National Procrastination Day.

Why do today what you could do tomorrow? A publishing firm has declared today to be the National Procrastination Day (no joke!). Read more in today's Le Monde and check out the official procrastination website.

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

Easy Peezy Lemon Squeezy!

When I wrote my first post about breastfeeding, it was an exercise I was still learning to fully master. Today, as baby L. is six weeks old I am smiling as I look back at the challenge it used to be.
I couldn't breastfeed my son out of my comfort zone (see the "breastfeeding station" in the drawing above by Kaz Cooke). I needed my armchair, my nursing cushion, my phone, my bottle of water, my muslin square, my watch to time each feed; everything had to be within reach because I'd be "stuck" in that nursing position for a good while. Now, it takes no more 30min. I have done it at the restaurant, on a ferry, in the car (stationary of course), in the ladies room, at the doctor's, in the park, at the petrol station and even in the middle of a shopping mall on a busy Saturday afternoon! There's no being prudish when you've got a baby crying of hunger on your hands. No matter the place or time, those bosoms have got to come out. It took a lot of practice mixed with a great deal of perseverance to get to this stage but it was so worthwhile. There is such a sense of fulfillment to breastfeed a child that all the little inconveniences (mainly, the sleepless nights!) seem so trivial in comparison to having the chance to bond with my son in this priceless way.


photos ©LaFranglaise

Cute Bunny Milly in her new home.

As the Etsy addict I am, I had been longing to find an original handmade soft toy for baby L. which would be both cute enough to for him to play with and at the same time decorate his nursery. Many hours browsing later, I and stumbled accross Sarah MacNeil's most fabulous shop: Koo & Poppet. Sarah is an architectural designer/mum/Koo&Poppet creator. Her soft animals are designed for children of all ages and I would add, for adults of all ages. You can find bunnies and bears in various colours and shapes, all of which carry a name and have "likes" and "dislikes". As I could not have them all, I finally decided to adopt Cute Bunny Milly. She likes snowflakes and dislikes toothaches... and is since yesterday a happy bunny in her new city, Paris!


photo ©LaFranglaise

Happy Face.

I received my son's first real smile today. Boy is it contagious!

Gripe water.

©LaFranglaise
Baby L. is five weeks old today and has recently started to suffer from colic. Fortunately it is only mild (he will never cry inconsolably or excessively, phew!) but it does happen almost every evening. I was told to give him Gripe Water, a home remedy for colicky babies recommended to me by all my Anglophone friends. It contains dill, fennel, and sodium bicarbonate, helping relieve infantile digestive pains. You can buy it in the UK from Boots or your local pharmacy.

If you are unable to get any Gripe Water from the UK, pediatricians in France recommend Calmosine, a herbal drink containing fennel, lime and orange blossom, and sodium benzoate.

Discovering the city #2.

photo ©LaFranglaise

Opéra Garnier, 9e

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.

Pushchairs. So many to choose from!

Following our very first outing a couple of days ago, I thought I would write a post on the dilemna of choosing a pushchair.

After much research and hesitation, we decided to buy the City Link 2 pushchair by Red Castle. The French brand is becoming more and more visible on the streets of Paris though it is still not as popular as the famous MacClaren, which every other Parisian has these days. My main criteria when choosing between the various prams on the market were that it had (1) to be small and light enough to be lifted onto a bus or down a set of stairs, (2) to fit in our sardine-like lift and (3) to be easily manoeuverable around some of the narrowest areas of the city. Now that I have over a month's use of my pram, I can confidently say that City Link 2 is the pram you are looking for if, like me, you are a metropolitan mum. It is compact, light, folds and unfolds very easily, has height adjustable handles, and above all, it is suitable for a newborn baby (with the available pushchair units in full lie-back position) and can be used right up until the child is about 3 years-old.

For newborn babies, you can opt for the carrycot or the groupe 0 car seat (which has three reclinable positions) and which both fit on to the chassis. As we do not own a car, the groupe 0 car seat option was exactly what we needed because on a day to day basis it can be used as a carrycot equivalent on the pushchair (in full lie-back position) and, whenever we do want to rent a car to go on holiday, it turns into a car seat. How practical is that?



Red Castle pushchairs are also available in a wide range of colours, from your classic navy to bright pinks and blues.

"I can resist anything expect temptation."

photo ©LaFranglaise

I like techonology. I like gadgets. But I do not like succombing to the power of "hype". As the anti-iPhone person I was (especially, anti-touch screen), I gave in and bought what most Parisians in the metro have in their hands these days instead of a book or a newspaper. And like everyone else, now that I've bitten into the Apple I cannot give it up. Being able to access anything, anywhere, at any time is in some way addictive. And the icing on the cake for a freshly baked mum like me with very (I mean veeery) little time on her hands? Being able to nurse my baby with one arm and have my iPhone in the other so that I can somewhat stay connect to the world. Well, virtually at least.

One month.

One month, four weeks and 28 days of nursing, caring, feeding, sleeping, not sleeping, pooping, peeing, nappy changing, crying, smiling, worrying, singing, shushing, rocking, learning, listening, observing, bathing, cleaning, washing, drying, filming, photographing, reading, writing, improvising, strolling, discovering, laughing, watching, cuddling, bonding, and irrational loving.

...Enjoying every second of this new life!

photo ©LaFranglaise

Praming 101.

First outing, première sortie.


Remember when you had those braces off your teeth and you just couldn't stop smiling and felt like everybody in the street was staring at you? Well that's exactly what happened to me on our first outing with baby L.: I couldn't get that silly proud mummy grin off my face! It felt all too wonderful to wander the streets of Paris with my little bambino and show him what was out there.

Discovering the city #1.

photo ©LaFranglaise

Passage Verdeau, 9e

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.