Hi everyone,
Had a busy weekend (working for most of it ) so didn't manage to make it back after Friday morning.
Spireal - I can't BELIEVE they give you back the sample pot with the sample still inside! Ugh! Not long now till maternity leave - that's great news! How many weeks will you be when you stop?
Hermya - sorry to hear you had such a rotten day on your wedding anniversary, but nice to hear that DH managed to cheer you up with a lovely present. What's the necklace like? [noseyemoticon]
With my job, they've suddenly decided to restructure. That means that they're making all posts redundant, and creating new positions instead. Staff will then have to either choose redundancy or reapply for one of the new posts. The new posts, incidently, are exactly the same as the old ones, but are named differently, and there's a pay cut of about £4.5k a year per employee, to go along with the new job title. It's all very silly and wrong. What bugs me is that I work in the care sector, therefore my company are funded by various different local authorities. The local authories are still paying the same as they ever did, therefore I don't see the need for such drasctic budget cuts, yet they're blaming the recession anyway. Still. Luckily I'm one of the very few (maybe the only one?) in the company who won't really be affected by it all. The restructure will take place while I'm on basic SMP (equal to MA), so I'm guaranteed the same money during that period. And then, as I never intended going back after my ML, I'll never work for the (£4.5k) lesser amount. Does that make sense? Actually, having done my sums, if I opt for and get voluntary redundancy, I may just be slightly better off, once the payout is taken into account. Only slightly though, cause if I were (as originally planned) to hand in my notice just before the end of my ML, I'd have been entitled to holiday pay. Anyway, it's a very horrible situation for all my colleagues to be in and I can guarantee that the standard of service within the company is going to decline drastically within the next year or two, cause I imagine a LOT of people will walk. They're all just sickened by it.
Sorry you ever asked now Hermya?! Lol!
Lucky - great news about your scan - oooh! Christmas Eve! Exciting!
Bunny - God knows where we're going to store all the junk lovely thoughtful presents that MIL's been buying us (must not be ungrateful!) We have quite a decent sized loft but at this stage, it'll be filled in no time!
at the 12lb baby and no pain relief! That must've been some woman! Here's hoping to nice little 6-7lb babies for each of us!
Lol at your DH wanting to wait till the baby's born before buying anything! So far, most of my stuff is 0-3mths, because, with DH and I both being tall, I can't imagine we will have a particularly small baby, nice as it would be. So the plan is to buy some newborn stuff nearer the time, because then if we do have a big boy, it'll still be in the shops and we'll be able to swap the sizes. Unlike now, when the stuff may be discontinued before September. I don't want to end up with loads of little outfits that may never get used.
Worrisome - I eventually got through to someone in Citizen's Advice and he reckoned that, as MA isn't means tested, I should be entitled to it, regardless of any payout or any savings I might have, DH's income, or anything else. He also reckoned that it might be an issue if I quit my job, but as I would be being made redundant (regardless of the voluntary aspect) I would be entitled. I'll double check it before applying though, cause I want to hear it from as many different sources as possible.
It must be so lovely for you to be going through this with your twin... How far apart are your due dates? Are the two of you identical? Do your OHs look at all similar? Does she know what she's having yet?
I'm really glad I'm not the only one who doesn't want to have to wash out and re-use the pee pots! Was wondering if I were being a tad precious about it all but it IS disgusting!
OneOf8 - thank you so much for your offer of help regarding the job situation - a lot of it's really above my head! I've applied for ML to start on the 26th August. The restructure will happen on the 1st Nov. I'm guessing that'd be the finishing up date. I'll have been 2yrs working for the company on the 3rd Nov (frustrating, as it means I'll have missed being entitled to redundancy pay by two days!) However, if accepted for voluntary redundancy, regardless of length of service, there is a standard payout that I'd be entitled to. I've been told (by the CAB man) that if I were made redundant on Nov 1st, though I would no longer be entitled to SMP, I would be entitled to MA (same amount), and that this isn't means tested. He also suggested I might be entitled to some other benefits that are means tested, and the redundancy pay may affect that, but I know that due to DH's income, we're well above that threshold anyway. So does that sound right to you? I don't like just taking one person's word for things over the phone so will look into it more anyway - pester as many people as I can!
Oh, and the maternity leave policy would just be the basic, because I'm not going back for a minimum period of 3mths. You'll be sorry you offered to help me but thank you!
Aww, that's rotten that you're having to stress about ML already! Can you not jiggle some holidays about to lengthen your time at home?
About your home situation... I told my parents and my sister weeks earlier than anyone else too. Like you say, mums are different. I just needed my mum to know. She's looked after me all my life, from when I was a child with Chicken Pox to when I was a teenager stressing about my exams... I couldn't have been through a third of my pregnancy without her support. The reason for telling Dad was that I didn't think it fair on Mum to have to keep something like that from him. After all, I'm THEIR child. As for my sister, I wasn't really bothered but as DH wasn't either, and as she's the only other really close family member, is still living with Mum and Dad, and can be trusted with a secret, there was no reason not to. In the end, with me being hospitalized and everything, they couldn't have not known!
Ooooh! Men are just soooo absolutely stupid sometimes. DH has made comments like that too - I rememeber saying to him that my mum'd guess there was something up if I didn't tell her, and would worry I was ill or something, whereas his mum wouldn't notice. He said that was just because his mum "wouldn't pry"! Grrrr! I blew my top over that one - it's because I'm so close to my mum and she cares about and loves me so much that she'd notice somethinig being up - and she'd ask, not to pry but to offer her support, like she's always supported me for the last 24yrs!
I'm really glad to hear/read that you stood your ground though. It's very important that you should, right from the very beginning. Also great about the visitors afterwards. See, I'm lucky in that my MIL is a quiet little woman who wouldn't ever intrude. I don't mind her being one of the first on the scene, arriving at the same time as my parents and siblings.
My main concern about visitors is that I want my parents, my brother (who has learning difficulties and is like a big kid) and my 16yr old sister to be the first there to meet the baby. With them, I have no objections to MIL and my two youngest BILs (who also have learning difficulties and are also like big kids) being there. These two BILs still live at home with MIL and I see them fairly regularly, know them pretty well. DH has two other brothers though. They're closest in age to him and he reckons he is closest to them generally (really struggled to decide which of the two would be his best man). Anyway, these two brothers live 10 and 20mins drive away from us, but we haven't seen them since our wedding last July. I don't really know them all that well at all. And they both have fiancees. One, neither DH or I have ever met (she came on the scene at the end of last year) and the other is both younger, prettier and skinnier than me, and very much into fashion and make-up... I feel like a frump around her at the best of times, never mind right after having given birth! And while she's very nice, she is, to all intents and purposes, a stranger. I haven't discussed it with DH yet, but I'm 100% sure that he's going to argue that if my siblings (who we both see regularly - at LEAST once a week) are present, his siblings should be too. Because while I would argue that I'm a lot closer to my siblings (who live 40mins away), he'll argue that he's equally as close to his, but just that they don't live in each other's pockets. Anyway, I don't know how I can say anything really. I think it's the fiancees that bother me most of all though. How do I get out of having a couple of strangers, no blood relation, up at the hospital within hours of LO being born? Maybe I'm just being over-sensitive but I feel a bit like I'm losing control... Oh I dunno. Maybe it's just the hormones... What do you think? (Totally never meant to go into all of that there, by the way!)
Chance - I've only had one scan so have another four or five left to go. It's a package of six, but I started late, so if we run out of time, they'll just refund 1/6 of the cost. We're getting one every 3-4wks. Next one on Saturday - sooo looking forward to it!
Peeing straight onto the card - didn't know you could do that. Why don't we all get to do that then? Would it not be easier? Ask us to turn up 5mins before appointment time, get card off receptionist, sorted!
Ozzie - I've had to give a urine sample at every appointment. They check for protein, sugar and keytones. Don't know if there's anything else or not. As for bloods, I get them every 6wks to check on my health condition, but aside from that, and aside from when I was admitted to hopsital, I only had one lot taken at 12wks. Think I'm getting more taken at 28wks though.
Hermya - when's your scan?
OneOf8 and Aly - I'm sorry to hear about each of your scares. The statistics are interesting, OneOf8. I had a small bleed very early on (implantation), and from what I read, it seemed fairly unusual. However, from what I HEARD, it seemed really common.
Aly - oooh, fancy another comment about twins! I can't wait till Thursday to see if you are going to give us our first Frolicker twins!
Chalky - of course you're remembered! You should just read back a page or two and you'll see how delighted we all were when we got news of your BFP! It's funny, your BFP sounds similar to mine - I put my implantation bleed down to the start of AF and could not have been more shocked when that second line showed up on the test! It's quite nice though, because finding out a bit later means cutting out some of that worrying time before the first scan! I take it you've been feeling well too, if you've gotten to 7wks without realising?! What's your EDD?
Oh, just read about the discharge and the trapped wind. Though I have no experience myself, I don't think either are particularly uncommon, from what I've seen on here. And if your doctor's not worried, you should try not to worry either. Easier said than done, I know! At nearly 26wks, and in spite of having lumps kicked out of me, I'm still knicker checking.
Hermya - agree that car print nappies are fine on a girl - good not to gender stereotype!
Bunny - WONDERFUL about the kicks! How many weeks are you now? Do you not have an anterior placenta too?
That's something actually... When I found out about my anterior placenta, the doctor warned that I might not see my belly move, and I felt a bit sad about it. But no need! It's constantly jumping up and down - I love sitting and watching it - good just now. I'm lying with my laptop below my bump, so that I keep seeing all the kicks in front of the computer screen - very cool!
Ozzie and Bunny - "chilly"?! Pffft! You don't know how lucky you are! Lol!
Pixie - I know, tennis rackets! Don't know WHAT she was thinking! She's also bought two paddling pools now. Though not the little inflatable ones - big x feet by y feet ones that kids can swim in. 1) how do you fill something that size? 2) where do you pour the water when you're done? 3) how many days a year would we even get a day that hot? 4) why two?! (I think she thought one could be kept at her house. Maybe.) Weird!
What is it you're doing about work after the LO's born, Pixie - I can't remember...
Is anyone else planning to give up work altogether? I don't think they were... ???
GREAT news about the viability Pixie. Sorry to hear you've been a bit down. Just focus on 25wks now. Then there'll be a 50% chance of survival outside the womb for your LO. After that, it increases by the day, and at 28wks, the oo chance of survival is 90%!
Seablue - what a lovely stepmother you have! Hope you enjoy/enjoyed telling! Were they over the moon for you?
Aly - I know the feeling re. DH and housekeeping. My DH's and my standards are worlds apart. Unfortunately, as I'm too lift to get up off my backside most of the time, we're currently just living with the dust and clutter. Actually, maybe having people visit in hospital wouldn't be a bad idea... Better than having them come here and judge! Lol!
Hermya - my LO had no issues showing us his bits - it was his face he hid! Lol!
Nice to think of all the peculiar little ways our LOs are bound to have... (Hurry up September!)
Fudge - depending on how willing to torment your LO you are, this is how I felt my first kick (at 19+6). I was in bed, first thing in the morning, and my bladder was full (for some reason kicks were always stronger in the beginning with a full bladder). Anyway, I rolled onto the side of my stomach (leaning over to switch off alarm clock) and that's when I got the first proper kicks - it was like a little protest from Baby, but unmistakable that he was in there, moving inside me. But putting pressure like that on my stomach (not lying on my stomach or anything - just the side) often seems to get him going. Don't worry though. It'll happen soon. x
Hi Pipsicles - don't think we "met" on the concpetion thread but HUGE congratulations!
Gender predictions - they're funny. I had a look at symptoms of a boy pregnancy and turned out I did indeed have nearly all the symptoms. Then I looked at girl symptoms and I had most of them too! Lol! All good fun but not too reliable!
Aww Ozzie - sorry to hear you've been stressing out. As you say, hopefully it will all go away. And if it doesn't, at least you're moving "back" to Sydney, which implies you have friends/relatives there?
Lol at your uncooperative LO Bunny - pity you didn't know about the scan in advance, but still a lovely surprise!
OneOf8 - great news about your scan. We had a "Blob" too. Though just wait till your next scan! That's when ours became "Not-A-Blob"! Lol!
Right, I'd better go. DH will be in from work soon and I'd better make it look like I've done something constructive with my day! Lol!
Yet again, a huge post after falling behind...