Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Fiona from Moment by Moment


Name and Location: Fiona Dixon – Online (NSW now but moving to VIC very soon)

Your business?
Moment by Moment – Australia’s largest dedicated Premature Baby Shopping and Support website.

How long has Moment by Moment been operating?
Moment by Moment was launched in February 2007 Research began with my own experience and the previous 12months researching before the website was launched.


What inspired you to start your business?
My Beautiful Daughter Airlie Fae and all the beautiful premmie babies and families we have met since our journey started over 3 years ago.
Airlie Fae was born at 27 weeks gestation weighing 861 grams (1lb 14ozs) In layman terms she was the same size as a 600ml Mount Franklin water bottle! Airlie HAD to be born because I suffered from pregnancy induced complications Pre Eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome which could have taken both our lives. Airlie spent 2 months in hospital and through this experience and after we returned home with our tiny premmie girl weighing 3 pounds 8 ozs ( 1.6 kg) it became apparent there was not enough offered to premmie babies in Australia.
I didn’t just want to offer a premmie store to purchase prem clothing and gifts although this is a large part of the site after struggling to find basic necessities like clothing, dummies and nappies that were a suitable size for baby in who needed medical support. I also wanted to offer support and information to families and friends of these precious premmie babies because for me it’s all a part of the journey. Along with our premmie baby store we also offer our support through a premmie baby support forum and also provide personal stories shared by our website visitors from around Australia and overseas. We also try to keep up with any new medical research that affect premature babies because we are genuinely interested in the area and wish to support and see it develop so more babies survive and go home with their families.
I want to make a difference in each of these families lives and all I am trying to do is make their lives a little easier.
The Moment by Moment site is also used to educated people who have no or little understanding of what the world is like from a premmie parents point of view. I want to educate and inform the general public about the journey a premature baby takes with their parents through the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and beyond because it just doesn’t stop because you take the baby home! Having supported many premmies throughout their journey now over the past 3 years we are very proud of what we do! We hope to continue supporting the premmie babies, their families and friends.
I can see Airlie in my business everywhere I turn which has helped me come to terms with her arrival. She has been a true inspiration for me even shows in my logo with the use of her hand and foot prints which appear on my website.
I want my precious girl Airlie to know that being born premmie wasn’t a horrible experience and she never did anything wrong. I describe our experience as
Unexpected Arrival Filled With Beautiful and Amazing People.
Yes it was stressful and we faced many uncertain times but we also learned how lucky we are and met beautiful friends. I wouldn’t have it any other way and my butterfly princess AMAZING!
If you know someone who has a premmie baby now or has experience premature birth in the past please pass on the details of the website. Thankyou x


What are your top 3 best selling items?
Cuski Baby Comforter - Used by premature babies, newborns and Toddlers/Big Kids – A functional yet hip and funky baby comforter available in a variety of great colours.
Gumdrop Premmie Dummy – Has been designed to help babies who need to improved their sucking reflex and start to feed orally. Babies born under 35 weeks gestation often will need help. The Gumdrop Dummy has been designed to use with breathing machines so baby can always be comforted and practice their sucking skills.

Variety of NICU Safe Premature Baby clothing – We proudly provide only the best premature baby clothing that is safe to use in NICU and beyond. We only choose correctly sized premmie brands because we don’t want to disappoint our tiny friends and their families. You know if you purchase it at Moment by Moment it will fit your premmie baby. We are always searching for new designs that are suitable and affordable for premmie babies and their families.




How do you manage to juggle parenthood and running your own business?

We have our moments but we try to best of things. I have 2 children, Mason who is 8 and Airlie Fae who is 3. Both kids take a keen interest in my business and I am really happy for them to share their ideas with me. Mason often suggests ways I can promote Moment by Moment which I think is just beautiful and I always take his suggestions on board. Airlie Fae loves to help pack the orders and likes to talk about all the special babies who are getting the presents “just like me!” She tells me. Taking phone calls can be difficult sometimes because Airlie likes to talk to the people like any other 3 year old does. Many of our customers often love to have a chat with her because it’s such a glimmer of hope for them when they have a tiny premmie in hospital. Airlie now talks on her phone and asks me to “ Be quite please because this is an important phone call Mummy! “ It is rather funny and I wonder if Airlie and Mason are going to grow up and be entrepreneurs?
Airlie attends preschool 2 days a week and Mason is at school 5 days a week so I try to get my important phone calls and work that needs my full attention on those days.


If you had 48 hours where you weren’t even allowed to THINK about work, how would you spend it?

Ha Ha um I’m not sure that is possible!
It would have to be away from the computer so I was not tempted!
Possibly a beautiful day spent at the beach with my family and friends, some shopping at a fine designer market like Matilda Market or Magnolia Square and A lovely night out with my husband and or girlfriends which woul defiantly have to include dancing!

Thank you so much for sharing your story Fee!

4 comments:

Raegan said...

Your story brought tears to my eyes Fiona xxx

Fiona Dixon said...

Wow Thank You so much for sharing our story with your readers. I hope it insires others to follow their dreams and to also think outside the box when thinking about how beautiful and precious babies are. We didn't have textbook moments but we had many many awesome and amazing moments and were shown a totally different world inside a NICU.
Thank You again xoox

MooBear Designs said...

I continue to learn more and more about Fiona's journey and I just love how heart felt and passionate she is!! Great story Fiona!!

xo Steph

Oh Gorgeous Baby said...

Thanks Steph x

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