A touch of Red ... Line

When we started our online baby site Indybel a couple of years ago we shopped around for a logo and web designer and met with several companies. None were quite right and then I remembered Redline whom I had met while working for another company. We immediately liked working with Redline as they are a very 'female' friendly company. This is important as many companies over here are run by egotisitcal males who don't really think women should be in business! ( It's true! Sorry guys ) The girls who run Redline are both hugely talented and very supportive of small businesses. We also felt Redline were right for our logo as we felt that a logo for a baby store should be designed by women but most of all they gave the best pitch!




Two years on ( and having received many complements about our logo, we still have a good working relationship with Redline. As well as the logo, they have designed our flyers which again we've had huge compliments about ( One man even told me they were the most professional looking flyers he'd seen on the Coast! ) our business cards, delivery labels and exhibition banners. They are just about to start work on our new catalogue which we are very excited about.



In this climate of chop and change we are really pleased to have been able to secure a good relationship with a company that we value and enjoy working with. Redline make design a hugely relaxing process which is great and their prices are very reasonable.



Redline are based in Marbella and specialise in graphic design, marketing, exhitibions, pr, web design, SEO, copywriting and much much more .... Check out their website at www.redlinecompany.com

IVF = I'm Very Famous !

The only day while ranting on here about how taboo the subject of IVF is, I started thinking about celebrities who may have had IVF. Jo Joyner who plays Tania Branning on Eastenders recently gave birth to IVF twins and gave a number of interviews about her IVF experience which she said she felt compelled to do as so few people speak out about it ....

So, I did a little research and am proud to announce that I am in extremely good company!

So here, just for fun, is a little list of celebrities who have ALLEGEDLY had IVF!

1. Courtney Cox and David Arquette suffered numerous miscarriages before turning to IVF. They now have a little girl CoCo and hope IVF will provide her with a sibling ....

2. Christine Brinkley sought IVF to have her third child ....

3. Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton had a little girl naturally in 2007 after several rounds of IVF and clomid ....

4. Marcia Cross from Desperate Housewives conceived her twins following IVF treatement ....

5. Celine Dion is currently pregnant with twins following years of IVF ..... her son was also conceived with fertility treatment ....

6. Hugh Jackman and his wife tried IVF for years before turning to adoption ....

7. Nicole Kidman ALLEGEDLY conceived her little girl following months of fertility treatments

8. Jennifer Lopez ALLEGEDLY conceived her twins via IVF although this has never been confirmed

9. Katie Price and Alex Reid are rumoured to be looking into IVF .... ALLEGEDLY!

10. Julia Roberts twins are also rumoured to have been concieved via IVF although she continues to deny any fertility treatment ....

11. Jane Seymour suffered multiple miscarriages and years of fertility treatments before finally having twins ....

12. Brooke Sheilds conceived her daughter after several IVF cycles ...

13. Emma Thompson went through several rounds of IVF in the hopes of giving her daughter a sibling. Eventually she and her husband adopted instead.

14. Trinny Woodall gave birth to her daughter after 9 failed attempts at IVF and two miscarriages

Aqua Park - Mijas Costa

Yesterday we went to the Mijas Costa Aqua Park for the first time. Our three year old had a great time and I have to say it was a really good day out!








At 18 euros per adult it's not cheap and that's before food and drinks but children under 4 can go in free which takes the edge off! We arrived at 11.30 and only had to queue for about 5 minutes which wasn't too bad although I'd imagine that July and August are a lot busier. We then secured beds ( which cost 3 euros for two ) right by the chidren's pool, so the perfect spot to watch the kids and sunbathe at the same time ... bliss!

The children's area is very nice. A large pool divided into two by a bridge houses a number of different slides and water type attractions such as elephants with water coming out of their noses and walkways under showers etc ... there are smaller slides for the really little ones and the water is thigh deep on adults so you do need to keep a close eye on toddlers but overall there was certainly enough to keep our energetic tot entertained for a good six hours. I woudn't necessarily recommend it for children under 3 but for 3 and over it's great ....

We had lunch at the restaurant which was clean and quick and chicken and chip type meals cost approx 4 euros per person so not too bad. There are numerous smoothie, ice cream and waffle stands dotted around the place too ....

For the adults there are number of different slides, a couple of swimming pools ( for kids too ) the wave pool ( which didn't have any waves while we were there ) ... grass areas and picnic areas. There is also an indoor games room, mini golf, trampolines and shows. The highlight of the day for my daughter was face painting in the water ... a rather odd concept but one that certainly pleased her!

The toilets were very clean and well maintained and you can rent lockers for your valuables for the day. The park was actually very well run with good queue management and a nice atmosphere ... but I couldn't say how it would be in high tourist season!

My main and only gripe has to be that the water was COLD ! I really thought the water would be slightly heated and more pleasurable but it was pretty cold and it was a hot day so it shouldn't have been that cold. I'm sure it must be heated when they open in April and even in September. Aside from that we all had a great day out and I'd def recommend it for anyone on holiday in the Fuengirola, Marbella, Malaga area or if you live here with little one's!

The Mijas Costa Aqua Park is situated just off the N340 in Fuengirola. ( Marbella to Malaga direction ) Take the first exit after passing the Miramar center on your left .....

Summer Holidays are here!!

Well it's that time of year again when the little one's break up from school for ..... gulp ... TWO MONTHS!!!!!!!

As much as I'm looking forward to having my little girl at home with me for a while and not having to get up to take her to school, two months is a long long long time!

A lot of parents opt for summer schools and to be honest if I didn't have family out here for most of July and August I'd be thinking about this too. The truth is it's just too hot a lot of the time to be constantly outdoors and so little one's get bored after a while and thinking up daily acitivites can be really hard. It's especially difficult for working parents or those without the support of extended families to help ....

There are a couple of great sites for parents looking for activities for their children in Spain over the summer. If you are on the Costa del Sol check out my friend Aimee's site Kids in Marbella for little one's and babies in the marbella area. For the rest of Spain Mumabroad is a great site packed choc o bloc full of stuff to do .....

IVF in Spain ... Getting Ready ....

Well ... we are now officially on our IVF journey. On 18th of June I began to take the pill which is my clinic's verison of DR ( Down regging - preparing your body, closing down your cycle so the dr can start with a fresh slate so to speak ) and on July 5th I start stimming.

As exciting ( and nerve wracking ) as it all is, I feel it's important to be realistic ... at this stage the chances of getting as far as ET ( egg transfer ) are slim and that's miles before getting a bfp! ( big fat positive pregnancy test result )

So how does it all work?

.... As someone who up until a few months ago had never given IVF a passing thought I've had to learn a lot in a short space of time. But what I've learn't is really incrediable. It's amazing to think only 20 years ago women didn't have this opportunity and with more and more women suffering from infertility these days it's fantastic that something like IVF exists at all.

I do get a bit cross with people acting like IVF is a disease or infertility is an illness ... these days women who get pregnant just by dropping their knickers are the minority whereas women who struggle are the majority and yet we are labelled as odd and treated with sympathy. We are not ill thanks!

Worse are the awful people who ask 'when are you going to have another ... or when are you going to have children'. It's incrediably rude, I don't go around asking 'when are you going to lose weight, or when are you going to get your roots done'. I have some choice awnsers stored up for these people but don't think I'll ever be brave enough to use them! Worse are the people who say 'We only tried once and got pregnant, we got pregnant by accident, we weren't even trying' .... Grrrr .... just go away you insensitive thoughtless people!!!

The truth is IVF is incrediably common these days and I confidently predict that in twenty years time it will be the norm in terms of the favoured method of conception. The other week I was chatting iwth a friend who had two lovely little children and it turned out she'd had fertility treatment for both. The point is people just don't talk about it at dinner parties etc but I'd be very suprised if you didn't know several people who have suffered from fertility issues.

At the moment I veer towards panic and excitement that I am able to have a go at this amazing procedure. I've been told that there is nothing so amazing as seeing your 'baby' at cell stage, something you never get to do with a natural pregnancy.

BUT.... to get back to my point .... How does IVF work ?.....

In short, I take a lot of horrible drugs, inject myself, bloat up, become moody and hormonal and probably mess up my overactive thyroid meds while hubby doesn't have to do much at all ... then I go for scans everyday to chart the growth of my eggs.

Basically I'll be injecting stimms ... ( hormone stimulants ) which should make me grow approx 20 eggs on the chosen cycle rather than one ... ( no wonder I'll be moody! ) The thing is I might not grow 20 eggs, my eggs may not do well or horror of horrors I can over stim and they'll mature before the clinic gets a chance to get them out.

If we do get enough eggs and they are okay for egg collection then we do EC and hubby makes his deposit. Now comes the scientific bit ... if hubby has enough strong swimmers they'll swish them around in a testube with my good eggs and hopefully some will fertilise. Then you go away and have a sleepless night and wait to see if any have fertilised and if those which have are dividing ( cells ) in the right way.

Even someone with a good number of eggs might only end up with one or two that fertilise. And ... ideally you want enough to pop two back in and two in the freezer!

So ... then they grade them and a day or two later ( if you are lucky ) you go back for ET and hope you get two back in that are looking like they could be healthy embrio's and hopefully a couple more become frosties ( frozen eggs! ) ... ideally then if this cycle doesn't work you can have FET ( Frozen Egg Transfer )

Oh and don't forget if you go privately like we are this all costs a small fortune which counts for nothing if you end up with a BFN and if your cycle is cancelled mid way through I presume you lose the money already spent .....

We've got lots of things counting against us ...

* at 37 I'm at the wrong end of the success rate ... at 37 it's actually okay but at 38 your chances drop dramatically.

* Then there's my overactive thryoid which could be affected by the stimms. So if that goes out of sorts then we'd have to cancel the cycle as if I did get a BFP with my thyroid not under control then it can lead to miscarriage.

*Then there's hubby's migraines, kidney stones and ulcers which mean he's on a cocktail of pills which aren't great for fertility

* ...and oh and did I mention that during EC and ET I have to basically stay in bed which is hard with a toddler to look after

* ...and IF you get past all that you face the joys of the 2ww otherwise known as the two week wait, when you basically wait for the BFP or your period, all the while popping hormones that make you feel all over the place ... lovely can't wait for that bit!

It's all about PMA apparently... positive mental attitude ... So the above is the very LAST time I am going to have negative thoughts! My PMA is all about telling myself daily that the IVF will not only work but that I'll have twins! Ha ha, okay we can't afford twins and would have to move house, get a new car, give up my life for 2 years etc ... but hey if it works then I'd def be overjoyed with literally two for the price of one!!

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN

IVF in Spain - Choosing a clinic in Spain ....

Well it looks like our IVF journey is finally getting underway!

To recap, having conceived our daughter ( and a miscarriage ) naturally we are now just a year later faced with 'fertility' problems. It seems that my tubes have become miraculously blocked for no apparent reason and my husband has slightly 'lazy' swimmers! So together we are not doing a good job in the reproductive arena!

In the end we chose Clinica Fertia in Fuengirola over Ceram in Marbella. This was a very difficult decision and I feel like I should outline the reasons here for anyone who may be in a similar position to myself. I'm sure if this cycle ends in a BFN ( big fat negative - pregnancy test result ) we'll be thinking we should have gone with Ceram and maybe still will. While IVF does have a promisingly high success rate the chances of a BFP ( big fat positive ) in my age group are approx 50 - 60% so nothing is guarunteed, in fact far from it.
As someone on a wonderful IVF forum that I've become a frequent poster on commented, it would be amazing if IVF were a procedure with guarunteed success as it would make it easier and I have no doubts that in my daughters lifetime that may well happen ... for now though it continues to be a lottery ... with not too bad odds!

So why did we choose Clinic Fertia .... well mainly and this is important it's about 5 mins from our house. When doing IVF you have to visit the clinic frequently for scans, mini op's and tests ... Ceram is a good half an hour away and unfortunatly in a zone where parking is a nightmare. For simple logistical reasons CF won this point.

My tubes were actually diagnosed at Ceram and I received very good treatment there from the dr on my 3 consultations. I have to say the receptionist was not the friendliest woman I ever met in my life though .... nor someone you want to see when you are confronted with fertility problems. You want to see a nice smiley face. I went to Clinica Fertia where the receptionists were more friendly and the dr was also very nice and reassuring and most interestingly disagreed with the Ceram diagnosis that all was lost for my little tubes! I felt this was an interesting point. On the downside I have now had 3 appointments at Clinica Fertia and at every one have had to wait at least 30 minutes, even first thing in the morning ... Ceram were incrediably good at keeping their appointments on time ....

I googled the two clinics like mad and couldn't really find anything conclusive about either ... both had good and bad reviews on the net and both seemed to have good stats. In the end a friend of a friend said that she'd tried both and would def recommend Clinica Fertia over Ceram.

So in the end we chose ( not easily ) Clinica Fertia.

To be honest I don't know whether we made the right decision but it feels right at the moment. Having said that if it doesn't work at Clinica Fertia or the experience is not positive, I wouldn't hesitate in trying again at Ceram. I haven't heard anything particularly negative about Ceram, it was just that for this first try Clinica Fertia is more convienient ....

I hope this helps someone who finds themselves in the same situation as me ( although I also hope no one does ! )

****

Update 12 /01 /11

I am now delighted to say that I am nearly 12 weeks pregnant with twins following our second cycle at Clinica Fertia in Fuengirola. Despite some dodgy time keeping I have nothing but praise for this clinic who have guided us through two cycles and given us the amazing opportunity to have twins. I believe the clinic have always been honest and fair with us and worked creatively to improve our chances following a fairly disasterous first cycle. Many thanks Clinica Fertia!!!

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IVF AND FERTILITY IN SPAIN CLICK HERE

Ballet at the ITS in Fuengirola

A few months ago now my 3 year old started ballet at the ITS in Fuengirola ... The ITS is actually the International Theatre School and is run by Nicola Jones.

My little girl does a half an hour class on a Saturday morning and absolutely loves it ... they do a mixture of ballet style moves, jumps and dance. Parents can watch through a glass window and it def seems like a lot of fun with games like musical statues incorporated into the ballet to add to the fun.

Aside from letting off steam on a Saturday morning, my little girl is definintly becoming a more delicate dancer which is an improvement on her previous 'breakdancing' style! At 4.50 euros a class I think it's a bit of a bargain and well worth getting up early on a Saturday for! The dance school is housed in Centro Nordico on the Mijas Road, just up from Lidl, around the corner from the Mijas Costa Cortes Ingles and next to Puegoet.

Not sure what we will do over the summer as the school breaks until the autumn!

To find out more about autumn classes check the ITS out here

SEO Spain

When we started Indybel a couple of years ago we had very little concept of Search Engine Optomisation. I liked to pretend that I knew what I was talking about but in truth it was little more than an IT buzz word BUT we did know that 'it' was incrediably important to the growth our company!

Once our website was up and running I was given the job of 'SEO' as I was the more technical of the two of us and I was used to copywriting from my previous career and so I began a rather interesting education in SEO ... A friend gave me lots of advice and pointed me in the way of a couple of helpful websites and I began to use SEO on our website to help improve the our rankings in the search engines. I actually quite enjoy SEO, I think you are either an SEO type person or not. There is a huge amount to learn and a huge amount you can do to help your site, much of which is very creative and I've found that if you think creatively about SEO you can have a lot of fun with it and increase your rankings through the most unlikely means. The tricky thing about trying to do SEO in Spain of course is that you have to think about it in two languages!





I'm still very limited by what I can do in terms of technical skill and I'm still a bit of an SEO novice but I'm learning new stuff every day! Recently I was lucky enough to be contacted by Mike from Spain SEO who very kindly commended me on the work we'd done on the site so far and offered a huge amount of invaluable SEO advice to help me move things to the next level. This week I have started to tentatively put his advice into practice and I am sure it's going to make a huge difference to our rankings over the next few months ...

Spain SEO have a blog where they outline SEO basics and their services. If you are stuck in SEO no mans land ( or even in Spain ) and are looking for a friendly and easy to understand SEO site then I can't recommend this one highly enough. And if you're looking for friendly and easy to understand advice and help then I'd def suggest giving Spain SEO a call ....

Would you like to work for Indybel?

We are looking for Indybel Agents.

Are you a mum in Spain, great saleswoman or do you just love shopping?

We are looking for agents who can promote Indybel and our products in their area.

This is a great opportunity for new or expectant mums across Spain and anyone who is resourceful, creative and enjoys a challenge!

To find out more including how to apply please email info@indybel.com

This summer I am loving .....

.... the Babybanz Kidz Sunhat ....

Okay we sold these last year and I knew how great they are but I didn't buy one for my daughter as she seemed to have a million sunhats. This year with all her sunhats being too small I purchased the Babybanz sunhat for her. The great thing about this hat is that it offers total UV protection and has a massive rim so the back of her neck is protected while she plays in the pool or in the garden and her forehead and most of her face are also protected ....



The hat looks really cute too and has been the recipient of quite a lot of comments at our pool and on the beach, and thankfully she seems happy enough to wear it. The useful velcro tie means that I can alter the size for her head too so she can't pull it off all the time.

Def my favourite summer baby product so far this year!

June Special Offers

This June we have taken 15% off our Customer's Top 5 Favourite Summer Products!!

Flexibath WAS 39€ ..... THIS MONTH 33€

JoJo Maman Bebe UV Family Sun Tent WAS 54.50€ .... THIS MONTH 46.30€

Baby Kangaroo Sling WAS 39€ .... THIS MONTH 33€

Shade-a-babe WAS 37.50€ ..... THIS MONTH 32€

JoJo Maman Bebe Maternity Kaftan WAS 31.50€ .... THIS MONTH 26.80€

Check out these great savings now at http://www.indybel.com/

Offers last until 30th of June or until stock runs out!

Flexibath News - New Colours

The Flexibaths were flying off our stand at the Salon Bebe show ....




Parents loved the Flexi Bath which folds up in one easy movment meaning it can be used all round the house, popped in the car for holidays, weekend's away or for use on the beach and stored neatly in a bathroom cupboard, under a cupboard or under a bed ....





We now stock the Flexibath in a number of hip and trendy colours including Pink, Blue, Green and Red as well as Clear and White ....

Check out the new colours at http://www.indybel.com/ ( Flexibath in the Baby Store, Bath section )

New Product News .... The BabyDan Security Starter Set

Babyproofing can be a bit scarey ... there are so many hazards in the home it's difficult to know what to proctect your baby from first without being overprotective ... as parents we want to make sure our little one's are safe but at the same time it's important to let them explore and yes even have one or two little tiny accidents. I don't mean I let my toddler zap her fingers in plug sockets or stick her head in the oven, but the odd fall or knock warns your toddler to be wary of corners and hard floors and reminds them that they are not invincible!

When we started babyproofing our home I bought a whole array of products ... some good, some bad. We went through several table corner pads until we found some that stuck and as our toddler wasn't particularly interested in the toilet or fridge we never needed those locks, although we did need some for the kitchen cupboards, esp those full of cleaning products and the drawers where she seemed to delight in getting her fingers caught!

It's expensive buying so many products, so I'm really pleased that at indybel we now sell the BabyDan Security Starter Set ... this 21 peice box set contains everything you need to get started .... corner cushions, door stop, cupboard locks, plug covers and so on ..... once you know what you really need you can always buy more, but this is a really economical way to start!

Find the BabyDan security Starter set in Spain in our Babyproofing section in the Baby Store at http://www.indybel.com/

Salon Baby Show in Torremolinos

We had a great time at the Salon Bebe show in Torremolinos. Many thanks to our suppliers Baby Kangaroo and Babybjorn / BabyDan who helped kit out our stand! It was also great to meet so many of our Spanish customers and to find out what kinds of products the Spanish were interested in.

We were delighted to have Sasha from Baby Kangaroo with us during the weekend to demonstrate how the Baby Kangaroo sling works.

Although we are already familiar with the product it was really great to see it in action and the customers loved the sling because it was so easy to put on and so flexible. It's a great sling for the hot summer months in Spain as it's very lightweight and comfy to wear. It was also really interesting to see Sasha carrying around her two and half year old toddler in the sling. Proof ( not that it's needed ) that the slings are indeed strong enough and versatile enough to carry not only a baby but a toddler too .... and Sasha's little girl loved it! The slings were flying off our stand and it was great to see so many happy customers wearing them while they walked around the rest of the show!

If you didn't get a chance to buy a Baby Kangaroo sling at the show don't worry, we are still selling them on our site at the fantastic price of 39€ .... check them out here ....

Top 5 Baby Show Sellers!

The most popular items over the weekend were ....

* Baby Kangaroo Sling

* Dream Genii Pregnancy Support Pillow

* BabyBanz Sunglasses

* Imse Vimse Swim nappies

* See Me Driving Mirror

Customers also loved the ....

BabyDan playden, Trunki, Babypotz, Flexibath and the Indybel Portable Chair ....

Congratulations to our prize winners too .... 1st prize was a gorgeous Dream Genii Breastfeeding pillow, second prize a Cuddlebug toddler towel and third prize a bag of Bio D goodies!

Many thanks to Daphne for her amazing organisation and looking forward to the next show!

Spain ends Baby Cheque

There have been rumours for a while but it is true that as part of a new drive to economise the Spanish government has ended the Baby Cheque.

The Baby Cheque which was started a few years ago was a payment given to new parents of 2,500 euros to help with the costs of having a baby. Those who had twins received 5,000 euros. To claim the payment, mother's had to prove they'd lived and paid into the Spanish social security system for at least 2 years.

The Baby Cheque will now be ending at the end of this year. Any babies born after midnight on Dec 31st 2010 will NOT receive the cheque, however all those born up until this time WILL receive the cheque ....

I reckon there will be a lot of raspberry leaf tea being drunk, curries being eaten and long walks being taken during the month of December 2010!