Jul 31 2009
La Toriana celebrates National Premmie Day
National Premmie Day 2009
read the full article here at the Herald Sun News
was wonderful catching up with these bubs and mums
Jul 30 2009
Premmie Baby Keepsake Dolls
NATIONAL PREMMIE DAY
As a mum of 3 premmie babies, I know how small and how hard it was at the time our premmie babies were born. This is an amazing premmie doll that’s a keepsake doll to remember just how small premature babies are. I was explaining to Tiana, our 6 yr old daughter about how small she was and she was amazed when she saw the keepsake doll of one her size, but especially the smallness of her sisters.
Zoe, the maker of these gorgeous premature baby keepsake dolls and owner of “Tummybear”, is extremely talented and she makes each and everyone with a tenderness and care like no one I know. Zoe makes each keepsake doll to the size, length, weight of your own premmie baby, so its customised and so meaningful to you. Each one comes with a cute little nappy and baby singlet and even has a hospital issued ID band. I am delighted to be showcasing this great product for premmie baby families at La Toriana.
TummyBear specialises in cloth keepsake dolls hand made especially for premmie families. The dolls are custom made to your baby’s actual birth measurements and weight.
The premmie keepsake dolls have sculpted and painted faces, sculpted toes and metal joints in the arms and legs. The dolls are made from a ‘skin’ tone fabric and are stuffed with a combination of new stuffing and metal pellets. There are even different skin tone available too.
As each one is made to measure, please allow 4 – 6 weeks for each one to be made.
The dolls provide an excellent way for you to show and remember your baby’s birth size. They make a great gift no matter what age your baby is now. I recently had an order for a 55 yr old lady… she was born premature at 30 weeks… and she was so thrilled with it she purchased another for her grand daughter who was born premature and was 32 weeks. Her grand daughter is only 5 months old.
Tomorrow is NATIONAL PREMMIE DAY. Celebrating the amazing journey premmie babies go through, and their familes and also the wonderful premmie support groups available in local areas as well as online. Please support these wonderful premmie baby support groups below.
They have all been a wonderful support to me personally and professionally.
see these support sites and join in the National Premmie Day events in your area.
Warmly Elizabeth xx
Have you seen us on facebook? why not follow us!
At La Toriana we have a passion for kids fashion.
Our labels include, Alimrose, annieB, Lambykins, FairyFloss Creations, Eternal Creation, Vanchi, TikiBoo Kids, Little Pearls for Little Girls, Tea Princess, Three Little trees, Tummbear, babyjo bamboo baby wear, nest organics, early birds premature baby clothes, teeny weeny premmie baby wear, Oopsidaisi, boxy design, anamalz, Briit design, Bump buddy, cheeky little soles, Sounds for silence, Deshabille, eco peko, fINNIGAN fINN, gertie and me, Hey baby, huggalugs, i candy, lazybones, locolili, miniwhisk, mon tresor, nana huchy, nanny pickle, OOBI baby, penny scallan, Tabitha Emma, Tippie Toes, Princess ratbag, Alannah Rose stationary, Vintage Kid, Wild Things of Noosa and so many more!
We have one of the most stylish, affordable collection of premmie baby clothing, premature baby gifts and keepsakes available to buy online.
We showcase great Australian and New Zealand designers as well as neonatal and NICU appropriate baby clothing as well as organic premmie clothes and accessories. Checkout our vast range of premmie wear and newborn baby items in our secure online baby boutique. If you are looking for a premmie baby keepsake doll, or organic baby wear for a bub that has been born prematurely, then you have come to the right online store. La Toriana specialise in providing great quality, stylish and affordable designer label products for low weight babies and babies born early.
Jul 23 2009
Premmie Baby Clothes, comforts and care
La Toriana are fast becoming a leader in providing stylish, affordable quality premmie baby clothing, premmie baby comforters and premature baby accessories to family and friends touched by the birth of a premmie baby.
At La Toriana we have a dedicated category for premmie babies called “Premmie Baby” online on our website.
Our blogis a way of reaching other premmie baby families and we will bring you news of great prem baby support sites like
National Premmie Foundation,+ National Premmie Day July 31st
and more. We will continue to dedicate our time and a percentage of sales from La Toriana to amazing not for profit groups who are a wonderful support to friends and families touched by the birth of a premature baby.
On a regular basis we will bring news and stories about premmie babiesand their journeys, news and tips, ideas and support from these amazing online prem baby support groups. So keep checking the La Toriana BLOG, and feel free to add and comment at anytime… we love hearing from our readers.
La Toriana showcase only quality suppliers in premature and low weight baby products, and hand picked premmie baby clothes so you can be assured of quality…. after all your little prem baby deserves every chance.
Great prem baby wear suppliers like, Teeny Weeny, Earlybirds range including the premmie organic baby clothing, Lambykins Organic premmie baby wear and soon gorgeous clothing from Tummy Bear too. We will continue to source great quality premmie baby garments, accessories and comforters and hope to be known for an extensive and quality online premmie baby clothing.
La Toriana not only stocks a large range of premmie baby clothes, we also stock premature baby positioning pillows, premmie baby comforters and prem baby accessories that all help make their little lives a little more easier. Products like Cuski, The Zaky,
So.. if you know someone touched by the birth of a premature baby…. we have great prem items and accessories great as a baby gift.
Also remember too… the above support groups are a treasure… full of amazing support and information for any one touched by the birth of a premature baby.
warmly
elizabeth xx
Jul 20 2009
Loss of our premmie babies 8 years on
Tiana arriving on a magical unicorn.. I do believe that our angels helped to create a miracle for us. Thanks to Argnesh for this pic of Tiana and our angels. Its priceless. See more of her work here and also here
another year passes this week
Its 8 years since my girls lost their battle with prematurity and became angels…
… I still feel like it was only last week, the excitement of knowing we were having twins, then “everything happened”
… I still will “never” get over their loss
… I still often look into the back of the seat and think there should be 3 little girls laughing and giggling
… I still cant go past the hospital where I had to leave empty handed… I will never forget that drive out of the carpark, it was the hardest thing in my life. I wanted to run all the way back inside and get them
… I often stammer a little when a stranger asks “oh, how many children do you have?” do I tell them I have 3? and fear their reaction or lack of, if I tell them that only one lives at home as 2 have passed away? or do I not tell them and feel I have done an injustice to my girls?
… I still feel the softness of my girls and can smell their scent when I close my eyes
… I still cry, and sometimes really sob when I hear the song “fly” by Celine Dion.
… I still remember that first mothers day… with a heavy heart and empty arms. The pain all over again. Read a bit more about that here
… I still feel the loss so terribly
… I still visit the cemetery every week and pop flowers in their graves and clean their plaque, and wonder “what if….”
… I still get angry at ladies in the supermarket who yell or smack their kids for just “being kids”… (If only my girls were here)
… I still cry when listening to the news… at the abandonment of babies, and the neglect and the emotional and physical trauma many kids go through
… I still feel very close to my girls and always use their names when talking about our family. They ARE part of our family.
… I still have a photo of them up at home, and no longer feel I have to make other people feel “comfortable”
… I still talk about them and answer questions as they arise by our 6 yr old daughter. She has grown up always knowing, and knows she has 2 gorgeous special angel sisters watching over her
… I still feel angry about some of the management at the time
… I still feel saddened by how some friends “left me alone” feeling I needed time. and how one friend took 6 years to talk to me, see me and talk about it as “she” was uncomfortable
… I still remember being so so scared… more scared than anything in my whole life
… I still miss a heartbeat and hold my breathe when I hear a friend having dramas in pregnancy
… I still wish, I REALLY wish ….things were different
.. I still long for and wish my girls were here with me
… I still and will always miss them and love them, forever
Warmly Elizabeth xx
mum to 3 beautiful prem girls
“some can only dream of angels, we created 2, and they sent us an earthly miracle”
soon… one day… will tell the whole story….
remember July 31st is the NATIONAL PREMMIE DAY we are giving a % of sales to
and also National Premmie Foundation
please support your local group or www.prembaby.org.au
Jul 16 2009
Amanda’s premmie baby story
Charlie and Mandii’s story
Charlie was born at 27+6 wks by emergency caesarean. After having a week off work with high blood pressure, and his growth tapering off with every subsequent ultrasound, when I felt really unwell at 27 weeks I decided to go to the hospital to get checked out (even though we had an appointment the very next day.) Half expecting them to turn me away and tell me I was fine, they diagnosed severe pre-eclampsia and so the struggle began to keep Charlie inside for as long as possible.
We lasted 6 days, as I developed HELLP syndrome and it just became too dangerous a situation for both of us. Charlie was taken from me under general anaesthetic, as my platelet count dropped to unsafe levels. I didn’t get to see him until about 17hrs after his birth until I was well enough to be taken down in the bed, still on oxygen. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The whole 618grams of him. From that moment I was hooked. He was different to what I imagined. He was IUGR (growth-restricted) and his head was about the right size (22 cm) but his body was very tiny, about the size of what I imagine a 24 weeker would be. He looked starved, and I suppose its because he was. The first 4 or 5 days are a blur as I was very unwell and couldn’t visit him very often, which is just as well because it kept me ignorant of just how serious it was.
He was very sick from the very start, requiring a whole host of things in his first week including blood and platelet transfusions. He was getting antibiotics for an infection and his whole body puffed up due to all the fluid that his little veins couldn’t retain. He had a PDA and blood sugar issues. And of course, he was ventilated.
Things progressively got worse with the Doctors describing his condition as very sick, very ill, with a stricken look on their face. Ignorant as I was, I thought all premmie parents were spoken to in this way. His 2nd week brought more antibiotics to try and hold off the infection, and 2 more platelet transfusions. His fluids were restricted and he also received another blood transfusion. They could not isolate the infection and removed his central line in case it was breeding in there. So with his feeds restricted and no central line delivering nutrition he wasn’t really growing. He was too unstable to even be weighed.
This is when the damage to his skin started to become obvious. He was red raw under his neck, his bottom, in the creases of his arms. All his skin had started to dry up and peel off in big layers. A lot of the staff had never seen anything like it. Charlie became a bit of an “oh my God”. His platelets also plummeted again on Day 20, and he started to get a puffy belly and was not tolerating his feeds. The ugly possibility of NEC raised its head in my mind, but luckily I was wrong.
And then again, more Xrays as his stomach swelled again. And more antibiotics. And then day 22 brought another blood transfusion, and his feeds were stopped again. It felt like we were going nowhere. But then, things started to look a little brighter. With all his skin coming off, his infection started clearing and he started to tolerate unfortified feeds. We had our first cuddle on Day 25, but by day 27 he needed another platelet transfusion. I felt as if he must have caught something from me. The doctors assured me it was not the case.
We felt lost and desperate, like he was never going to improve. By the end of the 4th week, we were told about Chronic Lung Disease, he still had bad oedema, his weight kept dropping, this time down to 808g and I felt so sad. I remember going in on the train each morning, and sometimes I would be planning his funeral in my mind.
But then, as things sometimes do, it all started to get a bit better. By 5 weeks of age, he was finally gaining some weight and was 886g! His platelets started to increase, he had his last blood transfusion and he started to tolerate fortified milk again. It took him over 6 weeks to reach 1kg, but we were so proud of him when he did, and all of a sudden, the doctors seemed to sound more positive. And his next cardiac echo showed his PDA was getting smaller.
His weight kept gradually increasing, and he had the odd dose of antibiotics for suspected infections. Over the next month, the battle to try and get off the ventilator waged, but he was eventually re-intubated with a larger tube because he outgrew his old one. At this point we felt crushed because all his settings increased again, and I developed a cold and missed my first ever Mother’s day with him. It seemed like every time we called to check on him, he had been bagged. He earned the nickname of ˜bell-ringer’ from some of the nurses, and his blood-gases seemed to be worse. I thought he was never coming off the ventilator. Every day at lunch, I was haunted by the pictures in the hall of old babies on the ventilator still. I thought after all of this, he still wasn’t coming home. He was going to die on the thing. I was miserable. It seemed everyone else was off in Special Care trying to breastfeed their babies, and here we were still in the isolette, still getting bagged all the time.
But on day 75, Charlie decided he had enough too, and self-extubated. He lasted on normal C-PAP for 7 hrs before they gave him some ventilation as side breaths. He did so well though, he was on normal C-PAP after a week. Finally I could hear my little boy make noises! It was magical. He finally made 2kg by day 83, and all of a sudden time seemed to speed up. Before I knew it we were in Room 2, off C-PAP, having nuzzles, in an open cot, wearing clothes and getting ready for Special Care. After 102 days in Intensive Care, we were moving! I kept waiting for the bubble to burst, and some of the nurses told me to not get too excited just yet, that you never knew what could happen with ˜these chronic babies’. But he just kept going, and going and going and after 2 weeks in Special Care we were going home. No oxygen, no feeding tubes, nothing. It all seemed to happen so fast. We were so proud to take him home!
Charlie is now 28 months old, and 10 kg. I sometimes can’t believe he is the same boy and yet he bears all the scars that prove it. He is really remarkable. In hindsight now, we know how very sick he was. Quite a few nurses and doctors have since stated or implied that they didn’t think he was going to survive. That one day they would come to work and his isolette would be empty. And that explains why whenever other new mom’s and dad’s came in the doctors just sounded so positive with them. I could never understand why they didn’t sound like that with us. Now I do. I can’t believe he survived his infection. I can’t believe he came off the ventilator. I can’t believe he is still here. We are so lucky, and I remind myself everyday!
Mandii (mummy to Charlie and more recently to Elizabeth)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Thank you so much for sharing your amazing story. I am so in awe of the strength and resolve you have. What an amazing and inspiring journey you have been through… and what a special, gorgeous little Charlie.
Warmly
Elizabeth xx
Have you seen us on facebook? why not follow us!
At La Toriana we have a passion for kids fashion.
Our labels include, Alimrose, annieB, Lambykins, Fairy Floss Creations, Eternal Creation, Vanchi, TikiBoo Kids, Little Pearls for Little Girls, Tea Princess, Three Little trees, Tummbear, babyjo bamboo baby wear, nest organics, early birds premature baby clothes, teeny weeny premmie baby wear, Oopsidaisi, boxy design, anamalz, Briit design, Bump buddy, cheeky little soles, Sounds for silence, Deshabille, eco peko, fINNIGAN fINN, gertie and me, Hey baby, huggalugs, i candy, lazybones, locolili, miniwhisk, mon tresor, nana huchy, nanny pickle, OOBI baby, penny scallan, Tabitha Emma, Tippie Toes, Princess ratbag, YmamaY, Dolly Up, Alannah Rose stationary, Vintage Kid, Wild Things of Noosa and so many more!
We have the best online collection of premmie baby clothing, premature baby gifts and keepsakes too. We showcase great Australian and New Zealand designers as well as neonatal and NICU appropiate baby clothing as well as organic premmie clothes and accessories. Checkout our vast range of premmie wear and newborn baby items in our secure online baby boutique. If you are looking for a baby that has been born prematurely, then you ahve come to the right online store. La Toriana specialise in providing great quality, stylish and affordable designer leabel products for low weight babies and babies born early.
