Sonia was 34 weeks pregnant when her stomach began 'shaking uncontrollably'

When Sonia Moon was pregnant with her son Dylan, something highly unusual happened when she was approximately 34 weeks along and in her third trimester.

"My stomach was shaking uncontrollably," Moon tells 9honey.

"Then we went from there to having him at birth, and he was really underweight because he stopped growing after that point."

Moon and her husband Gary had met while working on super yachts before settling in Australia.

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"Being in a new country, I didn't really advocate for myself very well," she says.

"It was really hard for us to find the right resources and the right people to support us during that time."

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Following Dylan's birth, a large cyst was found in his brain.

"They don't know how it developed and they don't know what happened," she says, "I felt like he had a seizure."

Moon asked if her son's lack of movement on his right side may be due to the cyst on his brain. At first when she pointed it out, she was told her son "might just be left-handed".

The decision was made to "leave it than do anything about it, unless it became dangerous".

An MRI scan showed the cyst had thankfully stopped growing, which Moon says was "a relief at the time".

"We have no idea how it is now, but it's not impacting him," she says.

Dylan was eventually seen by a neurologist and a paediatrician and diagnosed with cerebral palsy, an umbrella term for "a physical disability that affects movement and posture".

"It is a permanent life-long condition, but generally does not worsen over time," the Cerebral Palsy Alliance explains, due to "injury to the developing brain either during pregnancy or shortly after birth".

It wasn't until the Cerebral Palsy Alliance contacted the family when Dylan was five months old that the family began getting the support they needed.

Moon says her son has "cerebral palsy" that "affects the whole right side of his body".

"It was likely that he had a stroke in utero," she says. "Most people think kids can't have those, but it's actually very, very common."

When Moon found out her son had cerebral palsy, she went into action: "I just became obsessed."

She'd been warned her son may end up in a wheelchair, and was determined that wouldn't happen.

"I refused that to be his life," she says.

"He wasn't even rolling over or anything at that point. He couldn't do anything."

She started doing therapy with him "every single day, non-stop".

"It was like playtime was therapy time, and evening time was therapy time. Everything was based around therapy," she says.

Moon admits it "was exhausting" but the reward was "well worth it."

Dylan never crawled, but he learned to stand one day and was walking by the time he was 19 months.

Seeing Dylan walk was "amazing".

"When you see some of these children walking, you're excited, but you expect them to," she says. For her, it felt "euphoric".

"You're so excited they did it on that day ... but when you've had to work so hard to reach that milestone and day after day sacrificing so much."

Now, Dylan is 11.

"He walks, he runs, he plays sports, he plays community soccer, he wants to play touch footy. He does want to play rugby, but I won't let him!"

Dylan was able to pay a visit to his favourite team, the Newcastle Knights, who told him he's "definitely part of the team now" so maybe Dylan will be able to work on that one with his mum.

The family is preparing to take part in an exciting fundraiser for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, which has helped support the family and Dylan since his birth.

The organisation also supports Dylan's sister Bella who has Global Developmental Delay (GDD).

"We were lucky that the Cerebral Palsy Alliance also was happy to pick her up to help and support us with her physio and OT and speech and whatnot."

The climb happens on February 8 and the family is hoping to raise $30,000.

"His (Dylan's) goal is to raise $30,000. And so far we're at $14,300."

Every dollar raised from the Cerebral Palsy Alliance's Krazy Kosci Klimb will directly support life-changing advancements in treatments, technologies, and equipment for people with cerebral palsy. You can help Dylan reach the peak at Krazy Kosci Klimb.