Dec 08 - the one where we wonder what are our bodies going to do next?

[rosmerta]

Sorry for rubbish title, best I could do

thanks for the tip Effie

waitinggirl, I wasn't sure if I'd get any kind of maternity benefits, but will definitely look into it. I'll let you know if I find anything

morning ladies....yes mibbes, that is the hypnosis CD I used. I really rated it! I also bought the birth music one but left it in the car with all the rest of my 'totally essential' birthing kit and gave birth in a hospital gown and some sexy black socks with no music or snacks!!!!

A friend of mine is self employed and got (I think) Statuatory Maternity Pay - which was actually more than she was taking from her new business at the time! Not sure how she got it, but there's a lot of info on www.direct.gov.uk so that might help.

I have vivid dreams anyway, but recently have been having several a week - luckily not scary, just odd!

waitinggirl there is a maternity allowance paid by the govt which is a bit over £110 (or 90% of your income per month if it is less) a month for 9months i think from the due date. You just have to have worked 6months of the 15months before your due date and you just have to provide 3 months worth of pay slips, so they suggest using your highest 3 months worth of pay. You apply for all this at your local job centerplus (i think that what they are called) and you can check it all up online i can't remember the website but just type in maternity allowance on google and something should come up.

katie - have just found this: this page

it's pretty clear - am a bit worried i won't be able to get the full whack as have been a non-earning student for so long. what a great time to be having a baby - husband is self-employed writer who is unemployed for the first time in 3 years, i've been a student for a year earning effectively nothing, and there's a credit crunch on the way. well done us!

enough of the self-pity - it was our choice and we're thrilled - will now shut up about it

oh, just saw everyone else's posts - thanks fo the tips. will look into it.

where does one get plain almond oil? health food shop? chemist? body shop?

Morning,

Thanks for all your wishes, scan went really well, everything is fine and its a little baby girl.. has the cutest little nose i've ever seen.

Good news they've brought your scan forward reban, hope all goes well

Great tip effie, i've been using an oil from Clarins which is far too expensive to keep buying!

I found this link
I think our best bet is to get down the jobcentre!

waiting you poor thing, though not sure if it helps but DH and i have found as long as we are careful our lifestyle can actually cost a little less than our previous lifestyle and that of our childless friends, esp the first year or so of the baby. We no longer spend a fortune on a friday and saturday night out with friends.

Also i can't stress enough buying stuff 2nd hand or getting hand outs from friends, esp when they are small most things are barely used like clothes etc and people are really happy for their children's clothes to got to a good home. If your not careful you can spend a fortune but if your canny you can save heaps. Ebay is good but beware you can get carried away with all the bidding.

katie - thx - have also just found this this page - i had no idea what tax credits were. don't know whether you have kids yet or not (if so, you prob know about this already), but when i filled it in saying we don't have a kid - we don't qualify - but if i said we do have a kid (post dec fingers crossed), we probably do qualify.

Hello everyone,

New thread already!

Congrats effie on having a boy! Good luck with your next scan.

Congrats purple, on your little girl!

I had my scan yesterday and all was well . The baby was very uncooperative though and wouldn't turn round! My scan pic features the back of it's head and spine. We didn't want to find out the sex although it felt very tempting to ask!

I had a very odd dream last night where I got back together with my first love . Nothing rude but I was really happy when I woke up, which is odd as I can't think of anything worse! I decided not to tell DH about that one

I'll be getting down the job centre and applying for maternity allowance too waitinggirl and kate. I was a post-grad student temping and got my new job the day before I found out I was pregnant!

Great news jollybear and purple on your scans - and good to hear you're having a little girl purple. Does anyone else think there's seems to be a lot of boys due from this group (or am I missing some)? So she evens things up.

Thanks all for advice on tube - I'm afraid I had to rush off before I had a good read. I will definitely take the polite advice next time. I stood on way up for 5 stops and everyone pretended not to see me, despite standing in the middle of the seated bit, rubbing my tummy! People are so rude! Only person to stand up for me yet is a girl on the bus, which was before I was really obviously pregnant! although I did read some quote from a bloke saying "I'd rather see a pregnant girl stand than a fat girl cry"!!!!

Hurray for scans all round - well done everyone, it's great!

Feeling a bit peeved today as something in my right hip has gone funny and I hardly slept a wink last night from the pain. It's still really painful today and I'm feeling a bit miserable. It's doing shooting pains down my right thigh, starting around the hip/pelvis area. Most uncomfortable. Poor me.

But agree re dreams, I've had some corkers. I dream quite a lot anyway, but these ones have been even more vivid than usual.

Ouch, that sounds painful beans. Maybe the baby is lying on a nerve?

I've just been downstairs to get my baked potatoes out of the oven and discovered I didn't turn the oven on . What a plonker!

hee hee! that's hilarious! Preggy brain is a definite presence in my life. So much so that when we saw the baby's brain in the scan, DH reckoned that it had actually taken half of mine! Hmmm... How rude!

glad to hear about all the good scans!

I used the direct.gov.uk website & unfortunately don't qualify for anything . Oh well, my choice to stay home with ds!

waiting we do qualify for some tax credits so you definitely should. You'll also get your child benefit (a whopping £17 per week ). Agree with veggie, get as much stuff 2nd hand as you can and accept all handouts! Find your NCT nearly new sales, they always have good bargains, just be prepared for a bit of elbow barging!

beans maybe the baby is lying a bit awkwardly? Hope beanie shifts! Re preggy brain I think dh is a bit concerned that as ds apparently took half my brain, and junior is obviously getting the other half, I'm just going to be a dribbling wreck!

Maybe it is lying awkwardly, thank you - it just feels a bit muscular. Maybe it'll shift. All things pass, as my Mum would say.

Oh yay, nearly lunch time. Although I've gorged on cherries this morning, so not that hungry. I'd forgotten how delicious they are.
Drool.

Good news on scans girls . Is that all the 20 week scans for December babies done?

Beans grrr at tube mean people.

My pregnant brain gets worse each day. I want to finish work now. Lady T very jealous of your week 29 finish! December seems a long way off.

Am on operation more chilled out mother to be. Have started doing my pregnancy yoga dvd in the evenings = sleeping so much better and feeling better. Refusing to talk about money/work plans/children etc after 9pm at night which also helps sleep and means DH and I both have a big moan and then shut up about things before bed time.

Felt so daft this morning! The nursery encourages the little ones to go to the windows and wave goodbye to parents leaving the car park. I drove off slowly looking backwards and waving madly at my DD's. I was so caught up in how cute they looked that I came within seconds of colliding with the owners parked car at the other end of the car park!

Hoping she didn't notice and will put it down to pregnant brain! Not sure how I'd have broken the news to DH that I'd crashed into a parked car!

I just cooked the perfect soft boiled egg.....i'm in heaven, sooooo loving egg & toast soldiers at the moment.

All that discomfort the other evening does seem have been for a reason as i am getting some definite kicking isolated in the top right hand corner of my bump. It seems that Veggiebaby has turned around and is the same position that DS was in for most of pregnancy, and using same part of my ribs for kick boxing practice.

Beans: I'm getting hip pain as well, I think it's to do with the way I'm sleeping. Have you tried a pillow between you knees while sleeping on your side?

lol at the near-car accident Hatty. This is why I don'tdrive

Good news on the scan Jollybear

veggie I love soft boiled eggs!

hatty I think there are still a couple of scans to go yet.

Am just catching up on the mens gymnastics, very good for hormones

oh and we had our 'celebration lunch' after the scan on Tuesday: egg bacon and chips at the local greasy spoon

if anyone is at the Homerton, I recommend the Marina Cafe on Lower Clapton Rd, just before you get to the Narroway. The waitresses sing along to Candle in the Wind and it's the only spoon I've seen with a license (so you can have a Bacardi Breezer with your double egg and chips) but the food is good

have given up on giving up runny eggs - life is too short!

think Olipop's isn't for another week or so. Anyone else?

effie, we went to a greasy spoon after our scan as well!