20th JSing GRADS thread - our chat's still filthy, just not in front of the baby...

[LaLa5]

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the 20th grads thread... celebrating the success of Just Shagging in getting us viroids upduffed!

For those that don't know, a 'viroid' is from the original JSing thread 1, where someone was trying to type ladies (in reference to all the JSing ladies), but their phone decided to call us all viroids instead!

The name stuck and we've been the JSing viroids ever since.

The thread we have graduated from is here in its 37th outing. WARNING: they're all a bit kerazy not to mention randy!

There is also a Just Mumming thread in postnatal clubs here for once your babies come along, or to keep up with the graduated graduates! It's a bit quiet at the moment, but with all these upduffed viroids hopefully it won't be for long!

There is also a private facebook group (so it doesn't give the game away in your news feed!)... if you want to join to see photos of new babies etc, just ask in-thread!

So, roll call below please, viroids!

Restructures, change in personnel, etc? I have it as something I want to talk to my boss about next week. He's not likely to be my boss in the long term so I'd want to know when that changes! I don't necessarily need to know that so-and-so had a long service award or has retired. Although I'm due my long service award two days before my due date - wonder if I'll get a call about that....

I'm back! I'm crampy and sleepy, and apparently I snored!

we have 11eggs although 2 are quite small. we also had to decide whether to have ivf or icsi as dhs sample today was actually normal! have to confess that pissed me off a bit - if he'd ditched the caffeine and started the vits when I'd asked him to maybe we'd never have needed ivf!

but anyway. embryologist will call tomorrow to tell us how many fertilise. we decided to do 6 icsi and 5 ivf so fx!

Talking of HR stuff, does anyone know if you can work on your maternity leave? Like, as a freelancer or contractor? I have a cunning, but not sure its legal, plan!

lil how exciting or you! So you have 11 potential babies! You'll be busy! (I know it doesn't work like that...) More waiting though, annoying. What did you eat in the end?

Water birth here too im hoping.

I look pregnant today, no one said anything though...

Awesome Lil 11 potential beans!

That was one full little basket lil it's all just so fascinating.

GX for you xx

Wow Lil that's quite a haul! How strange that DH's sample turned out to be normal today - does that improve your chances?

I don't know Dulcet but I've been wondering the same. I've done some tutoring in the past and we've also discussed me taking a paid admin role in DP's company for a few hours a month while I'm on mat leave. Not sure how it works though?

wow! 11 egglings! awesome lil! :)

dulcet I am not actually sure! I tried to find out but all the info I have is about employers forcing staff to work during mat. leave - not someone willingly doing it

I have just received news of another baby due in my family in July. I am irrationally cross about it as I know it means my mum is going to be even less available when I need her I am blaming the hormones and not my innate unreasonableness

Hi everyone,

lil thats fab news! Yey!

I am wondering about the working on mat leave thing as well. I know I can do 10 keep in touch days and they want me to do them and will pay me, and are prepared to pay me my usual daily rate even if I WFH, but not sure how that will impact on mat pay? Confused and not sure who to ask.

Feeling better here, bladder etc has settled down, today is last day of antibiotics. Will be 11 weeks on Sat and got booking app tomorrow morning. Yey.

Told my Gran last night, she was super excited. Bless.

Having to construct excuses as to why I can't commit to doing a charity hike with work in July! Errrr....

lil that's amazing

essie if you want to dk the keeping in touch days make sure they're when you're not getting your full pay. For example, I get 13 weeks full pay, 13 weeks half pay, 13 weeks SMP then 13 weeks in nothing. If I did a KiT day in the first 13 weeks, it wouldn't affect my money so make sure they're done when you're on nothing or on very little and they top you up to full pay for that day :)

Ok, I will resolve to find us the answer viroids!

I think your company must pay you in full for KIT days but it doesn't affect your maternity pay or bring an end to your maternity leave. I'm not sure whether your KIT pay would include your mat pay or be additional to it e.g. if your daily rate was £100 and you were getting £50 mat pay would you get £150 in total or just the extra £50? Do you have a HR person? They (or your maternity policy) would be a good place to start?

ITB syndrome for the charity hike? Laid me off running for months but didn't give me a limp or anything. Mind you it won't be long until you can tell them the real reason commit now and cancel in a couple of week's time!

Fleur I got irrationally annoyed at my mum wanting to use her remaining holiday for, you know, an actual holiday in the sun instead of just keeping me entertained on mat leave I'm glad I didn't say anything though - she would have put me right in my place! MamaPis don't take shit from anyone! She'd fit right in on AIBU!

My mum is going on holiday the day before my due date.

Feckless teenage step brother's baby is due two weeks before mine.

And

I shouldn't feel like this, I know I shouldn't but I do feel like some of the "shine" has been taken away. My mum will, understandably, be keen to help my step- brother as they are only young, neither have moved away from home or ever even had a job! Whereas I am mature old and settled. But, you know, I still need my mum from time to time

OK, so I get 6 weeks on 90% pay, then the rest up to 9 months is SMP, then nothing. So as long as I do my KIT days after the first 6 weeks then should be ok? Our HR man is utterly useless and will just google it, and our mat leave policy simply says:

"Paid maternity, paternity and adoption leave may be taken in accordance with current legislation, the details of which may be made available upon application to HR. after he's had time to google the answer "

That is all they say on the matter.

IBS a good staller, plus they know I've had a kidney infection so I could try and drag that out a bit more, I only have to keep them at bay re the hike til 16th Feb when it's 12 weeks scan and I'm off on hols the week prior to that. Yay.

If you do the KiT days when you're getting SMP itll top up your earnings to full pay for that amount. You don't get a full day's pay on top of the SMP for the day I think,so decide carefully when to do them

Though I've just found out it may vary from company to company, so do check with yours!

Well my company has never had anyone got on mat leave and actually want to do the KiT days so they have no idea how to handle it. We are a 97% male workforce so mat leave is a rare occurrence! I'll them what you've said and they can go away and confirm that's right. If I can do a couple of KiT days a month and get topped up to full pay for those days that will really help the piggy bank! Thanks ever so much for your help!

I thought kit days were paid at normal working rate on top of any mat pay, be it SMP or above. its supposed to encourage you to kit so it should be financially beneficial. I'll check and come back to you

yikes looks like zyla is right!

I meant iliotibial band syndrome but IBS works too

That makes sense Zyla. I only get six weeks full pay but I can't see me wanting to do KIT in the first six weeks anyway!

Wow Lil that's amazing!

Stoaty, I hope you're ok lovie, it's such a horrible thing

Re the mat leave/KIT day thing. You can have 10 KIT days which you are paid for at an agreed rate by your employer. You do NOT lose SMP for these days....it's illegal
If you do more than 10 days then you lose the SMP for each week that you work in.

If you were to do external work then as long as your employer didn't find out there wouldn't be an issue. You'd need to declare self employed income though and pay tax at basic rate, possibly higher rate if you earn enough and have already earned above the threshold in the tax year

Feel free to pm if you need advice of a payroll/HR type nature

What the hell is that IBs pis?!

I'm with you fleur, pretty put out by BIL 'unplanned' pregnancy a couple months after me. I know it's unreasonable but I still worry about MIL not having he time to dedicate to my little one.

Are you HR purple? What a useful group we have here! I can offer nothing of use though, sorry! So if we work on stat mat leave need to work out if it is worth losing a week over. I guess any employer additional mat leave allowance would need to be decided by the employer if we were to work over that time?

I did my tax return! Yay!

DH has decided he thinks baby monitors with cameras are weird...

Hi everyone

Sorry pis for your bad news xx

stoat i'm so sorry this is happening, hang on in there. As the others have said, bleeding is so common in early pregnancy and it's so awful and fucks with your head. I really really hope you get a healthy scan on Thurs and everything's ok, I'm crossing everything for you xx
PS don't worry about being me me me - we all do it on here, it's a lifeline!!!

tee I've had a cry today as well which is not like me. Just cried on dh because of some silly work thing. I've been on a course all day to do with management and it brought up all the problems I'm having with my own management situation at work. Also cried because I desperately want us to go away before the baby comes but I don't think we can afford it. I desperately need a break. My poor dh puts up with so much as well, I think though they resign themselves to this when their OH is upduffed! Great news about mat leave :)

lil it was a big basket! Hooray! Your eggs are now being fertilised as I type and mini-lil is hopefully already forming :)

I hope you're feeling better kato?

zyla I think the only thing you need to tell them is your start date of mat leave - which doesn't have to be due date. Then you need to let them (nearer the time) the date you intend to return to work.
Developments at work would include redundancies or relevant posts being advertised that might be of interest.

I saw midwife today - she said my baby's right at the bottom of my bump and 'the rest is all you'. Didn't quite know how to take that!! There are leucocytes in my urine so I've got to go and take a pee sample to the hospital tomorrow to check for a UTI. Bit worried about that but oh well. Listened to very speedy heart beat :)

dulcet I don't think you can work on your mat leave - but I might be wrong. Or if you do you need to keep it secret from boss.

RE KIT days - they are paid at your normal rate. We get 10 so I can do the odd one here and there or a week at one point and a week at another point to top up my money. So Essie if you were to do your KIT days when you're getting SMP then you'll get full pay for those days.

My god zyla that's a great mat package! We get 6 weeks 90% pay, then 33 weeks SMP. I'm tacking 2 weeks on the start and the rest of my a/l on the end.

Damn just realised HR guru Purple answered all of the questions above :) hee hee! Sorry therefore for long post!!!

Stats update:

Redshoes56
DC1 due Feb 14th

ZylaB
DC1 (DD!) due March 6th

Pisghetti
DC2 (DD!) due March 16th

TabbyTurmoil
DC1 due April 9th

TheBooMonster
DC2 (DD!) due April 11th

laurenamium
DC2 (DS!) due April 25th

minimooo
DC1 (DD!) due April 24th

Catsofa
DC1 due April 30th

couldbeanyone
DC2 due April 26th

splodge77
DC2 (DS!) due April 27th

MrsNM
DC1 due April 27th

KatoPotato
DC2 (DS!) due May 16th

BeforeIChangeMyMind
DC2 due May 30th

Callipygian00
DC1 due June 4th

freshstart4us
DC2 due June 9th

teejayem
DC1 (DS!) due June 8th

Cymraes
DC4 (DD!) due June 13th

WigglyBraddins
DC2 due June 23rd

ChatEnOeuf
DC2 due June 23rd

rm00054
DC1 due June 25th

fattycow
DC1 due July 3rd

DulcetMoans
DC1 due July 9th

Leela
DC1 due July 14th

FleurChamp
DC1 due July 18th

Indigoblue2
DC1 due Aug 12th

EssiesInvisibleLlama
DC1 due Aug 25th

deeplybaffled
DC1 due Sept 4th

mountaingirl01
DC1 due mid-Sept

Purplecircle
DC1 due Sept 24th

Stoatystoat
DC1 due Sept 27th

lildottie
DC1 due - TBC!

Lovely Graduated Grads:
Juni DD born Oct 20th
cookie DS born Aug 13th
Horace DS born July 24th
Ness DS born Nov 10th
FurryScoob DD born Nov 19th
zenry/something DD born Nov 26th
garybuseysteeth/(potentially also DrFunke) DD born Dec 3rd
Minion DD born Dec 23rd
RPopz DS born Jan 2nd
wilmabedrock DD born Jan 19th