The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Baby pics led to booming online trade
When Amanda Cramb saw her positive pregnancy test she did not believe it was true.
The 33-year-old from Auchterarder had previously been told she would struggle to conceive. But the second test had the same result.
It took five positive pregnancy tests, however, for the news to finally sink in – she was having a baby.
After the exhilarating discovery, she could not wait for baby Annie to arrive last September.
However, her labour was traumatic, involving an emergency caesarean section and blood transfusion.
It took her a long time to make a recovery, while Annie started to show signs of being in pain.
“From about two months old, Annie was screaming in excruciating pain from the minute she woke up to the minute she went down at night,” Amanda said.
“We were backward and forward to the doctors.
“Eventually they diagnosed her with cow’s milk allergy and on top of that she had silent reflux.
“Meanwhile, my recovery was quite slow. Simple things a new mum takes for granted like picking your child up and walking over to their cot I couldn’t do.
“I relied heavily on my partner.”
Amanda also struggled to bond with her “little miracle” due to their medical difficulties.
When Annie’s newborn baby photo shoot was cancelled, Amanda decided to do one herself at home on her Perthshire farm.
After a very difficult start as a mum, this moment changed Amanda and Annie’s relationship.
Sharing the photos on Instagram, Amanda received questions about where she had bought Annie’s clothes, accessories and toys. While pregnant, Amanda spent hours online looking for baby accessories. She realised other parents were also interested in the products she had found.
Amanda said: “This is where Annie’s Accessories was born.
She said: “When I fell pregnant, I was really frustrated when I was searching online because everything was pink or blue and traditional clothing.
“I was also looking for sustainable items, thinking that if I ever have another child I don’t want to buy plastic that’s just going to get thrown away.”
Amanda’s one-stop shop for baby accessories launched at the end of February.
Annie’s Accessories stocks everything needed in the stages of a baby’s life, from swaddles to cutlery, and accessories and toys.
While running her new shop, Amanda went back to her part-time job as an HR manager for the Hadden Group in April.
A month later, the shop was so much work that Amanda had to take her sister Lisa on board.
She can now work while seeing both her baby and her shop grow.