Shoo, time has really flown by. Now I know that I have been M.I.A for quite some time but as you know I had a preemie baby and boy has he kept me on my toes!
I am so happy to report that he is doing great and has exceeded all my expectations.
I have been really focused on the prematurity stuff over the past year, educating myself, lending support and of course raising awareness like there's no tomorrow.
So yes Life, Luv, Everything kind of took a backseat. But with baby boy doing so well I can now start focusing on the blog again full time. (Yay!)
I wanted to start this first blog with all the positive things I was able to accomplish with regards to prematurity. You see when I started this journey I realised that the lack of support for premature families was so prevelant and that no-one was focusing on the well beings of the parents. (I mean healthy, happy mommy and daddy equates to healthy, happy baby). And so I formed the online Support Group Preemie Connect .
Preemie Connect has grown from strength to strength and has opened a whole new world for me.
There were so many people that came together to help me realise my dream of hosting an event for World Prematurity Day 2018. What was supposed to be me going back to the hospital where my baby was born, to gift them with some knitted goodies, turned into 2 wonderful events. I was also very fortunate to have been referred to Selin Bentoom who is based in Ghana and the founder of African Foundation for Premature Babies and Neonatal Care (AFPNC). She has been instrumental in mentoring me and guiding me with making World Prematurity Day 2018 a success.
Many individuals as well as companies jumped on board. Not only were we able to have close on 300 knitted hats,booties and jerseys but we were able to fill up goodie bags with essentials for mommy and baby.
The greatest blessing was being able to go back to the hospital along with my fellow preemie mommies who have been beside me throughout this journey, and speak to the new preemie moms. Gosh it was such an emotional moment but it was the most rewarding and blessed feeling ever. (I'm still on a high from it!!). I also managed to get a Pastor to come in and pray with us and do one on one prayers with some of the moms (and from my personal experience that was such a blessing and so needed at that particular time.)
I also hosted a blood drive. I was amazed by the turn out and even more so, excited to have met a few preemie moms that I have given support to over this year. Coming full circle was so amazing and I am in such awe of these woman and especially the babies. Working with SANBS was so amazing. They made it fun and were so welcoming and friendly.
Through this year there have been many platforms where I have been able to share my preemie story. We were featured on Embrace , Side By Side and most recently in the latest report from the World Health Organisation WHO
So as you can see it has been quite the year for us. I hope you enjoyed this look back on 2018.
In the comments let me know how the past year has been for you and what you wish to achieve in this new year.
Much love
XOXO, T.
Accrediation to all our donors for World Prematuriy Day:
Anjo Wash And Stitch
Bennetts
Noonoo Pie
Mrs Milk
Eucerin
Jeppe High Preparatory School
Bar One
AFPNC
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