July 2019 (thread 8): pram choices, 20-week scans, and the morning gag

[RooKangaroo]

New thread!

Sorry, don't know if someone else was planning to do this. Just noticed how close we were to being cut off on the last thread.

I have a daughter who will be 7 in a couple of months . When i fell pregnant with dd2 she was 4.5 year old , she had been wishing for a baby for ages so she was SO excited when we told her. But s few hours after we told her she asked "will you still love me even though you have two children or will you love the baby more" 😪 proper made me feel awful haha
Think it is normal for them to feel a bit of jealousy. Just make sure he still gets the attention and you still make a fuss over him too and he'll be fine :)

HchyScott I didn't get anything prescribed for my skin in the end, and still have frequent lumpy red spots. ☹️ Bicarbonate of soda and lemon did work to a point, but now I've gone back to the GlamGlow mask (used v sparingly) which I stopped initially because it wasn't explicitly proven safe in pregnancy. Still in that horrid cycle of using make up to cover up and that probably making things a bit worse.

The theatre was lovely! We did think we should get a few of these things in now because we're unlikely to get organised enough once the baby is born. And I pretty much didn't fall asleep.

@Chinks123 I was at uni when my DS was born. Had him in the summer break between 2nd and 3rd year. Do you think you will try to go back or take a year out?

@BeckyButterfly I'll be the same my mat pay will start when I should be off with pay anyway! It's a bit annoying - should have timed things differently 😂

@beckybutterfly and @snaikirseift are you local authority teachers? Make sure what the school is saying matches the rules of the burgundy book. Also @snailorswoft you’re entitled to 10 paid Keeping in touch days days which can help with phased return.

Check your bank holiday accrual too...should be taken at the end = 8 days

My timings fit with new financial year 1st July at work so mine is 2 weeks holiday in June, mat leave start 1st July (I’m at risk of early induction and def induce on 28th July) I get 14 w full pay then smp for 25 weeks. But, I will accrue 5w holidays and 8 days bank hol, so Ill have about 5 w unpaid then use what I’ve banked. This puts me back to work in 1st July 20/20. Nit sure on keeping in touch days yet but I’ll probably use some.

So I actually finish in 17 w. Can’t bloody wait!!

I’m office based and it’s ok but I also have lots of friends on 6 months full pay and 3 months half pay.

@Yukka I'm based in a school but employed by the health service. Employed in a 10 month p/t contract which is paid pro rata across the full year. My annual leave entitlement is separate.

Im sure I'm losing out somewhere along the line as my 8 week full pay will be July/August when I would have been paid anyway while I was off, but haven't looked into it in enough detail yet.

@SnailorSwift so annoying isn’t it? 😂 I feel cheated! Haha.

@Yukka yes I work for LA and I’ve checked the burgundy book. I also checked with my union and they confirmed what I thought about the summer hols. I didn’t know we could take back missed bank holidays...? It didn’t mention that in the burgundy book from what I could tell although that thing is a bloody headache to read through 😂 I knew about the keeping in touch days, probably going to take them during December when I’m down to SMP only.

Just had my gender scan!

It was amazing to see how much baby has grown, so excited!

Will be finding the gender out tonight at 6 once both family’s can be together! 💙💜

Yay @AIDE2424! I’m pleased all is looking good in there and you got to say hello again 😊

Oh that's exciting @AIDE2424 I'm amazed you've got the willpower to wait until tonight but that's a lovely thing to do!

@SnailorSwift I'm not, I'm in higher education (think mat leave/AL is pretty standard across most unis). I'm really pleased with the pay we get as compared to a lot of others I know it's amazing. I do know a few lucky people who get 6 month full pay though! People must be popping out the babies in those workplaces!

Went out for drinks last night (lemonade for me!) and shattered now. Didn't go to bed until 1:30 which is by far the latest I've been up in ages!

AIDE2424 great news on the scan, and that's a really lovely way of doing it about the sex!

Capybaras oh yes the tiredness is something else!

I woke up in the middle of the night to find DH trying to roll me over to my side. 😂 I'd obviously ended up on my back and he was tying not to wake me while doing it! I was a bit confused for a moment! 😂

@StargazyDrifter that’s so sweet 😊 I wake up most nights having rolled on to my back! My pregnancy pillow is helping a bit with that because it makes it more difficult to roll over.

How’s everyone doing without the things we aren’t allowed to eat and drink? I thought I’d really miss alcohol (I’m a big beer and ale drinker) but I actually haven’t wanted it at all. I would kill for a medium rare steak on the other hand...! 😂 oh and I have a goats cheese and pate obsession so I’m really missing those haha.

I'd kill for an ice cold glass of dry white wine....

I really fancied a cocktail when we were out last night, otherwise I haven't really missed alcohol! I've had the odd sip of my DHs beer (was Blegh) and had quite a nice non-alcoholic cider, otherwise I've been happy sticking to soft drinks!

I think when the weather gets nicer that's when I'll crave a nice glass of rose!

BeckyButterfly I'm also missing rare meat, everything from medium rare steak to carpaccio/steak tartare. Also really missing sushi. I've chanced it with the odd bit of ham and salami on a couple of occasions. Partly helped. Mmm.

Alcohol on the other hand is less of a problem than I had expected. We normally have a lot of wine. I have had the odd tiny glass of wine a couple of times while pregnant, but it's not tasted the same and wasn't enjoyable. So what I'm really missing there is how wine used to taste pre-hypermesis and weird pregnancy tatsebuds.

I also really love a searing hot bath and a steam room. Miss those.

On goats cheese, I think you can get a pasturised one that's ok and not eat the rind?

DH says I've developed a real taste for 'old lady food'. Basically anything classic like meat and two veg and classic puddings over things with Indian/Asian spices and flavours and various interesting desserts. I hadn't realised this myself but I think it's partly about predictability/relative blandness. It'd rather have something 'boring' and keep it down!

@Capybaras I agree it's really good compared to some!

On the subject of cocktails I've been drinking M&S 'Mojito Juice Drink' over ice with fresh lime and mint added and it makes a really good at-home mocktail!

I've coped pretty well without most things but last night I really wanted a nice cold glass of dry white wine. I found an ok super low alcohol cider which is alright for an odd treat

I’m amazed I have the willpower too!

We have a balloon in the boot in a box which will reveal the gender and then they’ve also put a scan photo in a evelope which tells us the gender! Not looking at those is slowing eating at me.

On the things we aren’t allowed I’m missing Gin! I’ve got 2 bottles in the cupboard I got bought for Christmas from people who didn’t know I was pregnant but food wise I’m not missing much I can cope without it xx

@AIDE2424 how exciting!

I'm not finding out at scan this week as DH is away so we have booked another scan and will find out together when he's back!

Ahhh @AIDE2424 that's so exciting ! I'd have loved to do something like that but no way we could have gotten everyone together . Let us know how it goes !

I've just been down to my local Mothercare which just announced it's closing! Was hoping to get a few bargains but it was absolutely mobbed and I had my toddler so didn't get much time/space to look! They did have 50% off maternity/nursing clothes so I grabbed some more maternity leggings , a pack of dummies and a swaddle blanket ! Then went to TK Maxx and found a lovely cotton bassinet blanket in the sale so grabbed that too. Feel better now I've finally bought a couple of bits 😂 was starting to wonder why I couldn't commit to anything hah

Chuckling reading what everyone is missing! The only thing I miss about alcohol is that I don’t actually like any soft drinks so all I drink now is water which gets a little dull. All I used to drink was beer/ale or water haha.

@ReginaPhalange89 I went to our local Mothercare which is closing and the sale was rubbish! The baby clothes were still more expensive than M&S!

@StargazyDrifter I don’t know about the goats cheese. I just read online that I can only eat it cooked so just took that as gospel. I never realised how much I like raw meat and raw fish until I fell pregnant 😂

BeckyButterfly I know what you mean about the soft drinks, they are all so sweet and I end up with furry teeth. Then that makes me gag. 🙈 The most tolerable things I've found have been tomato juice or red grape juice diluted with water (in a wine glass, naturally!).

You're right about goats cheese, if it has mould it's off limits. And the mouldy ones are the best!

Smoked fish and sushi is fine! Most sushi is frozen before preparation. You can also do the same with cured meats - freeze then defrost and they're fine, it kills off any potentially dangerous bacteria. I wasn't a big drinker even before pregnancy but we got some seedlip 'spirit' for Christmas and that is nice with tonic. Not sweet like most soft drinks.

@BeckyButterfly yeah, there was 20% off baby/kids clothing but it's still expensive ! It's no wonder they're closing their shops to be fair, the prices are pretty ridiculous.

I haven't really had to give anything up that I kisso, if I'm honest. I don't eat anything like steak etc or sea food, pate etc. I also don't really drink, just at occasions like birthday parties weddings etc it's my 30th in 4 weeks though, I know I'll be wishing I could drink then !

The only thing really I've wanted recently and thought I better not.... Soft eggs! I bloody love a runny yoke lol. I did actually have one the other day 😬 but other than that there isn't really anything !