January 2012-Close encounters of the third trimester kind.... Too much nesting not enough resting!

[fishandlilacs]

Here we go ladies. A shiney new thread.

Welcome to the madhouse mrsamerica. We are speeding through this thread

MW said pressure probably due to baby's head sitting on bladder and will probably get worse - yay

I did think it might also be PGP related, driving yesterday really buggared me, actually managed to get stuck on the sofa when my legs decided they'd had enough!

Everything was fine though, even my blood pressure was ok which is amazing considering. And my GTT results were actually better than the 10 week ones. Measuring 2 weeks ahead so baby growing nicely.

Sorry to share every detail but I am so relieved that all the stress hasn't bothered CheesyMonster-RainDrop too much.

Another appointment made for 34 weeks, then it's the homebirth preperation home visit

Have a good evening everyone

The government website is very unclear and the job centre is down right unhelpful. unfortunatly im on my phone, or I would link where it explains it more fully and also the forms. But I'll probably be looking at filling them in within the next couple of weeks, so can pm you links when I do if you like?

addicted - I've read up quite extensively and I understood it was £123.54 (or some other such arbitrary sum) OR 90% of your weekly income, whichever was less. It kind of makes sense, otherwise every bugger would jack in their low-paid job and register as self-employed for the qualifying period, surely?

You are allowed to use your 13 highest-paid weeks, though...

Ah yes, just checked on the govt website and it is as I thought. Bummer. Got my hopes up for a minute there that I would be able to claim the full amount, but I haven't been earning more than £128.73 a week unfortunately.

^^If you satisfy the employment rule and the earnings rule, you will be entitled to MA for a maximum period of 39 weeks.

The amount you get depends on your gross average weekly earnings. You will get the standard rate of MA, which is £128.73 a week (from 11 April 2011 ) or 90 per cent of your gross average weekly earnings, if this calculation results in a figure which is less than the standard rate of MA.

If you have paid Class 2 NI contributions at the end of each week in your 13 week earnings period, you will be treated as having enough earnings to receive standard rate MA.^^

Mrs A - ack, my mum had that, but didn;t know the initials! Glad you're feeling better now. I knit too (and sew, and crochet - love it) What are you working on atm?

addicted i have pm'd you

Sorry - link to the Maternity Allowance page (for the self-employed) is here for those who want it. It lays things out fairly clearly.

Makescakes that is all correct but ONLY applies to employed people, there are diffrent rules for self employed people. The qualifying period is longer than 9 months so you would have to jack your job before getting pregnant!

No - the SMP is for employed people, the MA (maternity allowance) that I linked to is for self employed.

Evening all, am feeling laaaaaarge today.
Struggling to sit behind my desk at work, arms are getting too short to reach past bump to keyboard.

Midwife yesterday, am 30wks. Have told her we are aiming for homebirth with this one and she was really positive about it. Talked about some of the things that I was scared of and she was v reassuring. And said that a lot of people who opted for HB were medical folks, so that was nice to know. I can understand why it's not for everyone, but am just hoping everything stays straightforward so it's an option for us

red thank you for the heads up on the birthing ball, I was already looking at the Argos website...then read your message and no, thank you, will check Birth ease!

mum2 took me so long to log in, you are already feeling better, which is great! Hugs!

ghost hope you get to see your DH soon!!!! Much respect for all the sacrifice you do for all of us really! xxxx

dreamgenii as mentioned before, not a fan, but hope it works out for you giraffe

Excited about dinner....(yes, that is how exciting life is getting now....) braised red cabbage, sausages and mash...hmmmmm, house smells like Christmas (!)

Hugs ladies, sorry if I missed anyone!

Ah, Christmas cakes ladies, they are now selling a box at Waitrose with all the ingredients in it! Thanks Delia![hwink]

Sorry Makescakes, you posted

If you have paid Class 2 NI contributions at the end of each week in your 13 week earnings period, you will be treated as having enough earnings to receive standard rate MA.

That's it. Thats the tiny confusing paragraph that explains it all!. If your ni2 is up todate you get the full whack. Ma is also paid to employed people who dont qualify for smp.

Yekis, missed two whole pages before posting! Forgot to press refresh and now am totally out of synch with the whole conversation...sorryyyyy!!!! Welcome mrsamerica...and apologies for the totally random post!

But addicted, if you read the paragraph above that you'll see that

"You will get the standard rate of MA, which is £128.73 a week (from 11 April 2011 ) OR 90% of your gross average weekly earnings, if this calculation results in a figure which is less than the standard rate of MA."

I wish you were right, I really do, we would be so much better off, but I don't want you (or us) counting on money which you (or we) won't get...

gah-my brain hurts. I could never be an accountant or benefits adviser!

Re birth balls, I have the birth ease one, it's fab!

I have a balance ball that someone gave me, but I can;t (if you'll excuse the possible double entendre) get it hard enough! It's a bit soft and soggy and that is not good for the old PGP I should imagine...

[puts know it all hat on]

The birth balls are just the same as fit balls or pilates balls or whatever you want to call them. But lots of them are a bit floppy so it's like sitting on a big air filled cushion, which is no good. You want the smallest ball you can get away with (though just like posted up thread, your knees should be lower than hips) and it should still be pretty spherical when you sit on it. I have an excellent one for pilates which I'll use at the birth. It's in the car though at can't recall the brand, will check tomorrow! It was less than £15 but deliver would have been expensive I think.

psst, ghost, the hat suits ya ;)

Oft we're a chatty lot today
Welcome and glad your feeling better now mrsA

I can't remember you said what so...
The physio spent ages making sure the crutches height is correct. Thanks for re the handles. Dp is going to try source some from work.

Dd has been sick again tonight she is starting to pinch a bite of my food but its so small that its really just a taste she's having. Still drinking loads but not peeing very much hence gp wanting to check her urine

Re smp & ma: maybe a chat with the job centre or citizens advice to make sure of everything ?

Ps I think it's pro active fit ball- having trouble with the URL but something like: fitballs.co.uk/guide/index.php

Oh and remember yesterday me boosting about not having the slightest mark on my arm after getting the flu jag. Well now its aching and iv got a red raised mark now. Wtf. I thought any side effects would happen the same day...?

Makescakes I know I'm right! Dh has just explained it and I'm turning on the laptop so I can type better. Mn also ate half my message earlier so I'm very sorry my post sounded harsh and patronizeing. I'll pm you (and fish) unless anyone else is intrested in our little debate! [hgrin]

Well I do hope you are, because, like I said, it would mean we're better off, but I'm going to base our budget for next year on my existing estimations just in case - I'd rather be better off than worse off and I'll find out for sure as soon as I put the claim in.

right i've pm'd you, there is so much more i wanted to say but feel i may be coming across as rather pushy!! glad to see your going to put in a claim.

ok i'm stepping away from the subject now!

Firstly! Welcome MrsA. I seem to remember feeling higs-bosons very early on (I dunno, 20wks? maybe before). Was immediatly obv to me what they were. Was having a erm, not uncoordinated, but similar word, one at my 12wks scan, but couldn't feel that. Get them fairly frequently now. Just change what you're doing. If sat, walk about, if walking about sit/lie down. Usually stops 'em quicker.

Oh gods, I appear to be watchin terrible couple rom-com on e4...someone hand me the remote, or shoot me...

Anyway...

cakes gz on good sex! Always nice. Can't say I'm finding DTD all that good at the moment, but, well, I'll keep plugging away. At least I don't have belly-wobbles (literal wobbling, just when you don't want it) stopping me like I did a few weeks back.

ghost Hope you DH makes it back soon.

shonno Yay! for early mat. leave, even if it is 'cos your suffering. I'm officially on leave from 15th Nov thanks to a shed load of time owed, but may take 2 unpaid and get another 4 days meaning our last days will be the same?
Re: DD. Hope she's a bit better now.

So today was today, and I'm super-tired again. Abi's actually allowed me to sleep ok lastnight, but I think being on my feet so much at work (ok, 5h, but 5 very busy hours) is beginning to take it's toll. Still don't want to admit defeat mind you.

Currently arguing with myself as to what exactly my last "contractual day" is...errr, I'll still have a contract with them...so WTF??? Will try and pin down someone at work tomorrow. Must get the form in asap...

OH! Giraffe DH glimpsed your name earlier and wanted me to share this book with you: King, Darren "Jim Giraffe" 2005 It is absolutely 100% NOT a child's book. DH is paranoid Abi's gonna be a girruf (as they get called in this house) now... It is quite frankly the weirdest book I have EVER read and am ever likely to read, but amazingly, erm, funny!?

Re: waitrose/delia cake thingy. Yup, it's out there. And looking like much nicer packaging than last year. If only I liked xmas cake... Heston's pudding should be back in stores in early Dec. for those interested/who even know what the hell I'm talking about.

OOOH! I got my boots stuff! Will be nipping in tomorrow for my bag and my bottle! Planning on bf, but a free bottle won't do harm, and my 10p activation, or whatever the hell it was! As a contact lense customer I've also recently been given a 10% off thing too...so liking boots at the moment.

Good lord, epic post, but, well, I'm a ranty chatty booger and you guys have been today too!

Time for bed methinks!

Ok addicted, whilst your pm didn't clarify things much, it did prompt me to do more research and I apologise, you are correct. Unfortunately during my test period I did 1 weeks temp work with an agency and can't figure out if this affects my claim or not. Think I might have to ring someone tomorrow to find out. Fish, if you pm me your email address I found a great pdf which explains things pretty well.

Keeping fingers tightly crossed as this could be very good news for our flagging finances!