Dear %%First Name%%,

Welcome to our newsletter - 'The Buzz': the newsletter of The Bees Knees Kids. We aim to assist parents in the nurture of the children in their care.

In each edition of 'The Buzz' we will be featuring a retailer of the year?, Th e Bees Knees Kids Story, a Mum of the Month highlighting pregnancies, birth stories, the first few weeks of the new arrival and more, what to do with a fussy eater, what's new in our online store, grabbing the latest bargain, book recommendations, helpful videos, and the opportunity to show off your child on our Fan Photos Wall of Fame!

As an Early Childhood Teacher I really believe that by providing our children with the best start to life with as many fun filled learning experiences in their own home we can nature a real passion for learning!

FIRSTLY we are very excited and honoured to announce that we have been nominated for Australian Kids Wear Online Retailer of the Year 2010 PLEASE support us and cast your vote if you haven’t done so already there are FABULOUS prizes to be won!!

Click on the link to vote and be in the running to win some great prizes!!

Sosooki, Sooki Baby and Chino Kids Summer 2010 have arrived and are excited huge range limited stock!

I would also like to say a HUGE thank you to my gorgeous sister-in-law Lorraine for standing in and helping out with all orders and deliveries while we were on holiday and whenever I need and extra helping hand! THANK YOU. You are AWESOME!

Bernice (on the left) and Lorraine (right).

When we conceived the idea of The Bees Knees Kids we wanted more than an online Boutique store where we could provide customers with great stand out of the crowd items. In our personal lives we have always loved to give and help in some way and this did not change in our Business venture.  Before beginning The Bees Knees Kids we already had 5 sponsor children with Compassion and wanted a way to provide for even more and help those in need. I think because my roots are in Africa (I am a former South African) I have seen extreme poverty and have a real passion in helping in some way especially those babies and children without a voice...

Those babies and children that have been orphaned through aids, war or tragedy and don’t have any hope. We are really honoured and proud to be connected to Compassion and Feed the Children. These organisations help and save babies and children one and a time and give them a hope and a future and give them worth as a human being.  As we at The Bees Knees Kids goes  from strength to strength we get so excited because this means our giving increases and more children are rescued and that makes The Bees Knees Kids all worthwhile to us and we couldn’t do it without our valuable customers so for this we want to Thank You!

Compassion
As we know here in Australia, early childhood is an extremely critical time for our children and sets the stage for their future well-being.  Without a healthy start, a child’s chances of normal development are limited. 

Tragically almost 9 million children die each year from preventable causes before they reach their fifth birthday.  More than one third of these children die during the first month of life, usually at home and without access to essential health services and basic commodities that might save their lives.

The United Nations Millennium Development Goal number 4 aims to reduce the global under-five mortality rate by two thirds by the year 2015.  Since 1990, the international community has reduced the number of children who die each year from preventable causes from 12.5 million to 8.8 million, but there is still a long way to go.  We want to see another 5 million children alive and thriving each year by the year 2015.  Compassion seeks to be a part of this through the Child Survival Program.

Compassion’s Child Survival Program directly addresses the issues of child mortality, malnutrition and preventable disease which needlessly threaten the lives of young children born into poverty by providing early interventions.  Compassion works with mums from conception, providing pre-natal care, assisted child birth, post-natal care and income generating activities. 

The Bees Knees Kids is partnering with Compassion by supporting the mothers of these children to help them to not only survive until they turn five, but to thrive in a healthy, happy environment.  We invite you to work with us toward the goal of another 5 million children alive and thriving by 2015 by supporting Compassion’s child survival program.

If you would like to find out more about the ‘5 million more’ campaign, please check this our Compassion’s website to get more involved:

About Feed The Children
Founded in 1979, Feed The Children is consistently ranked as one of the 10 largest international charities in the U.S., based on private, non-government support. Feed The Children is a Christian, international, nonprofit relief organization with headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, that delivers food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to individuals, children and families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty or natural disasters. In FY 2008, Feed The Children distributed more than 133 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and internationally, supplementing more than 760,000 meals each day. Since its founding, the organization has reached out to help those in need in 119 countries around the globe. For more information, please visit:

Birthday Tutu’s Ages 1 to 3	Petti Sets
New range of Legwarmers!	Ruffled Tights
	Summer Apparel Sooki Sosooki Baby Chino Kids
Tank Tops	Coming Soon!

I am not sure if anyone else out there feels like me but at times when it comes to cooking and preparing meals I feel so unmotivated especially when I go to all of the effort of making something really great and the kids won’t touch it!! Is there anyone else out there with fussy eaters?  Here is some great tips from Raising Children’s Network to help us Mums out!

Recipe Ideas and Tips

My Birth Experience – Becci Holloway
Barry John – 3lb 6oz and Rachel Anne – 2lb 12oz (born 30th Jan 2009 gestation; 30wks)

19th Jan 2009: I had been flown to Perth (from Geraldton) at 28 weeks due to ruptured membranes (scientific way of saying my waters broke). I had had the most relaxing enjoyable pregnancy so it was very much a surprise however we did know there was a risk of early delivery seeing as we were having twins. It was very much a waiting game. No one could tell me when I would be giving birth it was just a matter of waiting and trying to keep them in as long as possible. The first 2 days I received 2 Steroid injections to promote lung development so that if our twins were born at 28 weeks they would have a better chance of having good lungs.

The next 10 days involved a lot of lying down, ultrasounds and blood tests not to mention the twice daily heart rate checks that involved me lying completely still while being attached to a machine that read their heart rates and breathing patterns. It was pretty boring and after a week they finally let me out for one hour it was bliss... But then it was back to bed rest... Needless to say I watched a lot of Foxtel over those few days Thanks to my Grandparents who hired me the TV instead of buying flowers... It was a Godsend...

Thursday 29th Jan 10: 8.30pm I had had a sore back the entire time I was in Hospital. The beds were not very comfy and being bed ridden for 10 days had made me quite stiff not to mention the impact 2 babies was having on my back, so when my back pain got a little worse I thought nothing of it. It was obviously just the bed I thought. I decided to take a hot shower... that always helped if I had a sore back while pregnant... This brought no relief so after nearly 2 weeks of saying NO to Panadol I called the nurse and asked for some. This raised alarm bells with her as they had offered me panadol while I had been there and I kept saying No for fear of hurting the babies they assured me it was safe but I still had my reservations. I assured her I was not in labour... I didn’t even have contractions, how could I be? I had spoken to my mum (who lived near King Eddies) not long before and had told her about my back pain. I could almost hear the smile in her voice as she said ‘I think you’re in labour darling’. The nurse laid me down and felt my stomach and sure enough much to my surprise I was having contractions. I called my husband who was in Geraldton at the time and told him to keep the phone nearby as I was heading to the labour ward and he would get a call if we needed him to make the 4 ½ hour journey to Perth. I was taken to the labour ward where a nurse (and student doctor) checked to see how far I was dilated. After a manual check they realised I was 4cm. That was it... it was all on from there. I called my husband and he started his journey. Mum was 20 minutes away although it felt like a lot longer.

10pm: In the labour suit, after 6mnths of saying I would never have an epidural, I was begging for it. There was a wait while the anaesthetist attended to the lady next door. While waiting I was given the gas which was not quite the blissful experience I thought it would be. I felt drunk (which is a feeling I actually don’t like) so it seemed to not help the way I had planned it to. Pete had called once and after hearing me willowing in pain and self-pity in the background he decided it best not to call again and to just drive as fast as he could. I was now well and truly in labour and feeling every contraction more intensely then the last. And to be honest I have no idea how far apart they were... I was leaving the timing up to the nurses. By this point there were 2 Midwives, 2 student nurses, 2 Paediatricians, 2 student peads, 1 Surgeon (just in case), my mum and me. Not to mention the 3 students that kept popping their heads in to have a look throughout the night. We were quite the circus act. After what seemed to be about 12 hours (which was really more like 1) the anaesthetists was finally here...

We opted for the hour spinal block which allowed me to feel contractions and know when to push without the intense pain. He did get it in the wrong spot the first time but at the second attempt it was in and almost instantly I felt relieved. It was now 12am 30th Jan 2009.

12.15am The contractions were coming fast and strong... no pain but still I felt them. All of a sudden I had a massive urge to push. The nurses had their back to me at that time. One turned ‘did you just push?’ she asked. ‘I can’t help it. I’m trying not to’. That was a clear sign that something was about to happen so they told me to push when I felt the urge...  It felt like only a few minutes of pushing and our first babies head was out... ‘One more big push’ the nurse said.....

It’s a girl... She was so tiny and yet so perfect. There was no time for the baby on the chest moment. She went straight to the peads to be checked. This was 12.35am. Not long after Rachel was born, Peter called he was only half way to Perth. He had missed the first baby would he make it for the second.

Believe it or not I managed to get in about 10 minutes sleep (light sleep but sleep none the less). There was one nurse sitting beside me holding my stomach to prevent our second baby from flipping as he was head down and we wanted him to stay that way. He was quite high up so one of the doctors decided to manually pull him down... That was it I lost all my dignity then... lol While she was trying to get a grip of him, she popped his waters and all of a sudden I hears ‘Quick! Get the stirrups’.  After our babies waters had been popped its heart rate dropped so it was all hands on deck to get him out. They assured me this was fine and that it would just help encourage the baby and then it could be monitored properly. Again it was only a few pushes and the ‘one more big push, here it comes...’ Our little boy... He was beautiful. They put him on my chest for all of 5 seconds... it was the best 5seconds id ever experienced. He was again so tiny and yet the most perfect thing I had ever seen.

They were both taken to the Neonatal Care Unit (NCU) and I had a chance to get cleaned up and showered while I waited for Pete. Sadly he missed both births. I chose to wait for him before I went to see them so we could meet our babies together. When he finally got there we made our way to the nursery to see them. They were so small. Newborn nappies were folded in half to fit them and they were wrapped in bubble wrap to keep them warm. They were both on oxygen. It was very easy to become intimidated by all the machines, cords and beeping in the nursery but we quickly learned what all the beeps meant.

Barry and Rachel were in Hospital four weeks (Barry) and 7weeks (Rachel) which very little setbacks. There was jaundice and Rach had some issues putting weight on but over all they did amazingly. They were tube fed for 6 weeks and then were slowly introduced to breast/bottle feeding. A few extra tests and a couple of extra doctor’s appointments in the first year but other than that they are no different from any children born full term. It could have been a lot worse we were very blessed to have 2 healthy happy babies.

GRAB A BARGAIN!
Our Winter Rangefor 2010 is on sale and has been flying out the door. Check it out and more at the The Bees Knees Kids!

Until next time, keep your kids buzzing.

Kind Regards,

Bernice

The Bees Knees Kids
www.thebeeskneeskids.com.au

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