Stuffy noses

Believe it or not, my 2.5-year-old son cannot blow his nose! Whenever he has a stuffy nose he inhales instead of blowing out, making things even worse. And often, when he is down with a cold,  I’m woken up at night by a very loud “I cannot breathe!”

It’s for this reason that I’m very grateful to the inventor of a very smart piece of equipment: the Narhinel nasal aspirator.  It’s a tube which has a mouthpiece at one end (for mummy) and a disposable mucus reservoir with an anatomic tip to put in the nose (with a filter that prevents mucus from going up the tube) at the other. My son does not love it, but it does the job brilliantly!

And we can all go back to sleep!

-Michela in Milan

V.I.P. (very intelligent pocket)

While my husband thinks I have too many handbags,  I own way fewer than I would actually like to. (Husbands don’t really get the whole handbag-per-season idea)!  Still I do not switch bags very often because of the hassle of moving all my paraphernalia from one to the other.

Now I might have found the solution: VIP (very intelligent pockets) by Tintamar.

Nine pockets to help you find all your things with your eyes closed. All in a stylish and hard-wearing material that’s washable in soapy water. You move it from one bag to the other, making bag change quick and stress-free. They come in many colours and have a business version (larger, to fit in briefcases) and a men’s one too.  Another excuse to buy a new handbag!

-Michela in Milan

H&M, again!

We all know that dressing a newborn can be tricky! That’s why side-snap bodysuits are so useful. Unfortunately not all the brands have them in their range, they can be quite expensive, and your baby may only wear them for a few weeks (newborn size especially). On the other hand, if you buy cheaper ones they may not even last this little time.

At H&M you don’t have to compromise! They sell side-snap bodysuits in packs of two for 7.99 euros. One is solid colour, the other is stripy and they come in pastel colours: blue, pink, green and yellow. Good quality cotton that can be washed at 60°! What more do we want for those first few weeks?

-Michela in Milan

Respect!

Mums deserve respect, wherever, whenever and whatever!

BUT… I must admit that being a new mother of two, (who benefits from her own mother’s help at different moments during the day), I now have the utmost respect for expat moms who have neither family around nor hired help. This job is tough!

Babyccino

My daughter has known the meaning of a good babyccino since she was able to hold a spoon. I have known the meaning of a good babyccino since I discovered that it could keep a toddler entertained for at least 10 minutes at a lunch table. If one orders a second one (disregarding the occasional babyccino spilled all over the table) that’s 20 minutes of valuable, uninterrupted mummy time! What a great invention is that?!

While our children were happily messing about with their babyccinos, I think my girlfriends and I spent hours discussing topics like: the best baby/toddler products, fashion, recipes, films, websites, beauty products, shopping, expositions, restaurants, travel, practical matters, the occasional gossip (think Sienna Miller & Jude Law, Kate Moss & Pete Doherty), raising our kids, raising our husbands -and anything else that would interest us, (urban mothers).

Mommy makeover? Not my cup of tea.

During the summer, while I was halfway through pregnancy #2, I was already thinking about the months and months it would take me to regain my already less than perfect figure after the birth.

It’s then that I started joking with my husband that what I wanted this time as a gift, instead of a diamond ring (because this was going to be the request), was a mommy makeover!

More country differences: caring for the umbilical stump.

My #1 was born in London, and on discharge from the hospital I was told to bathe the baby regularly and that the stump would fall off pretty soon. That’s it, simple and practical. Then the midwife who came to our home a couple of times checked on it.

#2 was born last week in Milan, and stumps receive much more attention here in Italy. First of all, you should bathe your baby in very shallow water until the stump has fallen off so that it’s not submerged in water (I know other places even suggest sponge baths). On top of that, you should change the medication at least three times a day. It consists of a square sterile gauze, folded in two into a triangle and then rolled like a foulard which should be wrapped around the stump until it looks like a cute tiny white rosebud.

OK, not a big deal you think… but try to do this origami-style operation while the little offspring screams and kicks!

This morning I decided to revert  to the English way. After all, everything went smoothly the first time and #2 is a girl so there’s even less risk of contamination from forgetting to “put the trigger down”!

 -Michela in Milan

Is there light (Starbucks) at the end of the tunnel?

Italians invented espresso and cappuccino. Fantastic! Humanity will be grateful forever. Then we stopped there.

Why is it that every other country capitalized on our inventions, and now have more choices when getting a hot drink than the average Italian could ever dream of?

My son has superpowers

It happens that I was really looking forward to this last week before the birth of #2.  I wanted to hang around quietly by myself, getting hair and nails done, having lunch in nice places, doing a bit of Christmas shopping… in other words spending quality time with myself!

But NO! Clearly #1 sensed that this was a special week and got sick! Sick in a way that makes you hope that everyday is the last day at home and that he can go back to the nursery. Yet every morning he seems super energetic, but runs a temperature. The paediatrican has advised to keep him at home until he has been 2 days without fever, which is to make sure that next week when #2 will be born, he won’t be carrying around nasty viruses. Needless to say he behaves like any sick toddler; he cries, he whines, he needs his mummy more than ever… and I’m going insane because my patience and energy levels are not normal (though they may not be particularly high in any case) because I’m 38+3 weeks pregnant.

Is there a positive side to all this? YES, it would have been much worse if he had gotten sick in 2 weeks time when I’ll be home from the hospital.

-Michela in Milan

The baby beanbag

I discovered that one of the advantages of expecting a second child is being able to shop for completely superflous equipment, given that one supposedly already owns all the essentials.  A bit over a year ago I discovered the doomoo seat, and I’ve been meaning to buy one since the pregnancy test stick showed two lines. I think the baby looks so comfortable on it! And also toddlers can use it.

So we received ours yesterday… and now the toddler is using it while watching dvds. I just hope he’ll be willing to give it back to the newborn in a couple of weeks!!

-Michela in Milan

Spot The Difference

When #2 arrives in a couple of weeks, she will bring a present to #1. The present will be a wooden bike that I have been meaning to buy for my dear son since his 2nd birthday. I didn’t buy it back then because people at the shop told me that, being a short 2 year-old, the bike would be too big. Now 6 months have gone by and it seems the right time.

My problem was… which bike to choose.  In a bike shop in the centre of Milan, they sell the like-a-bike , that costs 189 euros.

BUT in two of the nicest toys shops I know (where, for example, they sell plan toys, sigikid stuffed animals, mini-micro scooters, schleich animals) they sell this other bike that costs 49.50 euros!

I was (and still am) a bit surprised about such a price difference, so I went to the bike shop and asked one of the salesmen to explain to me why the like-a-bike is 4 times the price of  the other wooden bike sold at very reputable toy stores. His reply was that the difference was in some details and finishing but nothing major or structural.

I (we) decided that the bikes may not differ substantially, but their prices do… so #2 will save some money and bring the less expensive bike to #1!

-Michela in Milan

baby friendly? no, grazie!

On Saturday morning we decided to go and have a look at the new food hall on the 7th floor at “La Rinascente” (which is basically the only department store in Milan).

It does look great.  It reminds me a bit of the 5th floor at Harvey Nicks (in London) …although it’s possibly smaller.

There’s a restaurant, coffee bar, chocolate (Valrhona) corner, juice bar, sushi bar, sandwich bar and a mozzarella bar. Plus you can buy some fine teas, biscuits, ham, cheeses, sauces etc.

So why am I telling you this?

Because it sounds like a good place to go for a quick lunch, a mid morning coffee, a nice stop while shopping in the center of town… BUT it’s not baby friendly!

They refurbished possibly 10 restrooms and there is not even a changing table…. and of course not a high chair in sight!

Italian business owners are a bit short-sighted; they still don’t understand how mums with babies are nowadays great customers. We are used to going out-  lunch&dine, earn&spend.  Why should we have to miss all these opportunities after having a baby?

Unfortunately in Milan, babies are only truly welcomed (with appropriate space and equipment) in very few places, and I am determined to discover them all in the very near future!

-Michela in Milan

Different country, different medical treatments…

I spent the morning at the hospital where I’ll give birth in about 4 weeks. I went because I had to do the pre-partum plus pre-surgery routine. This involved many blood tests, swabs and an ecg!

When I tell them that I have previously given birth by caesarian without doing any of this stuff, they don’t believe me. After I add that I gave birth in England, they seem relieved, as if it assured them that the Italian system is somehow better.

The fact that I gave birth in one of the best private hospitals in the UK (the Portland Hospital) should remove any suspicion that the hospital was trying to save money.  (My insurance and I were paying everything they deemed necessary). So why such a big difference?

Another curious difference between UK practice and Italian (or French or Belgian … ) is the need for internal examination. Here, every medical appointment involves one, but in London, I gave birth without having any at all!

-Michela in Milan

birth announcement

I normally do not go to the office on friday and work from home… but today I met up with one of my best friends who is an architect and we sat down and designed the birth announcement for the second one! (by the way, she’ll be here in a month time… scary and exciting)!

I’m really happy with the outcome, but you’ll have to wait to see it!

We got inspired (a lot) from metrobabycards which is a v.cool American website for all sorts of baby cards.

Why don’t we get these sort of nice things in Italy?

-Michela in Milan