November 2018 #4

[olderthanyouthink]

Ante-natal thread for babies due this November, continued...

Stats spreadsheet is here - add and update yourself as needed!

Oh and had 16w appt today (am 17w) and strong heartbeat, baby kept moving around so she kept losing it hehe no idea on bpm as she didn't say or write down so can't try the guess sex by hb.

@xXJenXx and @Countrymouse82 I'm self-employed too and was when I went on mat leave early last year. The forms aren't actually too bad as a lot of sections don't apply unless you've had multiple jobs. I think I just have to fill in my self employment info and also a bit of PAYE info for the little bit of work I do through an agency

If you haven't done your 2017/2018 self assessment yet I would suggest getting that in ASAP as it's best to have your NI payments up to date to make sure you're entitled. Otherwise they can reject your claim until you've paid your NI.

It's a pain but it's honestly not as longwinded as it looks!

I am actually melting in this heat. Hate heat normally but now it's making me and therefore everyone around me miserable. And there isn't even a breeze ffs

@MiniMinions how can you guess sex from heartbeat? I'm intrigued! Mine was 150bpm this morning at my midwife appointment

Apparently over 140 is a girl

Yep what @TinyPawz said, although I can't remember whether it was right last time for my son or not haha

Hi all
Not been here in ages - been so busy at work! I have a scan this morning (16.5 weeks - repeat of my 12 week as they couldn't get any measurements last time) and the quad test. Looking forward to seeing the little bean again. Hoping they might even be able to tell if it is a boy or a girl!!

They should! We are booked in fri for our gender scan at 15 weeks! I booked it for next week but seen online they do it at 15, as long as baby cooperates 🤣

@Tyrionsbitch hope all goes well at scan x

Scan went well - baby behaved and they managed to get all the measurements they needed. Had a quick look and was told to double check at 20 week scan but it looked like a girl! So excited!

Lovely to hear about all the scan updates

@xXJenXx There are about 23 pages but I think it's just the number that's a bit daunting.. hoping it won't take that long!

@sarahhh1984 Ah that's great - was worried I was going to spend weeks sorting through things! Thanks so much for the info on NI contributions - that's so useful. For once I might get my self assessment in early rather than with a day or two to go!

On another note - when do people get maternity bras? I don't know whether to buy a couple of non wired normal bras to tide me over the next couple of months or invest in a comfy maternity one now.

Fab news @TyrionsBitch

sarahhh i am also self employed and wanted to get my tax return in soon as baby will be here in november. Want to have all that stuff sorted so it's not stressful come post christmas madness! Can't imagine trying to complete it sleep deprived!

Also self employed people does anyone use simple tax programmes like go simple etc? I used to have an accountant, but it's not that complicated and wanted to save myself some money this year!

@Countrymouse82 Definitely worth getting it in soon so you're up to date with NI. Makes the Maternity Allowance application a lot more straightforward!

@NoCatsHere I just sort mine myself as my business is pretty much cash in, cash out. Not tried any of the programmes so can't be any help there I'm afraid. Not wanting to do self assessment after the baby's here is another good reason for getting it in early!

Lovely news @Tyrionsbitch!

Glad you had a good scan @Tyrionsbitch I'm counting down to my 20 week scan, can't wait to see baby again!

@countrymouse82 I didn’t get maternity bras last time until right at the v end when I got the Royce adjustable one www.royce-lingerie.co.uk/maternity/blossom/blossom-blk-white#selection=color:BLACK%20%2F%20WHITE__243;chest_size:32__6;cup_size:C%2FD%2FDD__20

No idea if that works but it was great for before birth and when my milk came in and still fit when they calmed down. I’m already 3 cup sizes bigger than before pregnancy but am sticking with wires for now- my mum is a Bravissimo bra queen so luckily I know how they’re supposed to fit and check with her if I’m not sure. Debenhams sale often has small back/big cup sizes for reasonable prices, I make sure I have a couple that fit and wash and rotate. I remember some women on my other bus swearing by the stretchy crop top things for comfort- think they were from JMB. I’d go with as cheap as poss early on- boobs are still changing so much. Also- bra guru/boob or bust to measure rather than relying on notoriously crap high street shops is a good shout!

@Countrymouse82 I'm doing what I did last time which is buy a couple of soft cup bras from Bravissimo to tide me over until close to my due date.

What I did last time (on Bravissimo's advice) was bought about three maternity bras a couple of weeks before I was due, but I left the labels on two of them and put the other in my hospital bag. The idea was if my boobs got hugely bigger once my milk came in I could swap the other two and I'd have only wasted money on one. As it happens, my boobs just went bigger at the start of the pregnancy and then more or less stayed the same size until I finished breastfeeding so ended up using all the maternity bras I bought.

Reason Bravissimo advises this is maternity bras aren't that supportive (even compared to soft cup bras) so they're not always best to wear through pregnancy - particularly if, like me, you're big of boob.

Morning all! I've been absent from the board for a while (but checking in to read updates - glad to see all is well).
Nothing much beats the excitement of discovering we're having twins so since then I've not had much to report!

I'm 17 weeks today and am telling work now. I'm self employed with a 6 month contract taking me up to the end of October. I'm due on 8th November but unlikely to get to 40 weeks but need to keep going for as long as possible!

@sarahhh1984 @Countrymouse82 @xXJenXx I've just become a sole trader so will have to sort my taxes and maternity pay now. It should be fairly straightforward as I am working as a freelancer for one company for the next few months. Fingers crossed the whole thing isn't too confusing!

@marmitericecakes Honestly, it's not too bad. If you get your self assessment for 2017/2018 in nowish then you should be all sorted for when you need to do your maternity allowance forms. Don't think you can submit them until you're 25 weeks or something like that.

If anyone needs any advice with the mat allowance forms, feel free to ask as last time is still pretty fresh in my memory!

Couldn't resist little baby clothes today. So got a pack of vests, sleepsuits and socks. All in white. I'll hold off getting more until I find out what flavour I am having.

@TinyPawz I'm so tempted to do the same but I'm scared it'll get me all excited for baby - still can't shake that little nag at the back of my mind that anything could happen I'm more eager to look at prams for some reason. I think it's the one purchase I'm actually excited about haha. I was looking at cots in Ikea and didn't realise how big they are! Going to have to rearrange my entire bedroom to see how we can get the most free space.

I started feeling movement last week at 16 weeks but only when I lay down on my back very still. I only felt it on 2 occasions but it was unmistakable. This week I've started to feel a bit more, like a worms doing somersaults inside me is the best description I could give

Oh exciting tinypawz! I’ve just gone through all our baby clothes in the loft and sorted it into size boxes and got a bag of excess for charity. I haven’t done any more than that like wash any of it, I won’t do that until much later but it did get me so excited to see how tiny all the baby stuff was!

mayah I love that description! I’m 15 weeks now and hope to feel something soon. I sometimes think I can like a popping sensation but can’t work out yet if that’s baby or air!

@NoCatsHere I need to do that but think I'm going to hang on until I know what we're having. If it's another girl then I need to go through DD's stuff, work out what will and won't be seasonally appropriate (DD was a spring baby) and then sort it into sizes. If it's a boy then I need to pick out the unisex things and go from there.

Still waiting on 20 week scan appointment. 🙄 Hospital keeps telling me the appointment is being sorted and I'll get a letter soon but I'm 17 weeks today - don't really want to find out last minute when it is.