Mumsnet Little Italy 4

[Rosa]

Ciao - Everybody Welcome.

I am actually happy to have moved back, despite all my concerns/anxieties about Italy in general...(it is a mess here and the level of pessimism about everything is alarming), jobs, global warming etc. Who knows whether this will turn out as a huge mistake or not. But it's good to see friends. The city is tiring, but I really liked it...

I really like it. who knows???

Hello everyone! Ciao Gio di Roma. I am feeling fine, up and down all the time, scary mood swings, not directed at dp luckily, more panick about how i will cope, etc,. not tired anymore during the day. I am only a few weeks though, still havent made app at the gp;s to book first test and cvs. Pippi as soon as the weather gets itself together and possibly before your baby's arrival we should meet in C fields. Franca very happy to see that you are happy to be back. You know there was a small article about good old Beppe Grillo in the Guardian at the weekend!
Rosa,rosa come and join me and Pippi to moan about dh/dp, haha.

has anyone watched 'the life of david gale'? I just saw it and need clarification on the end...

see franca that's how I see it, and how we said, it doesn;t matter whether a place is 'better' or 'worse' it whether one likes it and feels confortable. I am so so glad for you !

Good stuff Franca glad it all looks positive and I gues moving into your flat will be positive but I bet its great being near Mum and dad again !
When do you have first blod tests etc in the Uk - I seem to remember seoemwhere after 7 weeks in Italy but before 12 or was it 15 I can remember 10 phials of blood though as it went on for ever !
Packing nearly done but going to re do one case and put a case inside a case ...just in case we do any shopping HIGHLY likely . Am starting to look forward to it now and just hoping hotel is ok etc etc and it doesnt poor with rain all the time !

Franca, glad you're liking being back in Milan. Even after all that bureaucracy . At least there are no longer marche da bollo, things have improved a lot since I first had to do docs. Have you noticed a lot of difference in the way things are/are done from when you left?

Actually, I've always been curious about this, those of you who are/were in the UK, did you have to do a UK equivalent of the permesso di soggiorno? Is there a lot of bureaucracy for these things in the UK too?

Rosa, have you left yet? at your 10 phials of blood! Was your doctor a vampire? I had my first tests done before 12 weeks, after that the cedolino from the SSN expired. I had a nightmare time finding a place that would do them, the nearest hospital had a clinic but you had to be there at 7 am otherwise you'd be at the end of a long queue of pensioners and not get out before midday. I gave up going there after a couple of rude, ignorant jobsworth receptionists wouldn't register me for stupid reasons 2 days in a row. One even asked me if I had a job and was paying tax. At that point I was very angry so I replied yes, and I earned more than her and therefore was paying her salary with the huge amount of taxes the govt got out of me. Stupid cow. After that I found a nice private clinic that was convenzionata and never again had a problem.

Helloo! Anyone got a recipe for a nice crema di carciofi to go with pasta? Last time I made one it wasn't very nice but I'm not quite sure where I went wrong. Someone told me to try making it with a besciamella instead of panna, but to me that sounds more undigestible. Is it better with bechamel? And what carciofi do you all use?

Have got to go now as have osteopath appointment soon and I must change into more modest underwear as she spends a lot of time looking at one's bottom, so it must be covered.

No idea at carfiofi think you need Pippi / Franca / Hot for that !
LOL at the pensioners and the hospitals. It is the same here. You have to get there at 7am and wait outside and there is always lei e dopo di me kind of thing and then you go in the door and you have to take a number but there are 3 different types and then you wait. I found it was better go go at round 8,30/ 9 ish but then I started passing out as had nothing to eat so went back to getting up early. Went to one clinic that was still asl but I got the most massive bruise afterwards to gave up on that ! Another has opened now and I went for a mammografia there - good and quick .
I think that doc did every test unders the sun right from the word go but the list go shorter every month !When in the Uk I showed them what I had to have tested and they raised eyebrows esp at the cat poo one !! But in Venice is a high priority as stray cats go everywhere - I was given strict instructions to wash all fruit and veg with bicarbonato esp if I bought in the markets as often crates etc are stored on the ground / under the banco etc - Scared the pants off me !
Off domani and so far 1 case I reckon is about 25kg - But its all weathers and we are in a hotel that says trousers for dinner for men ( EEEEK ) had to put in 2 pairs for dh incase he dropped salsa on them !The second case is not finished yet.

Hello everyone!
Rosa, I'm all excited for you going to a milder climate and obviously a bit . Last time I went to spain I found that things were cheaper, so well done for taking an additional suitcase .
Did you have a blood test in the UK rosa? because - it's true - I had my first blood test in the UK at around 12 weeks and they took lots of phials!
Brangelina these weeks of bureaucracy have been exhausting tbh (and tomorrow I will need to phone the numero verde for the application to scuola materna AGAIN because I think they made a mistake in giving me the "polo d'iscrizione"), however I find that they seem to have become more "flexible". And I'll let you know how my fastweb appointment will go tomorrow.
New things I have noticed that make me : lots of dog poo (which is replacing Exeter's drunk's vomit) and bottles of beer left in the street, which is def a novita' for me...
Hothell, it is normal to feel panicky. But I'm sure you'll be fine and your ds looks so "reasonable" (plus he'll be at school, which will distract him and help him in a way and will give you time with the newborn). And you can moan with pippi!

Talking about dear sons, mine is a VOLCANO, I don't know how to deal with him anymore. He is lovely, BUT incredibly vivace... help!

Rosa have a lovely trip tomorrow! how long will you be gone?

rosa x posted!
I pleaded to my english midwife to have the toxoplasmosi one as I ate lots of parma ham when I didn't know I was pregnant. she said yes, but I'm still not sure whether hey actually tested me or not...
Crema di carciofi, I don't have a clue, as I usually prefer them raw.

sorry, no cream di carciofi here either!
your ds franca does look like a vulcano, do you think he would benefit from activities, I know you are not a big fan, or maybe more sleep, or maybe he needs to be sedated, dunno.He probably just needs full time education and a proper routine, no?
my breast looks as if had a boob job, otherwise not much to report here.
have to book the gp soon, first test will be around 12 weeks.
i want to go to spain too, how many degress is there?

I think he probably needs to be sedated . he sleeps from 8.30 to 7.30-8 and as soon as he wakes up he is as active as ever (while his sister is always addormentata).
I think he needs more routine and hopefully it'll be better once dh will be back and in our new house. He is at nursery until 4, I will look for hings to do (like football for instance). But to be honest he's got more and more active in the last year, he'd come back from school in England (where he spent a lot of time running out outside) bursting with energy. And he's been eating like a pig

lol at all the bureacracy stories, exactly the same in Rome, I was under the impression it wasn't as bureacratic up north! I was 7.5 months pregnant with ds when moved back to Rome and made fatal mistake of doing it in August expecting to be able to register with a doctors, hospital etc. HA! All closed obviously. Don't know what DP was thinking about not warning me, probably thought I'd never make it over if he told me how horrendous it was going to me. Memories of queuing for my permesso in 36 non airconditioned heat with all the ticket machines broken (shudders at memory)and bawling in the grounds of the hospital with dp looking v helpless after being told I couldn't have an epidural and "childbirth is meant to hurt." really.
I dont think there is a permesso equivelent in the Uk Brangelina, my DP just had to get his NI number and register at the local docs.
Sympathies re volcano child Franca, if you find a way to sedate let me know. Mine has just emptied a pack of biscuits over the floor....

Lol at the trying to register with the doctor in August. What doctor? I've never seen a doctor around in August. My DD was born in July and by the time I managed to get out of the house in the mornings to do all her docs, codice fiscale, tessera sanitaria etc. it was mid August. Of course nothing was open past 12.30 and there was a queue everywhere. It took me 3 attempts before I managed to make it to the Agenzia delle Entrate.

And lol at you expecting aria condizionata. It's bad for you, didn't you know. I once had a colleague who kept switching off our pathetic air conditioning in the office where I worked before because gli faceva venire la cervicale. At 40°. Another kept putting her cardigan on to avoid the colpi d'aria. Our ac was an original 60s jobbie which at it's most powerful managed to barely move a feather 5mm away.
When I was pg I got back at them by insisting it was on the whole time otherwise I'd faint.

at childbirth is meant to hurt! I had ds in Milan and couldn't get an epidural either, and the nurse tutted at me screaming!
Yes my mum is the same with a/c, she thinks it's the most dangerous thing ever. Just a tiny bit less dangerous than "corrente", which you get by opening more than one window. She believes "corrente" is responsible of her backache, diarrea, stiff neck and many other ailments. Nevermind that you are tryuing to get some corrente in July with 37 degrees and not January.
Gio, lol at ds, at least at 15 months they are extremely cute

You didn't get an epidural at the Mangiagalli?. I went there specifically because it was one of the few places where you could get an epidural. I was a bit shocked about the lack of gas and air, though. I'd been reading in my sister's English baby books about this wonderful stuff that is G&A yet couldn't find it anywhere in the sala parto. There were lots of knobs but no tubes....

I nearly didn't get the famous epidural, though, as no one, including my gynaecologist who knew I wanted an epidural, told me you had to make an appointment at least a month beforehand. I went there in the week of my due date. Thank goodness DD didn't come early!

Is it just me or in Italy if you don't know what question to ask no one tells you anything?

I had ds in 2002 Brangelina and things havwe changed in the meantime... and I had ds during a very busy day, so apparently there was no anestesista available.
I had gas and air in the UK, the first breath was amazing, I thought I had drunk 5 gin and tonics, but tbh it is not so powerful and didn't bother much when I was pushing. No epidural in the UK either, somehow my midwife (who was lovely) had "felt" that I would have given birth pretty quickly and she was right.
Yes, you always need to ask, but, I asked lots of questions in englnd too

in the south even if you ask the question, they look at your perplexed. i remember asking in a bar when the adjacent shop was going to open, and the guy said to me ;Signo', e io che ne so' . In fact that is the standard reply for anything down south, mostly withouth 'e che ne so', just a simple " 'Signo' " with a a look as if you are asking to go to the moon. Very annoying, I always end up losing my temper...

I loved pethadine when i was giving birth, i was wonderfully completely off my head, and was trying to convince dp to have a shower with me (there happened to be a shower in our room), then had a shower alone, moaning to myself out of pure pleasure, and the feeling of the water on myself was ecstatic...sigh...

LOl!

I used to be hooked to all those english programmes dedicated to childbirth on discovery health, with caring and efficient midwives speaking softly and reassuringly. Imagine my surprise when I watched the first Italian programme set in a hospital in Rome when the brizzolato obstetricians tells a labouring mother: "Signo, c'ha er bacccino stretto, se tra un'ora non partorisce, je faccio un cesssareo"...

you were completely "fatta" hothell

I found hardly any hospitals in Rome did epidurals! Some that did charged 400 euros for it . Chose my hospital based on the fact it was the only one offering free epidurals I could find. How I LOVED the anestesista. Wonderful man (misty eyed at memory)

was it the san camillo?

lol at brizzolato