Due Sept 08: The one where we pack our bags and write our birth plan.

[mamamufin]

I thought I would be brave

mel were you going to work while claiming MA or am i completely mixed up? i'msure that you can only work a maximum of so many days while receiving ma you know so it may not even be an issue

won;t be able to meet up am in leeds
with no car and no licence so the carthing doesn;t really matter

conservatory should be finished for friday!!! and it's looking ace!!!!

I wasn't planning on both . You can work for 10 days only or MA/SMP stops.

I have spent the best part of a week trying to get benefits sorted in case i got no work, and going round in circles. Jobcentre plus have no idea what they are talking about IMO, and now i have work they want to give me money. Arghhh. Not sure I want to take the risk of trying to change my pay dates as so far they have told me a differnet thing every time I have called.

Ooh, thanks Star that's really cool! Will forward it to DP. He wasn't really keen on the hb idea until we went to the hospital...

Good news about the conservatory mustsleep and I hope you get some sunny days to enjoy in it - it's blimming chucking it down here and I don't want to cycle home!

ok everyone who would like to meet up in London, hows August 3rd? at a pizza express? because i would LOVE to laugh with Starlight about them having to accomodate a bunch of heavily pregnant ladies all at once. it would be like a pregnant woman invasion.

kiskidsee, ofcourse you can email me and pick my brains about abu dhabi, but to be honest i only have the expat view on it so far. i think we're moving over there in october so my dh can make partner quicker... if we choose geneva (our other option) we wont be able to save much. i do go to the uae quite often though because of dh's work.

abu dhabi is only about a 40 minute drive from dubai so it might be a good idea to keep in mind that both cities have competitive features. abu dhabi is on the quiet side (i think thats better in my opinion) property is also slightly bit more affordable since abu dhabi is just starting to develop more residential type stuff.

Hmmm thinking of a name change...mrs.i.n.visable.........

I'm in London 3rd August

eandz, wombfor etc - Aug 3 should be feasible for me. May I suggest the big Pizza Express on the Strand opposite Charing Cross Station?

thats fine with me. how is it for everyone else?

3rd August is good for me too for a London meet up.
I had this funny image of seven pregnant women stood next to each other outside Pizza Express not talking thinking "but how will I know who anybody is?"

MelT76 how long did it take for your claim to process, if you don't mind me asking? Just got mine sent off last week so I'm hoping to hear from them soon.

I got rather confused about where to send the forms, it said send to jobcentre plus and check yellow pages, so I sent it to my local branch.

I'll be applying for the surestart maternity grant as well, does anyone have any experience of how long that usually takes to go through?

Thanks,

mamamufin - youre a gem!

ahh dont worry about me as i cant even keep my eyes open!!

Yeah its be nice to see at least one of yous!!

the london meetup - you gotta get a photo taken and post it on here!

Wish i lived closer to London your meet up sounds like fun!

Had a lovely suprise at work today i was presented with flowers, an outfit, blankie and voucher! I've still got a wk left but there are very few occasions were together as a team...It seems real now...my baby has it's own first outfit!!

Feeling exhausted tonight again, pidge have you had your blood done for iron levels, i've been feeling exhausted and lightheaded and just found out in v.anaemic! worth a check. So now on iron tabs. Will prob get awful constipation now though

Sassafras I sent off my form about 3 weeks ago. when I chased it last week they told me there was a backlog and it would be 2-3 weeks before I heard pff them. So was very shocked this morning.

Not tried for Sure Start grant but that is next on my list!

ok, just watched it. i'm still afraid of child birth. my goodness, i can't believe i'm going to be having a real live baby.

Thanks Mel, I think I'll call and chase it up next week. I'm guessing different jobcentres might take different times to process it. I'm just waiting now for my next mw appointment before I send off the forms for the surestart grant since she needs to sign it.

Hooray for Ikea delivering bang on time! Sadly the wardrobes won't get built for at least a fortnight coz we're off on our jollidays on friday .
Gonna take my achy body off to bed now. Am on emergency call out for my friend who is having a scan at epads tomorrow coz she's 8wks pg and her symptoms have suddenly disappeared and her dh is away Some people get none of the luck.

jenny - when I said I wished I'd 'known' enough to go for a homebirth first time round, I didn't mean knowing stuff about labour I meant more knowing that you're so much more likely to avoid intervention by staying home, and also that it's more relaxing (for me) so you're likely to labour better, and that you avoid that ghastly trip to hospital whilst in labour not to mention you are tucked up in your peaceful bed afterwards with baby rather than being stuck on some noisy ward unable to sleep. That kind of stuff.

In fact I would say sometimes we 'know' too much about labour. First time round I was really hung up on average length of labour, timing the contractions etc and since my experience was distinctly non-average I got totally disheartened and exhausted. Whereas second time round I just retreated into my own world and went with what my body was doing.

Starlight - thanks so much for that dad's view on homebirth. It's a real tearjerker where he talks about having to leave his wife and baby in hospital because he wasn't allowed to stay the night there. I totally remember that, and from my perspective nights in the hospital were the worst bit. Totally abandoned, weeping over a baby who wouldn't feed, and no partner to support you. Awful. My dp is a homebirth evangelist and he would definitely agree with a lot of what that dad wrote.

mumiyumi and jenny - thanks for the iron thoughts, the same thing had occurred to me. I've just had blood taken last week, so should get the results from that soon. Normally my iron levels are brilliant though, so I'm not expecting it to be a problem. Think I just need a weekend of sleeping to catch up. I have this suspicion that I may have had a slight virus, as my throat is very sore. No cycling again for me today .

I also can't make the 3rd, but to be honest our summer is absolutely action-packed. We're on hols for 2 weeks, back for 3, then on holiday again, and in the meantime dp is off abroad for a week leaving me with both kids and work and no kitchen. Lovely!

Gosh this has got to be a long one. Better do some work before I fall asleep again today!

I also can't make the 3rd but for a nice reason as a few kiwi friends are throwing me a little baby shower that afternoon

would love to see the pics afterwards though!

I saw that channel 5 show last night... was totally by the south african woman who didn't utter a sound for her entire labour! She looked like she was having a little doze! Although I completely understand the principles behind the ladies wanting unassisted birth... what's the downside of having a sympathetic midwife with you at home? Bit flummoxed by that one...

The third is also a possible non-starter for me - I'm in dorset on the night of the second, and not sure I can make it back up to London for the 3rd! However, if you arrange it, I'll try to make it... Maybe we could do a another date in the week or so afterwards for anyone who can't make it - I'll be on mat leave by then, and there's a few SAHMs who might be able to come along if they can cope with the trek with child/ren.

mumiyumi very envious of your presents. One of my friends said yesterday that she'd ordered me some prezzies, so I'm looking forward to getting them!

a week after is better for me too, although i can show up anytime as i have no life. but since our last wedding anniversary pre baby is the 4th and thats a monday i have a feeling husband is going to want extra hang out time on the 3rd.

so the weekend after the 3rd, how is that for everyone?

I can make Sunday 10th but not Saturday 9th - this is starting to get tricky...

nah, it's starting to get fun. with the right amount of planning i'm sure it'll be great.

9 and 10 aug are good for me - should we start a new thread on this? Or we could all email one person, to save filling the board with dates debate in case someone has an important pregnancy question to ask and it gets missed?

Ooh, half a thread full! Hope you all half way through bag packing and birth plan writing... Think we may need a second 'pack bags and write birth plans' thread.