Moo - a brief history

Well it's been a while. Nearly 8 months in actual fact since I posted anything of note, after Amelie (let's give her her real name!) was born, and it's not through not wanting to have posted anything, it's just... well, as any new parent will tell you, your time is not your own any longer!

I guess a brief potted history is in order initially.

After a hell of a labour, Moo (as she is known) came along, and 2 days later, thanks to the miraculous recovering powers of Mum (no longer MTB) family was home.

From day 1 at home, it appeared that Moo was colicky, or at least that was what the health visitor said, and tey had us trying all manner of remedy, changing formula, colocynthis granules, Infacol, all with no success. In fact, at 3 weeks' old, Moo cried solid for 20 hours, pausing only for 10 minute naps once every 3 hours. It was tragic to see and all doctors would do was say "Oh well, she'll grow out of it in 6 months!"

Jeez, whilst not ever advocating it, you can see how some mothers snap and shake their babies. How Darling Wife and Mum managed is beyond me. I had work as a respite but she didn't, and eventually, through her persistence, she convinced the health visitors that Moo had more than colic.

At 6 weeks old, Moo was prescribed Nutramigen, a balanced, hypo-allergenic formula that is completely lactose free. Within 2 days, she was a different baby. She stopped crying, she would sleep better, for the first time she appeared happy. It was magi, tinged only with annoyance at the fact that DW&M and Moo had to suffer so badly for 6 weeks first. I know that Nutramigen retails for about £13 a tin, so there is a budget to consider, but at some stage surely the taxes I have paid should count for something.

Since then, Moo has thrived. In August she was Christened in my home town, which was a very proud day, and she goes from strength to strength. When she was born, she was holding her head up, looking around. This thread has followed, with her developing at a great rate. I know I am biased, but at her 8 week assessment the doctor was impressed that her step reflex was gone and she was bearing weight, and at her 6 month assessment, she passed the criteria for her 8 month assessment!

She currently has 5 teeth, plus a molar coming through, and she is bearing up well to the teething process. A spate of gastroenteritis in November lasted 4 weeks, and culminated in projectile vomit, the wildest, dirtiest nappies ever (poo in armpits - lovely), but since then, she seems to be doing grand.

She scoots about in her baby walker now, loves toast for breakfast and loves looking in the mirror. When you hold her hands, she runs across the room, and adores bath time with her frog and the ducks. She babbles lots, said hello the other day (though hasn't said it again), and has lots of vowel sounds.

When I put her scoops of Nutramigen into her bottle, she counts them in (She has a cool counting system - every number sounds like "ah" - easy to master yet spookily she never gets a number wrong).

And when I come home from work, she beams when I walk up the path.

So all in all it's not a bad start at all. It's weird looking at all her newborn clothes and trying to get your head around the fact that they were too big for her to start with.

I will try and regularly update this blog now I have got back into it and have a wee bit of time to invest in it.

Return of dad to be...

I'm back, after 7 months of the most amazing life changing experiences...

stay tuned for an update soon - in the meantime, Moo is fine, mum is fine, and I am off to bed