October 2013: Growing bumps and the second trrimester glowing begins!

[OrangeBlossom2]

Welcome to thread six of the October bus. how long will this one last us?!

Old thread here

Stats thread here

Bleedin' Eck ladies, I'm away for 2 days and you've chatted for 7 pages!

Thank you for all your get well messages, I got discharged on Saturday afternoon and my god I feel soooooo much better! Still nauseas but my energy levels are on the up. I'm so pleased and relieved to feel like I'm coming out the other end of HG and I've coped, just about!

smitten sorry to hear of your news, I hope you get the answers your looking for, especially that everything is ok :-)

natalie in regards to maternity clothes, I, am the moment have been wearing some of my normal jeans but with the button undone. You get a hair bobble and loop it through the button hole and attach on the button. Iyswim, ill post a pic if you want.

Buggy talk, im reusing my loola. It'll do until baby is 18-24 months if i get another tall one and then ill buy a stroller like silvercross for the next year or so. I kept dd's buggy until she was 3.10 because of days out etc.

Feeding, I'm gonna try my best to bf but if I can't express easily I think I'd switch to ff sooner then if I was able to. Only problem I have is with family. DM ff all 4 of us and has concerns regarding bf so not sure of she's trying to put me off a bit. Not really sure how dh feels about it but he's quite a prude. Dd hasn't seen him naked ever. Dunno if that's weird or not?!

Anyone else feel laid back about the whole thing? I was worse with dd but seriously I'm not rushing with anything

Back to work next week for me. I'm ready for it.

Welcome newbies, were a lovely bunch. No judging here and nothing is tmi!

claphammama this is my second (and third) and I am waay bigger than I was with DD. then, I first wore maternity jeans at my 20 week scan (and I wear tight fitted jeans!) - this time I wore then the day after my 12 week scan! Like you, I'm fairly small (size 10, very occasionally 8 in some shops - I'm 5'11") and wear tighter clothes, especially very tailored dresses for work, so they are all out now!!!

I'm 16.4 and very pregnant looking (although still just passable as a "belly" in the morning... Not in the evening!!). I lost over half a stone in the first trimester (I was really sick - 10 or 15 times a day.., no wonder now we know it's twins!), but deliberately trying to gain lots now. Low weight gain with twins is linked to prem labour, so I need to pack on the pounds with good things! I'm having a whole avocado with toast every morning for brekkie! Tbh, I used to have anorexia and was hospitalised many moons ago, so I am quite used to having to gain weight and, after lots of truly excellent treatment, it holds no demons for me now and I enjoy it!!! Bizarrely and luckily, despite having thrashed my metabolism, I actually like my natural weight and naturally don't easily gain lots, so I am confident about post preg weight etc!

smitten any news on the private test?

Also... Off to buy cake in honour!

Oh and to who was talking about mat leave. My manager had already put me down for finishing at 36 weeks which for me is a couple weeks more then I want to really. My job is extremely physical (shift manager at sainsbos) so I reckon I'll be stuck on a bloody till toward send anyway. Not for me! I might leave it at 36 weeks and try and used holiday to actually leave at 32-32 weeks.

34*

Hello. Update time: The private place don't have a midwife that can talk to me today, so I have to wait till tomorrow to speak to them. The earliest they can get me in for the CVS is Thursday evening.

I called my NHS midwife this morning and she has booked me in for the CVS on Thursday at 4pm.

I said I'd go with whichever place could fit me in first, so the NHS won. Also the NHS midwife and the person at the private place said the tests are identical and so are the result times. So I can't see much point in paying £500 for the same test when I can get it for free.

I feel a bit better today as a 1:15 chance is about a 93% chance everything is ok.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

You have about 90 odd ladies on here with their fingers crossed for you as well smitten xx

I'll be taking a couple of weeks holiday at 36 weeks, and then mat leave kick in at 38 weeks. I'd like to finish earlier really, but as the main wage earner, and working for a company that pays out the minimum in mat pay, I have to be very careful with leave and pay. Was back at work when DS was 17 weeks, and am desperate to take as long as possible off this time.

Everything crossed for you, smitten X

haylebop pleased to hear you're out and about and feeling a bit better now!

smitten glad to hear you're feeling a bit more optimistic now. It's good that the NHS can get you in so soon, although I am sure that you're wishing it could be sooner!

haylebop it was me who mentioned mat leave. It's so impossible to know when I will start to struggle at the office! My work isn't physically strenuous by any means (I am a web developer) so I am guessing that will all be ok, but I am already getting very uncomfortable in my chair, and stiff legs after the 30 minute commute. Like bowlfull I am concerned about starting my mat leave too early. I would like to still be in the initial 6 weeks of maternity when I give birth (so I am still earning 90% of my wage, rather than the basic mat pay). I think I would like 6 months off with baby too, so I don't want to eat into that time too much prior to actually giving birth! I think I will tell my boss that I will need to wait until after my 20 week scan before I can give any ideas as a) I want to make sure my baby is ok before they start looking for mat cover (sorry to be so pessimistic, but I am trying to mentally prepare myself!) and b) I assume my due date may change again after this scan.

hayleybop that's interesting about your mum. my mum tried to bf all 3 of us but found it too hard and had no support back then and has always felt like a failure for it and so is quite pushy for me to bf
whereas mil thinks I should ff but mainly so she can look after baby more easily!! I love how everyone has their opinions!!
smitten hope it goes well on Thursday and glad you can keep that £500 to spoil your little baby with!!

best of luck smitten! we are all sending you positive thoughts!

legallyblond enjoy pilling up the pounds! I could eat kilos of avocados at any time... yum

And yes - it explains a lot. I'm also small - size 8 and 5'4" so the baby has nowhere to hide I guess! Good excuse for more shopping though.

I will be going on maternity leave as soon as I can... currently stuck in one of THOSE all day meetings and slowly losing my will to live... only the thought that we are all going to die one day so nothing really matters is helping me remain philosophical and put things in perspective... :-)

roofio she is concerned about not knowing how much baby has taken and when she will get her turn at feeding. She isn't very involved with her other grandchildren due to distance and my brothers marriage breaking down so she gets really involved with dd. I am so lucky to have someone close to help me out. I do want to be able to share feeding duties hence being quite eager to express. We also have a friends wedding in December. Baby will be 8 weeks or above and want the chance to leave baby at home if I'm ready. (I want a child free day )

I think I get the initial results within 2 days, sometimes by the next day apparently, then its a two week wait for the full results.

That was for pinksky

I have everything crossed for you smitten, I really really hope it's positive news and 93% chance of being ok is really good odds...

Glad to head it's not just my employer who has crap maternity pay....I work for Virgin Atlantic and was shocked to read what they paid as they are such a good employer...6 weeks at 90% and rest upto 9 months statutory, I'm gonna be mega skint, then intend to go back to 50% hours...is anyone else on here planning to reduce their working hours after? Or am I the only lazy one haha

I'm planning on not returning to my job after mat leave!! I'm in currently training to become a child miner so hopefully it'll work out that I go straight into that after mat leave!!

Thank you for all the welcomes, I'm loving this already!

Pushchair advice has been good food for thought , off to test some at the weekend I think.

I've been signed off work since 9 weeks pregnant as I'm an infant school teacher and not immune to the slapped cheek virus (currentl 16+2). Not allowed back until 24 weeks pregnant then only have 6 weeks at work until maternity starts (not taking into account the six weeks holiday also). Feel horribly guilty, trying to think of it as extended maternity leave though but at full pay! Aiming to work up until two weeks before due date - does this sound about normal to anybody else?

Fingers crossed for those of you waiting on appointments and results.

That's the same mat pay as I get Flyer I went part time after I had DD1 and since then my basic pay hasn't been much more than statutory mat pay, my feelings were if I can cope with that much income for months then part time is fine!

I started mat leave 3 weeks before edd with dd and she came a week late, so I had a month of watching deal or no deal, doing yoga and water aerobics
Might be worth mentioning in case you aren't aware - you will receive your whole years holiday when you are on mat leave so you could tag it on to the beginning and/or end of your mat leave and get paid and you get bank holidays added to your allowance as it is as if you worked them when on mat leave.
Flyer - when I went back to work I reduced my hours to 24/week (weds-fri) which works out good for me.

I started mat leave at 37 weeks, went home at about 3pm and my water had broken by 5pm...yikes! I was so focussed on finishing work and was quite stressed out so I guess I ignored the signs...plus I just assumed the contractions were braxton hicks...Will prob finish at 37 weeks this time too though but just be very cautious about looking for signs. I could have been very embarrassing as my waters really gushed for hours on end

Told our CEO today and he was actually really nice...gave me a big hug and told me to tell dh to get the snip . so relieved that it's out in the open.

I had my 16 week mw apt today....heard te heart beat...yay! But the rest was positively boring. She doesnt see me again until 25 weeks and after going privately last time, it seems very scant! Think we are going to get a private scan at 24 weeks as I can't imagine not seeing my baby for 20 weeks!

I got just stat mat last time as I hadn't been in my job for 2 years but this time I get 6 weeks 90%, then 3 months at half which is an improvement. Last time was tough financially with mortgages, car loans etc and practically no income!

DS has now started to crawl and I have realised what a hazardous place my house is....lots of baby proofing and constant supervision required!

Keeping everything crossed for both smitten and MoN.

I work as a nanny and the family I work for are moving at some point over summer. I am hoping they move after I qualify for maternity leave as I could really do with having maternity pay of some description!

How old is your ds warlin?

I too get 90% for six weeks (avg pay inc bonuses eg overtime) then the rest smp. If I have waited two extra weeks to get pg I
Would have qualified for an extra 8 wks at 90% of contractual pay but I worked out I possibly lose out on around £160 so not too bad. Smp is only around £35 a week less then I earn anyway so with £10 extra from child benefit I think we will be just fine

I will be returning to work after mat leave. I currently work 3 days flexible and will need set days on return because ill have to rely on childcare from nursery/Childminder etc. for mornings then my mum on afternoons. Think dh needs to go for promotion so I can stay at home hehe

Carlie there are lots of other teachers here too. Do you have children in your class with slapped cheek? Or did you just ask to be tested for it? My MW said to look out for it as going round Kingston schools at the moment but no mention of getting a blood test.

I am knackered today and have an achy back. Having the Easter holidays was so nice, it has been a real shock to the system being back.

Re bumps, I am 5'3" and a size 6 so I think you are right whoever said that little people have nowhere to hide their bumps.

I can never quite believe it when people don't know their pregnant all the way to 9 months MoN. It must have been a huge shock!

OrangeBlossom2 - There was an initial case in my class when I was 7 weeks pregnant so was sent for the blood test, after waiting a couple of weeks for the result it turned out I didn't have immunity so my doctor won't let me return until 10th of June. He says its very rare to be a teacher, who's pregnant and not immune. In many other jobs I don't think I'd have been signed off. Although it feels horrible being off work in many ways, I've researched it quite a bit and some people have such awful experiences if they pass it onto their baby. If you find out that you're not immune though its good because you can be aware. Some counties are trying to make compulsory blood screening for the parovirus B19 (slapped cheek) with early pregnancy blood tests. I'd suggest anyone who doesn't know if they are immune or not should push for the blood test. Just one less thing to worry about during your pregnancy. I have heard that some MW dismiss it. Not sure about other people but I'd recommend being tested, most adults are immune anyway apparently. Once the red cheeks come out the children aren't contagious any more anyway, its in the couple of weeks prior to the red cheeks, so its almost impossible to know if a child has it.
I don't want you to feel worried reading this, like I say, most adults have immunity, ask for a test though if it will give you peace of mind.

With regard to bumps - I'm concerned mine is just crisps!! developed a new love for them!!

Thanks for that. Being signed off sounds good but actually I imagine it is pretty boring after a while. I did ask to be tested for chicken pox at booking because a child in the other year one class had it but was told they don't test unless i am in contact and develop spots as it is too expensive and most people are immune anyway. I didn't ask specifically about slapped cheek test. I am constantly paranoid about what I might catch from my class. I already have a sore throat after two days back. Just hoping I have already had most things.