Our journey with Gastroschisis

We are the parents of Gavin Swanepoel who was born on the 26th of May 2015 with Gastroschisis. This website is about our journey with Gavin and how we dealt with all the difficult situations we were faced with.

Your journey may vary as each case is unique, but we hope that this website will show you that there is a beautiful light at the end of the tunnel. Please contact us should you have any questions – or just need to talk.

Initially it might feel as if your world is falling apart, but there is so much joy that awaits you. Take enough time to do research and talk to the right people. It only takes one positive person to let you know that there is hope!

We have divided the website into various sections so enable easy navigation through all the different stages of our journey.

Team Little Heroes

Gavin

Born: 26 May 2015

Gavin was born at 35 weeks and 4 days. He weighed 2.75kg and was a strong baby. His development was as any other baby and sat by himself at 6 months, started crawling at 8 months and started walking just before his 1ste birthday! He is a strong willed little boy and doesn’t stand back for anyone. He used to love food but as a 2 year old he only loves chips, cookies and bread. Till date we have had no setbacks and is blessed with a beautiful strong-willed little boy.

Clarise

Born: 7 May 2015

Clarise was born at 36 weeks. She was a fighter from the get go and was discharged from hospital after a month. She is a fun loving little girl who loves to dress up and recently started doing ballet. She loves her food but it lactose intolerant, so she made it interesting for mommy. Luckily there are fantastic Pediatric dietitian and they tackled the problem head on. As time went by she also outgrew the lactose intolerance and she can now eat anything and everything. She enjoys going to school and is a happy little lady!

Aiden

Born: 10 March 2017

Aiden was born at 37 weeks and weighed 3.07kg. He a very active little boy that is intrigued by everyone and everything. His loves life and laughs for no apparent reason just being a little boy. He started sitting at 6 months and sat independently at 7 months and 1 week. He enjoys exploring around the house in his walker. At 3 months and 3 weeks he started eating solids and at 9 months he eats and enjoys everything. Blesses with a beautiful healthy boy.