Sponsors
Thank you to the following sponsors for your support before, during and after the race. We couldn't have done it without you all!
Our Story
Pushing for Iggy
Olivia, Cameron and Matilda welcomed their newborn twins Iggy and Vance into the world on 10th February 2021. Premature babies at 28+3 weeks. Spending their first 6 weeks in the ICU and Special Care Nursery at the Royal Women’s Hospital Melbourne and then transferred to St John of God Special Care Nursery Geelong for the remaining 4 weeks.
​
Both twins at 7 days old had brain Ultrasound scans which is a standard procedure at this gestation. Iggy’s scan had shown a PVL (Periventricular Leukomalacia). It was something as a family we had not expected. This was all explained to us in a meeting booked in which we really just thought was a chat about the transfer to Geelong and explaining all details. We were in total shock and did not know what was ahead for Iggy.
In the early days of Iggy’s PVL diagnosis, we took in as much information and advice from the amazing doctors and nurses as we could, as this helped us process this for the many future appointments that were ahead of us.
​
We settled into home life after 10 weeks being in hospital and then on the 12th of May we were linked in with a Foundation called Kids+. We started early Intervention treatments with Iggy for his (PVL) and Vance’s prematurity. After many doctors' appointments, MRI scans and therapy with Kids+ for both boys, we had confirmation from the doctor and Iggy was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.
​
Once linked in with Kids+ we were a part of the new parent program. This involved meeting our therapists and learning what was involved. We were overloaded with information especially when it came to the part of setting up NDIS plans for both boys. We started off with fortnightly appointments with the physiotherapy and OT while the boys were younger. This has progressed to not only daily home therapy sessions undertaken by Olivia and I with numerous equipment and specialised toys, stretching, walking, reading and general play, also weekly Physio appointments for Iggy and monthly OT appointments for Vance, with intensive therapy becoming a big part of our therapy in 2023!
Throughout the past 18months our family has met some amazing people who have helped us navigate through the very many challenges we have faced. Our family is grateful for their hard work and help. We love most seeing our three kids playing together happily and also united in helping each other achieve their goals. This makes the challenging times all worthwhile.
Money Raised
Supporting
Parent Infant Program at Kids Plus
All the funds raised will be given to help Kids Plus Parent Infant Program.
As new parents we learnt firsthand how important this role plays in mapping out the early stages of early intervention treatments and the team at kids plus were amazing for our family. We hope that any new families attending kids plus have the same experience and support we did.
They are a team of allied health practitioners with specialised training in supporting parents and infants when extra medical care has been needed at or around the time of birth. We have developed the Parent Infant Program (PIP) as we know that an infant’s early experiences is the most important influence on their development. We work closely with parents and carers to understand the individual developmental needs from the very early months after transitioning home up to 2 years of age. We aim to support, educate, and empower everyone who comes through the PIP as we have seen how access to developmental and early intervention as early as possible has demonstrated positive effects for infant’s learning and development. The sooner supports are implemented, the better the outcomes for infants and families.
A little more information
History of Early Intervention
Cerebral palsy-specific early interventionmaximises neuroplasticity and minimises the development of secondary impairments related to altered muscle and bone growth. Early intervention for babies and children with cerebral palsy is essential for developing cortical connections in the brain.
Current Goals
Iggy has started to learn to take steps in a walker which he can do whilst wearing his AFO’s (Ankle and foot orthoses) the aim is for him to take steps without the seat between his legs. He has really taken to crawling the past few months but we would love to see him up on his feet. His last current dose of Botox through the (VPRS) really helped him with getting moving. Iggy also has another dose booked in February 2023.
Future Goals
The future goals for Iggy will be forever changing but the major goal we want to achieve is Iggy’s health and happiness. He is a happy little boy and we don’t want this to change. As he gets older, he will be able to dream of goals and with the help of Kids + we believe we can make these come true. A major goal we would love to see is Iggy have Independence to be able to interact with other kids at his own leisure.