Rowie's Scribbles

After another long hiatus, I am back to write about my experience with pregnancy and childbirth in France.  Due to a medical scare in Jan 2025 (to be discussed in a separate post), we decided to try to get pregnant. We successfully conceived in April 2025 and here's how the journey went!  Declaring the pregnancy Once I tested positive for pregnancy (I used the simple pregnancy test strips), I notified my gynecologue medicale. A healthcare professional (gynaecologist/midwife) should be informed by the end of the third trimester so they can declare your pregnancy to CPAM as well as provide a letter that you can furnish to your employer.  Monthly check-ups My gynae then provided me with an ordonnance for the following: 1) Blood and urine tests - monthly at the laboratory 2) Ultrasound scans - 1 per trimester, with an echographist 3) Trisomy test - at the laboratory 4) Vaccination, such as COVID, flu, bronchiolitis. This ensures some protection is transmitted to the fetus. 5)...

Wow this post is super delayed! Then again, I've been too busy with RL (aka lazy) to update this blog. Last year my partner was posted to Paris for work assignment so I came for a winter holiday. It was my first trip to Europe since graduation in 2010 so I was excited!  We covered the following cities: Paris I skipped some of the places I visited previously. It was great to catch up with other colleagues and visit the attractions that I missed last time, such as the Eiffel Tower and Musee d'Orsay.  Lisbon I'm ambivalent about egg tarts but the famous Belem egg tarts are fabulous. The pastry was flaky and the custard so smooth, it was a great counterweight to the steep streets of this city. We visited the Jeronimos monastery and food was so affordable here.  Barcelona Barcelona was probably the most affordable city in this trip; I highly recommend getting the Barcelona pass as  Venice The 1st business of order upon arriving at Venice was to...