delayed, he rolled at 9m, sat at 13m, and didn't walk until 22m.  He was on home oxygen until he was 18m at which time he could finally maintain stable levels of oxygen whilst sleeping.  Adison continues to suffer from chronic lung disease and is very susceptible to cold and flu bugs.  The challenges don't stop there, we attend speech, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and numerous specialist follow up appointments to help Adison become the best person that he can be.

In spite of the labels that follow Adison around the medical world, chronic lung disease, cerebral palsy, hypotonia, verbal & oral dyspraxia, dysarthria, sensory processing disorder, he is an amazing, bright, confident little boy who's catching up, every moment of every day.

Look at me now!  Just one of the gang.

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Happy Mother's Day!

Were you greeted this morning by smiling faces?  Cards?  Flowers?  Freshly cooked bacon and eggs?  Wafts of coffee or tea?  We hope your family is showering you with love and affection.  Sometimes the best gift of all is simply a cuddle or a hug from your loved ones.

Today we honour Mothers everywhere.  Those snuggling their little babies tight, those with empty arms, those who’s ‘babies’ are now grown and have moved away.  We think of the children both big and small who no longer have their Mothers by their sides.

Gift provided by Tiny Sparks WA for Mother's Day

This week we organised 150 small gift's for Mother's Day.  The gifts were distributed through hospitals in Perth to Mother's of current NICU/SCN babies and high-risk, hospital bed resting soon to be Mums.  For many this will be their very first Mother’s Day and they will be spending it with their son or daughter in NICU/SCN, or still in their tummy with the unknown ahead.  We hope the NICU/SCN babies are strong enough for a kangaroo cuddle today and those still baking stay safe for many days and weeks to come.

Please leave us a comment and share with us how you are celebrating today.

Happy Mother’s Day!!

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Twins!

Guest post by Katrina B.

All together in the nursery, the day they came home.

'Oh, I didn't see this coming...'
Those were the words from the sonographer that my husband and I will never forget at our first ultrasound viewing, which displayed two tiny hearts beating away. It was the biggest and best surprise of our life - we were expecting twins! 

As beyond exciting as this news was, it also brought with it a sense of concern too, as we were immediately told that as I was pregnant with multiple foetus, it was a high risk pregnancy, as not only would my body be carrying the pressure of two babies at once, it also brought an increased risk of pregnancy conditions to the table, as it put extra stress on my organs, for which I was checked every two weeks at King Edward Memorial Hospital, where they specialise in high risk pregnancies. Being identical twins, I was also having ultra sounds every two weeks (that part I loved - being able to see my babies so frequently!) as well, to ensure I wasn't developing Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, where identical twins can receive too much or too little of nutrients, as they share the placenta.
Both of my boys were developing extremely well and my doctors even thought I'd make it between 36 weeks to full term with them and I was really beginning to see the picture in my head of sitting there in a hospital bed, cradling both babies at once - I couldn't wait to have my arms full of love.

At one of my usual appointments, I knew something was up as soon as I saw the look on my doctors face after looking at my routine results, and after half a day of many tests, I was told I had developed a pregnancy condition called pre-eclampsia, that my organs were starting to shut down, that my babies would arrive in anywhere from a few days to a month, so I was given a shot of steroids to help their lungs start developing sooner and told that a hospital bed on the ward was currently being prepared, where I'd stay until my babies arrived. I still really had no idea what was going on, it was a lot to process, I had nothing with me, nothing packed and was thinking of everything I now had to cancel (logic went out the window when the confusion came in!), including the baby shower my sister had organised for the next week. 

My husband and mother were amazing and brought me what I thought I'd need for the night and arranged to bring the rest the next day and got me settled into the hospital room, with my husband staying with me until late, as I tried to process the whirlwind that was that day. The next thing I knew I was woken in the early hours of the morning to my waters breaking where shocked nurses and doctors realised these babies were coming fast and that there was no time to give a second shot of steroids to help with their development. Two and a half hours after my waters broke, my beautiful tiny babies had arrived via a natural birth at 30 weeks, with doctors allowing me a swift kiss before they were taken to the NICU. The rest of the day was a blur, as I was taken to theatre to have excess placenta removed, then to to the Adult Special Care Unit (ASCU), as I was still in a bad state from the preeclampsia, where all I remember is begging to see my babies through states of being 'out of it'. 12 hours later, my husband, who had been shuffling between the NICU and being by my side with my mother all day, was allowed to wheel me down with my oxygen on, accompanied by nurses. It felt so odd being wheeled up to a box and being told that was your baby was inside there, hooked up to all sorts of wires and contraptions, then off to another section to do the same with your other child. I remember being worried that being separated after living in each other's space for so long, that this would cause extra stress on their tiny bodies. 

Just before the boys were ready to come home, that magic first 'double cuddle'.

After several days, I grew strong enough to leave ASCU, then to the maternity ward and after a week in hospital in total, was allowed to go home, where I remember feeling so strange and extremely empty as I walked into our home, where just one week ago I had left with a belly full of babies, expecting to be home in a couple of hours, to coming home a week later empty handed for a while. Everyday I would travel to the hospital to be by my boys' side to encourage their strength, let them know it was going to be ok because mummy was there when she could be and to be there for the light care taking duties the NICU team would allow us to do, which made me feel like a 'real' mum. I was fortunate enough that the boys were just around the corner from each other, so I never felt too far away from either baby, but when one of my twin's was transferred to a different nursery when he started getting stronger before my other little man, that's when I felt unbelievably conflicted. Every day I spent approx. 10 hours at the hospital, but I never felt I was there enough for either of the boys, as the whole time I was going up and down the hallways trying to work out 'who needed me more at that moment'. Every time my eldest twin (by eight minutes!) progressed a little further I was so proud of him, but felt bad for my baby back in the first stage. Every time I was able to have the immense pleasure of holding my babies during kangaroo care, I was so trying to be in the moment, but I couldn't help but feel guilt for the baby that wasn't being held. The NICU staff were so incredible in every aspect, even  including helping me schedule cuddles with my boys between nurseries, feeds when they began to breastfeed and timed the care duties as much as they could so that I was able to help out with each baby equally. Only the parents and grandparents of the babies were allowed in the NICU and as my husband was having to work long hours, a lot of the time my wonderful mother was allowed to go to one nursery briefly while I was in the other when things like head scans were happening at the same time. 

After 3 weeks at KEMH, my boys were transferred closer to home in the SCN of Joondalup Health Campus. My boys were able to be in an open bassinet at this stage, and for the first time since birth, my boys were reunited and stayed side by side in the double bassinet. It was an absolutely magic moment to see them right next to each other, being able to compare 'how identical' they were, to witness them interact and to sit by their side at the same time. Just before they went home I experienced my very first and very longed for 'double cuddle', yet another incredible experience and, at 36 weeks gestation we walked out of hospital with our beautiful boys in tow, completely beaming and about to embark on the full on, but blessed journey of feeling like 'real' parents, raising our twin boys at home. 

Family pool time a couple of months ago.

That day was 2 years ago on the Friday just gone, and we now have two healthy, happy, cheeky sense of humoured, boisterous toddlers who bring an abundance of love to our lives everyday. For this, we are eternally grateful to the NICU/SCN's of WA for the tireless work they do day in, day out for all our babies, it brings home why it's so important to have associations such as Tiny Sparks, whose aim is to support the work of these hospitals, other associations around WA that help families and their different situations, such as the Perth + Districts Multiple Birth Association and of course, the families who experience the high risk pregnancies and what it means to have a child/children in the NICU/SCN.

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By sharing your own story it helps others to know that they are not alone.  If you would like to share your high-risk pregnancy story please visit this page, or if you would like to share your NICU/SCN story please visit this page.

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