So, Ladies.. I've been pondering whether to broach this subject for a while now, but as my induction date approaches, and the frustration hardens, I've had about enough. Warning, it's a long one.
Bit of backstory:
In May this year, my partner and I found out we were expecting our first child, which after a year of no contraception was a bit of a surprise, as we'd both struggled to conceive in past relationships and had just assumed it was not meant to be. At the time, we were living in a large multiple occupancy house, renting a room, and being ripped off quite honestly. The environment was not suitable for a baby in any way, shape or form. We knew this, before hand we'd tried to save up money to leave, but there was always something coming up which left us digging into our savings. Food would be stolen, clothing.. If it wasn't nailed down, it would walk. Anyway, after our initial booking with the midwife, we explained our home circumstances, and the midwife expressed her concern as she knew of previous ladies who had been in the same situation, and it had brought her to tears. She offered to refer us for a social work assessment on the basis of hoping they could help push for us to be moved, or offer support into getting out of that hell hole. I have a lot of health conditions, and even at this point in my pregnancy, I was struggling with being type 1 diabetic, having severe neuropathy and just the stress through living where we were. Our landlord was trying to extort more more money from us, and wanted us to try and swindle money from the benefit system, to which we refused outright. It was becoming an every day nightmare. In the process of having our social assessment, I'd managed to find us a lovely little 3 bedroom flat, that we could easily afford, as we paid more for just the double room we currently rented, and the fees were not awful at all (£250 for half price deposit and admin fee) We jumped at the chance, and went to view. It needed a bit of Tlc, but it was warm, clean and would be our own safe space to bring our daughter into the world.
Fast forward a month, and we'd passed our social assessment with no concerns, as I'd already found us a place to move, abs we'd be getting the keys within a week or two. When we eventually moved in, it was bliss. My other half, and I felt so calm, and safe.. It was world's away from where we'd been..
Then.. The we heard our downstairs neighbours. Initially, I wasn't bothered. They had several young children, and a baby from the sounds of it. Kids make noise, right? Right. Not just the kids though. The adults. Screaming and shouting from the moment their eyes opened, to the moment they went to bed. The kids had no rules, constant screaming, banging, kicking doors, windows and no bedtime.. You name it. From 6 am, to 2am. Every single day. They are a Muslim family, and from what I can gather do not speak much English at all, I've tried to talk to the mother in passing, hoping to reason with her and explain that in a few weeks, we too shall have our daughter, and I don't think I will remain calm for much longer if their racket disturbs her, or me, for that matter. This pregnancy has been a real struggle for me, I've been on bed rest, and told to take it easy as not to cause any complications. I am at my wits end now. As I write this, I've been up since 6:30 because of their noise, I've complained to the council, and short of unleashing hell upon them. I don't know what else to do.
Am I being unreasonable, or is this normal? I mean, it something when you can hear them over the sounds of a washing machine at full spin. On another note, I worry for the children. They have no routine at all, are left to cause chaos and play in a garden scattered with dirty nappies, the father shouts, and screams at them, so they appear to fight and argue for, attention.
Any ideas on what I can do?
Signed,
A stressed out Mum to be.