May 27 2009
Kool Kids … “Ivy” is May’s 2009 Year of the Blood Donor Embassador
IVY… an inspiration
2009 Year Of The Blood Donor
Ivy is the ambassador of the Australian Red Cross (during the month of May) to help promote blood donation. This is how Ivy gets about whilst she is in hospital. I must say… she is stunningly beautiful… gorgeous!!
Ivy is one of our KooL KidZ and Tiff her mum has been a great supporter of our website since we started. We are urging you all to read the story, visit the websites below and give blood… it may help save the lives of all our loved ones. Love the Tea Princess outfits!
Tiff has had a roller coaster ride with her premature babies…and tells us a little about Ivy and Noah, born at 30 weeks.
Ivy has CVID which is an immune deficiency. When Ivy gets sick she can’t mount a response to infection on her own. Because of all of the infection she now has long term problems with her lungs and her heart.
Now she receives IVIG, or Intragam P, which is essentially other people’s antibodies. Every month she has an infusion in the hospital to keep her well. It’s a blood product, so we rely on people donating, so Ivy can have the medicine. David (my husband) and I started donating again this year.
Ivy has been getting the Intragam for eight months now and it has changed her life.
She used to be in hospital once a month for about five days at a time and that would be enough to stabilise her for a few weeks before she would get too sick and need to go back into the hospital. She has not needed prolonged admission for six months now and has started to go to preschool and do other things that we would not have considered this time last year. That includes going to a shopping centre!
On top of all that, it has slowed down the lung and heart disease, which is great news.
Noah has had a bit of a hard time coming to terms with losing his playmate to illness and then the infusions but we are pretty lucky, he is such an adaptable little guy.
So here are their stats;
Noah William & Ivy Hazel
currently, 3 1/2 years old (born at 30 weeks).
Noah is easy going, lovable, talkative, expressive and sociable. Is also very very ticklish!
Loves Thomas the tank engine, Roary and The Wiggles. Also loves dressing up. Partial to fairy outfits and his homemade super hero cape. Loves food and will choose milkshakes above anything else! He likes to cook (scones, in particular). He gets lonely easily, so it’s a good thing he has lots of family around him (we have seven kids all up). Noah loves all cars but his favourite car is his father’s black Ford Focus, which he calls ‘Roach’.
Noah loves to wear his(Wild Things of Noosa) ’dog shorts’ from La Toriana.
Ivy is shy, emotional, incredibly intelligent, artistic and beautiful.
She honestly believes she is a princess (the world can thank her paediatrician for that) and dresses accordingly. She loves all things flouncy, pretty and sparkly.
If she is not dressed as a princess, she is dressed up as a fairy (usually the tooth fairy). At the moment she is in love with Arial from the Little Mermaid, she loves to sing and dance to any music she can find. Her passion, though, is drawing. Give her textas and some paper and she is happy.
Ivy is a Tea Princess addict, courtesy of La Toriana.
The best thing we have bought from you, Elizabeth is definitely the Anamalz.
All of my kids are big on imaginative play and the anamalz have been a wonderful platform for this.
Not just Ivy and Noah but all of the children play with them. They have kept Ivy amused in hospital, they have come with us on holidays, great for inside and outside play. Perfect for little hands.
Please… support many premmie babies and sick newborns, and many others in need of blood transfusions. Contact your local Red Cross today or go to the website. Please consider being a regular blood donor in your community.
To find out more about this amazing family… see their Blog here Three Ring Circus
Thank you Tiff for sharing all this with us…. you truly are an amazing mum.
warmly
Elizabeth xx
