This month our Raise a Bundle campaign had a chat with Jayde Eddy mother of one of our RAB babies Mia Demanser. Jayde talks a lot about her struggles with the first 500 days of Mias life and challenges they faced. She is strong and tells us how she overcomes and manages these struggles.

Mia was born in October 2016 and has since been following our Raise a Bundle RAB campaign. Read below to find our more about the first 500 days of Mias life.

Plunket How were the first 500 days of Mias life

Jayde To be honest the first 500 days were really tough with Mia we learnt very quickly how different she was from our 1st child. Mia had a few hearing problems on and off a lot starting from 2 3 months old. She couldnt hear very well and we had a long wait time to find out what was wrong with her.

After a lot of checkups and tests it came down to reoccurring ear infections she has had 13 of them so far. So dealing with that was really tough for all of us having to visit a lot of specialists while Mia was going through a lot of pain and always getting infected. One on her infections also caused a febrile seizure which was very hard for all of us. So to say the least the first 500 days of Mias life were complicated but nonetheless still amazing. Mia is an amazing resilient girl and idolizes her big sister.

Plunket What has been the biggest struggle in the first 500 days of Mias life

Jayde The reoccurring infections were and still are the biggest struggle for both us and Mia as well as trying to figure it out on our own e g cutting out dairy and trying new probiotics to see what might help.

Apparently she also has low muscle tone so she has been a bit slower in her milestones which our Plunket nurse picked up on really quickly. Its been a struggle to always be thinking on the ball and making mental checklists all the time. Is she in pain What does she need Having to always be switched on has been a challenge.

Plunket What was one of the biggest progressions you noticed with Mia in the first 500 days

Jayde She actually progressed a lot slower than our first child Lillie she didnt smile until she was 9 months crazy I know. I guess we just werent expecting that as she was very unexpressive everyone called her the grumpy baby but she really wasnt. Also even with all her ear infections her speech is amazing. We reckon all those months she was quiet she was just observing and soaking it all in.

Plunket How has Plunket supported you in the first 500 days of Mias life and during this struggle of constant ear infections

Jayde Our Plunket nurse picked up the hearing problems pretty quickly which helped a lot because it wasnt until I had the checkups with our Plunket nurse that she suggested going to our GP and getting referred to a specialist. We were questioning it a lot at home so it was great to have that positive push from our Plunket nurses. Each visit we had with a Plunket nurse gave us positive confirmation that even though bad frustrating things can happen that its still okay. We live in Napier where our Plunket clinic is accessible and easy to get to which is great and we always have a positive visit with the nurses at our local clinic which helps a lot.

Plunket What is one tip from parent to parent you would see as the most valuable thing to pass on to someone about to give birth

Jayde You know your own baby best. There are a lot of different opinions and overwhelming info getting thrown around and put in your face when youre a new parent and I think the most valuable advice I can give is go with your gut you know your baby best better than anyone.

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 for more stories and updates.