April 2017 #3 - looking forward to first scans and the second trimester!

[Celen]

The third thread for all those due around April 2017

Apologies to anyone who I've missed off the list x

Esker, due 29 March, dc#1
Smiles01, due 29th March, dc#1 (5th pregnancy).
IrnBruFan, due 30 March (expected to change to April)
Needtoloseastone, due 30th March, dc#5
Bellatrixandstrange, due 1st April, dc#1
MummaFB, due 1 April, dc#1
Gemsbok, due 1 April, dc#2
MonkeyArms, due 1 April, dc#1
Celen, due 2 April, dc#2
Mummymulb16, due 3rd April, dc#2
StillaChocoholic, due 3rd April, dc#2
SummerSkittles91, due 3rd April, dc#1
Strubo, due 4th April, dc#3
AnnaKateNZ, due 4 April, dc#1
Ilovegbbo, due 4 April, dc#2
LotsaTuddles, due 6th April, dc#3 (pregnancy 6)
Sniffysnifferson, due 7th April, dc#?
Littlespoon, due 8th April, dc#2
Midrog, due 9th April, dc#1
MrsRhubarb, 9th April, dc#2
Naranciata, due 10th April, dc#1
Cazbg, due 10 April, dc#2
MyGreenSofa, due 11th April, dc#2
Everdene, due 11th April, dc#1
Finova, due 11th April, dc#3
WindyTriller, due 12 April, dc#2
TopKittyKat, due 13 April, dc#1
Mamato1, due 13th April, dc#2
katemarob17, due 14th April, dc#1
Allaboutthecake13, due 14 April, dc#2
Puggleface, due 14 April, dc#2
Prive120, due 15 April, dc#1
Helbelle75, due 15 April, dc1 (pregnancy 2)
cantmakeme, due 15 April, dc#2
Choccybiscuit due 15th April dc#3
Marmitecheesetoast, due 16th April, dc#1
Jennywren15, due 16th April, dc#2
Hayls17, due 17 April, dc#1
MummySN, due 17 April, dc#?
MumiTravels, due 22 April, dc#2
Bubbinsmakesthree, due 18 April, dc#2
Dandelionrarrrrr, due 18th April, dc#2
Autumnsunshinebaby, due 18th April, dc#2
DeepFriedCamembert, due 20 April, dc#2
Jpeg28, due 21st April, dc#1 (2nd pregnancy)
Jobrum, due 21st April, dc#2
Theknittinggorilla, due 22 April, dc#3
RaRa25, due 22 April, dc#2
Superbabywright, due 22 April
Welsh due 22 April dc#1
SharkBastard, due 23 April, dc#2
Onecrazycook, due 23rd April, dc#1
mrsbobflob, due 23 April, dc#2
Ecofreckle, due 24 April, dc#2
Hummingbird100, due 25 April, dc#2
sarahhh1984, due 25 April dc#1
IAmALionTamer, due 26 April, dc#2
Number4OnTheWay, due 27 April, dc#4
Niks2026, due 28 April, dc#3
Wherethefuckisthefuckingtuna, due 30th Apr, dc#2

Puggleface I went wagamamas the other day and I already want to go back. I went with a friend, who thankfully knows so there was no awkwardness. I opted for the chicken firecracker, and massively underestimated how spicy it would be. Still loved it though. Finished up with dessert at Frankie and Bennys. Got to love chocolate brownies with ice cream!

Thanks jobrum and green. Unfortunately no such luck on the sleeping. I'm feeling more sick as the day goes on and the smell of food is making me heave! I never felt this bad with my daughters pregnancies. No nausea at all! I really hope this comes to an end soon! Working 40 hours a week with 2 children and all the after school activities whilst feeling sick is doing me in!

Help needed....I'm struggling to find anything I fancy to eat so when I do, even if it's not the healthiest, I'm eating it. Problem is I'm already 2/3 stone overweight. I really really don't want to pile on too much more if I can help it. Any tips or advice would be much appreciated. Being this overweight makes me quite depressed as it is and I don't want that extra battle when baby is born. Is losing weight whilst pregnant a big no no?? I do r want to put extra pressure on myself but I really would like to minimise the damage weight wise

@niks - I think aiming to maintain your weight during pregnancy is more advisable. Slimming world accepts pregnant ladies with a midwife letter to support you to maintain your weight.

I'm pooped today. Just picked up the boy from nursery as I was nights last night. He's now gone for a sleep and I'm tucking into my cheerios. I think we'll go to the park later as the weather's nice.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/foods-to-avoid-pregnant.aspx?tabname=Getting%20pregnant

eco I'm taking imigran now but they only help a bit during pregnancy for me and last time they worsened during the second tri. I had to start Amitriptylene every day to prevent them which did work but they are a sedative antidepressant so gave me all tge horrible sleepinesses. Migraines stopped by the third trimester though!

Good news about your asthma medication, that must make things easier

Prawns are fine in pregnancy as long as they are cooked and no need to worry about Mercury as really low. Tuna steak, swordfish etc have high Mercury so avoid or limit. I've gone off meat so eating a lot of fish and love prawns! Tinned tuna is lower so you can have more of that.

Sorry for those having migraines, that sucks. I am now in a routine of feeling a bit sick first thing, then not too bad in the mornings but from after lunch until the Kids go to bed I feel horrendous. Extreme nausea, thirsty but nothing quenches it and I could fall asleep at my desk. I hate the afternoons.

Going to try Pilates tonight in a bid to feel a bit more human.

Niks hopefully you've only got a few more weeks of nausea then you can get back on a healthier diet. I am eating whatever I can stomach and have no energy for any kind of exercise (plus my nausea is really triggered by movement). High hopes of a healthier diet and more exercise in the 2nd tri! I remember it being such a revelation feeling human again last time!

3 weeks of this awful trimester to go! Cannot wait to say good riddance!

I'm desperate to get onto healthier eating but it's near impossible with this nausea!

I'm finding citrus lollies ease it for about 5 minutes then I get heartburn from the bloody lollies!

I'm beyond exhausted, my house needs a decent clean, the washing basket is overflowing...my DH has been a lifesaver, he's doing all the cooking and trying his best but he works long hours and can't be expected to do it all!

I've been lying on the sofa all day super sick and I feel shit for it! It's horrible knowing that when I wake up tomorrow it'll be nausea all over again and there is no release!!!

So much to catch up on!

green amazing news about the scan!!

naranciata have a great time in France... Just heat the Camembert up!!

Daisy that's not insane at all and pretty much exactly how I felt until my first scan!!

eco sorry you're unwell... Hope you can get well soon!

Luchi get on the phone and chase them... That's crazy you haven't had it through!!

Sorry if I've missed anyone I'm exhausted! 8+3 and desperate to get rid of this exhaustion and nausea... Threw up before work this morning... Was horrible, I feel for all of you who are sick all the time.

I'm really starting to panic about finances, I worked out how much maternity pay I'll get today and I'll be skint!! Like can't pay the mortgage skint!! Have people decided how long to have off? I don't think I can afford more than 6 months

@Jpeg - Are you a two parent family? How do the new laws work where either parent can take extended maternity instead? Are you the higher earner?

The NHS offers a very reasonable maternity package fortunately.

Scan date has arrived for 30th Sept.
What are you telling work, eg annual leave, hospital appt etc.
Don't want to say it's for my scan yet.

I'll take 9 months off....last time I ended up doing £30 a week food shops in last couple months which was a challenge. I'm trying to avoid spending money now as much as possible.
I know what pram I want so need to save for that too!

Yes two teachers and I get full pay for 4 weeks, 90% for two more and then 12 weeks at 50%.... I worked out we will be fine until the end of August and then I'll have two months where I have no idea how we will get by!! That's if I take 6 months off. I really want to start saving but I can't save any money every month... This month I'm skint already and I have 3 weeks left until pay day!!

finova I booked time off for my scan today and just wrote 'hospital appointment' on the absence form. I'm sure they will guess but I don't want to say anything yet.

My scan conveniently falls the day after a holiday so I've just extended my annual leave by a day.

You're entitled to time off work for antenatal appointments though - so I'll be clawing back at least some of that day of AL assuming all is IK and I spill the beans at work soon after.

jpeg is this your first?!
You'll be surprised what you can manage on the mat pay. I really worried about it when I was pregnant with my daughter but to be honest it wasn't as much as a stretch as I thought it was going to be
When your in the 50% bracket it's not really 50% as your tax is adjusted and you'll have your child benefit too! Plus you'll spend less on petrol etc
Try not to worry, if your anything like me you'll be worrying about something that's not as bad as you think it's going to be

Thanks IrnBrufan I hope it will be ok! It is my first and I'm not sure I'll get any child benefit... On paper the two of us earn reasonable money, I think maybe we took on too big a mortgage!! I didn't think as far ahead as kids when we moved here!! I'm sure I'll be ok... The 50% bit will be ok and my OH will just have to pay for everything

What area are you from jpeg? I work in a school and I have the option to take additional maternity pay. It means I get 6 months full pay, 3 months statutory and 3 months nothing. Conditions are that I have to rerun for a minimum of 3 months after maternity leave. By then, I'll have no nursery costs for my DD coz she will start school
So that will save me £400 a month! So I'll actually be better if financially when I'm on maternity leave. Crazy!
Could you maybe look at changing your mortgage, change to a tracker or variable or fixed?
DH and I have one joint account where all money goes and all bills come out of. That way I'm not asking him for money etc.
Everyone is entitled to child benefit, it's around £80 a month.

Wow that's good maternity pay! I'm in Brighton. I think maybe if I have 6 months off and go back to work 4 days a week after that I'll be ok. I need to start saving some serious money!! My OH is absolutely useless with money and up until now he has pretty much never saved a penny! Our mortgage is only a year old so can't change it really. I think I'll have a look at our bills etc and see if we can cut down. I'm sure we will be ok... It's just such a massive pay cut and I didn't realise how little SMP was! I'll look into the child benefit and tax credits etc and I'm a Maths teacher so maybe I can do some tutoring on the side!

I panicked about money jpeg and only took 7 months off last time. As it turned out I barely spent any money at all while on mat leave and we were fine. I did have a bit of savings though. I was dying to get back to work after 7 months though, I got very bored.

Thanks jenny that's good to know! I know my parents would help out if we were really stuck and i guess we could take a mortgage holiday if we got desperate! I'm just worrying.... I do worry about a lot of things!!

I'm in Norfolk now in an air b and b ready for work tomorrow. It's a lovely room but it smells floral. Bleurgh.

Jpeg I'm self employed for this pregnancy so I'll be on statutory throughout and worrying about how to start my business up again afterwards. It sucks! Can you look at your mortgage product and see if you can take a few months mortgage holiday? Some products allow this. Maybe worth a chat with your lender?

Jpeg unless you or your partner earn over 50k (singularly, not joint income) you will get child benefit :) its £18 a week paid every 4 weeks I believe :)

(I believe because I get paid for 3 and can't remember how much it is for each of them...the amount reduces for subsequent children)

Niks - not everyone is entitled to child benefit. If one of you earns over a certain amount, you don't get it.

Last maternity, DP was in a good job, this time, he's just started working for himself, and although it's going really well, he's feeling the pressure for when we go down to me on smp.

It's amazing how little you spend when you no longer go out for drinks or buy nice clothes!

My child benefit is £82 a month. I arranged to have it paid straight into my bank account and DP knows nothing about it. Winner.

Haha gemsbok that is so true!