Mumsnet Little Italy 4

[Rosa]

Ciao - Everybody Welcome.

I thought about inventing the cancer relatives... the only problem is in case of a life insurance claim. I am worried that they might not pay because of different record between the insurance and the gp record.

I wonder if all pg they go wrong are because the mother wasn't relaxed ... let's put a bit more guilt and responsibility on the mother please!

You need relatives with children who have downs or a late miscarriage/stillbirth from another chromosomal adnormality (such as Edwards), maybe an aunt or first cousin. Cancer has nothing to do with a CVS.

Here in Italy it's very medicalised, perhaps a bit too much at birth stage, but they don't tell you to avoid half the stuff they do in the UK. They also weigh you at every visit as it's not good for the baby to put on too much, but they don't do that in the UK as it might offend.

The reason the NHS is not doing ante natal testing as routine is to save money, nothing to do with the natural birth experience. Ante natal checks are important, particularly as they save money in the long run. I think in the UK it's not PC to say you'd rather not have a disabled child.

Here you go, here's a list to choose from

it is all true what you say bran. I wanted to be weighed at every check and I wanted to be told I should not put any more weight etc. but oh no, here it's fine to put on 20 kg. you are probably spot on, it's not pc to say to someone 'stop going to the chippy and be responsible!' everyone would be up in arms.
what I find really annoying is the lack of awareness about one's health and the lack of will to make people aware by the government and nhs. this job is left to the likes of jamie oliver and food guru on telly .

no one knows here the state of their own body. try to ask a gp you want to do a general check up, he'll look at you as if you're mental and I could bet my life he'd ask you 'why? is anything wrong?'. why should one wait to have smthing wrong before changing bad habits is beyond me!

Sorry for the mega rant but I am in a foul mood today .
DH went out on a wild one last sat and is still useless plus he's very busy at work so comes back like a zombie and hardly talks. The plumber has gone awol so god knows when this place will be finished, I am tired and fed up. I cannot wait to go to italy for a rest. everyone gets on my nerves.

Thank you bran, i invented the cancer relatives for check ups i wanted, didn't mean i would ressurrect them for a cvs. I am a bit worried because i cannot rememmber what sort of relatives they were! Will have to invent another one with chromosomal abnormalities, on dp's side this time.
Had seen that website before, thank you!
Did you hear this am the new research that shows that fat people are fat becuase of a genetic disposition rather because they stuff their face with crap? More excuses for overweight people not to take responsibility for their actions. Having said that i just had 2 fried eggs with bacon, baked beans and melted cheese. Delicious.

hhell did you feel you're eating more? have you put weight on? like first pg, all the extra weight I put on the first trimester. after that I just eat as before (damage's already done though unfortunately!!) and put very little on apart for baby weight etc.

hhell as soon as you feel better we should meet up.

Hhell, I may be wrong but I think the rellies will have to be on your side, the female line and all that because of the egg having chromosomal problems. Maybe you could say that you didn't realise your relative's problem was chromosome linked, but chatting to her you found out that it was and that tests were advised for all family members? Worth a try, after all they're never going to be able to check up.

Pah about all this blaming the genes. There is a genetic link to everything, but there are triggers that set off the condition. When I was at school there were these twins that were really fat (for the time) and they used to say it was glands as all the family were fat. We got invited to their 16th where all the food had been prepared by their mother and it was ALL either deep fat fried or drowning in cream or mayonnaise. Even the pudding was fried. Glands my a*°e!

very true, I am not a size 10 cos I am sat here stuffing my face with hobnobs for no reason . And I wish my GP had told me in the UK that I was putting on too much weight when pg so I didnt have the humiliation of being weighed in Italy for the first time and realising I'd put on 17kg with 2 mths still to go!!!!!!!
Am so aware of crap attitude to food in UK whenever I go back and go to supermarkets, rows and rows of ready meals, all at buy 5 for a fiver type of promotions, pushing the idea of processed cr*p instead of cooking from scratch. And then a ridiculous array of fruit from all over the world none of which is in season and all of which tastes the same! I could rant for hours about it....

gio I am now very at you! you made me get up and have a cup of tea with hobnobs (which for the first time in ten years are in the house)!!! lovely though !!!

I so agree with you Gio, esp about the stuff in season. That's one thing I really like about Italian supermarkets, seasons still count and most of the food is local (as in national).

Also the kids meals in the UK! Processed meat shaped like a teddy bear and stuff like that, a huge array of processed potato and sweet things and all those crisps (although I do miss proper crisps). It's starting to get a bit like that here, a few processed things are starting to creep in, as well as all that "Kinder is nutritious" rubbish so everybody buys fetta al latte for merenda instead of fruit or panini like it once was. But on the whole flavours and real food still count. At least they have decent food in nursery here, proper vegetables and all that. There was a thread about a 10mo being given chips and baked beans at nursery in the UK, the only people indignant about it were Pippi, Franca and I

Careful about fat comments guys ...there is one ample Little Italy member here. I know how to put on weight but I am also one of these people who generally eat 5 a day or more , no grassi , no dressing on insalata and no alcohol or I pile it on. I put on 13 kg in pg and still got told off for being overweight am concerned about going back to this doc if I get pg again as he was really heavy into thin donne incinte think he likes all his donne to be perfette !! Agree in the Uk that there are so many easy eating ways out that are loaded with fat etc. I also get lost when in the Uk about what is actually in season fruit and veg wise. Here you just take it for granted that what is on the vege stall at a reasonable price is in season. Mind you dd has been asking for Melon as we ate it on holiday..Now I know I could get one in the Uk but not here but I have been buying Mirtilli from Chilie as she adores them.
DD has never had a fetta al latte but she does have the odd kinder brioss in the morning when the bread has finished!She has not had a chuppa either !!
Thanks for the over 35 site have saved it as its useful for the future ....
Going to try and book a room for dd festa later its in a months time but they get full up quick here.

yup the crisps thing I do not understand it. (much nicer in the uk though I agree.) I know it is a cultural thing as EVERYONE eats them as if bread. not one in my office had lunch without a packet of crisps. my nephews always eat 2/3 packets a day.
in my days it was a big big treat and we were not an health obsessed family.
do you know what the saddest thing is? I, who grew up with a country house with orchards and vines and all the seasonal stuff (eating the same fruit till you were absolutely sick of it), after all these years in the uk, forgot what's in season and what's not! I had to make a chart in the kitchen to remember but become to spoilt for choice to follow it .

rosa at doctor being upset for 13kg. I have put more than that in both pg. but to be honest it is because I ate a bit of crap which I could avoid (see the hobnob bit before ).
It is true that the downside of it is the way italians can obsess about weight and image (smthing I am sure we all know and agree about). I am a size 10/12 normally and I swear to you I am the biggest by a long way of all the italian girls I know while I feel perfect and quite slim when in the uk!!

Rosa, I put on 12kg and was told to be careful not to put on much more, but that 12kg was OK and normal range. Maybe you should change your Dr if he's uptight. I'm sure you're not fat, maybe just a teeny bit overweight? I'm talking about people who can't sit on one bus seat, teenagers who are size 20 at 16yo, stuff like that. Basically the things I see nowadays in the Uk that were once the preserve of Americans. Once upon a time in Milan if you saw someone very fat, they were bound to be American. Now they quite often have Yorkshire/Birmingham/London/elsewhere in the UK accents. I think that's so sad.

I also buy DD mirtilli from Chile but lately she's gone off them. My sis had melons in the house over Xmas and I was quite shocked. They tasted of water, though, a bit like the papayas you buy here. Fruit ripened in supermarkets is not nice.

I get called skinny in the UK, I can assure you I am not! I'm a perfectly normal size 10 (now with a muffin top, alas) and no way as slim as a lot of people I see around here.

I was told over and over again in italy that you should put on approx 9 kg. this is baby weight and it will go with it (more or less).

I am not one who obsesses, as you know, and would not follow anything strict and believe that a few kilos more do no harm etc etc. however I have to admit that I carried with me the extra kilos for a while I put on which were not strictly pg weight ifswim. I do not think it's a big deal and do not think one should worry about it and make their life a misery, however one should be aware of it. I know I should not eat all these buisquits and at times have smaller portions (in my first trimester I ate more that dh )! the problem I find in the uk is that people think it's okay. it's like the lack of exsercise. I haven't being excersing since dd was born. I am not losing sleep over it but I know it's not good and I can see it on my thighs and belly and arms as are all soft and not toned at all.

I'm just glad I have to cycle 30 mins every day to pick up DD, so at least I get some exercise. I used to cycle to work every day but now it's no longer possibile. I still have a flabby belly (didn't "ping" back) and my arms are less toned, but I suspect that it's due to age and not total lack of exercise. And to think, I swam and exercised right up to the birth in order to remain fit (and I still put on 12kg, though at least 4 were in the 1st trimester) and yet ended up a quivering ball of jelly nonetheless.

I know to think I used to go swimmimg at 7 every morning... at least I got to get DH ( thinking about it maybe not such a good thing )

I am overweight and the older I get the harder it gets to come off. I do however try to keep fit . But I am one of these people who do put on weight eaisly . When BF I put on weight depite eating so many blessed finocchio and zucchini to increase milk production. As dd was a lazy Bfder I think the fat just piled on as my body was padding itself out. I am lucky as I walk a fair bit here with the buggy . I joined weight watchers and lost a bit ( they have now shut in Italy !)But when I write down what I eat in a day there is not much cr*p there. It gets me down but I try not to let it get to me but Pippi you are so right about the image thing luckily I am 5ft7 and am quite open and out going but I wish I could just shop for clothes here I am lucky if a 50 covers my boobs !
Dh can eat patatine , noccole, biscotti , pane , pizza , beer etc and not put weight on ..Ok so he does Karate twice a week but he eats lots more and not as healthy as me !!
I offered dd a yoghurt x merenda just now and she said biscotto ok so biscotto now and yoghurt for dinner ,,maybe I should stock up on Kinder hippos and the other things from the banco frigo

oh I agree not everyone's metabolism is the same, which is very unfair and age it's not on one's side. but like jamie oliver showed on his program, it's not the big things that make one go overweight but the chocolate bar everyday, the crisps without thinking etc.

I can see it on me the difference between winter eating and summer eating. I always always put 3/4 kg in winter and lose them in the summer. that is because I do not have tea and buisquits, hardly any chocolate (too hot), more fruit and veg and tend to skip the odd meal as too hot or out and about etc.

anyway it is not fair to complain about the uk when one of the reason I left italy was this image obsessed kind of life where all girls must be skinny, trendy clothed and with perfect coiffeured (sp) hair. even kate moss would look rough in italy compared to the 'commessa' del corso'!

pippi is big time!!!!!!! [a ngry]

been waiting in all day for dh hammock to be delivered only to find out now that 'it's not on the list and they don;t know where it is, maybe tomorrow'!!! birthday tomorrow, ordered a month ago and received telephone notification of today's delivery on monday!

Rosa I am a "generous" size 14, very probably not helped by hobnobs and the like but oh well. I work on the basis that I was described by the doctor as a kid as "solid", have pretty much carried on that way ever since but eat 3 fresh cooked meals a day with seasonal stuff, just a bit over generous on portions maybe . Also have a DP who likes his primo e secondo every eve so doesnt help. However I am healthy, walk loads, avoid non seasonal food and processed junk and have a few treats every week. Only time I ever eat crisps is when I go back to the UK and somehow a cheese sandwich without a bag of walkers seems wrong!!Don't get it, would never do that here (must be brainwashed into UK kids). As long as I don't look too much at the tiny Italian women all around me then I don't stress too much about itas long as I know I am putting healthy stuff into my body and exercising. Having said that, will start cutting out hobnobs before summer, the beach can be a depressing place in Italy!

gio oh the good old single days [longing emoticon]... I was slimmer when without dh. I long for those evening watching sex and the city with just a bowl of yogurt and special k or a cheese on toast. now if I cook smthing without meat dh complains that it is a 'non food' !

I have done f**k all today. absolutely nothing!!! is that good or bad?

Ah the strange things we eat only when in the UK.... Mine is chips soggy with vinegar. Actually, I'd probably eat the same here if only I could find decent chunky chips and proper vinegar.

I'm sorry if anyone thought I was getting at people over size 10. I was not, at all, I was referring to the more seriously obese that are becoming a common sight but weren't once. I wasn't talking about peeps with a big build or a size 14.

Pippi, what are you going to do for DH's bday? Do you normally give the present in the morning? Can you not wait until after work so maybe see if the hammock arrives after all then if not pop out and get him something else? (Speaks the woman who always "pops out" at the last minute to find something for DP's bday)

seeing as we know (!!) you Brang then its ok .. I know I am overweight and really want to shift the kg so apart from 2 weeks of buffet meals all superb ( scuse me but smoked salmon for breakfast if you wanted it!) then I will carry on healthy eating and see if it moves I am trying the small but frequent now to see if that helps the metabolism .If I get pg along the line then I will seriously think about changing doc but he does Cv in his studio rather than going to the hosp and risking it with whoever its a bonus but will cross that brodge when we come to it .
Pippi why dont you print off a pic of the hammock you ordered and put in a box with a ribbon and then let your hormones rage on the delivery company / shop when he is not round !