My gorgeous daughter will be five weeks old tomorrow and the only time we have left the house, since our trip back from the hospital, was on Christmas Day. This trip out included walking from my flat to a car to a house for dinner and back again so it must be ok to now feel like we need to enter into the outside world again and socialise as adult and child as well as mum and baby.

Between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday consists of communicating with friends last seen before the birth via Facebook and Twitter, so I think it must be okay to want a more face to face interaction with someone other than Izzy?

I have now ordered new clothes online to make sure I feel good on our first trip out. Hanging out in jammies and maternity wear does not do wonders for ones self esteem after the birth. This weekend I managed to straighten my hair and put some make up on and I admit I felt 'normal' for the first time in weeks.

So I have taken the plunge and offered to meet Reluctant Housewife for lunch this week. During pregnancy I often backed out of lunch dates and visits and now I am ready to step outside in the big wide world and show my daughter that there are other things to see outside of our front door.

Any suggestions for breastfeeding friendly cafes/pubs and mother and baby groups around the city?