Anne-Marie - Maternity Services

A photo I was never certain I would see despite longing for it…

After losing 3 babies on our journey to expand our family, we finally welcomed a little girl on Tuesday 10th October at home.
I’m so beyond grateful and Cillian is being the best big brother❤️

It feels very apt that she arrived during Baby Loss Awareness Week.
I’ve been thinking a lot this week about our babies that never made it, and how so many people are feeling the same. Thinking of you all during BLAW💔❤️

Some availability has opened up for next month. Do get in touch if you want some extra support with your little one,
07773887397

I’m now introducing newborn WhatsApp support packages🤩

With these packages I can offer you advice on feeding, sleep and general care of your baby.
You can send me photos or videos of your baby and ask any questions regarding any issues.

This can be a great substitute if you need some extra support and may not have room for a newborn care specialist/maternity nurse to come to your home or if funds are a little tight.
This also means I can help families that are outside of areas I can travel to.

Packages are 2 & 4 weeks in duration, but I am very flexible, so if neither of these suit you, just get in touch and we’ll try and organise something to suit your needs.

2 week package -> £49
4 week package -> £90

WhatsApp support will be available Monday-Saturday and 8am until 6pm. I’ll always endeavour to get back to you on the same day.

Please do get in touch with any enquiries
07773887397

So it’s been 2 weeks since we started introducing cows milk to Cillian, we’ve been going super slowly and we literally started at 2.5mls per day.

Luckily he’s had no reactions so far, no mucous in his stool, no diarrhoea, no constipation, no massive eczema flares, no tummy pain or irritability (well, no more irritability than usual😅).
He’s now on about 25/30mls twice a day, morning and evening, mixed in with his soya growing up milk.

I’m going to increase it again after the weekend, as we’ve only just added in the morning splash of cows milk a couple of days ago. But I feel like there may actually be success soon, I feel like he may complete the milk ladder before he turns 4 years old at the beginning of February.

However we still need to do cheese, my nemesis. But surely if he’s managing yoghurt and reasonable amounts of cows milk so far, he should hopefully be ok with cheese🤞 It’ll just be a matter of trying to get him to eat it as he’s a bit fussy with his food.
He’s fine with normal pesto so far and has had half a tsp of Parmesan here and there mixed in with a sauce etc. I’m just not sure how to get him to eat uncooked cheddar, I can’t even get him to try a Babybel and he won’t eat pizza😅

Has anyone got any tips other than mixing it in with mashed potato and/or sauces etc?

The 6 step iMap Milk Ladder!
I feel like I know this off by heart now!😅

Cillian has managed the lower 3 steps fine, but from age 1 to 2.5yo, he failed on just 2g of cheese 3 times, despite the ladder saying to start on 5g.

in February we skipped cheese (the nemesis!) and went straight to yoghurt! He’s been fine on yoghurt thankfully.
He can now have normal butter/spreads, ice cream, chocolate, etc. but if he seems to have a lot, he will get a lot of hiccups that go on for aaaaages!

I’m still terrified of cheese, but he’s had 2-3g grated and melted with his cheese on toast, and he has been having normal pesto which has some Parmesan in in for about a month now.

The thing is, he’s quite fussy too, so I’m looking for ways of getting some cheese into him and not succeeding.

Sooooo…..
We’ve jumped to cows milk 😱😱😱
He had a slip up at nursery 3 weeks ago and had a sip of cows milk and there wasn’t any reaction so I think I almost feel more confident with milk rather than progressing with cheese.

Now the milk ladder says to start with 100mls, but we started with 2.5mls 😅
I mixed it in with his soya growing up milk last night and all seems fine so far.
He has non-ige CMPA though and some of his reactions have taken 4-5 days to appear.
So we’ll do another couple of nights of 2.5mls and then go to 5mls and then maybe 10mls…
Feeing nervous but also there’s a bit of hope rather than just fear.

We were discharged from the allergy clinic as soon as he turned 12 months, and we’ve just been navigating the whole thing by ourselves…

Who would like some dairy free recipes suitable for their little ones? Please do comment below if you’d like me to share some favourites in the coming weeks.

Weaning with CMPA was something I really struggled with, especially trying to ensure non-dairy foods were fortified with calcium and iodine etc.
I explored a lot of recipes and can share some of Cillian’s favourites which he still eats today even though he’s 3.5 years old 🙌

Hello👋 I just wanted to reintroduce myself after changing the name on my page.

I’m Anne-Marie, wife to Pete and mum to Cillian, and this little guy is the reason behind the change. My experience with him as a newborn was honestly the most challenging time of my life, despite having had 15 years childcare experience when he was born.

Between healthcare professionals such as gp’s, dieticians and paediatricians giving out the wrong information, and repeatedly being asked if I was a ‘first time mum’, I was unbelievably lost in it all.
It was only from reading and researching by myself that I learned and was able to push for what my boy needed, but that took a long time and my confidence as a mum was truly shattered.

I work as a newborn care specialist, mainly nights, and I cover North, East, North West and Central London. Helping new parents navigate those early weeks and months are so rewarding and I honestly love my job.

I’m intending to keep learning more about reflux, allergies, and issues around tongue tie and infant feeding as I feel some medical professionals really don’t know enough about it.

I want to be able to support new parents more when they struggle through these issues like I did. It’s not an easy journey to be on, particularly if a family don’t have a support network nearby, it can feel really isolating.

"Breastfeeding is HARD. ⁣⁣⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s like a whole other pregnancy journey after pregnancy. You can’t wear whatever you want - you have to make sure you can easily pop a b**b out. You have to watch what you eat bc baby is affected by it. It’s uncomfortable, painful at times, and you can’t just sit how you want either - position matters!
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It’s hard when you do it and it’s hard when you can’t or decide that you don’t want to. ⁣⁣⠀
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It’s hard when you let baby sleep for an extra hour to have some time to yourself because now your b**bs are so full they hurt to even touch and it’s hard when you feel like you’re constantly feeding every minute of the day. ⁣⁣⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s hard when you’re trying to build a stash in hopes of being able to be out of the house for more than two hours and you have to keep in mind all the protocol to safely pump and store your milk. Not to mention get a sufficient amount. ⁣⁣⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s hard when your ni***es are cracked and your shirt rubbing against them aggravates them even more.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s hard when you don’t produce enough and it’s hard when you overproduce and your b**bs are so engorged that they feel like blocks of cement on your chest and any tiny touch hurts like hell. ⁣⁣⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s hard when you have to feed in public and it’s hard when you cancel all your plans because baby is extremely fussy and you worry about having to feed in public. ⁣⁣⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s just HARD. But it’s also so rewarding and beautiful at the same time.⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I say this all to say that no matter how you choose to feed your baby you are a warrior, mama, because none of it is easy!⁣⁣
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⁣⁣I have such an immense newfound respect for moms now because MAN do we go through it for our babies. We sacrifice so much more than our bodies and we do it all out of pure love. I am proud of us💗"

📸: https://www.instagram.com/brittroqksz/

An update with my availability for the next few months xx

A recent reference from such an adorable little family in West London❤️