Due May 07 - W/C 5th February

[charleymouse]

Good Morning all, hope you all had a good weekend will catch up later.
Hurrah it was light when I left the house this morning for the first time in ages so feel much happier about being up and at work.
Cheers CM

Heavy snow? Where?

My back size is 40 as well. I won't mind too much if it stays that. I was a 38G or summat in nursing bras wiht DD and I was much slimmer then. (Well you would be at 16 years old, wouldn't you? )

It's easy to get distracted. The baby is so intangible, that it's hard to focus.

That is really cool, SOH. It takes me feckin' ages to cut out round a sewing pattern. I'm paranoid. I've never done much more than about 5 inches of knitting. I'm so slow I get bored. I might knit a little blanket for this one, if I'm bored on maternity leave. Yeah right...

Oh, do you know what I realised today? My last day in the office is 30th March BUT my maternity leave doesn't start til 30th April becuase I have 13 days holiday to take, plus 7 bank holidays. I forgot you can add the bank holidays. Great, huh?

Hi there, all this talk of breast growth is beginning to depress me - I was and remain a 36A!!! Am I missing a gene???

Pebble how are your letters coming along? Your story should def make it to the papers, it's something every parent should read, and every tax payer for that matter...!!!!!!!

It has taken ages to catch up on todays posts!

I have gone from a 34C to a 34DD, although i do need to be measured as my bras are on the last hooks and are starting to dig in a bit. I am already at the size i was when bf ds so not really sure what i will end up as.

Things i have for baby:
Travel system/car seat - from ds - will also be getting a double buggy
baby monitor - new
moses basket & stand - from ds
cotbed sheets in pink - new
8 blankets - 4 new
vests - from ds
babygros - mix of old and new
sleep suits - mainly new but have neutral colours from ds
several outfits in various sizes - new
boucy chair - new
breast pads
steriliser - from ds
bottles - some new some from ds
bottle brush - new
dummies - new
changer/dresser and mat - from ds
black out blind
grobags - from ds
hats - from ds
knitted cardies - from ds - MIL knitted them

Dh goes on stage for the first time tonight as 'Gordon' the mute gorilla! I dont get to see it til next Friday but will post a picture as soon as i have one

Havent measured my bump with a tape measure but know i have put on 11lbs so far, so am feeling quite pleased. Need to put on as little as poss as being a bridesmaid 12wks after due date and dont want to be too much of a heifer!

Hope LG&T is feeling better and that the poo/sick bug has left the building.

TYG - yep, a second day of heavy snow up here in Staffordshire. DS made a snowman in the back garden yesterday, revealing big patches of grass on the lawn. All of those patches are now covered again in at least an inch or two of snow so far. I've been emailing DH to tell him to leave work early as he has to take lots of little country lanes and quiet roads on the drive home. Obviously I'm worried about him getting home safely rather than being able to fetch creme eggs for me.

Also what's this about bank holidays? Do you mean bank holidays that will come up while you're on maternity leave? I'm still working out my maternity leave and, as I've just had my MATB1 form, I need to sort it out next week. Basically, I complete a year's service on 2nd May and then I will be entitled to 6 months leave on full pay. Apparently, this includes any entitlement to SMP. I can then have another 6 months off as unpaid additional leave. So, I'll be going on maternity leave from 7th May onwards, to make sure I qualify for 6 months on full pay. I've also got 20 days leave (consists of 6 days I've got left from this leave year and another 14 days leave that I'll accrue while on maternity leave during the next leave year. So, this means that my last day at work will be 4th April (just before Easter - nice)!

TYG, just started making a patchwork blanket for the cot. It is easy peasy. Crocheting a blanket's probably quicker than knitting too- just made one like this here but didn't cost me that much!

My mat leave starts on May 7th (my wedding anniversary) but I still have 4 weeks of holiday and a few bank holidays to add on so I should be able to have quite a bit of time off between now and D-Day. I'll need it to get organised. No idea where this baby will sleep still.

Creena you should get another 3 months statutory pay after your 6 months full pay. Statutory pay is for 9 months now regardless.

Our mat leave's at exactly the same time. I go back Feb 8th 2008 after 9 months.

SOH - someone mentioned that to my DH but when I checked my employer's maternity leave policy, it says that the 6 months full pay is 'contractual maternity pay' and is 'inclusive of any statutory maternity pay to which you may be entitled'. Mind you, this won't be the first time I've had to double check one of their staff policies. Do you know of anywhere I can go to check this out and see what I should be receiving? Sounds to me like I should be receiving my 6 months full pay and then another 3 months of SMP. Better start some detective, I reckon.

SOH is right Creena. If you get "occupational" maternity pay (ie your salary or most of it) from your company, that's great. They somehow include your SMP in that, or the govt pays it to them or something. Then you get three months SMP, which I think you get through payroll at your company, but I'm not sure. I should be able to tell you next week as I'm just sending off my MAT1B now.

According to my maternity leave HR advisor, I also get paid for any bank holidays which occur in the FIRST SIX MONTHS of my leave. So I worked it out wrong as 7. I think it's 5. It will be less for you as you won't have Easter. Only end May and the Aug one I think. However, I have no idea if that's my company that do that, or if it's an entitlement.

Anyway, have just spoken to HR lady and she said if I just start my leave straight away, I can get paid the holidays and bank holidays in my December payroll (when I'll be down to SMP only) so I think I'll do that. Will be a bit of a boost for Christmas.

HTH.

It sounds like your employers hadn't gotten around to updating their policy since the changes came in for babies due on or after April 1st. My company website was out of date for ages with just a note saying to check back later for updates.

I never managed to get past crocheting a single row of stictches SOH. Is it really that easy?

I started a blanket once that was easy. A sort of basket effect. I think it was 10 plain then 10 pearl for 10 rows, then the opposite on the next 10 rows. I only got a few inches done. Perhaps I'm just too impatient to knit?

Creena check any of the tiger, DWP sites etc , statutory maternity pay for babies due after April 1st is paid for 9 months. Your work's policy sounds exactly the same as mine, they just need to update the SMP part to 9 months instead of 6 and then for the first 6 months you are on full pay (OMP with SMP offset) and then 3 months just on SMP.

See here for example.

TYG, it's easy peasy. It's just practice really. And necessity like I said! Our heating doesn't work and I need the blankets atm.

It's only worth it if you enjoy it though.

Blimey, thanks SOH & TYG - that's really useful. Will pursue it before handing in my MATB1 form next week. It really doesn't surprise me that their policies are out of date/totally wrong!!

Hey everyone PC still isn't fixed, but I'm not complaining, because other than you guys, I really don't miss it. I'm finding better ways to use my time. and Ds is hard to keep up with these days. He's started walking with his hand down his "pants" which is very funny, and it just confirms that he is a little man.

Speaking of "pants" I still can't find any that fit. I bought new ones and the just keep falling down. They're over the bump ones and I can't keep them up. but the size smaller just doesn't fit. Oh well.

I had my gestational diabetes test on Wednesday so I didn't eat any sugar Monday or Tuesday, and fasted for 12 hours before I went. I got there and the nurse said, "they scheduled this too early, you need to come back for the test in two weeks"
I'm upset that I have to go back and go through it again. I don't know if it's standard to do the GD test over there, but here it is. Other than that I am happy to announce that we are in good health.

We've MIIIISSSEDD YOOOOO!

I would have been really pissed of about fasting for no reason. I don't think it's standard to do GD tests here. I haven't had it done anyway. I think they only do it if you're in an "at risk" category or something shows up in your pee sample.

Glad you're well otherwise. I know what you mean about not having a pc. You do kind of get more done. I sometimes wish I couldn't access mumsnet at work because I would DEFINITELY get more done!

back is killing me - need a day off from being pregnant!!!!!!!

MGK good to hear you are ok, I ended up pregnant when we had no internet glad you are finding other things to do lol

Lil know what you mean - just 1 day off from not being able to get comfy

Have just been to Mothercare World and bought a support pillow after tossing and turning all night and not being able to breath - kept waking up being on my back, sure my body was saying if you dont sllep like this then there will be no sleep at all - so a must do trip to mothercare - must say I have it behind my back now and it feels so supported - looking forward to bed tnite, also bought 4pk avent bottles got the thermabag half price and also had 10% off voucher and £2 in other vouchers so didnt end up being too bad - could have gone quite mad in there but dp was saying are we done yet, dd was pulling my arm as she wanted to go on the ride - so i gave in, will go with friend when i can dawdle, my reusable nappies arrived today as well and they are too cute - went for some little lambs,

Hope ev1 is having a nice weekend, off to visit friends near Winchester tomorrow so looking forward to that - havent seen them in ages

sounds like support pillow the answer then - uing too much gas avin to run baths!!!! im considering a support belt too ....... Anything thatll help really. alth im quite impressed tho cuz a stretchmrk above my belly button that i gained from ds is now developed into a perfect shape of the playboy rabit sign this time round - designer stretchmark lol
on a more lower note im having to give my dog away today because he snapped at my dd this morning getting jealous over me - scared me to think wot he would be like wen dd2 arrives so he going to live with my friend

hi ladies. i have been lurking, sort of. you all can be a very chatty bunch. but not all of the time though. it seems that if the right people are on at the right times it gets to be a very long thread. you know who you are! i love keeping up on what is happening with you all. i haven't been posting because i don't have much to contribute right now. seems like by the time i think of something funny or smart to say one of you has beat me to it. plus, i realized today that i only post when i have something to complain about and things are great right now. i feel good, munch feels good and dh feels good. the movers are scheduled to gather our things on march first and we are booked on a flight on march sixth. australia, here we come! ready or not. sleeping has been difficult, at best, but i find that if i take the time to get situated with my body pillow and a couple other pillows strategically stuffed around me i can get comfortable. it just takes a lot of effort. last night i had some wine and it did not help.
must go. i smell a very stinky diaper that needs changing. so gross.
by the way, i have the next questionnaire ready to go but i don't have time to answer the questions myself and i don't want to post it until i do. maybe later this afternoon.

Afternoon all, hope you are all having a great weekend.

Im just popping in quickly to ask for good luck vibes to be sent my way.

As i said last week my MIl and Dh had both agreed that paying £350 for the pram i want was a bit too much but if I found it cheaper then maybe I would still be able to get it. Well Ive gone and found one on Ebay Its the 2in1 model instead of the 3in1 but that doesnt bother me, it is as new due to the fact the baby didnt like it, its the exact material I wanted etc and its a local pick up. Ive just put a bid in for it and at the moment Im winning. I knew it was a good idea to ley dh go to the pub to watch the football, when i phoned him to tell him about it I was expecting him to say no but he gave me a limit of what i can spend on it which is higher than my current bid I am so excited I just hope I win and if the bid stays as it is I will have got it half price!!!

If you could see me now im like a kid whose been let loose in a sweet shop and told to help itself.

Anyway dont forget the good luck vibes, i may need them and i will be back when bidding ends at 5:45 to let you if i won. I will catch up on all your posts then

TTFN

Oohhhhh Pebble go get that pram

Lil go get a pillow - awwww at your dog, I was really worried at how mine would be when i had dd, however most he has done is growl and tbh she has desrved it, I must say if he ever snapped he would be gone the next day - or at least as soon as border rescue could rehome him

Jess good to hear from you, glad all's well look forward to questionaire

Ahhhhhh my pillow - must remove myself from it and cook dinner

Fingeres crossed Pebble. Hope you get it!

Have chosen my buggy, just need to find it on ebay! We are going for the Phil and Ted E3 Sport.

Got a few more essentials today:
Infacol
Gripe Water
Sanitary Towels - not maternity ones
2x Nursing vests
Breast Pump

Hope you are all having a good weekend x

I WON

I am now the proud owner of a babystyle 2in1 pram!!! I ended up having to pay £171 for it but hey if i bought it new it would have cost double that so im happy.

I also got a new outfit for the baby today, its only a 3pce babygro set but its got 'little roo' on it from winnie the pooh, its so cute.

Whoo hoo - nice work Pebble. That is a huge thing to be able to cross off the 'to get' list

I still have 2 white babygro's....yes ladies that is it!!

However have just booked a flight to Boston for Marh 12th for a week to stay with a mate and am hoping to get some serious shopping of some sort in.