June 2015 - bumps ahoy!

[htf2]

New thread time all!

Thanks Orville and Kaybug - and welcome too

I was in H&M today and their leggings looked really short. Maybe next time I should actually try some on.

Yeah they look short, but if you put them on, the fabric sort if elongates and gives them extra length. They're pretty good!

Sun, yes they have to write down a 'week of confinement' so will date it from that sunday, i'm not entirely sure if they will let u work beyond your edd. Tbh i dont think i could of worked properly much beyond 37 weeks.... I worked in retail when i had my son and even going office based in the end was hard work.
Last time i finished the little ones about 4 weeks before, which is what i'm doing again and the the school ones i mind up until babies arrival.
Mite be worth starting ur leave on that sunday (if uv not already had baby) and then you could potentially hav 2 weeks grace before baby arrives.

Afternoon ladies
I don't think you are legally allowed to work past your edd, your Mat leave has to start on that day or before. And if baby comes early it has to start then too i believe. So I think if you take 2 weeks hol before edd and baby comes then, then you go straight to mat leave and lose your holiday? Not positive on that though, depends on your work I guess.

I'm exhausted. Went into town (London) and did the transport museum with ds. He loved it! But I haven't had a full nights sleep for a couple of nights, ds has been a bit unsettled with a cold and last night I had to get up at 3am - for a poo!!! Gods sake!
Serves me right for having a spicy chicken thing before eating pizza.... :-/

Really could do with bed in about an hour but need some quality evening time with DH!

anything the H&M ones are long. They swamp me and I have to roll them up!! Primarks leggings are also long but they aren't maternity so I have them sitting under my bump.

I'm going in Mat leave from April 2nd as have 5weeks annual leave to use up before so my actual mat leave will start when I'm 38wks then I'm having a year off....I will need this time I think as I will still be doing school runs everyday and moving house in late April so it works for me to be off work for that long!

Maternity leggings for me are new look as they do legs for shorties which is a must for me!

This time my contract ends towards the end if April so I will be off 6 weeks before my due date (a bit long but looking forward to my last few weeks with just dd before the new one comes along - our time alone feels quite precious now). Last time I worked until 2 weeks before. To be honest I struggled a bit at the end and used some holiday I was going to be paid down to work a 4 day week for my last 2 weeks. I felt enormous and tired! Much more than I was expecting.

No maternity leave for me, so no actual maternity pay either. Luckily my parents had a property rental business so I do draw a salary from that which is going to be a help as it is continuous all year round. We are now just praying my family home sells now as we really want to be in our new house before the baby arrives and the closer it gets to due date, the less "mobile" I will be.

Evenin all.

Lovely to see you kaybug

Enjoying thoughts on mat leave. I am thinking of maybe a week or two before assuming work will let me work from home more often (only the days I don't have meetings or need to be on site). All depends on me training the new recruit and if they get anyone to cover me as well. It's all about timing in my role so I'm trying to work out what's best for everyone. However, all depends on the idiot in audit I deal with. If my decision was down to the stress he causes me, I'd be off as soon as I could.

I've still got time to decide so I really need to sit down with the budget and TRY to get hubs involved too. It impacts him more than he thinks, or let's on.

Being self employed, I'm only eligible for Maternity Allowance for upto 39 weeks this time.

Going to trying work until at least the beginning of June if I can.

Heartburn is at all time high tonight. My chest and throat is burning with the acid, it's making me feel panicky . Must make a doctors appt next week as I can't go on like this. Gaviscon Advance isn't touching it now sadly.

kaybug congrats and welcome!

tranquility boooo heartburn sucks.. Hope docs get it sorted for you asap.

I'm due Friday 5th June. Currently planning to start mat leave Mon 1st June BUT having a week of annual leave before that. In addition, am planning to work 4 day weeks the 3 weeks before that. I have agreed to have a student until the 15th of May so defo can't go off before then.

Last time I went off at 37 weeks. DD was 2 weeks late. I got bored. My role this time, while still v physical, is a bit more relaxed (there I go jinxing myself), and I have a tiny commute, so I don't think I'm being too unrealistic. Famous last words

kaybug welcome! I am due end of May/early June with my first and I am pretty big. There is no way of hiding this bump.

Jenny I pulled muscles in my neck and shoulders from the coughing, and then in my back. It was agony. I was given permission to use ibuprofen gel but I also spent lots of time lying on hot water bottles and having hot baths. Sometimes I found that if I pressed on the painful bit as I was coughing, it occasionally helped. Hope it gets better.

Tranq that is rough... I had terrible heartburn with dd, made me sick in the night and I started sleeping on multiple pillows to try and keep a bit upright. Mine has been making the occasional appearance this time, but has been bad today for the first time. Fortunately the gaviscon advance is doing its job for me for now. Hope the gp can give you something.

All your talk of Mat leave reminds me of when I worked. At the moment my children are driving me crazy and I'm wondering if I can get a reverse MatB1 form and going back to work before this bambino rocks up to give me a break! I remember with great fondness the first time round on ML watching TV and box sets whilst trying to get comfy on the sofa, throwing in a little nap, dog walk, snack etc!

Thanks for the tips bazza. It seems so ridiculous. I was laughing and crying at the same time earlier!

It just seems to be one thing after another jenny, and the relative ridiculousness of all the things makes me laugh and cry even more! I'd get really upset when the pain in my shoulder limited my ability to do my fringe properly. Then laugh at how stupid it was, then cry because it had made me laugh and cry. Can't imagine why dp thinks I'm irrational sometimes.

all this talk about mat leave is making this feel scarily real! I'll only be entitled to mat allowance. No idea how to claim when the time comes- need to check that out and definitely will now reading how organised some of you are already! Hoping to work up until a month before my due date as I'm on my feet a lot at work. Fingers crossed! Good luck to everyone planning to work longer! Definitely think it's better to have more time after baby is born if possible, I'll be gutted if I finished working a month before my due date and he comes two weeks late!

bingo I can see what you mean - I suppose that's the big plus about working, the build up to leaving and then the treat feeling as you finish and aren't yet exhausted with a newborn. Last time the weeks before were spent doing uni work, this time with a 5 yr old I am SO excited to have a few hours in the day to myself! But we'll all be supremely jealous when we're all facing gut-wrenching returns to work and you're not!

It's dd's birthday this week, so we've got her family party today. I haven't baked her cake yet, or even showered, or anything. I'd better get myself off here and get moving! Have a lovely Sunday, everyone. Weather's gorgeous here.

My parents arrive 2 weeks after due date, and I had been thinking about a day or two in Bath, as we haven't been there and they like it. Between the possibility baby is late, and all the other things that can happen (A friend just told me she had an episiotomy - I had to google it. Now I know :) ) have realised I am completely bananas to be contemplating booking in time away then! they will just have to hang around with me in london unless we make last minute plans because it is all fantastic :P

htf2 - There are some things you really wish people didn't tell you about and then you go and look up aren't there? My friend did the same with me and her episiotomy a few years back...I felt faint when I read about it.

Well, I've had a productive morning. Vacuumed, baked, made lunch for tomorrow, generally cleaned and now having a sit down (and a muffin, just for quality purposes you understand).

Enjoyed the various posts last night on hospital bags/stays and need to go back and make a bit of a list.

Need to enjoy the calm today as I have a ridiculously busy week ahead at work. I'm going to try NOT to stay late anymore than once this week otherwise it will become the norm and it killed me the last time I started to do that.