Thank you for all the interest, encouragement etc!
Masseuse: what a day you had yesterday! Having the electricity go away without knowing how to restart it would be bad in any country, having MIL to stay at the same time, the snow, having to unpack... I hope things looked up once DH got home.
Also, look at what you have done and are getting done, not to the bits that are going wrong (something is bound to when you are going through such massive change). I do not know anyone else who would attempt DIY while also entertaining MIL, looking after two girls who are settling in a new country and trying to get insurance etc sorted out at the same time. I hope this does not sound patronising (it is most definitely not meant to), but you are doing incredibly well, so take it a bit easier- maybe the car insurance and the plugs can wait a day or two while you spend more time with the girls (or, as others have said, with a good book in the bath while MIL plays with the girls)?
Financial products change a lot across countries and speaking the language and being familiar with the concepts often is not enough to understand them, so, annoying as it is, don't beat yourself up about it. I remember the first time I worked at a Citizen's Advice Bureau somebody came in for advice on making a claim on their car insurance and, despite being a reasonably clued-up (junior) professional I did not have the faintest clue on where to start.
Gio: Le Creuset are fantastic. Extremely heavy, but I use mine pretty much every day- they are particularly good for sugo, soups, brasato... If you are not in a rush, Amazon has regular half-price sales (that's how I got most of mine).
Quick update from this end: have just come back from the labour ward, which had asked me to come in after I had called for advice about one-sided pain that had come on very suddenly 2 hours ago. It seems I might be in early labour-apparently sometimes early contractions can pull muscles, which could be what happened. Felt fairly stupid, as the bend-in-two pain I had when I called them from town (was due to have lunch with DH) was much milder once I got there, but they were very nice about it. The monitor also showed my BH are actually quite strong (they scored 60 on something that goes to 99), so maybe this is it. So I guess now I'd better go, have lunch, finish packing the labour bag, rest (did not sleep very much last night, but we had had raclette, which is not exactly light and digestible) and sort out my pension contribution (deadline tomorrow morning) as who knows how long there is to go. Having said which, it will all stop and I will go overdue- but I am fairly sure that if I do nothing it won't. Have told DH to go ahead with his afternoon meetings and not bother coming home early as there might be ages to go yet- will rely on you guys to keeping me company instead, if that's ok.
Right, off to lunch now, laters!