Feb 2011 - growing bigger, loosing our figure

[angels1]

Just a new thread as I noticed we are near the limit (again)!

Hi PDR mine has booked his as the due date for now....although we did laugh when they said we had to give 28 days notice to amend the date!! His boss is quite flexible though so just said see how it goes... He get 3 wks pat leave (& better benefits than me-full pay during that time)- think I might need to switch companies & go work for his....female staff get up to 1 year on almost full pay!

Went to debenhams after seeing that lovely wee babygro that needto got-picked up some lovely babygros & warm cardigans as going home outfit for baby....stocked up on a few bits & pieces at mothercare too-now feel a wee bit more organised at last! Just need to get Moses basket, bedding & changing table then stuff for hospital bag & I'll be happy!

Have been reading a thread about a woman on postnatal ward who was not offered breakfast after giving birth the previous lunchtime ! I think my hosp is pretty good with food but I am now planning on packing a few cereal bars etc in my labour bag and maybe some squash as I don't drink tea/coffee just in case. I love my food and I'd probably cry if I didn't get offered b/fast post-birth LOL!

I'm thinking the same PDR. Especially as I have a really specialist diet and I'm convinced they won't really have or give me anything I can eat. I've already brought a pack of my muesli and camomille tea for my hospital bag. I rememeber prof had a story about not getting breakfast as she couldn't manage going to get it with baby or sth.

Once you've given birth, do they give you food if you're hungry or do you have to wait until official hospital meal times? I'm inagining I might have baby in the evening but not have really had anything to eat for at least a day so be v hungry, but then to have to wait all night before the hospital manages to get me something would be a long wait . My only experience similar to this is when I had an op in the evening once and had had to fast all day due to anaesthetic. As soon as I came around I was desperate for something to eat and the lovely nurses went and made me tinned tomato soup and bread (tasted great at the time) straight away, but this was a private hospital so not sure if NHS will work in the same accomodating manner . AT least those doing home births won't have to worry about these things

I try not to drink anything after tea at 6. DD manages it, so I reckon I can too. Seems to be working... if I'm hospitalised due to dehydration don't try it!!!

angels and PDR I had DD1 at 5pm, having eaten nothing all day (didn't want to), and by the time I got to the ward I'd missed teatime. The midwives dug 2 ham sandwiches out of the fridge for me and put them at the end of the bed, out of reach!! In the end I had to call a midwife to put DD down in her cot for me and get me my dinner!! They were the best sandwiches I ever had, but I was glad of the secret stash of chocolate I had in my bag.

Midwife texted today to say I passed my GTT!! Hurray!! They all expect me to fail as I am a big girl so I am very chuffed. Bring on the banoffee pie! (sorry prof...)

i wee about 5 times too,i find my spd hurts more when bladder full.I can t limit my drinks cos am so thirsty at night.
I leaked lots with my first and i was only 17 so you can imagine my shock!I just used tissue or breast pads i think its quite normal and i did have loads of milk when he was born and fed half of special care too.

Congrats on passing the GTT debka, think I might try your not drinking after 6pm thing tonight but I always get really thirsty after my evening shower and drink a pint of water then...

janedoe glad you had a good time last night but ouch to your spd after sitting in a cinema seat, you didn't watch Carlos the Jackal did you (it's over 5 hours long! )?

PDR this is exactly the same question that I have been thinking about. My OH has booked 2 weeks from EDD (all he's allowed) ad then 2 weeks holiday to follow that which will be great if all goes to plan (I'm not thinking about what mw said....) but how do you know? He's told his employers that he may need to change this and they were fine but they need to do the rotas so will need to know in advance.

I am going to get extra chocolate, a big bag of sweets and some bottles of ribena for my hospital bag just in case I need to transfer there from home. I don't want to eat hospital food so will probably pack some sandwiches as well if necessary.

angels which show did you work on and as what? need to know now! Really don't know who's going to leave tonight. For the first time I didn't think Rebecca was very good but I love her so will forgive her that much. I was also awaiting an awful rap in Imagine and was pleasantly surprised!

will Wagner make it through another week???

angels when I had DS I was offered "tea and toast" post-birth but after thats it's offical meal times only - I had been admitted about a week prior to birth so had filled out my menu card in the morning but obviously if you go into natural labour and straight to the delivery suite you won't have done this so it's usually whatever's left/spare and you don't get a choice.

I think a lot of it depends on the hospital though so try and find someone who has given birth there before (recently).

I am planning a little picnic for myself as I always want to eat - no matter how sick I am . I wanted to eat loads during labour with DS but the midwife said no :( I did throw up just before I started to push though so maybe she had her reasons...

Hey everyone!

Happy belated birthday Jane, so pleased to hear you had a lovely time.

Congrats debka!!

PDR Hope you are enjoying the yoga pants, I'm willing mine to hurry and dry as they are by far the softest and comfiest at the moment.

I'm actually really lucky and never have to get up to wee in the night (YET!!), though I do have to go as soon as I wake up in the morning. Must be horrid for all of you getting up and down several times in the night :( I have enough pain getting in the first time! Its funny, I have also noticed that I'm so much thirstier in the evenings too.

I'm also a bit worried about the hospital food thing, as being in another country and not really enjoying even the simple local things, like the bread (which they eat ALOT of!!) meats and cheese, I can see being a problem. Really good tip about the musli, angels thanks, I might also take mini boxes of cereal, which I can munch on dry if needs be. Our hospital is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so there will be no OH nipping out for a take away. I'm sure it'll be fine!

I hadn't even considered the paternity leave needing to be booked.. 28 days notice of changes!?!? sorry cannot remember who said that but that is the funniest thing I've heard. They surely cannot enforce that! I guess knowing when to book is really tough :/ I think I best get OH to sound out his work regarding this!

I'm pretty sure that if you want the proper, official paternity leave thing where you get SPP and all that, you're supposed to tell your employer when you're 25 weeks (because it's 15 weeks before EDD). My DH had a good look at the guidelines when he did it and that's what he thinks. It might be though that some employers aren't that pedantic and are happy to hear about it a bit later, but I would definitely advise everyone who wants their OH to have paternity leave to speak to their employer about it ASAP.

The only thing we don't understand is what happens if I'm say, two weeks early. Or even two weeks late. We want DH's leave to be for the first two weeks. He thinks his employer will be sympathetic about this, but what if they weren't?

I think partners get a pretty tough deal. Those two weeks must really fly by and then it's back to work, which can't be much fun.

It really is a rough deal for partners in the UK :(. I hope they decide to change it to the Scandinavian way in the future. Many dads take half of the maternity leave as it can be split mostly however the parents choose, though mosters are required to take at least the first 14 weeks.

mosters?? Haha. mothers of course!

Zero you are right - if anyone's DH wants official paternity leave with SPP etc they prob should have notified/given evidence by now. Whoever said about the 28 days notice to change the date is also correct - however impractical this may sound!

I think flexibility on this is down to the individual employer. With DS my DH was able to continue working for the 2 weeks I was overdue then drop everything and come to the hospital for my induction followed by 2 weeks PL. On the other hand my cousins's DH (who is a fireman) had to take his paternity leave from her due date and she was 8 days overdue so he only had a few days left once the baby was born.

I think being early might work in your favour as surely no employer is going to make you miss the birth of your child and if you have other small children at home then your partner will have to organise childcare for them.

Being late however is a different matter, esp if the employer has arranged "cover" for your DH... They won't want to pay two people to do the same job. If you can afford it you might be able to take the 2 weeks PL then some time unpaid afterwards but I know a lot of people who can't even afford the 2 weeks on SPP!

The ideal situation would be to take the 2 weeks PL followed by 2 weeks AL if you can (my DH's employer allocate AL so no chance of booking it for after bubs is born sadly).

I am going to go with my EDD + 5 I think... a bit random but as I have a 2yr old DS at home DS would have to take emergency leave to look after him anyway if I went into labour earlier. This will be unpaid leave anyway not official PL and we are lucky we can afford this.

Agree it's a pretty rough deal for fathers and for older siblings who really need both parents around!!!

I'm going to be all of people getting paternity leave! Dh will take a couple of days of his 12 days annual leave, then it will be just me +3! Hopefully his boss will let him work from home a bit. He's really understanding as he is a single dad of 3 so we should be able to sort out some flexible starts.

I hope everyone is having a great Sunday. We have more snow in the garden so dd is having a great time. Ds refused to put on his snow suit though so he is creating havoc indoors! I can't believe we've almost filled another thread already.

Hello all, Mr Wiggles is taking 5 days off when baby is born, he gets 5 days full pay, we aren't going to bother with SPP, employer is flexible re when he starts the leave. When I had dd2 I was induced but he worked that day, made it to hospital for birth, worked the next day. Then took any leave from my first day out of hospital.

I found the packets of fruit you get from Tescos, M&S etc fab for hospital Hospitals are always so warm that I have a terrible dry throat. My mum and sister always bring me more sandwiches than you would need for a wedding buffet so I won't starve. I always got tea and toast after dds births, I still haven't been able to stomach tea so sad as it may sound I'm so looking forward to that.

Hi just a quick hello to everyone, hope you are all doing well. officially dreading leaky boobs now! Just to let prof know that I'm officially having a surprise, so please update when poss! Now hopefully off to watch Katie getting booted off X Factor at long long last.....

The initial breakfast I was OK on as (with DS) I was still catheterised and not allowed out of bed and (with DD) got given it in delivery room before going home (although, tangentially, given how obsessed medical staff become with your bowel movements after you've given birth the almost complete lack of fibre in the standard-issue postnatal breakfast cornflakes, white bread, jam was interesting). I throw up continually during labour so am always starving afterwards! It was later meals that were iffy. But having your own food definitely a good plan -- and, again, make some of it healthy. Everyone brought me chocolate or cake when I was in post-section with DS and after a couple of days I was desperate for something that had at least been vaguely introduced to a vitamin once...

DH is freelance at the moment so not sure how much he'll take off. I suspect it's likely to be a couple of days off then bits of working from home alternated with short-ish days in the office. SIL gave birth this week and her DH is a hospital doctor, so he needed to book well in advance for rotas and so forth -- they worked it out that he booked two weeks starting a month after her due date, and in practice that has worked out well as she eventually gave birth at 40+15, will have her mother around for two weeks and then her mother will go home just as paternity leave starts.

Prof that is interesting re your SIL - I def think later is the way to go if the employer cannot be flexible becuase of rotas etc.

Interesting chat re: paternity leave talk. DH is self employed so he can choose when to take time off and not have to give notice to a boss. Only question is if the time off he has will include my labour or not - I had assumed the 2 weeks he was taking off would be when baby and I are back home but he thinks it will include when I'm in hospital - so I'm hoping to be in over a week end so optimise his time off

Had another odd MIL thing yesterday. MIL (who goes on and on about how she had no support when she had her babies and then got PND and nowhere to turn/go and so alone etc etc and how she'll be there for me any time for anything when baby comes as she doesn't want same to happen to me) lives quite locally and announced they are hoping to book a holiday in late feb (I'm due feb 21st) and I was threatened ordered that if they did I was not allowed to go overdue incase they missed seing the baby straight after birth. . AIBU in being a bit taken aback by this? Don't get me wrong, I don't mind if they bog off on holiday and leave DH and I to it (indeed, it might be a good thing for my sanity). Just found it a bit of an odd thing to do given how she's gone on about how supportive/helpful she wants to be.

Can't believe Katie made it through and was LOL when Wagner went through. I'm now starting to change my mind about him - I think it could be a hillarious sort of ironic slant (and annoyance for Simon Cowel having to make an album with him) if he won the thing - can you imagine Wagner as christmas no 1?! It could be the new RATM for christmas no 1 thing

Hi Prof, I'll have to be "shy baby" on the stats list. Legs were clamped together at the scan, so we didn't get a look in! I'm going back for a scan at 32 wks to check fibroids, so may find out then. TBH, I was gutted when the 20 wk scan didn't reveal all, but now, I'm not too bothered. We have boys names picked out, but DP and mum are both convinced it's going to be a girl, and we're struggling with girls names. I've got a list, and things are getting crossed off, and out on at regular intervals, but still no clarity!

Just saw a post from PDR on pg thread saying half price on baby bits in sainsburys currently (thanks PDR) so went to order an online shop and found half price pampers bed mats (assume designed for bedwetting children). I was thinking would this be good to buy to use under sheets for me in the post birth week where bleeding, erm, leakages might occur whilst asleep. Anyone used them? Maybe an old towel would just do the same job and be much cheaper

Morning ladies. Even though I come on here quite regularly, I still struggle to stay up to date on what's going on!

Had a lovely (birthday) weekend, meal out in Manchester followed by Harry Potter and stayed over in lovely hotel. Was a bit embarassed as had to ring the hotel before we arrived and ask them to make sure there were at least 8 pillows in the room! I'm sure it's not the weirdest request they've had, but I felt all the same!

Then Sunday lunch out yesterday, it's been a gastronomic weekend and today I just want salad and fruit and things! Glad I'm not having my GTT this morning .

Am a little eeek at the reports of some people not getting food when they want it post-birth. If DH sneaks food in will it be confiscated I wonder?

Yes I am a little obsessed with food by the way.

Re pat leave, DH is having one week off then two weeks he will just work afternoons, still giving us some time together and not having to worry as much about sleepless nights and getting up for work etc.

Baby has been on the move a lot this weekend. I have previously only been having kicks very low down on the left, but this weekend they've been all over. So it could arms as well as legs, or s/he could be taking this opportunity to fully explore every corner of his current home before s/he gets too cramped to be able to move!

S/h did a lot of jumping at the loud noises in Harry Potter (a lot like when we went to see fireworks on bonfire night), so I guess s/he can hear lots now.

D

hey every1 i was stuck on my decision weva 2 post on the feb group or jan 1 im due on 24th jan but as i discovered with my DS i wil probably go over due n end up with feb baby so i decided this time round i would tell myself im due a week l8r and then im less likely to get 2 stressed going overdue! in theory this should help :) wot do u fink?

YES GET TO SAINSBURYS EVERYONE AS LOTS OF BABY STUFF* IS HALF PRICE* UNTIL WEDNESDAY (I think its Wednesday anyway)

wipes
creams
breast pads
toiletries etc

To those of you having your 1st they often do 1/3 off all baby but I have not seen 1/2 price very often so stock up!

Thanks for the tip on the other thread, PDR- was at Sains this morning and got some Lansinoh- still have some left after DD1 but it's SO EXPENSIVE normally.

Hello, we're reaching our message limit so I've started a new thread