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    Lily-of-the-valley: The Emblem of Labour Day

    April 30, 2020 Webmaster
    This article was first published in the May/June 2017 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. by Alison Plater, BCT Information Coordinator At the end of April each year, in the shops and streets of Belgium and France, it is usual to see people buying lily-of-the-valley (muguet in French, meiklokjes in Dutch) and 1 May [...]
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    Everything you wanted to know about doulas

    April 30, 2020 Webmaster
    This article was first published in the November/December 2015 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. By Emily Gold If you are pregnant and have begun looking into options for your birth perhaps you’ve came across the term “doula”. Or maybe you had a doula at your last birth or heard about the benefits of [...]
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    Small Talk: Pyjama Days Rule!

    September 9, 2016 Webmaster
    This article was first published in the November/December 2015 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine.   By Kate Ellwood, BCT Prenatal Teacher Mine are cosy, soft and very, very pretty and they make me feel safe – what are your pyjamas like? A bit tatty, out of shape, grey from the wash with elastic [...]
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    BCT Summer: “Bring a Friend”

    June 23, 2016 Webmaster
    Here at the BCT we love to see new faces at our various activities – there are so many people in Belgium looking for ways to connect with others and find fun things to do with their families and it is inspiring to see our community grow. But not everyone has heard about the BCT [...]
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    Small Talk: Accidents can happen

    April 24, 2016 Webmaster
    This article was first published in the September/October 2015 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine.   By Kate Ellwood, BCT prenatal teacher and First Aid instructor   For most of us, home is a haven of peace and safety, but add a child into the mix and suddenly it becomes a place of incipient [...]
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    Small Talk: Clear out the clutter

    April 11, 2016 Webmaster
    This article was first published in the March/April 2015 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. By Francesca Puccio Spring has finally arrived (or so I hope by the time you are reading this) and for me it comes with a desire for renewal and improvement! In terms of home and kids this equals: Getting [...]
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    Ask The Expert: Photographer Nicole Gustafson

    April 4, 2016 Webmaster
    By Carrie Do you ever have questions that you want to ask to experts but you don’t have the time or you hate talking on the phone. Or you don’t want to ask questions because maybe you are a bit embarrassed to ask, either because you think the question is stupid or maybe too [...]
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    Small Talk: 5 Cool Things No One Ever Told You About Night-time Breastfeeding

    March 21, 2016 Webmaster
    With kind permission from Breastfeed Chicago www.breastfeedchicago.wordpress.com, we are happy to repost this article that first appeared on their website and in the March/April 2015 edition of Small Talk magazine. The world is full of tired parents… and the Internet if FULL of message boards with posts from worried and exhausted parents [...]
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    Small Talk: Babywearing

    February 29, 2016 Webmaster
    This article was first published in the May/June 2015 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. By Cindy Huisman Over the last few years, babywearing has become increasingly popular, and as it becomes so, more questions are being asked. What are the benefits? Is it safe? What is the best carrier or sling? My own [...]
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    Small Talk: Dealing with Toddler Aggression

    January 18, 2016 Webmaster
    This article was first published in the May/June 2015 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. By Sharon Levrez, BCT Experiences Register coordinator We expect so much of our children, don’t we? We want them to be cute, bright, well-behaved, gifted artists, dancers and musicians, popular with their peers and with other adults… So when [...]
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    Small Talk: Infant reflux

    December 13, 2015 Webmaster
    This article was first published in the September/October 2015 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. By Sharon Levrez, BCT Experiences Register coordinator When I had my third baby, she was very often sick. Sicker than the other two. The paediatrician diagnosed her with reflux. A lady at my weekly postnatal kiné classes dismissed it, however. [...]
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    With love from Brussels

    December 4, 2015 Webmaster
    How to talk with children about what happened in Paris? Guest post by Carmen Verschuur Friday 13th… Just an ordinary evening. We watch a film…Kids are in bed… All is silent. The i-pad purrs like a cat…..purr….purr… It doesn’t stop. Breaking news in Paris. What’s going on there? We read the news and in the [...]
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    Choices we make

    November 8, 2015 Tinatin
    By Tika Every moment of our life we make choices. We do this based on our intuition and desires. However, human nature is that we have to always judge choices of others. Parents do this probably more than anyone else. Judgement is especially prevalent in the multicultural society – similar to what we have in [...]
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    Small Talk: Feed me! Fussy eaters

    September 14, 2015 Webmaster
    This article was first published in the November 2012 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. Compiled by Lisa Adams and Sharon Levrez ‘I can’t eat that! The daily dinner table battle cry from children who won’t try meat, pasta, potatoes, carrot or food with ‘bits’ in. Dealing with fussy eaters is a universal parental [...]
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    Small Talk: Outdoor Swimming Pools

    June 29, 2015 Webmaster
    This article is taken from the July 2012 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. By Tasha Byrne Unfortunately, there is no outdoor swimming pool in Brussels, apart from Oceade, which is really a water park and therefore comparatively expensive. If you are prepared to travel a little further afield, Belgium has several outdoor pools [...]
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    Small Talk: Our story of stillbirth

    June 15, 2015 Webmaster
    This article was first published in the November/December 2013 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. by Jenny-Lee Moore It was mid-February 2009, when nine months into my first pregnancy I woke up one morning and realised that, for the first time in several nights, I hadn’t been woken up by the usual jabbering of [...]
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    Small Talk: Get started with potty training

    June 8, 2015 Webmaster
    This article is taken from the March/April 2015 edition of Small Talk magazine. By Annika Eaton, BCT blogger   Potty training takes time, effort and patience. It can be stressful but be full of joy and delight. When your little toddler manages to wee in the potty for the first time the happiness [...]
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    10 things which I do differently after becoming a parent

    June 1, 2015 Tinatin
    By Tika 1) Working hours: I used to spend quite long hours in the office before December 2013. The reasons why I did long hours are not very clearly settled in my brain so I will avoid going into details of that. Apart, probably the fact that, I had more work than normal 8-hour [...]
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    Small Talk: Coping with colic

    June 1, 2015 Webmaster
    This article is taken from the September/October 2013 edition BCT’s Small Talk magazine. By Sharon Levrez, BCT Experiences Register Coordinator A friend of mine once told me that when she had her first baby she’d put in an order for one with “no nappy rash and no colic”. If only it was that simple! She was lucky [...]
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    Small Talk: Raising Multilingual Children

    May 25, 2015 Webmaster
    This article is taken from the September/October 2013 edition BCT’s Small Talk magazine.   By Ulrike Légé Raising children with several languages is a chance and challenge for parents. Our world has become multilingual, and we are ourselves global citizens used to working and socialising in several languages. Letting our children learn languages at an early age [...]
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    Small Talk: Explaining death to children

    May 17, 2015 Webmaster
    This article is taken from the September 2012 edition BCT’s Small Talk magazine. by Sarah Roberts Parenthood brings with it so many things – immense love, comedy moments, sleepless nights…and plenty of questions from your children that leave you wondering “How shall I answer that?” At some point, one of the big issues every child grapples with [...]
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    Small Talk: Good dental habits from an early age

    April 20, 2015 Webmaster
    This article is taken from the November/December 2014 edition BCT’s Small Talk magazine. By Ana Maria Sarmento Little by little, I am trying to instil the routine of brushing teeth into my three-year-old son. What was at first a fun activity to do together is now becoming a challenging task. Although used to brushing his teeth since [...]
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    Small talk: Choices, choices

    April 13, 2015 Webmaster
    This article is taken from the January/February 2015 edition BCT’s Small Talk magazine. Download PDF: BCT Small Talk – Choices, choices Choices, choices By Kate Ellwood, BCT Prenatal Teacher We are blessed to live in a country with one of the best healthcare systems in Europe, but, navigating the system is not without its challenges, and [...]
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    Small Talk: Sweet child of mine

    April 6, 2015 Webmaster
    This article taken from the BCT’s Small Talk magazine talks about childhood diabetes. It is taken from the November/December 2014 edition. Download PDF: BCT Small Talk – Sweet child of mine Sweet child of mine Living with childhood diabetes By Sharon Levrez It was only thanks to Lena Maas, BCT friend and playgroup leader, that I [...]
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    Small Talk: Will we ever have sex again?

    March 30, 2015 Webmaster
    Our next article taken from the BCT’s Small Talk magazine is an honest guide for new parents about sex after having a baby. It is taken from the November/December 2014 edition. Download PDF: BCT Small Talk – Will we ever have sex again   Will we ever have sex again? An honest guide for new parents [...]
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    Small Talk: Home Alone

    March 24, 2015 Webmaster
    This is our second in a series of articles taken from the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. It talks about how to make sure that your child is safe when you leave them home alone. It is taken from the January/February 2015 edition of the magazine. Download PDF: BCT SmallTalk article – Home alone Home alone By Sandra [...]
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    Not Your Circus, Not Your Monkey

    March 20, 2015 Janae
    By Janae I remember the final days of my pregnancy (I was 2 weeks overdue) and it seemed like everyday I would be loaded with Facebook posts and messages giving unsolicited advice on how to go into labor. I remember thinking how annoying that was (I had already tried everything) until I actually had [...]
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    Small Talk: All you need to know about bedwetting

    March 17, 2015 Webmaster
    This is our first in a series of articles taken from the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. We start off with an article on bedwetting from the March/April 2014 edition of the magazine. “Ask a parent at what age children should be dry at night and they’ll probably say three or four years old. Ask an [...]
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    Postpartum Life: What I Didn’t Expect

    February 2, 2015 Janae
    By Janae Every now and then (in the past 5 months) my husband and I have reminisced about our labor and delivery experience, the ups & downs, the challenges and triumphs. When it was over we couldn’t believe that we did it and did it together. For the most part our experience was pretty [...]
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    The adventures of potty training

    January 27, 2015 Annika
    I can’t help but feeling that our home hygiene is not what it used to be at the moment. Anyone who has ever been potty-training probably knows the feeling. The other day I was making pancakes when the little one started screaming “caca is coming, caca is coming”. I rushed to her, pulled down her [...]
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    The Secret, but Not So Secret Society of Motherhood

    January 6, 2015 Janae
    When I was pregnant I would see other pregnant women and it was like we all knew we were pledges in the same secret society. We would see one another on the street and we would just know. We would give one another this look. It was a look of excitement, nervousness, and just the [...]
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    Working Hours?

    January 5, 2015 Tinatin
    I am in the middle of changing my job. Even though I have been thinking of this step for some time, I had been refraining from taking active steps. This is/was mostly related the fact that boys are still just 1-year old, they get sick still quite regularly and I still follow start-early-finish-early timetable at [...]
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    A rule free day at Christmas

    December 16, 2014 Annika
    ”That’s it. I have had enough. I am leaving”. I roared loudly and the rest of the family looked at me with big and surprised eyes. I left the kitchen table and stormed out. But only to the next room. Of course I wasn’t going to leave them, but that was the feeling I had [...]
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    bugs and viruses

    December 8, 2014 Tinatin
    We have put boys at the childcare in the beginning of June when they were exactly 6 month old. I have heard from many parents how often children get sick at the childcare. I was dreading this period. Plus having twins means that both are sick at the same time. The first virus arrived 2 weeks [...]
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    Children, seniors and dogs

    December 2, 2014 Zeynep
    We are living in a small street in Brussels and more than half of our neighbours are over 65. They are very nice and polite; we exchange greetings, smiles, we even have small talk sometimes; making jokes about the gloomy Belgian weather! I like Belgian humour though, I manage to laugh each time. [...]
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    Thanksgiving in Belgium

    November 23, 2014 Janae
    First I would like to say how excited I am to start blogging for the BCT. I am thrilled to share my stories and experiences as a mother and especially as a mother in Belgium. Moving to a new place can be scary and new, but moving to an entirely new country full of new [...]
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    Toddler networking

    November 20, 2014 Annika
    Bringing up a child can be challenging at best. If you raise your children in a foreign country, where the traditions and views on child care are different to the ones you are used to, it can be hugely frustrating and confusing. Trying to find the “middle way”, bringing with you traditions from your home [...]
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    The art of enjoying toddlers

    October 20, 2014 Annika
    With a toddler in the house I have the mixed feeling of wanting to fast-forward time a couple of years, but at the same time wanting to stop the time because it is going too fast. I want to fast-forward events so that I have no more terrible tantrums to deal with, no more messy [...]
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    Nicknames for children

    October 6, 2014 Zeynep
    When my son started to nursery school 4 years ago, my daily life French vocabulary started to expand. The school permitted the parents would stay for half an hour to play with their children every morning. For both of us, discovering something new; games, toys, etc and observing others were so much fun. I started [...]
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    Slapping or not slapping

    June 2, 2014 Annika
    Before I had children I was very certain; one should never hit, spank, slap or smack a child, not under any circumstances whatsoever. This probably has to do with my background – in my home country hitting children is forbidden by law and naughty corners are something that was in use about 50 years ago. [...]
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    Food journey of a 6 year-old

    April 1, 2014 Zeynep
    “There are four types of food in the whole world. Healthy, less healthy, not-that-healthy, not-at-all healthy. And the level of healthiness is inversely correlated with the taste.” This argument belongs to my 6 year old ‘gourmet’ son. Alnar has been suffering from asthma since he was 13 months old. Even though no particular allergen was [...]
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    Bio-obsession

    March 23, 2014 Annika
    Please help me out here somebody; I don’t fully understand the bio-emotions. I would like to be a convinced bio product shopper, knowing exactly what is good to buy for the health of me and my family, for the environment and for my wallet. But I am just so confused. How do I know, for [...]
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    To Live and Eat Like a Belge? Or Not…

    March 18, 2014 Marina
    One of the things that drives me crazy about being an ex-pat is the differing advice you get on child-rearing depending on what country you’re in. Case in point… On our last trip to France, we ran out of Daktozin (an ointment for diaper rash). When we stopped at a pharmacy to get more, the pharmacists [...]
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    When the poop hits the fan

    February 24, 2014 Annika
    I sometimes wish there was a “keep calm and carry on-course” to mentally be prepared for certain situations when it comes to changing nappies. For example, how do you best deal with ill-timed situations where there are no changing facilities, you have used up the last wipe and forgotten the spare set of clothes at [...]
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    The Evil Pacifier

    February 7, 2014 Marina
    When our daughter was born, the midwives at the hospital warned us not to give her a pacifier before she hit the one-month mark. Not knowing much about babies, I took the warning seriously. We later consulted with friends and relatives regarding the pacifier question — some were free-wheeling, saying: don’t wait a month — give [...]
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    Pink Toxication

    January 29, 2014 Zeynep
    I think Dora started just after her 2nd birthday; only wanted to wear skirts, dresses, leggings with flower patterns, socks with pompons. She refused to leave home without shinny necklaces, bracelets, bonnets, hairpins, etc. And all them in pink, ‘s’il te plait maman.’ She cried in the middle of the night for losing her pink [...]
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    Confessions of a chocoholic

    January 29, 2014 Annika
    One of the worst things with being a stay at home mum is, for me, that I eat too much. I can’t stop nibbling, especially sweet things. Over the week-end we were given a box of chocolate. When Monday came, my husband went to work; my kids went off to school and crèche. I stayed [...]
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    Happy New(ish) Year Resolutions

    January 24, 2014
    Well it’s the third week of January and all my new year resolutions have gone to pot. I haven’t even managed to read a poem a day from my ‘Poem for the Day’ book. So I’ve decided to focus on resolutions for Ewan instead. At six years and nearly four months old, surely he should [...]
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    Winking blokes

    December 20, 2013 Annika
    I got such overwhelming response to my last blog post about grumpy old men (and grumpy mums) so I thought I continue on the same subject…  No, seriously, I got precisely none, so instead I will focus on something more positive. If grumpy old men manage to make me really grumpy, young flirting guys can [...]
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    Buggy Rock ‘n’ Roll

    December 13, 2013 Marina
    When my husband got transferred to Brussels for his job, we were both unanimous in our desire to live in the city’s center. We wanted to be at “the heart of it all” and decided that the St. Catherine neighborhood was it for us. What we didn’t know then was that I was already a [...]
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    Men in red suits, etc

    December 6, 2013
    A couple of people at work have said to me recently “It just doesn’t feel like it’s going to be Christmas in a couple of weeks!”, but in this household we’ve been fully in the Christmas spirit since Ewan turned 6 at the end of September. (And he’d been talking about THAT since the previous [...]
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    Grumpy young mums

    November 28, 2013 Annika
    You might be familiar with the British television program Grumpy old men, which became a success some ten years ago. The grumpy old men discussed any issue that irritated them, such as loud mobile phone conversations in public places. It is true that old men often seem to be grumpy. I have experienced several of them [...]
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    My cat and my children

    November 7, 2013 Zeynep
    I used to write about my cat, Osman. A column in a newspaper, in his name defending animal rights and a website telling his daily stories. These were the days he was right in the center of our lives, hearts… Yet he still has his place, but he has to learn to share it with [...]
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    Small Talk: Time to Get Moving!

    August 12, 2013 Webmaster
    This article was published in the March/April 2013 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. Too many moules frites, Belgian beer and chocolates this winter? Sarah Roberts lists some local places to get fit for spring, as recommended by BCT members Out and about For free exercise, the green parks of Brussels offer some great [...]
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    Small Talk: Mindfulness for Children and Teenagers (and their parents too!)

    August 10, 2013 Webmaster
    This article was published in the March/April 2013 edition of the BCT’s Small Talk magazine. By Katy Kefferpütz Everyone’s talking about it, and more and more people are practising it. Actress Goldie Hawn has written a book about it, US Congressman Tim Ryan promotes it as ‘a simple practice… to reduce stress, improve performance and [...]
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    Small Talk: What’s in a surname?

    August 10, 2013 Annika
    Dafydd is a dual national from Belgium and Wales (UK). His partner Ana is Spanish. Their two children were born in Brussels but registering their births was not completely straightforward… Fall in love with Belgians and even marry them. But don’t ever have children with them if you want to avoid administrative nightmares. Wherever you [...]
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    Small Talk: Coping with change

    August 8, 2013 Webmaster
    This article is taken from the December 2012 edition BCT’s Small Talk magazine. Waterloo based member Ulrike Légé has experienced several moves around the world with her husband and three children. Originally from Germany, she has spent time in the US and Switzerland before arriving in Belgium in 2011. Here she shares her strategies for coping [...]
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    Small Talk: The TENS machine: a real option for pain relief

    July 30, 2013 Webmaster
    Have you already heard about ‘TENS machines’ and wondered what in the world they were? Or perhaps this is the first you’ve heard of one and now you are curious! Allow us to introduce this drug-free pain-management tool for use during labour… TENS is an acronym that stands
 for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. The TENS [...]
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    Welcome to the BCT Blog

    July 24, 2013 Sandra
    The BCT is a volunteer organisation run by its members. With 1200 member families from about 70 countries, the BCT unites a large number of parents and parents-to-be, all with different backgrounds and experiences. This blog will give them a voice: We have invited blogging members to share their stories. Some of them might be [...]
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