My Updates

Finally we bring him home!!

After 86 days we were finally ready to bring our boy home! Our “graduation” wasn’t without some false starts which really tested us. Lis had set a goal to have Tiger home by her birthday on 6th of December which was very close to his original due date. We were on track for this but some feeding issues and a dip in Tiger’s iron levels meant that we had to wait another week. This would be our last lot of sad tears because on 14th of December we wheeled Tiger out of hospital, into sunlight and our car with tears of joy, relief and happiness flowing. After 3 months of being hospital parents we finally had Tiger to ourselves! My protector instinct kicked in as I double, and triple checked his seat belts. I drove so cautiously for the first time in my life ? but with such pride to be bringing him home. A home that we had moved into just 10 days before he arrived!
Our journey to parenthood has been completely different than we expected or prepared for, but we feel like the luckiest two people in the world. We have been gifted with the most resilient, cheeky and loving little boy. This is more than our little family could’ve dreamt of. We are so determined for other families to receive the same gift and support that we had that is why we will be eternally grateful to Running for Premature Babies.

Reality Hits

Our little family quickly became buried in a daily routine. Lis would start her day rushing to the hospital in the morning to make doctors rounds. Once at the hospital, she was desperately trying to keep her breast milk in with multiple trips to the dreaded expressing room and savouring the daily rituals like Tiger's "cares" (his twice a day nappy change & clean which parents are encouraged to do). We also cherished moments like daily skin to skin, giving him a suck on milk on a long cotton bud and me giving him his first bath.
My days would be spent at work, then running to the bus stop as soon as I finished. I remember being sweaty and breathless on the bus. The bus ride felt like an eternity which gave me too much time to think and anticipate the day Tiger had. This would make me emotional most days thinking of how vulnerable and how quickly things can change for babies in NICU. I would arrive at the hospital to meet Lis for the second session of "cares" and to spend precious time with Tiger.
We would stay at the hospital until 7pm for nurse handover as we couldn't go home without knowing who was looking after our son for the night. I also couldn't leave if Tiger was awake. A habit which probably annoyed Lis who had been at the hospital all day.
We would pick up dinner from my Mum & Dad every night on the way home and a lot of days our fridge was filled with vegetarian food by my sister (something we will be eternally grateful for). The last thing we did every night was to call the hospital to check on Tiger before bed.
Tiger quickly developed a reputation amongst doctors and nurses for being feisty. This was evidenced by his habit of pulling out tubes and yelling out to the nurses for his two hourly feeds half an hour early. This is a part of his personality which remains to this day and challenges us at times! but we are so very proud and grateful for his grit which probably saved his life.
The moments of trauma that will stick with us forever are those when the reality of our situation really hit.... The reality of watching three lots of parents not taking their angels home, the reality of learning as time went on that you are never in the clear, the reality that it is common for many illnesses to occur after a few weeks (otherwise known as the honeymoon period), the reality of hearing Tiger's cries during the dreaded retinal test, the reality of comforting him while cannulars were put in and blood transfusions performed.
After 50 days Tiger was ready to be moved to a hospital closer to home. Our strong boy no longer needed oxygen support and at this point our focus was on feeding and weight gain. We split our efforts like Lis breastfeeding and me on bottle feeding. Lis and I have always been a strong team and we would rely on it now more than ever for the last leg of our journey home.

Week 28


Tiger's Story

Thank you to my Sponsors

$510
Anonymous

$208
Francisco Navia

$150
Beth Smeaton
Well done

$104
Rahul Anand
Great stuff for a noble cause.

$104
Victoria Bismire

$104
Rob Peseta
Well done. Much love to you all x RP

$104
Peter Hukins

$104
Alfonso Navia
Sorry for the delay

$104
Todd Upton
Great cause. Awesome effort, guys!

$104
Nathan Hartcher
A whole family of champions!

$104
Melinda Padroth
What an awesome cause, and great opportunity to give back - good on you x

$104
Kylie Wilkinson
Run hard Cisco xoxo

$104
Parry Gryllis
Good luck bro

$52
Robyn Pratten
My first born Adam was born at 33 weeks in 1981 but was 5lb, we were very lucky. The hospital, nurses & doctors were wonderful. Happy to help.

$52
Shaz Stafford
Great Stuff 💙to you all

$52
Kevin Sawers
Legend!

$52
Anonymous
Hi Lisa, Happy to donate to $50. Just send me the bank details. Tiger sure is growing and looking very healthy.

$52
Thomas Holman

$52
Terri Simonas

$52
Christine Matthews
Well done!!! Tiger is gorgeous xxx

$52
Patricio Navia

$52
Brooke Williams-philpott
My little one spent time in special care after her birth and so i saw the magic that happens there. Good luck Francisco.

$52
Britt Coombe
Well done guys!

$52
Billy
Tiger gets his strength from his strong parents. So happy for you guys x

$52
Sandra Myk
Well done. Great cause Francisco xx

$52
Brad Scutella
Go Tiger Go

$52
Monica Navia
❤️❤️❤️

$52
Anthony Scoudis
Much love from Athena, Eliah and I.

$52
Maddi Bailes
Thanks for the opportunity to support you!

$52
Nathan Lakajev
love your work Francisco, I might join you in November for the run if restrictions allow it!

$52
Bob Uncle

$52
Warren Coombes

$52
Amanda Gleeson
Miraculous work they do in NICU for little bubs xxx

$52
Bec Roe
Such a great cause! Well done!

$52
Jenny O’keeffe

$52
Yasmine Herrera
go team 🐯 💛

$52
Jorge Herrera

$52
Lynda Reeves
Honoured to be able to support this worthy cause.

$52
Sarah Harvey

$52
Michelle Betts & Marc D’amico

$50
Zac Goodman

$41.60
Bek Quinn

$41.60
Amber

$41.60
Keiran Woolcott
Love your work! Great cause ❤️

$41.60
Nathan Paull
Hope the legs are as strong as tiger and you will be fine! Amazing story.

$31.20
Emilie Sharp
A very worthy cause. Great job to all the nurses and doctors. And mummy and daddy!!! Xxxx

$30
Briana Burgess

$29.12
Pete Murray
Great cause, well done Bud!

$20.80
Elizabeth Taylor
Wonderful cause

$20.80
Lauren Mclean

$20.80
Michael And Christy Cullen
Well done Franco, lots of love to your little family!

$20.80
Alex Donovan
Well done mate!

$20.80
Britt James
Amazing. Well done guys!

$20.80
Karishma Maharaj
Great course Francisco. Lovely photos of the family :)

$20.80
Adrian Molachino
Great stuff Francisco!

$20.80
Nicole Mangan
What a little champion you are Tiger! Just like your mum! What a great cause you are supporting. Good luck with the fundraising & the run!

$20.80
Michelle Mowbray
Great work helping other's stories have a happy ending

$20.80
Mel Rye
Awesome stuff guys!! Xx

$20
Fiona Madden
Thank you for making your mummy and daddy smile Tiger

$20
Simone Wardell
My first born was born at 32 weeks 1192 pounds. It was touch and go for the first 6 weeks and then onto 2 year's with him suffering a hole in the heart and febral convulsion fits at 2 year's of age. His first fit was a bad one where we didn't know if he would pull through or not. But he managed to come through it. After that I felt like we could get through anything. Then the 2nd febral hit but now his 16 year's old and without knowing exactly what happened to him you wouldn't know anything was even wrong. He is starting to tower over me and growing up into a strong resilient young man.