Due May 2009 - Bring on the Creme Eggs, mooing and choo chooing

[Jennster]

Thought I'd better start this soon.

Oh who mentioned French Fancies?

They're so crap, but so good. They were a proper treat when I were a nipper and money were tight, etc etc.

I will have to go and buy some at lunchtime now. And perhaps some Tunnocks Teacakes. I noticed the dark chocolate variety yesterday

Loobs

Jesus, what an absolute arse your boss is, I cannot believe there are still people out there like that. I think he should be forced to face a roomful of us lot.......

Talking about bad bosses. I keep thinking about that article in the paper a couple of months ago about women who'd started their own business after having children. This one woman asked for time of for a scan and her boss replied: 'can't your husband go instead' It did make me laugh, but at the time that must have made that woman furious. What an a**e that boss was, clearly had no idea how having babies worked. No wonder she started her own business afterwards.

Hello everyone, it has been ages since I posted, but think I have caught up with everyones news. So sorry to hear about your cat Looby and everyone else's problems wth MILs, wages etc. etc. Thinking of you all, if it is not one thing it is another. Both my husband and I were made redundant the week before Christmas - if that makes anyone feel any better!!! We are having a lovely time together, but if he doesn't find a job soon things are going to be pretty tough. I am also finding it pretty hard at 6 months pregnant to find anything remotely suitable!! Baking and curtain making here I come! Just trying to enjoy the time we have together as just the two of us and look on the bright side of things, it was a terrible shock, but we are so so lucky in so many ways and I have to say compared to a lot of our friends it is a bit of a relief not having the worry of it happening hanging over our heads, it is happened and now we can just get on with it!!!
We went to look at prams yesterday. Anyone have any feedback/opinions on the iCandy Apple?
My LO has become a real wriggler, DH and I were kept entertained last night by watching my bump twitch and distort and leap around! Very strange, but lovely for a worried first timer. I am 26 weeks on MOnday and have a MW appointment, I don't really like the appointments, I have never seen the same midwife and they always seem so bored and uninterested, I feel too scared to voice any concerns or ask any questions. Hopefully I mght get someone lovely on Monday. Can't believe we are all on the cusp of the 3rd trimester - when does this officially start? Every book seems to say something different.
Any way I am waffling on now, far too long a post. FiKelly has made me want to bake a cake now with all that talk of yummy cakes, so think I will! Everyone take care on the ice and keep smiling through all the lovely side effects of pregnancy - at least we can laugh about it!

Looby - I cannot agree more with Dandylioness. In my experience, this man will not pay you or anyone else unless he is forced to, and his attitude is all part of that program, so don't take it on. Don't try and second guess him any longer - the amount of pay he has "offered" you is pathetic. I had a boss once who expected us to be as enthusiastic about his business as he was without paying us unless we bugged him for it. He had crap all concept of the laws that exist to prevent situations such as yours from happening - he ended up learning the hard way. I have found that what Dandy says about a letter (letter! letter!) stating that you have taken legal advice is like waving a magic wand.

Don't let his attitude get to you - you have a baby on the way, get your pay before they turn around and tell you they are insolvent or whatever the hell is going on. Who gives a toss what this man thinks about you having a baby?

Thanks so much everyone for nappy advice. I think I'm starting to make sense of it all now. But keep it coming if you have more!

looby well done for asking! but grrrr at your boss

I'm just back from my 25wk midwife appointment and all is well. Blood pressure is v low for some reason 95/50?! i'm normally around the 110/65. belly measuring correctly for wks and no sign of protein in wee so no pre-eclmpsia signs as of yet (but it was 38.5wks when it appeared last time). I'm not to worry that i've not put on much weight as everything feels/looks right & she said with her #2 she only put on a stone & a half even at full term. Also my intermittent low back pain might just be my body re-arranging itself for the birth... but if it suddenly becomes continual she organise a physio appointment. She didn't have the maternity grant form apparently i have to get it from our local job centre! I have to go back in 3 wks for the 28wk bloods so as long as i have it with me for then she'll sign it.

HtheH at your & DH's redundancy. Will keep fingers crossed your dh finds a job soon... what kind of cake are you planning?

Sorry that bit about not giving a toss about what your boss thinks was meant to read more that it doesn't (or shouldn't) matter what someone like that thinks about you having a baby. Not so much that I don't care about how he makes you feel.

HtheH you're an inspiration.

I think I will make some white chocolate brownies and maybe a lemon sponge? Good plan? Just going to have to brave the ice to go and get some white chocolate. It is beautiful and sunny here (Wandsworth, SW London), but snow doesn't seem to be in too much of a rush to melt.
Looby I really recommend ACAS, I spoke to them when I was made redundant and they were really helpful. YOur boss is treading on very thin ice at the moment (excuse the pun!), you have rights and even more so as you a pregnant. Good luck.

Oh, I had another quick question on top of the iCandy Apple, that noone seems to know about. What do people think of the name Fox, is it too cruel/pretentious?!

HtheH detsy has been looking at the icandy pear and frazzle knows someone with a cherry... (pages 22/23/24) this thread?

re fox... my immediate reaction was it sounded more like a surname... maybe because of Jamie Fox? But saying that... it's unusual and I do kinda like it but don't know if he'd appreciate having the name at school?!

HtheH

My sympathies to you & DH too re the redundancy, although I have to say you're fabulously upbeat about it - get some baking done - always makes everything better.

'Fox' unfortunately for me makes me think of X Files and 'Spooky' Mulder.......

Having bobbins week at work - the strikes, etc at the Lindsey Oil Refinery and others directly affects me, as my job involves sending guys to work on these sites.

I spent several days last week trying to organise accommodation in Cleethorpes (believe me, ringing endless B&B's in bloody Cleethorpes is as soul-destroying as it sounds), making sure all the lads were up to date safety-wise, organising overalls, travel, etc.

It's now been postponed for a few weeks. Grrrr. And what makes me laugh is that a lot of these blokes demonstrating against 'foreign workers taking our jobs' are precisely the blokes I send to Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, etc to work on sites there. What are they then, if not 'foreign workers' themselves?

I am taking a deep breath now....

I NEED CAKE I NEED CAKE I NEED CAKE

grumpy it does seem a bit hypocritical of those lads!? one rule at home but doesn't count if it's them over there... I haven't the energy to make cakes.. not today. Really overdid it yesterday so i'm having to make to with the last of my choc mini roll stash. Can't let ds see me eating one or then i'll have to share my meagre few left

Going over to a friend from postnatal group with ds this afternoon for a cuppa and natter. DS will be happy as her DD is same age as ds and another pn friend (who is 35wks pregnant) is coming over with her ds too. Plan to chill out and take it easy. Still shattered today...

Apologies to all for my outburst (I am honestly not normally a grumpy old cow, I am a nice person in RL, but I have been a right old moo for the past few months, I'm usually a cheerful soul), it's been annoying me for ages and having to listen to some of the old bigots I work for is driving me demented - I tried arguing my point with them but got all hot and flustered and bothered (just can't formulate my snappy, withering responses as well as I used to).

HR Hag said today 'I have to keep reminding myself that you still have a few months to go. My God, how big will you be?' I just smiled the smile of a blissfully blooming pregnant woman.

DD2 has very much got into 'Good Morning' and 'Good Night' kisses for the baby in my toommmmmmeeeee and asked if she could come and sleep with us when the baby's born, because then the baby could have her room. She was worried the baby would have nowhere to sleep

Grumpy, Don't worry- i imagine you as a really nice person in RL (you have a great sense of humour and way with words) - I don't blame you for getting grumpy about your job troubles or the HR hag - how rude .

grumpy ahhhh re your dd. my ds keeps saying no baby... no need baby. we bought a baby annabel last week so hoping to win him round more before may. Funnily though he loves to talk about baby in mummies tummy and hear the heartbeat when we go to the midwife

Grumpy your dd2 sounds lovely, how sweet. Don't worry about moaning about work, it does sound very frustrating. And you are allowed to be a grumpy old cow if you want to be! I know that these pregnancy hormones can make me say and do the most extraordinarily irrational things! So much so my DH and I have to laugh about it afterwards. I have had some incredible outbursts and tantrums - I can behave like a 2 year old sometimes! Oh well! I have come back from my walk (waddle) empty handed so will have to be plain old chocolate brownies! Time for some lunch first though. Thanks for the link to chat about prams and also comments on Fox, half of me really loves it and the other half thinks I am a bad person for even considering it. And now with the reminder of Fox Mulder (who I think is a sex addict and porn star in real life?) I am reconsidering!!

My two were very sweet this morning- taking it in turns to stroke my tummy (and DD often talks to the baby). DS usually gets his elephant comforter and bounces it up and down on my tummy, so we have made progress!

I think LO was curled up on my right side today as there was a definite bulge and no noticable kicks so must have had his back to my tummy- i love it when they get a bit bigger and you can try and guess what position they are in!

dandy lol i can never come up with any good come backs... nice one!

right off out for the afternoon. Don't work too hard for those at work... and hope the brownies are as delicious as they sound htheh

Grumpy that about your little girl makes me melt.

HtheH are you having a boy? Sorry if I've missed something. If you think your small one could pull it off, go for it (re Fox). To me it just sounds more loopy than pretentious - although that depends on what kind of people you are... If you're warm and a bit eccentric, it might be perfect. If you're pretentious it will be pretentious (at least until your child is old enough to fill the name themself. if that makes sense).

If I met someone in accounts who was called Fox, I would think, hello...straight on the outside, but kinky underneath, or rather kooky as we are talking about your baby after all. If I met an artist called Fox I would think, oh no (but I'm one of those and I usually think that anyway).

I get more irritated by people all choosing the same names for their kids, proudly announcing a name that every other little girl/boy you've been introduced to recently also has.

Did anyone see the Mitchell and Webb one where the child died of embarrassment?