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NICU and SCN Acronyms can be very confusing. Especially when these terms relate to your tiny babies. This list may help you navigate those early days

Please note: This glossary is not a substitute for advice from a health professional.  Terms may vary from hospital to hospital.  Please consult your health care professional for full details.

You can find our Multiple Birth Glossary HERE.

A

• Adjusted age – Adjusted age (or corrected age), is your premature baby’s chronological age minus the number of weeks or months he was born early. For example, a one-year-old who was born three months early would have a corrected age of nine months.
• AGA – appropriate for gestational age.
• Apgar Score – The Apgar score is a system used by doctors and midwives to assess your newborn baby’s health at birth. It helps medical staff decide if your baby needs medical or emergency care.
• Apnea monitors –  Detects the cessation of breathing (apnoea) in infants
• Apnoea – A short period of time when the baby does not take a breath.
• Aspirate – To inhale fluids, such as milk, into the windpipe or lungs. Also refers to the removal of fluid by suction (e.g. checking how much milk remains in the stomach)

Author: Jenni Swain

The FIFO/DIDO (Fly in Fly Out/ Drive In Drive Out) life is an interesting one and not everyone understands it, most people tell us they would never cope and how do we manage etc, especially me being the one at home with 3 young kids, but this is our normal. The funny thing this year, is that hubby has taken on a Manager’s role, now time away is a lot less and we are actually finding it hard to adjust to this change!

Our situation may also be a little different, but like a lot of FIFO/DIDO families my husband is in the mining industry. He is an exploration geologist though so he does not have a set roster, the time away varies greatly and we are not always given much notice. When we found out I was pregnant with the twins he was made redundant and started his own business contracting so things became even more unpredictable for a while. 

Author: Amber Swayn

To understand my financial outlook, I’ll first disclose three facts:

1. I am a payer-offerer, not a saver
2. I have an ultimate financial goal of being debt free ASAP
3. I’m preparing for my husband and I to be self-funded retirees

To achieve our ultimate financial goals of becoming debt free and self-funded retirees, I had to get control of our family finances. We weren’t in a bad financial position at all but knowing our exact financial situation has saved a lot of stress and ensured that we can make decisions that work for our family.

Here are my top tips for keeping your finances in check:

Budgeting tips when you have twins, triplets or and more

Author: Jacqueline Waters

My husband is qualified as a Mining Engineer, meaning we’re a career FIFO family and we will be doing this for many years to come.  He works a 9/5/5/2/4/3 roster… which, yes, is very hard to keep track of.  We’re lucky he’s home 3 weekends out of 4, but short rosters also mean short R&R, which can be hard to catch our breath. 

Finding out we were expecting twins

Our older son had just turned 2 when we found out we were having twins. I spent many sleepless nights wondering how on earth I’d cope.  We have no family in Australia and I seriously doubted my ability to manage twins and FIFO life.  As it turned out, that anxiety and stress was wasted energy.  It is hard, but I cope fine – most days!