About Me

Hertfordshire, UK
I am a very lucky Mum to two beautiful daughters, known here as Moomin and Gremlin. My second gorgeous girl, Gremlin (above), has PKU (Phenylketonuria) and has introduced us to a whole new world! This blog is intended to record our journey with regards it, particularly focusing on food and eating.

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Dining on the go

Another trick...

Daddymin unexpectedly arrived home early so I had extra hands around at teatime. Because I didn't have Gremlin hanging off my leg screaming at me I was able to make up her gel and weigh out her protein providing food (sometimes still a jar- tonight Tuna Pasta thingy by Cow and Gate- her favourite) whilst I cooked dinner for everyone else. I managed to spoon in the gel and pasta whilst she played in the kitchen. Then we all sat down to eat a similar dinner. She had PKU "Lamb and Mint" Burger Mix in 3 mini burger shapes, broccoli, carrots and the remainder of the homemade vegetable curry from yesterday. She really, really enjoyed eating almost the same and particularly enjoyed swapping carrots (protein free) from Daddymin's plate.

p.s She is also a raver. The alarm on my phone (the anti-mummy brain that forgets EVERYTHING) went off during breakfast yesterday to remind me about Moomin's new swimming lesson time. For some unknown reason it is set to 'Insomnia' by Faithless. We had one of the happiest breakfasts we've had for ages whilst Gremlin boogied away to it!

Tuesday 11 January 2011

Gremlin Estefan and the Hertfordshire Sound Machine

To watch this clip is somewhat misleading. It shows none of the horror that went before- the screaming, tantrums, cajoling, reweighing and re-calculating to ensure she eats what she's supposed to. It does, however, show the latest trick in our arsenal to get her to eat. It's a comedy sound machine thingy bought by Daddymin for one of his work colleagues that never made it to its intended destination. Note how she loves the burps- she is her father's daughter.

Friday 7 January 2011

Not so happy new year!

Happy New Year!

I've been quiet for a couple of weeks, as we've been going through another tough phase and I didn't want to depress you all. Gremlin stubborn independence has now gone through the roof. She is not too bad at lunchtime but come dinnertime, with the amalgamation of tiredness, protein is currently only provided by the back up 'fromage frais' option. 44g Petit Filous is 3 exchanges, or Munch Bunch 45g is 2.5 exchanges. Then I have been trying to offer her self-feeding options. Tonight was PKU pasta with homemade tomato sauce (protein free) and yesterday was PKU Promin sausages, carrot sticks and brocolli. She still didn't eat terribly much, but at least she wasn't screaming the WHOLE way through. Ugh.

We are muddling through as best we can, but her levels are fluctuating wildly. 570, 293, 566 for the last 3 blood tests. There are many factors that may have contributed. Her sleep has gone to pot, she is teething canines, she's just started walking and she had a virus before Christmas which seems to have completely knocked her out of sync. She seems very cross a lot of the time. I spend evenings with her screaming and clawing at my leg while I try to cook dinner for her and her big sister. It's tough and quite exhausting at the moment, but we are ending the day at the correct protein exchanges much more often that we're not.

On a more positive note she gets funnier and funnier by the day. She is trying to do 'I'm a Little Teapot' actions when anyone sings the song and she runs up to Daddymin and roars at him to make him jump. It is heartmelting stuff from my cross little determined lady.