October 2013 - Countdown to D-Day!

[roxvox]

Baby due dates/sexes/name choices here

1sttimer your employers don't sound like they are treating you fairly at all.

Just had WC jab.

My tumble dryer has arrived...I'm actually excited to try it out, I'm starting to worry about myself if this is all it takes to get me going these days

Smitten my RTW time is 12 weeks. But that can run over to include holidays. But contractually I think it can be different for everyone.

Thanks GT, I think maybe 12 weeks is the norm. No one has actually told me at work as they don't seem to know and I couldn't find any info on the gov website.

Just spoken to my HR department regarding pension on maternity. They advised me that my payments automatically cease when my maternity leave starts, and will do so for 9 months, however the company keep on putting in their full contribution. I think this is very fair considering that their maternity pay policy is pretty lousy, quite chuffed.

If my employers did that to me 1stTimer they'd be seeing me at a tribunal. It really really annoys me that people still treat women like this.

Flyer did you ever get your flight allowance thingy sorted? I hope so.

I'm taking 2.5 weeks of annual leave before my mat leave starts. so finishing work at 36 weeks but starting mat leave at 38.5 all being well. I'll then also have 2.5 weeks hol to tag onto the end of my mat leave. Although im not going back to my job but they won't know this until its time for me to return!!

Welcome nelly and Lucy. Lucy we re due date buddies.

I spent the day at a petting farm with my family, it is good to find out some good local things to do with children, especially as it was free. I am really tired and achey now though.

I am working to 38 weeks but at the moment I am thinking that probably isn't realistic with my pgp. I am on summer holidays until September so not much actual working left, but still 24 days which I am not looking forward to. I like many of you didn't want to waste maternity leave sitting at home waiting and not getting paid and I am lucky to have this time off now to do all my getting ready.

Eek at the baby being born at 27 weeks, I hope all is well.

Pseudo I spoke to one of our union reps who is also a friend of mine and he thinks its all above board how work pay us whilst grounded due to pregnancy because its not a company requirement for us to be grounded it's a European law and civil aviation requirement. However he did say he would look into it for me, I haven't heard anything yet though.

Hi All. Still on holidays so just a quick post to check in and say hello! Also hello to all new mums on the thread - looks like a lot of new people have joined in! I gather no babies since last week? That's good and we are all so close now.

I was 29 weeks yesterday and must say I'm not enjoying this holiday as much as I was hoping. The resort is beautiful, food great and it's lovely to have so much quality time with DP and DS. But I'm practically melting in the Greek August heat and am positively dangerous to approach between 11 and 3pm. It's so hot here right now that I have no words... so I tend to sit quietly in the pool for 2 hours during that period. There is another woman here who is due on 20th October and she is also dying. It's 7pm now so I have a bit more energy. Still - it's so lovely to be out of work, not having to cook and seeing my little boy learning to swim. He is having the time of his life!

The main problem is lack of sleep... it's ridiculous these days and I survive on 3-4 hours per night. Dark circles under my eyes was not the look I was hoping to achieve. I see that a lot of people here struggle too. I feel your pain! X

Sorry to hear so many of you are having problems with rubbish employers... it's sad how it still keeps happening... and my feeling is that little has changed since the 60s, other than employers being more sophisticated and passive aggressive rather than just aggressive!

I'm massively behind on the thread so sorry I've missed all your news. Wi-fi is rubbish here so will try to catch up properly once back in London. I'm a saddo so miss the thread and all of you. X

Hope you have some lovely chilled evenings Clapham!

Enjoy the rest of your holiday Clapham

Off to the new local kiddie care!

Sorry to hear you're struggling with the heat clapham - I found it unbearable in Greece in June/July (high 30s / low 40s in the middle of the day), so dread to think how hot it must be now

Keep hydrated!!!

Enjoy Clapham!

Flyer I think that since there is clear cut case law supporting you that your Union should get up to date on it. But I am a stickler for having to be right :o

Can I share some good news? We moved into our new house last week before exchanging on the sale of our old one as we wanted to get in before I was too pregnant. I've been getting twitchy that our buyer would drop out at the last minute. But the solicitor has just called and confirmed that we have exchanged. Phew. It's a big weight off my mind. Couldn't have paid 2 mortgages for long especially with the bump on the way needing lots of things we haven't bought yet

Good news socks!

Good news Lost - must be a weight off your mind.

Clapham, sounds very hot! At least lots of water time will do your back good.

We went on hols to somewhere cooler than London, and I slept better than I've done for ages. Bring on a nasty cold wet August (she said quietly, for fear of being flamed!).

Great news lost
flyer I got excited about my tumble dryer when we invested in one last year- it is a very sad state of affairs but a sign of the times when you have babies!!
I think I have now totally ruined my back....... Had a glorious day having a picnic with my mum and then pottering about the bakewell show (local agricultural show) but I carried ds on my back in his carrier thing as thought he'd appreciate being able to see the animals more. He did he loved it but now I can't move . Hopefully it'll be better tomorrow.

My baby brain is making it impossible for me to remember what people are talking about, I need to start making notes when catching up on the thread!

Good news, lost. Welcome to all newbies and returners.

I had my whooping cough vaccine on Monday, still have a tender arm so I will be very, very careful with baby's arm when he/she gets the same jab at 2 months old.

Also had first NCT class, it was ok, I'm cautiously optimistic. They didn't seem to be pushing any agenda, it was more about group discussion about our concerns etc. I'm not sure we're going to really click with anyone, but I suspect it's DH and I that are the oddballs and we'd have that problem with any group

One piece of useful info I learned, as there are so many of us with anterior placentas here, apparently we're more likely to have a back to back delivery - its not inevitable though and more incentive to try and get baby into better position.

Another growth/bloodflow scan tomorrow. I'm having these as my 12 week blood tests showed I was at high risk of early placenta failure. I kind of try to forget in between scans, but am worried now.

Jesus Christ!!! What a hell of a day I have had!!

Welcome to newbies xx

Re: maternity leave; I left at 34 weeks when expecting dd as I worked on a specialist stroke unit and the job was way to physical even with the supposed adjustments they had made to accommodate me.

So I went in this morning to be monitored again as planned (9.30appt) they were happy with the trace if the heart rate but brought the can forward to today when I had the scan the sonographer measured the baby's head at 36 weeks (I'm 30+2) so they asked me to wait to see the consultant, then decided to re scan to check the measurements and still measured 36 weeks, went in to see consultant she hasn't seen such a variation between a due date and a measurement on the baby, so she made a call to a fetal specialist to come and do another scan and check the brain for excess fluid and abnormalities- he did the scan and measured it at 35 weeks but wasn't able to find any abnormalities or excess fluid on the brain, he says he is confident that there are no brain abnormalities or structural problems and that the head is just well ahead in growth but they are doing a repeat scan in 4 weeks and seeing the consultant at the same time to make a plan. The specialist I saw suggested having a c section if his head is still measuring rediculously big so he doesn't get stuck but I am truly against c sections unless absolutely necessary so I asked about the possibility of a due date induction and he said he wasn't sure and I would have to discuss that with my own consultant in 4 weeks time and go from there. The rest of the baby is measuring either dead on for weeks or just below average his estimated weight ATM is 3lb 7oz. Good news from today though is that his movements have picked up quite a bit so that is re assuring. All in all my 30 min monitoring appt lasted 6 hours with all the ins and outs too different doctors scans Etc

Sorry for the marathon post just wanted to off load it all to someone who has a clue what I'm on about lol

Hope the November early baby is ok xxx

Crikey, natalie, what a day indeed! Hope all is well at next scan and movements continue to be good.

I'm meant to be finishing at 37 weeks but right now I'm not sure I'll last that long. However, the recruitment for my cover is not going well so I'd feel guilty going off early.

Nat that is good that there is no sign of abnormalities in the head and heart rate ok but a bit scary about a very large head. Could it be something that evens out in a few weeks - just had a bit of a growth spurt in his head and the rest will catch up? I hope so! A planned c section might be better than an emergency one if they think it probably won't get out... but a shock for you, I'm sorry. Glad you get to see the consultant to make a plan a bit nearer the time when they have measured again.

Good luck tomorrow soup.

Hello to nellie and Lucy.

I'm so glad I'm a SAHM when I read some of your stories.

I spent the afternoon with my youngest 2 at a free barbecue that the local children's play centre were holding. We'd been there an hour when oldest dd tur ed up crying saying she couldn't find the dog in the house and that he must have ran away. I told her off Saying that she must have left the garden gate open but she insisted she hadn't so I phoned round the local police stations to report him missing and walked the long way home through the woods to look for him.
I opened my front door and there he was sat at the bottom of the stairs, not missing at all. I could have strangled dd. My hip is in agony now after all the walking around.

Had a phone call today from my lawyer to say that dd's fathers case against me is to be postponed until November due to a death in his lawyers family so atleast I don't have that hanging over my head in the lead up to the birth. Youngest dd is starting school next Wednesday too and is only in in the morning for the first couple of weeks so making court dates would have been difficult

Wow natalie what a day, glad baby well, even though added stress of measurements not matching. Scans are definately not exact science/easy to measure from, so hopefully in 4 weeks, things will look 'normal' again and youll be back to normal birth plan again