Saudades.

Feeling a little nostalgic of my bump as little big L.'s first birthday is fast approaching. This video was taken one year ago today. How I loved that feeling inside my belly.

9 mois (in and out).

Nine months in...

...and nine out.

1 mois - 2 mois - 3 mois - 4 mois - 5 mois - 6 mois - 7 mois - 8 mois


Update: please be kind and do not use the 'nine months out' photo without my permission. I would like my son to stay on his mama's blog only. Thank you for understanding!

Happy nine-month news.

Aura's summer adventures are so perfectly captured in this fantastic fresh video. Be sure to watch it until the end.
{via Bebek}

Mind the bump.

A year ago today, I found out I had a bun in the oven and began my bumpy ride into motherhood. Funny how so much can change in one year.

SMALLable.

Good news my fellow Parisians mummies: SMALLable is having private sales on 2-5 June from 11h to 20h. There will be discounts on the 2010 spring/summer collection and a clearance sale on items from previous years. You will find a wide selection of designer clothes, toys, books and home decor items. Be sure not to forget to drop by your nearest hole-in-the-wall because plastic will not be accepted.

SMALLable - ventes privées
OneNineSixOne
135 rue vieille du Temple, Paris 3e
Métro - Fille du Calvaire

Happy Mother's Day.

photo ©LaFranglaise

Because in France we do everything differently, today is the day we celebrate mother's day, so here's bonne fête to toutes les mamans!

Ana Ventura - Cheia de amor.

Back when I was pregnant and started photo blogging on Flickr, I had this habit of looking through heaps of pregnancy and baby pictures as a way to see what was in store for me nine months down the line. One day, I came across this powerful shot of a newborn baby and discovered the work of Ana Ventura, a Portuguese artist and illustrator. Her work is frequently exhibited in Portugal and abroad, and this is her new masterpiece: cheia de amor, meaning full of love in Portuguese. It is dedicated to all mothers; to those who get pregnant with a belly bump and those who get pregnant with their heart. Simply beautiful.


"Dedico esta ilustração (...) para as mães que engravidam na barriga assim como para as que engravidam no coração."

I will post more about her work soon, once I finally get a chance to hang my three-month old purchase from her delightful shop. In the meantime, stay tuned via her blog.

Cowshed - made in the UK.

photos ©LaFranglaise

Knackered cow...that would be me! Our wonderful friends from London were visiting us in Paris a few weeks back to meet baby L. and they treated me to these amusing bath and body products. Every Cowshed product is 100% natural, allowing pregnant or nursing mothers to use safely (a small organic range for babies is also available). You can shop according to your mood: horny cow, lazy cow, knackered cow, grumpy cow, wild cow, and moody cow! If you do not have a store near you, you can shop on line as Cowshed delivers internationally. I simply love the concept. Those cheeky names make me chuckle.

Pregnancy food aversions.

photo ©LaFranglaise

I love my food, and the day I would get pregnant I thought I would have so many cravings. But as it turned out, just the opposite happened. No cravings whatsoever but oh so many food aversions. One of many things I went off was Swiss chard, a veggie I used to eat weekly in the winter yet I couldn't touch it the whole time I was pregnant. Probably because before I even knew I had a little beanie growing inside me, I had Swiss chard food poisoning during my holiday in Croatia last year (at the time, I couldn't understand why it made me so ill!). Just like that, it was the end of my delicious "gratin de blettes" until baby L was born. Yesterday, I finally ate it again and I must say, it is still as good as it was 'pre-preggo me'. Here is my very simple but tasty recipe for cooking Swiss chard gratin:

1 kg of Swiss chard
2 table spoons of crème fraiche (cream)
40g of Comté or Gruyère cheesenutmeg
salt & pepper

Wash the Swiss chard and cut off the tips. Boil in a saucepan for approximately 20min (until the stems have softened) and drain. Chop the chards and transfer in an ceramic oven dish, spreading them evenly. Mix in the crème fraiche, nutmeg, and salt & pepper to taste. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top and bake at 200ºC for 25min or until the gratin is brown and bubbly. You can also replace the crème fraiche with olive oil and garlic.
Bon appétit!

Up the duff at 30.

...is what my plan was and had always been. But as life would have it, I'd beat the stats by having a bun fresh from the oven at 28.

According to an article in today's Le Monde, the average age of French women at first childbirth in 2009 has symbolically crossed the 30 year threshold. As more and more women our generation feel the need as much as men to have a career and a good work/life balance, they are postponing having children until after their studies, once they have secured a job, a place to live and are in a stable relationship. Still, this does not mean that French women are having fewer children, quite the contrary. We are the country in Europe with the highest birth rate.

My little beanie came to this world by accident. If I were to have planned it, I'd also probably still be waiting for the right job, the right flat, the right city, the right moment and the right guy. Because regardless of how much societies have changed, there is still a moment in a women's life when she'll think twice about having children for fear their job might consequently be at stake. Priorities do drastically shift as you enter motherhood, but as much as being a mum can be fulfilling, many women also find work extremely rewarding. So why not be able to have the best of both worlds?

You can read the full article here (in French).

photo ©LaFranglaise

Childbirth class in a nutshell.

Following my post a couple of days ago on giving in to the hype and having bought an iPhone, I have - like all new iPhone owners - spent some hours searching for interesting applications and came across what seems to be a very useful app for mums-to-be: the iBirth App. Developped by two childbirth educators, you will have access to childbirth education material with videos, lists and tips on labour, nutrition, and the baby's birth. It is downloadable from the iTunes store for USD 4.99. And if you are not a happy iPhone owner, there is also a version available online.

My every three hour routine.

Breasfeeding. We all tend to think that there is nothing more natural for a woman to breastfeed her newborn baby but actually, it does not always come so naturally. In fact, it never even crossed my mind that I would go through as much trouble to get started. The frustration was so that I almost gave up, more than once. Giving birth is so physically exhausting that in the first few days as a mother, you are not only learning how to take care of your newborn baby but also and simply trying to recover from labour. Which is not so easy when your hormones are all over the place and you are experiencing oh so many sleepless nights. In my case, it was all the more difficult because I was struggling to breastfeed. My milk did not 'come in' until six days after the birth, which made nursing extremely challenging in the first few days. Baby L. had lost so much weight I had no other choice but to give him formula milk as a supplement, meaning it was the end of my breastfeeding... Or at least it would have been, if it weren't for the amazing patience and support of the midwives, who helped me successfully overcome this unexpected obstacle. Here are a few things without which I couldn't have managed:

- nursing pillow: priority #1 on your list of purchases! I don't know what I would have done without it. Boppy feeding pillows are very popular but I adore my Big Flopsy by Red Castle. It is 170cm long, making ideal to use during pregnancy (I wish I had bought it much sooner!), for breastfeeding, to lay your baby on it, and in later months to help your baby sit up. If you prefer the smaller pillows, Red Castle also have available the Flopsy pillow, measuring 140cm.


- breastpump: which you can use a to help increase your milk supply. In France, you can rent breastpumps from your local pharmacy and the social security will reimburse up to EUR 12 a week if you have a medical prescription for the hire of the pump. I have been using Medela's Symphony model which is great.

- herbal tea: Weleda's tisane d'allaitement works wonders and is completely organic. It takes time to get used to the taste as the tea is made of fenugreek, anise, cumin and fennel (plants which favour lactation) but all you need to drink are two or three cups a day for it to be effective.

- ovaltine: (Ovomaltine in French) is made with malt extract, cocoa and whey. I drink one glass a day in the morning, also to help increase my milk supply.

- Brewer's yeast: one capsule in the morning and in the evening (again, to increase my milk supply!).

- Kaz Cooke: the sequel to my pregnancy bible, The Rough Guide to Babies and Toddlers. A fun and reassuring read about caring for a newborn and learning how to breastfeed.


-World Wide Web: there are so many great sources of information on the Internet with tips to read and videos to watch on how to breastfeed. Some which were useful to me were http://www.breastfeeding.com/, http://www.thinkbaby.co.uk/, http://www.blogger.com/www.laligaleche.com and http://www.blogger.com/www.breastfeedingmums.com.

- last but not least, "him": for the endless encouragement and support.


Today my son is three weeks old and everything has started to fall into place. Breastfeeding is exhausting but once you learn how to master it, it is the most wonderful and satisfying experience in the world.

b2b.

photos ©LaFranglaise

From Bump 2 Baby, from Hilarious to baby L. Just like that he arrived... right on his due date, showing he was more punctual than his mother ever will be.

Fully baked.

photo ©LaFranglaise

Week 40. And still baking...