Graduated elderberries

[janey1234]

Hello all..,
Let's clog up a brand spanking new club over here

(By hello all, I guess I mean hello hazle. Hopefully the others will join us soon...)

yay massive congratulations!
very glad to hear all is well.

Oh lol that's brilliant news!!!

I was getting worried - I love worrying at the moment - hence I was asking about you earlier...

So happy that it was good news - it's the best feeling isn't it, when you see the baby and hear the heartbeat

Hi Lol! Glad to see you're back on and all is well with bubba.

What a pleasant surprise to find out you're further along than you thought. Time seems to go in slow motion when you're pregnant so I hope the same happens to me at the 20 week scan and it turns out I'm actually 39 weeks and about to get baby out. I know....well, I can dream

Thanks for your concern. Yes it is amazing! Baby was jumping which was funny. DH kept starring at photo. It was sweet.
I'm hoping ill relax a bit now.
How's you two doing?

Yay! Congratulations Lol it's nice to have you back. How exciting to be further along than you thought!

TMI but I think my wonder guts have finally failed me, seriously, the last time I was constipated I was about 7 but my very healthy digestion and stomach of steel have finally let me down and nothing is moving

Oh dear Purple It might not last though. I was just about to start forcing prune juice down when normal service resumed all by itself. No doubt it will rear its ugly head again at some point.

Oh purple, know exactly how you feel. I'm NEVER constipated or have any problems in that respect, but have been really suffering. My tips - proven to work last weekend:

1. Soft fruits. Lots of. Pears, plums, kiwi etc.... Eat lots.

1. Water. Lots of.

1. Cut out all bran. Turns out it can make things a bit worse in times of need.

1. Lactose. Harmless. Recommended by my midwife. Magic.

OK this day did not start that well. First, couldn't sleep. Nose totally blocked, not even a molecule of air coming through. I can't sleep breathing through my mouth, so was up most of the night. Using the nose spray that usually helps, nothing. Tried several times, still nothing.

Got up and discovered that what I had been using in the dark thinking was the normal spray was actually just salt water spray, no wonder it did not make any difference. If I just used the normal one, i would have been fine. Grr.
And then I forgot to brush my teeth. I never forget. Seriously, who forgets this kind of thing? Luckily have some gum and mouthwash here but still, eww. Will have to start carrying a travel tooth brush and other essentials just in case.

And now I want Fanta and the work cafeteria is not selling any!

Sorry Hazle but I just had to chuckle at your nasal spray/toothbrush mishaps Particularly the toothbrush, it's really not great to have to spend the day feeling like you have furry teeth. I made toast yesterday and tried to put the butter back in the washing machine instead of the fridge. And I thought there was no such thing as baby brain!

I'd happily give you some of my Fanta if you were closer, I have a fridge full

Shhh with your talk of Fanta. I'm trying to forget its fizzy goodness...

Oh hazle what a shitty start to the day. I however, have had a great start to the day laughing at someone spraying salt water up their nostrils

I've actually had a really bad start to the day. My mortgage application to extend the loft last night got turned down due to my credit history. My bank sounded massively surprised, as I was I. I'm asking for a 49% loan to value total mortgage on my house, so should be a pretty safe bet.

Turns out that when I paid a credit card off, back in the summer, a week after I paid off the balance in full they tried to take a direct debit for the full amount. I had already cancelled the direct debit as i had paid off the card. They charged me £12 for trying to take money I didn't owe them, and now it shows on my account that I missed two payments of £12 (they tried taking it my direct debit, which HAD BEEN CANCELLED!) and as such shows as two missed payments on my credit history. Unbelievable. Asked the company (virgin money) to put it in writing that this is what happened (the bank had said if it was something small like this, which they suspected, they'd obviously review my application as my credit history had always been excellent in the past) and they said no. Wankers.

Have just e-mailed the chief exec, leaving my job title and signatures on the e-mail (I work for three national and one regional newspaper which can't do any harm) and have threatened to take them to the financial ombudsman. I have a July deadline on this bloody extension and can't be wasting time of this! The buggers...

Janey that's outrageous! But press is pretty much the only thing such companies are worried about, so leaving your signature was a very good move. They'd better sort it out.

It is outrageous. The buggers. I know I will get it sorted, but it annoys me that people who don't work for a newspaper, or who aren't as confident or capable of arguing their case get screwed over by companies like this. And they're probably people who have no options to get the money elsewhere, so a no based on a credit score could be a life-changing decision. Makes me angry....

Janey I had a bad experience with Virgin Money a few years ago and wouldn't touch them now, no matter what they offered. A bunch of total incompetents in my experience (and sadly now yours). I hope you get it sorted.
Have you tried posting it on their Facebook and Twitter? It worked for me last year when an airport valet parking company wrote off our car while it was in their care. The insurance got sorted but we were chasing them for reimbursement of the hire car we needed when we got back from holiday. This went on for months until I finally resorted to posting about it daily on their social media sites and they suddenly settled it straight away.

Could this be the answer to our too fat for normal clothes but too small for maternity problems? Belly Belt I can fasten my jeans standing up but have to open the fly when sitting down at the moment. I would be very happy to spend an extra couple of months in my normal jeans but is it too good to be true?

Absolutely, this kind of mistake can mess up all your plans. Bastards.

Well some authorities are close to messing up my plans as well - I applied for a new passport in November. It was ready and sent to the Foreign Ministry in December. It has still not arrived to the consul here. So yesterday I ask the ministry and they say that oh yes, it's here. We're just waiting until we get a few more for this consul, so we can send them out all together.

I ordered it to Zurich, there are about, oh, 5 Estonians in Switzerland and I really doubt all of them are applying for new passports at the same time. So according to them it would have been ok for me to wait a year or two?

I told them what I think of this. Passport was posted yesterday. Now I just have to hope and see if it gets here before my holidays, hope they managed to address it to Switzerland and not Swasiland..

you can still fasten your normal jeans Rach?? Well, I have not tried but I definitely have a bump now, so doubt that would work. I guess the belt could work with longer tops. Some pregnant friends have also recommended the materinty band but I haven't tried.

Then again, eventually you'll have to get some maternity clothes anyway and you're unlikely to wear the jeans out in a month or so, so I'd get a pair or two of real maternity clothes as well, they are really comfortable.

I can still fasten the stretchy ones but the the ones with no 'give' in them have been a no-go for a few weeks. I am working from home today yeah, right so I have put a photo up. Interestingly, my Mum only found out she was pregnant with me at 18 weeks and had no bump at all. She said as soon as she found out she woke up the next day looking like Humpty Dumpty. I have got a few pairs of maternity trousers/jeans but they just fall down at the moment

You look teeny tiny rache! I feel like a giant heffalump in comparison, and am two weeks behind you!

I should have taken the photo after lunch, i'm sure it will be bigger then. It seems to get pushed forward after eating. I actually want a bump now. I feel like I have been upduffed forever and there is still hardly any evidence and I'm gutted that my boobs haven't grown at all.

yes you look tiny - but then again, I have certainly grown quite a bit just in the past few days, so there's hope for you as well

I hope so Hazle or I am going to resort to a prosthetic!

Oh hazle I HATE pre-holiday passport traumas.

Update on my bank. Massive row. They told me to bugger off, basically. I've reported them to the financial ombudsman who confirmed that yes, this is EXACTLY the kind of complaint they will uphold, and have written to them first class today on my behalf.

My Dad used to be very senior in a Bank, and told me that regardless of the outcome, any complaint to the ombudsman results in an admin charge to the bank of several hundred pounds. So I feel reassured that the £12 fee they charged me has already cost them £300+!

rache WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!

Just had to go and buy a bottle of fanta

I can sense a 'bump off' coming, Rach is soooo going to lose, people keep telling me that I'm tiny but now I've had it confirmed that actually I'm a big fat weeble just like I always thought.
The weird stomach sensations continue, it's definitely the baby, it appears to enjoy Kit Kats as much as me as for the second day running when I've eaten one (at completely different times of day) it has launched into some sort of excited saturday night fever routine in there poking and prodding. It's very, very strange.

Janey Well I suppose some women go through pregnancy smoking/drinking/taking drugs, so if Fanta is my only vice then I suppose it's not that bad On the other hand, my baby might be born orange or need to be attached to a Fanta drip after birth. It got a bit ridiculous at one point though so I self-imposed a limit of one a day.

I just put '18 weeks pregnant' into Google Images and the women on there seem to be all sorts of sizes, so I don't feel quite so abnormal now.

Having a baby which moves on demand (or on Kit Kat consumption) will be quite handy soon when you're trying to get your OH to feel it Purple