Amelia was born on 27 Sept 2016 and has since followed Plunkets newest fundraising campaign Raise a Bundle RAB Onto day 522 of Raise a Bundles life she has had quite the amazing and transforming start Her mother Rachel Botha had a chat with Plunket recently and answered a few questions about baby Amelias first 500 days of her life which we thought we would share with you Raise a Bundle supporters

Plunket How has the first 500 days been for you and Amelia

Rachel Theyve been amazing We have learnt a lot and laughed a lot together As a family we have learnt a lot from her which has been so amazing to watch We have been lucky that everything is going really well and she is super happy

Plunket What was one of the hardest things youve experience in the first 500 days

Rachel Sleep No sleep whatsoever shes awake so we are too That has been challenging

Plunket What was the most surprising or unexpected thing you experienced in the first 500 days

Rachel Its been amazing to watch how much she has grown into her own little individual She has a strong personality and has become this little being in her own right Amelia knows what she wants and when she wants it seeing this so early has been a big surprise but amazing to watch

Plunket How has Plunket supported you in the first 500 days of Amelias life

Rachel Weve been super lucky having a Plunket clinic so close to us We have been to all our standard Plunket visits but have also had home visits from our Plunket nurse I have gone along to one of Plunkets classes early feeding which was really interesting One of the best things for us has been able to check in with Plunket with things whenever I want and need Checking up on Amelias milestones and knowing whats going on in her life has been supported by my Plunket nurse

Plunket How crucial are the first 500 days of a babys life to you

Rachel Well Amelia of course is still in her depth of growing and developing but it has been super important for us to keep up with research and to be able to understand her brain development I work for BestStart so I have a great support and depth of knowledge available through them also The capacity and ability of Amelia to learn is phenomenal and to see this come alive in her has been amazing

Raise a Bundle RAB will be doing a monthly story and interview with each of the RAB babies and families we have associated with this Plunket National Campaign Check out https raiseabundleorgnz articles for more stories and updates