September crew - baby bumps are appearing and we're emerging as team blue, pink or yellow! Thread 8 :)

[Treaclepie19]

Stats sheet here

Lovely scan pics everyone!

Am feeling sorry for myself; hayfever has gone crazy meaning I'm getting about 3-4 hours sleep a night. Have given in and got a Drs appointment to see if I can get anything that might put a dent in it, and be pregnancy friendly.

I've also found out that I read my maternity leave options incorrectly. I thought after my paid leave was up, I could take an additional 9 weeks unpaid with a guaranteed job to come back to. Turns out this isn't the case, and it's treated as a normal sabbatical - i.e. you take at your own risk if there's an org restructure or similar then I could lose my job if it becomes at risk. I'm hoping that this won't be the case, or they wouldn't be daft enough to get rid of someone who's pregnant / recently given birth.

Sometimes I really miss living in the UK!

Oh miss that's awful! The hayfever and then crap maternity leave. Which country are you in?

Miss you can take ordinary piriton but it does make you drowsy.

Your maternity leave rules seem bonkers, are you in the U.S.? How stressful.

I was such a hormonal cowbag last night, came home today and DH had bought me a massive bouquet of flowers and many sweets, just in case I was feeling teary again today .

Hi button! I've also heard good things about NCT, and was sorely tempted as I'm in much the same situation as you, but we have decided against it, as I'm taking a few prenatal classes, and there are lots of mom and baby groups near me for when princess peach is here.

Yeah, I'm in the US, it makes the EU / UK look like some kind of social utopia! We get the grand total of 6 weeks disability (!) off for a normal birth (which, depending on how long you've worked for is not 100% pay), 3 weeks paid parental leave from the company, and then any vacation time accrued (in my case, 2 weeks)

Most people make plans to return to work then, but I knew I would opt to take additional unpaid leave which I was fine with, just didn't realise it left me open to not being protected in case of org changes and restructuring. Ah well, not really a lot I can do about it, as I'm definitely not going back at 3 months, just to secure my job!

Re the hayfever - am going to have to try another anti-histamine for sure. It's so bad I'm waking myself up with the noise of me mouth breathing darth vadar has nothing on me atm...

Are you doing usual hay fever self care? Shower before bed, bedroom windows closed during the day, throw on the bed you remove at night? Saline nasal spray is good, the anti allergy eye drops too.

And three butter fingers before bed!

Hi button, I only just joined last week too. We are just going to go for the free ones. I had a friend pay about £200 for the NCT ones and all she could say was they met some nice people but she didn't really learn much. I think all the info you need is on places like Mumsnet and through books, I don't think they can really tell you much more. In terms of friends look for local free groups in your area. I am going to visit the local sling library where you can hire slings and also go to a breastfeeding group before the baby is born, plus the free antenatal classes. I'm sure we will meet people along the way :)

PS glad I'm not the only one crying for absolutely no reason the last couple of days!

Thanks fluffin and jaxtreehorn! Yeah you're right...lots more classes available when baby arrives and probably more important then...just a wee panic about what I 'should' be doing :(

I did NCT classes the first time around and the best thing about it was making good friends whose babies are a similar age (preventing loneliness postnatally was vital for me as I was the first of my friends to have a baby by a couple of years). It was useful to learn about labour, choices and the first few days postnatally. But really, when the time came, the Internet and a good book were more helpful I think. I still felt like I didn't have a clue what I was doing in the first few days but I was bombed out on morphine after having an emergency cesarean! Also didn't really help my husband to prepare for the actual labour much - tbh he was effing useless and hadn't a clue what was happening throughout,despite attending the classes. Maybe going to classes that are more focused on the emotional and physical would better prepare parents...

This time around I'm getting a doula and doing hypnobirthing classes which I think will be much more useful!

We're doing the NHS ones and something local, I'm not sure what yet. I want something so I can meet other mums otherwise I'll be a bit stuck on maternity leave. My other friends have older kids or none

I too did NCT classes and to be honest I did learn some things (like who's in theatre for a c-section (clue: it's a lot of people) and what happens) but the biggest thing I got out of it was a support network of 5 other families to whom we're still very close 3 years on.

This time around I'm not doing NCT - though I am involved at branch level - but I've just started Aquanatal classes which is an hour in the pool and then an hour chatting with the other women and the independent midwife who runs the course. Ah, if only I had a spare £4300 to employ her...! Everyone there this week was wayyyy further on than me (32+ weeks) but apparently some more ladies due in September start next week.

I've never been offered NHS classes :(

I wasn't offered the nhs ones either, I ended up ringing my local childrens centre and doing it myself. Bit pissed off with my midwife as I thought they did all this for you or at least advised that you need to do it so you don't miss out. I've basically written her off a box ticker! Supposed to be consultant led but haven't heard a thing from anyone and not seeing midwife now til 30 weeks (last one was at 16 weeks).

*as a box ticker

Oh jaxtree that sounds rubbish..is this your first baby or not? I just came across the NHS ante natel form in my pregnancy pack I got at booking-in appointment. My midwife is also a box-ticker, and as its my first pregnancy I expected/hoped for a bit more guidance..I'm consultant led too and had my first appointment with the Obstetrician this week (20+6 weeks) I mentioned how I was surprised I haven't seen anyone until this late on, and the Obstetrician said I should have been booked in for a much earlier appointment, and my midwife should have done it! I was so cross! I was so desperate to see her and have had quite a few problems!!

I was never offered NHS classes. We did some non-nct classes prior to DS1. Oddly the other participants were from all over, not local at all, and turned out to be very cliquey. The classes themselves were ok, though I never really used the info as my induction didn't work at all and I had an emcs. Didn't do classes for ds2 and not this time as 100% will be a cs. Just be chance 2 friends had their first babies within a few weeks of me so we hung out a lot, and I've made other friends through baby groups and nursery. My best friend didn't do any classes as her DH was away with the Army as didn't want to go to them alone. She found hypnobirthing books and CDs really helpful. Her DH missed the birth, she delivered just with midwives and says it was the least stressful of her 3 deliveries (the others he attended)!

Crafty...yes first baby. I've only been put on consulant led care due to a high bmi so it would be nice to see one at some point, as I want a home birth ideally. Midwife told me at booking in that i was too heavy for a home birth or to use hospital birth pools and would need to have constant fetal monitoring throughout labour. Im still classed as low risk though so perhaps a consultant can shed a bit more light on the subject. When are you supposed to have midwife apps, is it 16 then 24 weeks?

I'll have to double check jaxtree on my notes at home, but I know with your first you have to see your gp a few times as well make in between midwife appointments..I think my next midwife one is 28 weeks (and the first gp one I have is 25 weeks) I've also got some extra scans booked too due to an op I had last year on my tummy..were you not given a list in your pack, listing who and when you see people?that's a disgrace x

This is my first baby jax and in my pregnancy pack from my booking in there's a list of who I should see and when. I had my last midwife appt at 16w and the next one is 24w. I don't have any GP appts at all throughout the pregnancy, unless I request one of course.

I'm supposed to have consultant led care but so far have only seen the consultant once and my midwife is always fully booked for appointments so I haven't seen her since the booking appointment. It sounds (from reading your comments) fairly normal though. I guess it's just cuts to the nhs!

Oh yes, I'm doing NCT too because my sister said she got a lot out of her classes. My husband was keen to do it and learn as much as possible - I'm in 2 minds about this... he has a habit of taking over and I'm not sure I want him taking ownership of me giving birth! But I guess it's better to have him there, understanding stuff than getting in a flap, stressing me out!

Has anyone done a birth plan yet? I've been told to do one (by friends with babies) but I don't know where to start. I know I want it to be as natural as possible (I'm not overly interested in a pool though) but really I just want to see what happens on the day... I'm kind of hoping the NCT classes will help with this! But surely, at the end of the day, the baby will come when it's ready, and it'll happen how it happens and it's not worth getting stressed about?

Third pregnancy and consultant lead. I saw consultant at around 10 weeks and will see her again at 28 weeks. Unless my growth scan at 24 weeks raises an issue and I need to be seen earlier. Saw midwife at 10 and 16 weeks and will see her at 24 weeks. I think that's pretty standard. I do find the massive gap between 16 and 24 weeks a bit . I would have thought it would be good to check urine, blood pressure etc.

Omg. The glamour. I've shat myself in tesco. Had to rush to toilets and bin my pants. Guess I caught the kids' diarrhoea!