September 2013 Babies-the Glowing Trimester

[JammyTummy]

New thread! May it bring lots of good news, funny stories and happy bump mummies!

Runningbear - I agree with others: take advice on this. I think you are still entitled to redundancy process and payment even if you are just working out the end of a contract. I've done lots of employed contract work over the years and I'm pretty sure that's how they have to do it. The law changed to stop employers getting out of their responsibilities with rolling contracts. Good luck!

Derpess I used to be a hr bod (at the time when the temp worker regulations were introduced), am a bit rusty but am pretty sure that although they can terminate your contract fairly easily by saying it has an end date etc. technically they are still making u redundant- it just means they can skip the consultation process. I'm pretty sure you'd still be entitled to statutory redundancy & then additional if they offer it to perm staff. Definitely worth checking out with the CAB as a lot of businesses get this stuff wrong.

Our HR policy is legally wrong on quite a few points & you just have to go away, check the net or other sources then resent them with the correct info. Amazing how quick they are to back track! I think they hate dealing with me now cos they know I have a fairly good idea of when they're bs-ing.

Creamtea if ur benefits involve cars/bonuses then pm me as I've had to do battle on them so am fairly clued up

Sorry that one about contracts should have been to running not derpess! Getting confused now....

I'm a little bit confused about SMP. Any HR bods who can advise...?
My maternity package is 8 weeks full pay, 16 weeks half pay then SMP after that. Would I be entitled to SMP as well when I'm on half pay or is this dependent on the employer?

Thank you Ready will definately take some advice, it is such a minefield! It would be nice if this was made simple for preggo ladies (and you could genuinely trust employers), I don't know about you but I find making a sandwich complicated these days, so HR legislation feels waaaaaaay beyond me at the moment!

LCR you're not entitled to both ordinarily. Just the public sector being generous again! It's more likely that your employer will claim the smp on your behalf to help fund it, much like they do with sick pay.

Thanks ready I thought that might be the case. I'll ask the question as my boss said there were some changes to the staff handbook although we've not seen it yet. It's still quite a good package considering I work for a charity so can't complain.

Had my cardiac scan today and looks as though all is well, although baby in rubbish position! They're giving me another one at 29 weeks, two days before we fly off on holiday.

Derpess both Fl0b0t and I had our scans today. Mine went well, we didn't find out the sex, so another 20 weeks wondering

it was amazing seeing it again and how much it has grown.. I'd been worrying as the bump & my weight gain were so small, but all looks on track and measurements put me at about 20.5 weeks, which is half way between my EDD by dates and EDD by my 8 week scan - so good news all round!

Off to Portugal for 2 weeks tomorrow, so I can relax and enjoy now!

Glad the scan went well Purple have a fantastic holiday

Pleased you had a good scan purple. Hope you have a lovely break.

Congrats on the good scans ladies :)

I went to the open antenatal-physio talk tonight at my local hospital. It was lots of stuff I already knew about relaxin and the anatomy of the pelvis but it was interesting seeing the model pelvis and the joints and ligaments and pelvic floor muscles and how they all work together.

Also, very interestingly, the physio said that the whole 'you must lie on your left side after 20weeks' shouldn't really be that strict. She says if you're comfortable on your back or right or moving around in bed then don't worry about it. It's only if you're getting circulation problems or sore hips/knees in bed to worry about proping yourself with pillows on your side.

But... what she really did emphasise was shoes - your relaxed ligaments mean that you're likely to get dropped arches which cause your knees to fall inwards and then hurt and also hurt your hips. You should only wear shoes with arch support - particularly coming into summer, birkenstocks, fitflops etc are good, flat flip flops or ballet pumps are really bad.

The other thing she really emphasised was lumbar support when seated to keep your pelvis in line. She rolled a hand towel and put it in the small of our backs and said we should do that whenever seated or driving for more than about 20mins.

Thanks for the info on shoes badguider, I'm a ballet pumper in the summer :-/ I can't wear flip flips tho as I hate the toe posts. Wonder if my toms might be better?

I've been wearing converse the last week, I wonder if that explains why I'm so achy (back etc) all of a sudden?

I was planning to buy converse this summer but maybe I won't. They are very flat :(

Toms are flat as a pancake inside too aren't they?
I have some shoes by kicker that have a moulded footbed and birkies. Still need to find something like cons though...

Ooh interesting stuff from the physio.

I've been struggling with lying on my side and regularly find myself on my back. I read somewhere that lying on the back after 20 weeks can make some women pass out from the pressure of the baby on one of the main arteries, but that did sound a little drastic. Although did worry DH one evening when he came home to find me fast asleep lying on my back!

Don't think I have any shoes with arch supports ... ho hum more shopping

She said lying on your back could make you wake up feeling dizzy and ill and with cramp in your legs, but passing out without waking up is very unlikely.
She also said that the vein in question that can be crushed is the return blood coming back from the legs to your heart - somebody had previously told me it was the blood supply to the baby but this isn't true!!
If you cut off your own blood circulation for long enough and don't move, it can in extreme circumstances stress the baby into producing a meconium poo before birth (but i'm guessing it would have to be very late in pregnancy for this to happen).

Even wikipedia says "Symptoms of late pregnancy inferior vena cava syndrome consist of intense pain in the right hand side, muscle twitching, drop of blood pressure, and fluid retention". - It's unlikely you'd be happily snoozing unaware through that!

Thank you for shoe info, I've been in pumps and cons for the past couple of weeks. Come home every evening complaining of sore feet. Time for some birkies, had some years ago, so comfy!! If anyone finds shoes, like cons, with support, I'd love to know more.

I'm wondering whether ballet pumps with gel cushions might do the trick? Ie the arch support gel cushions?

Just had scan, everything is fine, baby weighs 332g apparantly and all measurements are normal. He is def a he and was lying the opposite way to last time I saw him with his arms up. Was amazing, I want to go again! X

That's great newsfrog I can't wait until next scan - 10 weeks today, when I am 32 weeks - so a bit of a wait yet!

ION I just get stat maternity - where I work has no enhanced maternity - they are currently reviewing it but not in time for me - may be next time though .

Great info badguider I am off to Cornwall later today - have parked the cushion to put in the small of my back.
I am finding it difficult to get comfy shoes - when I am not pregnant I have small fat feet and now even M&S extra wide fit can be a bit snug - so far comfiest are a pair of New Look sandles about 3 years old and a pair of long boots from the Next Sale 2 years a go!

Just noticed on my notes it says I have anterior placenta.... What does this mean again??