An interim catch-up....
So sorry for the long silence. From skimming the thread, I gather that a lot of people are having the weight gain/growth spurt problem. We avoided going into hospital for Christmas(there is jaundice to be considered, as well as the weight loss), but I have been stuck feeding quite a lot, which adds to the "unproductive" (in the adult sense of the word) hours of the day. DD is gaining, but still hasn't regained her birth weight, and is just over 3 weeks old. The last MW did say, though, that the scales at the initial weighing could have been wrong, so I hope that unprompted-by-me comment will help reassure others!
DD is visibly gaining weight, though - her trunk no longer looks like an insect thorax (as feminine as a wasp waist is, that's not a look I want for my human child!)
Congratulations to all the new mothers!
littleMiss, how is your mouth feeling?
So sorry about the chickenpox, mmmcheese. When do you expect the run of it to be over?
Defnitely ignore the doorbell! If it makes you feel less guilty, put a note on the door about the presence of anew baby, and you should get bothered less!
DarcieandSnowball, I bet i felt good to hear the MWcalled a miserable old cow!
aethelfleda*, so glad you will now be able to sit for the marathon feedings without disocmfort! 
airofHope, that comment about housework being more important than spending time with children really struck me hard. If they try to articulate that, could you try the MN classic: "sorry, could you repeat that?" Make them repeat it, and then look at them with scorn and tell them that would be irresponsible, and you're not impressed with the suggestion you neglect the children for the sake of a floor. Have these people never heard of the FLY lady philosophy?!
Welcome back, honey, even though the news was not the best. Sorry you've had such a rough start. Does the fact that you've returned to MN mean you feel theworst is over?
aethel, sounds a good decision re the car. We are real diesel heads, even though it;s our firstcar - they are brilkliANT. Last year made it from se london to west country, driving a bit there, and back on one tank (about 60l)!
AirofHope, the Data Protection issue to target is probably use of information beyond the purpose for which it was collected. At this stage, ou might only be able to get the SW to re-issue the report with the extra information excluded, but if you achieve that, I really hope you can consider that a moral victory and a point made in your favour. You could stress the fact that you feel your past is being held over you, and you are not being given the opportunity to heal, and prove yourself anew.
A warning about weight gain: I lost a lot of weight while bf DS last time, BUT put on more after stopping bfing, as I had got into naughty cake habits. BEWARE!!! As for now, I've now got a waist from behind, but my tummy is still sticking out thanks to the split muscles.
FirstNoelChincilla, I'm very impressed by the Bluewater trip. I've been longing to get there, to get some bloody nursing bras, but over xmas is just not rthe time to be doing it, and the feeding frenzy is getting in the way, as well! I hope to get there this Friday!
kri5ty, I didn't bond very well at first with DS, so very much identify with your feelings, only I have never believed in love at first sight, so I was able to hang on and foster love slowly, the sort of love which is strong because it is made up of many, many of thin threads. This kind of love is dearness in the true sense of the word: lovingly dear and dear because of the effort it cost. no matter how traumatic the start, how elusive that "baby love" we all hear a lot about, this kind of love is attainable; you just have to have faith in it. Don't worry about having to wait until you have recovered mentally and physically from the agony of your birth experience. After all, that will have taken a lot of kindness out of you because you are simply too exhausted.
Tinselperion, your FIL is being totally unreasonable, and very much a shit, as you say. The ancestry business sounds very much like the classic "standing on the shoulders of giants", doesn't it? 
And hasn't he heard of Names like the Bonham Carters and Rees-Moggs? No-one would know who plain ten-a-penny Bonhams or Carters or Rees or Moggs were!
If he ever becomes approachable again, perhaps he could watch something like Les Visiteurs, in which the modern generation cares not so much for its past, whereas when the ancestor realises he has descendants, he is moved to tears (in an otherwise fun and light-hearted film - catch him off guard!).
(Hawthers, I'm sorry you, or anyone else, can understand what T's FIL is doing!)