Jue in June 2011 - not even our growing bumps can stop us from wittering on

[neenewps]

Onwards we go with the 2nd trimester...

Daisy hope you are feeling better now - don't worry you're allowed to have a bad day and forget things it's all part of being pg!

I haven't bought much maternity stuff as still have a bit from last time and still the wrong season for me really - I am certainly not in need of a slanket!!

Banana and everyone else for that matter - please step away from google!

Off for MW appointment at 9am this morning - just how late can it be if it's her first appointment of the day?!?! I bet someone will be rushed in mid-labour at 8.55 and she'll have to attend to that. I'm interviewing someone at 11.30 and I work about 45 minutes from the MLU.....someone get me a pink jumpsuit and a helicopter!

Anyway, I'm hoping she can put my mind at rest. My bump appears to have shrunk over the weekend, so now of course I'm panicking. Some days it really protrudes and, if not obviously a baby bump, definitely looks like I've been at the pies. Then other days my stomach is flat. Not sure where the baby goes to hide on those days. DD grew up inside my ribcage rather than out, so even at 8 1/2 months pregnant some people didn't realise. T'was great for not having stretch marks, crap for getting anyone to help me carry heavy shopping or give up their seat on public transport!

Banana I think polycystic kidney is what my goddaughter had. It was picked up on a scan before birth and she was on antibiotics for a few months as soon as she was born until the kidney returned to a normal size. She's a very normal (if scarily advanced) 4 year old. I may have got that completely wrong, I'll ask her mother what the condition was called but I'm pretty sure there was 'cystic' in the name.

Aquanatal class today! just had a panic that I might not be able to get into my swimming costume though...will have to check that out rather than turning up in a costume that is so over stretched it goes see-through.

DH has just suggested that when he's home on leave in Feb, we have a holiday. Bear in mind he's been in the desert for a couple of months (where it is actually cold this time of year), I think he'd like somewhere green, warm and by the sea. Got any ideas?

Just phoned surgery for blood test results re MCV (mean cell volume). Have been asked to go in today to discuss results with GP..oh poo!

banana if you want to know anything about PKD then please feel free to ask me as I have it. I will try to answer any questions you have without frightening you, which is what google tends to do!!

stargirl thanks for the tip off for JoJo.. I managed to get a top and a dress for £15 so very pleased with that :)

TTL hope you are feeling well today. Glad you have had reassurances from the Docs.

barbie Great news about your childcare. I am probably not going to be able to go back to work as we have no family here and not sure whether financially, going back to work will make us better off. As I work away from home I'm not sure how my DH would cope on the days that I'm away as he has a very stressful job! Will have to wait and see. Change of job for me perhaps!

daisy Sorry you had a crap start to the day. Hope it improved for you.

jasmine I don't know what MCV is. I will have to look it up. I hope it goes well at the GP's today. Hope that you manage to squeeze into your swimsuit too :o

Lisascat funny you should mention about your bump going up and down in size. Mine does too. I looked it up in my book and it says it is due to wind!!! Nice

Sorry if I have missed anyone out. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

ps whilst I am pleased for posh, I am starting to become fed up of hearing about her pregnancy already!! Hopefully she will wear a poncho throughout this pregnancy as well so I don't have to feel like an elephant compared to her :o

bookmarking

hope everybodys ok, have a lot to catch up on will be back later

For the avoidance of doubt, Posh is not the celeb I have been seeing at the EPU at the JR! Somehow I think she'll be getting slightly different care. One thing I think we can all be sure of is that our new bubs are not going to share a name with whatever she calls hers!

Morning everyone......just been away for the weekend, friends on Friday and then to my sisters for a family weekend for my neices 10th birthday. Had a lovely weekend but can i say....i really miss alcohol. I had a glass on Friday and a small glass Saturday but when everyone around you is consuming yummy red wine i am very jealous.......
I havent bought a single baby related thing yet but do have a few maternity clothes. After our 20 week scan i think i will allow ourselves to. With our nuchal results and declining the amnio we will get a better idea of the health of our little bean.
Hope everyone has a good day. DH is back at work today after 3 weeks off so back to seperate lives mon-fri :(, i miss him already

Dammit, midwife says I should have the flu jab. (Except she says it with a complete poker face/voice, that doesn't give away whether she genuinely thinks I should or is just following the guidelines they've been given.) I have no problem with having these jabs, but it's just so bloody inconvenient that I can't make an appointment with my GP at a time to suit, but instead have to go to one of their clinics smack bang in the middle of the day, which means I have to book a day off work. I'm trying to hoard all my holiday to tack it on the end of maternity leave, so I can be back on full pay sooner. Poo!!!

Lisa any chance you can get the jab at the pharmacy in Tescos or Lloyds? you will have to pay £10 but it could save you some annual leave.

lisa thats a bit mean, i had mine on xmas eve and had it done by the practice nurse during my MW appointment. It takes about 30seconds......had no problems, no sore arm or symptoms afterwards and i didnt really want it done but i am glad i have now. The flu seems to be pretty bad this year and as DH pointed out its not just about me this year

For all you Oxfordshire people, i used to live in Faringdon......and work at the JR but not the maternity bit. Loved living there and have a close friend who still does. My DH was brought up in Berinsfield......a long time ago :)

daisy you poor thing - what an awful day. Did the others pick up on your friend's comments about your bump? Please don't think you were irresponsible for not eating - my eating patterns are all over the place at the moment and you didn't know you were going to spill coffee on yourself! This could have happened to anyone. Hope you are feeling better. And at NHS Direct 20-hour response time! That must be a mistake ...

jasmine and lisascat I don't think there's any chance that Tesco or Boots will give the jab to a pregnant woman. I asked a pharmacist at Boots if she could sell me the jab to take to my GP to give and she gave me a 10-minute lecture on being responsible in my pregnancy and not attempting to buy drugs that pharmacists will not give to pregnant women. It didn't matter how much I said I was just asking and I would just go back to my GP she just carried on with this lecture about how Boots wouldn't give it to me under any circumstances. Ridiculous!

My GP is still out but hoping to have more stocks by the end of the week.

lisascat also I wouldn't worry about the up-and-downness of the bump. Mine is bigger in the evenings, I think. Considering the baby is only about 11cms long and weighs hardly anything the bump must be made up of fluid, wind, etc, and it seems logical that both of those would go up and down all the time.

barbie what brilliant news about your childcare. at the treatment you're getting from your current CM - how peculiar. We're going for nursery care at my place of work (a uni campus, so the nursery is lovely and it is subsidised - I feel very lucky). But as my hours are very flexible we're either going to go for 3 full days (8.30-5.30) or 5 afternoons (1.45-5.30) and can't make our minds up yet. If we did afternoons I'd work from 2-8.30 every day and DH would pick the baby up at 5.30 (he's a teacher). If we did 3 days I'd work 3 days and then go in on evenings and weekends when DH is at home to make up the rest of my hours ... not sure what is best for us, or more importantly what is best for the baby. What do others recommend - short hours daily in childcare, or 3 long days?

(The baby will be in from 6 months, btw. It's also cheaper to do 5 afternoons and, while that issue is secondary to happiness of the LO, our finances are very complicated and every penny counts ...)

Any advice appreciated!

TTL Really re Boots and the flu jab? Our local Tescos and Lloyds pharmacy has been administering them quite happily to pg women - a friend of mine had one with no problems. Typical that they cant get their policies consistent.

Hey I got my 20 week scan date!!! Woohoo...except its at the end of Feb and I'll be 24 weeks by that time - is this ok (apart from being bloody annoying) or is there a reason why it has to be 20 wks? As DH will be home soon I'm going to try fluttering the eyelashes to see if he'll pay for a private one at 20 wks - would normally flash the boobs at him, but as he hasnt seen them for 8 weeks I think he'd just be plain scared at what they now look like!

Oh Moomin I know exactly how you feel. Theres times I would kill for a glass of red and a cigarette!! - particulary over Christmas.

Im at my wishing the few months away stage now. (already!). I.E. the really, really impatient stage where Im starting to have a weekly count down in my diary calender on how many weeks of pregnancy I have left. I know thats terrible , I do this every pregnancy. I dont mean to sound insensitive to those who have lost pregnancies (as I have) but I yearn the baby, not the pregnancy.

I cannot wait to meet this little one and I also really hate being pregnant. I've put on way more weight than anyone else here - which I think is down to my quitting smoking and therefore eating constantly as a replacement(excuses, heh?). Just cant wait to be able to diet, have a bit of a figure back (ha ha ha ha!!), have a drink or cigarette if I want one, not be so damn tired and awkard and be back to "myself".

Going to have to try stop this though - with at least 20 weeks left (Im always overdue) Ill just have to get on with it and stop wishing life away!!. Oh that reminds me! am going to have to change myself on stats - I originally said I was due on 1st June (which Im very sure of). When I had my private scan at 8+6, baby was measuring ahead of dates so due date was changed to 28th May.

I then had my scan appointment (btw its all consultant led care over here) consultant worked out on his little wheel thing that, with LMP, I was due 2nd June (damnit its the 1st!! ), when he scanned me, baby is still measuring with due date of 28th May.

Am sticking to 2nd June (as although I know its the 1st, when I go overdue Ill be fed up so Im choosing the latest date)

8rubberducks how are you finding being off the cigarettes now?

neenewps, hope the job situation works out for you too!!
oooh and I too thought the same about Victoria Beckham and her teeny figure.

On the name chat, this has been driving me insane! I became quite obsessive really and was hanging about/ posting on the baby names section at an embarrassing rate!!. Im the type that has to be prepared (hence the childcare panic!!). We are definate on Kate for a girl now and are thinking of Anne as middle name after my mother (although then its a very plain name).

We've drove ourself crazy with boy's names as theres none we love. Think we have finally narrowed it down to Iarla (Ear -la) or Darragh (Dara), slightly more towards Iarla as its so unusual over here.

Can I ask whats everyones maternity plans (or has anyone else thought about this yet?), at how many weeks are you planning to leave work? and how long do you think you can/ will be taking? (sorry so nosey, just sorting out my own too!!)

Gawd, am the queen of ridiculously long posts.

Takethatlady, Your childcare arrangement sounds like another dream situation to be honest. Really brilliant.

I wouldnt worry at all about you LO, if Im honest. From what I have found (with dd anyway), that once its a general routine that she could expect it didnt matter and she was very happy if that makes sense, I dont think 5 evenings or 3 full days will matter to him/ or her provided its generally the same. I would be of the opinion that if 5 evenings was cheaper (and you and dh were happy with this) then I would go with 5 evenings as Im also a firm believer in happy parents = happy baby and if 5 evenings takes a little financial pressure of your family, then that has to be beneficial to all.

Jasmine PML at flashing your boobs at him. As far as Im aware (and have always been told) the "20 week" scan (or anomoly) is generally down beween 18 - 24 weeks as these are the best weeks to see everything, if that makes sense. It doesnt matter which of these weeks, it was just rounded off and averaged at being 20 weeks. I wont be getting one my next scan is in March!!

Barbie i am thinking of finishing with 6 weeks to go which means finishing at Easter. ( Decision made yesterday as its my dads 70th in March and me and sis are planning a surprise trip to Paris for them that week - with the double surprise being that we are all going to meet them at the hotel in Paris!)
I am all very unsure of what will happen with Mat leave as my DH is due a posting in July so at the minute we dont know where we will be or if i will be able to return to work. Ideally i need to return for 3 months to get the mat pay but if we are miles away that wont be feasable. If i can go back I have decided to downgrade ( although work dont know this yet)and take the full year off, hopefully do 22.5hrs.
My job is very active, hot environment and stressfull so i think 6 weeks is sensible for me.......

Thanks barbie. DH is relatively happy about nursery but only because we don't have a choice financially, whereas I think there are other benefits too to having two working parents in the kinds of jobs we happen to be in (i.e. emotional, social, cultural benefits, etc.). My mum worked, his didn't (and still doesn't), and we were both very happy as children, so neither of us has strong views either way on the issue, but he occasionally clings to what he sees as the ideal of one parent being at home (either parent). So he's not keen on 5 afternoons a week because psychologically he feels 3 days is better. I think 5 afternoons will be easier for us to manage as a routine as well as cheaper, and will give me a better chance of keeping up properly at work. But it's swings and roundabouts, probably.

On maternity leave, I am also very lucky and get 90% pay for six weeks and then 50% pay plus statutory for sixteen further weeks. With the reduced tax/pension/NI payments this will mean, and a student loan holiday, this won't work out too much below what I earn anyway. So I'm going to take six months. After that it would just be statutory pay and we'd be up shit creek! (Although I am applying for a mortgage holiday and if we get that I might eek it out to 9 months mat leave).

PS - taking 6 months means leaving on 17th June - 11 days before due date. So that might be a bit optimistic!

ttl with DS I finished on 1 August and he arrived 10 days early on 8 August so you could be fine but I did feel a bit cheated that I got less than a full week of mat leave before he arrived. I will also be having 6 months. I only get 4 months here and will take a combination of annual leave/unpaid leave for the rest if my boss allows. I really want to come back to the UK for about a month later next year (when I can face the flight with a 3yo and a baby) so thinking September for that. DH will do one journey with me.

moomin I know Faringdon well. My grandparents used to live there so I spent a couple of weekends a month of my childhood going there to visit them. My godfather still lives there now so I pop in occasionally.

My current plans are to finish work on 27 May, then take 2 weeks holiday meaning that my maternity leave would start on 13 June which is my due date. Of course, that will all be up in the air if the baby arrives early!

My work have a good maternity package - 14 weeks at full pay and then 25 weeks at SMP with the final 13 weeks unpaid. I'm erring towards staying off until the unpaid leave starts which would be sometime at the start of March I think. This works out quite well for my job actually because I am an accountant and our year end is 30 April so it would be helpful to be back at work for at least a month before the year end.

For childcare, we are hoping (if DH can get his work to agree) to both work 4 days a week so that we each have a separate day off with the baby and then the baby will go to nursery for the remaining 3 days. The dads amongst our friends who either work shift patterns or have changed their work pattern so that they spend time each week looking after their child alone seem to have a really close relationship with their child and we're hoping that this will happen for us too.

CuppateaJanice - lovely to hear from you - hope you're having a lovely new year so far.

Jasmine - I've never had a car seat 'fitted by a qualified fitter' - most of the group 0 seats simply sit on the seat with the seat belt threaded through them. Isofix base only fit into certain cars though.

Barbie how fantastic that your childminding situation has worked out so perfectly. I love it when a plan comes together

I hope Posh loses the baby weight slowly this time - we will constantly be bombarded with pictures of her, and she'll prob be back in her size 4 jeans at 6 weeks.

Re airfilled tyres - I've had a few prams with them and only 1 got punctures (frequently) which was the mamas & papas 03 sport. I've never had a puncture with either mountain buggy, mutsy, phil & teds or the old bugaboo frog (remember them??).

My 20 week scan is a week on wed - the day after DS's 5th birthday - where did the time go???

I'm very jealous of some of your maternity leave packages - I'll only get 6 weeks at 90% and 33 weeks at SMP. At the moment my financial forecast has me somewhere at £4,000 over my overdraft limit by the time I return to work.........er, bank robbing anyone? DP isn't yet fully aware of just how much extra he'll be contributing while I'm off ( Jasmine I WILL be flashing my boobs to soften that news!).

And I'm planning to finish work on 15th June, with my due date being 23rd....I can see no potential problems with this plan!!!!!