It was only yesterday when I realized why I had two midwives attending to me ... one for weekly home visits and one based in the hospital.
The home visit midwife is sent by the French government, to see if my living conditions are healthy and suitable for a baby. Her objective is the protection of France's infants. She gets to see if I'm smoking, drinking, taking heroin, if my husband is involved with the whole process. If the furniture I acquired for the baby does not meet security standards, she would send a
puériculturiste or nursery expert, to correct and review these items. Of course she checks me too, like my size and health, but she also checks the baby's heartbeat and if he's moving a lot or not.
This is my first baby and I got only four large items.
An Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper Mini, which can be attached to my side of the bed at night. It's really more practical than it is stylish. I chose it because for the first few months, I plan to breastfeed every two hours, even in the middle of the night. I don't want to get out of bed, walk all the way to another room to feed or change diapers at 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. This bed allows me to breastfeed, then return the baby back to his bed while I collapse into sleep, without worrying about him being in the way or being crushed by my weight while unconscious. I acquired it from a French website called
Mama Nana, which specializes in breastfeeding. In French, the Co-Sleeper Bassinet is called the Berceau Cododo.
I got an ergonomic baby bath with a stand from Baby Moov, so that I could wash him without having to bend over. I'm already anticipating that I may have painful stitches to deal with, and the last thing I'll need is to bend over and break my back during each bath session. This I acquired from the French website
Vertbaudet, which specializes in pregnancy, children and mothers.
I have a diaper changing table trolley by the German brand
Geuther. It has many shelves for diapers, cotton squares, baby wipes, toiletries, and can be converted into regular shelving when the baby is older and no longer wears diapers. This I also acquired from the Vertbaudet website.
For diapers, I debated for the longest time whether to use disposable or washable. That's because millions of diapers end up in the landfill every year, and I'd hate to contribute to this. So I'm using a happy compromise ... Wiona diapers which are disposable but 72% biodegradable and the rest being non-toxic and neutral in terms of environmental impact. These I acquired from another French website
Green Republic. The baby wipes and absorbent sheets I'm using are also biodegradable from Wiona.
For strollers, I chose the
Quinny. Mac Larens are the lightest but their small plastic tires will be easily destroyed with Europe's cobblestones. About 20,000 Bugaboos were recently recalled due to a defect with the brakes. So my best choice is the Quinny, which has large and durable rubber tires that can withstand rough cobblestones, and it's small enough to fit into my Mini Cooper and tiny elevator when folded-up ... which was a major point of consideration. I got a Quinny Buzz in black so that it's gender-neutral, in case I have a baby girl someday. What I really wanted though was this
limited-edition Quinny by Henrik Vibskov. But at €1,100 it's double the price of the regular Quinny Buzz.
To avoid being accused of putting my baby in danger, I made sure that all items are available in France and therefore meet French safety standards and regulations.
Anyway, back to my midwife story. The second midwife who is hospital-based, is in charge of my actual birth. She has all my medical records, pregnancy history, she booked my birth classes and she, together with the hospital ... gave me a list of what I need to pack for myself and the baby when we check-in. All I did was to hand over the entire list to my pharmacy, and they prepared everything for me from disposable panties, to maternity pads etc. All I lack are breastfeeding bras and nightgowns which I can't buy until I reach 36 weeks, where more or less I'll know my new breastfeeding bra size.
My hospital asked me to prepare all this in the 7th month. This turned out to be good advice because after I ordered the large items, there was lead time necessary for delivery and assembly. After I opened the boxes, there were fumes from the packaging, protection and plastics. So now all items are assembled and being aired thoroughly so that there would be no fumes when the baby arrives. I could spend the final month placing all textiles in the laundry ... from towels to clothes to wash cloths ... and drying them thoroughly.
Nesting on steroids.
Add On: The nursery expert just called and I discovered that she can assist me after the birth. I need her to help me figure out how to use the breast pump and clean it after, the bottle sterilizer, how to give the baby a proper bath. What a relief. It's just me and Michel at home and we're both first time parents so this additional service is very useful.
