Heeereee comes June, its the home streeeeetch!

[Tee2072]

Here ya go, new thread! We're almost there!!!!!

Hi Daisy!

The prices are really really good. This week they are celebrating their bday so they have further reductions on top of the regular ones! I saw feeding chairs from 50odd pounds and re. chest of drawers and changing tables they have loads, of varying prices, depending on whether they're just things that have been on display or that are discontinued or that have a small scratch. We bought a 5-drawer unit that used to be 450 pounds for 50!! The tag said 80pounds because it was a discontinued item and then they left it at 50 because they found a scratch on the top (for them, scandalous, for us, just a tiny 4cm line hahaha).

We got our pushchair for 185 and the RRP is 395, so it was brilliant! If you have the time, then it's worth going, you never know what you can find. Today DH saw and loved a "kimono-like shirt" for me that used to be 45pounds and was reduced to 11.25... he bought it for me

Re. flat: thanks all, again, for your support and happy thoughts I'm not as worried as I was, que será será!

Tee, glad you enjoyed your shopping

LittleSarah, I know nothing about the forms, I myself have to look into that as I'm a foreign national but I hope you get all your answers on Monday (and earlier here )

Lauraloo, yey!!! Congrats on the full-night sleep! Yesterday my pillow arrived and I tried it... I loved it!

naat sounds like you got some great bargins today lucky you

daisy can't believe thats some of us in the last trimester already, I have 1 more week to go till i'm at that stage!

I have a problem...last time my DH and his friends (who are also my friends) went out I never went because I was bad with all day sickness. Tonight they are meeting up for a night out for a charity night and I am supposed to be going, but I cannot be bothered going as I'm tired and bump has been feeling quite tight today...my question is should I go or should I stay in??

lauraloo - Difficult one. I was out last night - home at 11pm but utterly exhausted today. In some ways I would be quite happy not to go out for the next three months but it might get a little dull. It's nice when something starts and finishes early. Is it possible to go for a while and pop home early? Also, if they are sweet and ask if you are ok - and if you are honest and say you are knackered, sometimes they fuss and that's not really what you wanted etc etc....so you lie and say 'great'.

naat - Thanks so much. I just looked on their website and like some of their dressers and chairs. But we would never fit these in the car. Do they have a delivery service, do you know?

Lauraloo, yep, that's a tricky one... See how you feel and whether it's something that will carry on until too late or not... Because if you're still feeling quite tired and you'll get back at 1am, then maybe you won't feel up for it... Daisy's idea of maybe going and coming back early is good, would that be possible?

Oh, the dresser and the pushchair were old purchases hehe, today we only got the kimono-like shirt But yes, good value for money.

Daisy, don't know if they have the prices of the outlet online but if you saw the regular ones, be happy because they'll be much lower I actually don't know if they have a delivery service... we have a fiat punto and the dresser fit just right when we got it, (we got the pushchair on a different occasion, we live 5 min away from the shop) but I guess if you have to travel from a bit farther away then you'd need some help. Are you too far? I'd give them a call if I were you to find out, they open on Sundays as well until 4pm.

Hope this helps

laura I would stay in. I was exhausted after a long day when I had to go to a work dinner on Thursday. I am still recovering from that.

Really, I wouldn't push yourself.

thanks for your thoughts on the night out, think i'll pop to one of my friends house for a dvd and ice cream night and pick up DH around 11ish from the charity night...acutally looking forward to my tub of ice cream As I have been craving chocolate and I have up both crisps and choc for lent DH has allowed me to just give up crisps so cream egg for me tonight

tee how was your night on Thursday did it go well??

It went really well, laura thanks for asking!

Grrrr my blood is boiling with Paypal it won?t let me pay the eBay invoice for my double buggy and says it is because my debit card cannot be verified. It is a card I use on there all the time with no issues. I queried it and they emailed back to say it was nothing to do with them and to speak to my card provider. So I did that at considerable cost from Spain to the UK. Card issuer said no problems, speak to Paypal again. Paypal said speak to card issuer again so I transferred the money to a different account and tried to add a new debit card to my Paypal account but Paypal won?t let me do that because they say I?m not verified, only I am I have completed all their verification steps and have set up bank funding ? what more can I do???? I don?t want to just transfer the money to the seller because then I have no protection and I don?t really want to give my MIL cash to pay when she collects it as I don?t want her to know how much I have spent worried I?ll lose the thing if I can?t pay soon I started a thread in the Geeky section but no one has been able to solve this for me yet

Anyway enough complaining hope you are all well, I?ll catch up now

Hi all,

It's just taken me the best part of an hour to catch up on all your posts ( I hadn't read since wednesday!!!)

Don't know what I can remember now so will fill you in on my news..

We have a new car!!!! and it's lovely dd1 adores the slidey doors and constantly gets excited when we talk about going out, and dd2 has been turned forward facing so loves being like big sis.

Bumpwise all is well, have started haviong name debates but are at an impasse a my most favourite boys name is the same inital as dd1, and as dd2 already has a condition that makes her different dh does not want her to be the odd one out (despite calling (offically at preschool) dd1 a nickname beginning with a different letter!, wasn't too worried before as I was convinced it was another dd, but dh thinks i'm carrying differently and it definitely is more active...

For those with upper leg buttock pain Ihave this on and off from the start, and have been told it's "just" sciatica. ( but bloody painful when you turn around and just catch yourself in a funny postion!!)

On the whole for the last few days I've been feeling pretty down, have a mild cold but am just sooo exhusted I am shouting at the dd's and being bad mummy. Went to a ladies night with preschool opn friday and was v v v close to tears when i came home for no real reason, just felt all my brain cells had gone and I was no longer capable of adult conversation. Felt a little better this morning but not great so dh sent me off on my own for a couple of hours (bless)

littlesarah I would say start your smp when you have finished work and taken all annual leave as it is more likely to get confusing in the future ,as (i think) NI is covered by smp and it counts as continuous employment .( put the money you are getting for the student loan and payment for childcare into a seperate account and you can just tag that on the end of your mat leave iyswim. I would also say not returning to work if you are DEF not going back to the same place, but if you are thinking about it they have to have a letter form you during your mat leave with your intentions about a month before you return iirc

Hi to everyone else I'm trying to remember desperately hard what I've read and tought oh yes much say that but nothing is forthcoming so with that I'll say night all and try to log in a little sooner

PS was in tkmaxx today and they had loads of gorgeous cute baby stuff grobags and the like (for a couple of months in) at good prices!

mrsmcjr last weekend all my cards were delcined just cause we were trying to put an amount that was too big in one go. The bank was telling us that there was no limit and that everything was fine, but it wasn't and they should have seen what was wrong.
I think they're particularly useless at the weekend. for you!
I hope it just sorts itself out for you :S
Sorry can;'t think of anything clever to say that would help!

Thanks Naat ? we have all our own furniture too so house moves are costly for us that M&P shop sounds fantastic, and you got some great deals! I went to hypnobirthing and found it fabulous, not only did it help me relax when pregnant but I used the techniques all through my labour with DS and the whole thing went very well. I was so calm and in control and I never expected that I would be. Hope you enjoy it

Tibsy ? bet you are glad that the end of work is here

Tee ? hope you are feeling much better and that you enjoyed shopping for the baby what did you come home with? We finally bought a DVD player today as I am so sick of DH watching repeats of Friends all the time and guess what he is doing, watching a repeat of Friends

Borriebear ? so pleased to hear you more cheerful hope you found a Moses basket today at that sale

June ? I?m not sure that I have ever seen much baby stuff in Charity shops I got a Medela Swing electric breast pump and got on very well with it how exciting about the car! I was thinking that Juicy would be in Paris too this afternoon, hope she is having lots of fun thanks for your empathy ? I remember the issue you had and I was wondering if it was something to do with the amount as its £502.

Ermintrude ? they clearly don?t make Moses baskets the way they used to I borrowed one for DS from a friend who had used it for 6 weeks with her DS, after 10 weeks of my DS being in it, it looked distinctly warped to one side I?ve been given one this time which had one very large occupant for 3 weeks so let?s hope it lasts longer than the one I had for DS! I have an Amby Nature?s Nest too which DS loved so this baby will hopefully go in there after a few weeks too. Your family Moses basket sounds absolutely lovely, and how wonderful that it has such a positive history of healthy, loved babies

Littlesarah ? not sure about many of your SMP questions but I do think that it has to start when you go on mat leave, unless of course you are taking holidays for some of the time and the actual date you start mat leave is later?

Lauraloo ? so glad you got a good night?s sleep, it makes all the difference hope you stayed in if you didn?t feel like going out

Daisy ? how was your night out? We are hoping to get an 11 month lease that won?t allow them to sell the flat in the meantime. You would think that people would be happier getting some money in wouldn?t you?

MrsMcJnr, do you have a credit card you can put in your Paypal account? I'm just saying because DH bought my pillow the other day and he created a new account (he had one but with Argentinian address and it wouldn't let us change it) and he put his credit card in and two seconds later we were buying the pillow.

I know that with debit cards that can happen, it has happened to me before when I wanted to buy theatre tickets online... it says that your card is not verified and you have to talk to your bank and bla! Bank said the same you were told, that it's ok so you end up insane!

for you!! But hope this helps a bit?

(I totally understand how you feel about MIL having to buy it... I'd think/act the same way you are )

naat what does being a foreign national have to do with SMP? I am an American Ex-Pat here on a permanent residency visa. Should I be worried about something I am not aware of?

Tee, I don't actually know because I know foreigners who have applied for it and have been granted SMP and others who have done the exact same thing and have been denied any maternity benefit...

I called the HMRC last week to ask about the Health in pregnancy grant and they told me "you're not doing anything wrong by applying for it, but as it's decided on a case-by-case basis, you might get it or not, so apply anyway"...

And re. SMP they told me I have to go to my Jobcentreplus and do the same, apply and wait but that they couldn't guarantee I was going to get it...

naat even if I am working in this country and paying National Insurance and everything? This is the first I've heard of this. Do you work here in the UK? My visa says I get full benefits, so I am not aware of this issue at all.

Yes, I do work. I wouldn't worry if your visa says you get full benefits, Tee.

My case is special as I do work, pay taxes, pay NI and my DH as well BUT my visa says "no recourse to public funds", that's why they told me to apply and that they'd study my case and see...

Oh okay, I get it now! No, I've got a full residency visa with no benefits restrictions! whew

Was a little worried there for a minute. Thanks for clarifying!

bleh, 3 am and absolutely wide awake, got woken up by sil who called my phone instead of dh an hour ago (They're playing a game on internet/computer, clearly they've never heard of instant messaging?).

mmm, might use that as an excuse to have a snack :D

Hi all,

This is extremley hard for me to write and I can't face reading back at the post.
I delivered our beautiful baby girl 'Cleo' on Friday morning, she was still born. We are all devasted & right now I am not sure how I can even make one day to the next.
But I was very keen to let all of my friends on here what has happened becuase you have & are all still great friends.
I would love to hear from you all, my e-mail is [email protected].
I wish you all the love & happiness in the world & with your pregnancies & beautiful precious babies that will come very soon. Please pray for Cleo if you have a moment as I pray for every mother & mother to be & hope that no-one has to go through this & that one day we will get the answers that Cleo deserves.

All my love Anna x x x

I don't know if you'll read this, Anna, but I am so so sorry.

I will keep Cleo and you and your DP in my prayers.

I am so so sorry Anna. I can't imagine what you are going through right now. My thoughts are with you, your beautiful baby girl Cleo and your family. Take care of yourselves and take one step at a time.

Lots of love and kisses xx

Anna, I'm so so sorry. Baby Cleo, you and your DP have been in our prayers for the last few days and will continue to be.

I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say if you need anything at all you just have to say it. All the support you need will be here.

Take care, lots of love and kisses.

Oh Anna I am so so sorry Cleo is a lovely name and I am sure she was a gorgeous little girl too. I like to think of all our lost angels playing in a park in the sky together, I hope my Ava is making Cleo feel very loved and welcome xxx

anna, so very sorry to hear that. i cant begin to imagine how you must be feeling. will be thinking of you, your family and your beautiful baby cleo. take care of yourself. with much love xx