Anyone else waiting to TTC?

[happytobemrsg]

I thought we could keep each other company while we wait!

Your age/DH age: 29/39
Baby #: This will be #2
When are you TTC: I think we should start in June when DS is 2 but we are so broody it might be sooner
Why are you waiting: We are doing some house renovations at the moment & sorting out some stuff financially. Everything seems a bit up in the air & I can only stress about a couple of things at a time. I'm looking forward to life settling down only to have a newborn mess it all up again
What are you doing to keep busy?: I'm project managing house renovations & enjoying one-on-one time with DS before he (hopefully) becomes a big brother. DH & I are having a huge joint birthday party in September for my 30th & his 40th so I'm enjoying planning that!

@dottydally it is horrible, but I suppose it's nothing I can't manage... I've thought about menstrual cups BUT 1. I'm SUPER heavy, so not sure about how often I'd have to change them 2. Idk how I feel about having to wash it in a sink - I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it at work but then can't keep it in either. Have you heard about the menstrual knickers? They don't need a pad/tampon etc, and they don't leak or anything! They sound good too!

Also my Best Buy so far - when we were moving in we were on a tight budget. I'd seen a lamp I really liked for £200... got the same one from Aldi for £40! Later went down in the sale to 20 but such a steal!

@Jxtina86 I think traditional names are cute too! Although there are some names ie Gertrude, Eugenie etc that I don't think suit babies/toddlers

Thanks for the advice about food shopping everyone. Definitely our main downfall! We have an Aldi but I can't rely on what they have, it seems to change a lot. Fruit and veg always looks good though! Maybe I should go in with a shopping list and compare prices.

DH would definitely need to practise looking after baby during maternity leave. I just think it could be quite tricky when working from home. But if it is, he'd just have to do some extra hours when I'm home.

Dotty, I would love a term time
Child minder. I know it would mean a drop some months and not others, but that would be ok! Would be great to have a bit more money in the summer for example.

I will look at utilities too. We obviously still have a bit of time, but it will be nice to cut some spending anyway.

We are also NO fans of condoms, so looking forward to stop using those.

@dottydally I've been using a menstrual cup for a few years now. I'm a total convert. I find it much more comfortable than tampons. I could never go back. It holds quite a lot I find so it doesn't need to be emptied as often as tampons need to be changed. I generally rinse it in the sink when I empty it but if I'm out, I just give it a quick wipe. Some women carry a bottle of water to rinse it in the loos though.

I know there's a few of us on here with PCOS and this article came up in one of my groups this morning. Thought it might be of interest...
www.newscientist.com/article/2168705-cause-of-polycystic-ovary-syndrome-discovered-at-last/

@dotty I also use a cup and like @Nosering I will never use anything else! So easy and convenient. It does take a little bit of getting used to but it's just brilliant IMO.

@TheOne, your job situation sounds like ours. My husband is also a teacher and I also commute into the city, working one day a week from home with great job flexibility overall. What we did was calculate costs based on 1 days childcare, 2 days childcare etc day by day and what that would do to our take home pay. Turns out paying for 2 days is doable with money left over each month so I went part time (3 days) to accommodate that. I also don't buy season tickets to get to work, I pay daily which seems more expensive but as I only travel in 2 days (and work 1 day from home) we save over £100 a month on travel that way. Plus if our little one is ever ill or I'm ill, I'm not paying to go into work that day and save money that way rather than the upfront cost of a season ticket. We also set strict budgets for food, clothing, toiletries etc and this works for us, we have a fixed monthly spend and always have money left over each month. I literally budget each pound and almost daily check our expenditure on an excel spreadsheet I made . It also helps that my hubby is self employed and brings in maybe an extra £150-£300 a month depending on the month. Maybe a little part time job on the side could help? Literally every penny and pound extra adds up!

I find working from home with DS1 near impossible LOL so only do that when our normal childcare arrangements fails (plus company policy does not allow it as they know we wouldn't get anything done!), and you can find term time only childminders (we looked into this) but in our area they are few and far between as they obviously lose out financially over the holidays.

welcome @Jxtina86! I'm waiting til August too

@whoops missed out a whole page and seen convo has moved on! I also use a menstrual cup and would never go back!

@cupcakesandglitter I've seen the knickers but never sure! I hate pads as I always feel 'wet' how gross. I would just hope I'd be able to keep a cup in all day and not have to empty it at work (I would also feel awkward washing it at the sink).

Re the lamp, I love it when things like that happen! I feel so smug.

@TheOneWithTheBaby there are quite a few I know near me, generally people with school age children of their own who don't want to work the holidays. It's worth hunting out a good one as it would save you money in the summer, maybe enough for a sunny week away!

I also realised I've been with my OH so long I hadn't used condoms since they taught us to put them on a banana at school how embarrassing.

@AssumeItWasSomethingClever @NoseringGirl @rollerskaterdata what make did you get? And how do you know what size to get? Im tempted to give it a go.

@Dotty I hated how I felt after using tampons for a few days... Won't go into detail, TMI! Somehow I came across them on Amazon as they were on offer for a tenner so I thought I'd give them a go. They come in 2 sizes, one if you're under thirty and haven't delivered a baby vaginally and the other if you have and/or are over thirty. They do look massive when you first get it but you don't notice they're there once you're used to it.

@dottydally there's a quiz for that
putacupinit.com/quiz/

@dotty, exactly what @assume said about the sizing. I've got a size A Mooncup (having had DS1 vaginally even though I'm under 30)

@dottydally I hear you with the wet feeling, it's so disgusting!

How does everyone get on with washing them? Sorry if that's invasive I'm just interested because I am also sick of pads/tampons!

Also I HATE condoms - can't stand the feeling of them and they ruin the mood. Can't wait to not use them again!!

@dottydally I agree about the pads too- hate them!
I was interested in trying a mooncup but was worried about not knowing when it needed changing! Sorry if TMI!

I also hate condoms!! They got used for about the first week we were together and have never seen the light of day since!!

Just a random question has anyone ever thought of how they would break a BFP to there OH? I was thinking of make my Up a little box of baby bits - my OH is camera mad and loves aeroplanes so getting a little outfit with a plane or camera on?!
Just something that occupies my mind while I'm waiting!

@AssumeItWasSomethingClever I find I can be sore using tampons as I'm not very heavy (even the lite ones are like it) but it's too much for me to be comfortable with a pad.

@NoseringGirl there's a quiz for everything! Apparently I should be going for the Lunette cup. I'm so tempted but also nervous.. can you feel it when it's up there?

@Pinkroseuk @cupcakesandglitter maybe we should give it a go? They're not that expensive in the big scheme of things.

I love the huge vote of disgust for condoms

@dottydally I would be up for giving it a go- do you buy them online? I've never seen them in a shop!

@Pinkroseuk I'm sure they each have their own websites but you can also get them from amazon!

Thankyou @dottydally! I will do some research now!

I'd be up for giving them a go too! I may have a little browse as well, just need to wrap my head around the cleaning process...

How do they feel? I do quite a bit of travelling for work so I don't want to feel uncomfortable when driving, I can't deal with tampons 😩

Another condom hater here!! Will be pleased to stop using them!

I've also recently been interested in the mooncup but still not quite sure about taking the leap yet!

@dottydally I can't really feel it, there's a sort of heaviness if it gets really full but that's about it. I had to use a tampon a while back because I came on unexpectedly while out without my cup and it felt awful in comparison. I was so aware of it.

@NoseringGirl Ah see I'm so super heavy normally I don't think I could deal with more heaviness 😩😩

@cupcakesandglitter I meant it more like a sensation, not sure how else to describe it but it's how I know it needs emptying. It needs emptying less often than a tampon needs changing in my experience.

Rollerskater, our situations do sound similar! I commute by car, so we'd save money in petrol if I don't go in every day I guess. We'd have to do the maths to see whether it would be cheaper to use daily tickets for DH if he only goes in 4 days a week. Definitely good ideas to look into!
My salary is peer than his and has less potential to rise, so it makes sense for me to go part time rather than him. The train ticket is over £200 a month though, so shaving some of that off would be amazing!

I've never had issues with tampons. I always use lilets, I can't do the ones that exams lengthways.

Dotty, I really hope we'd be able to find a term time only one! It would just make life a bit easier during the holidays. Most child minders here only give prices etc on request though and as I'm not even TTC yet it's hard to know how much we would spend. Can't really phone them up! Haha

@pinkrose I’ve thought about to tell OH and I was thinking of surprising him with a baby grow or something. I like the idea of the box, it’s so cute. I think it’d be nicer to surprise him than just wait for the pee stick to change. 😂

@Pinkroseuk my OH is a MASSIVE rugby fan, so I thought I would buy a baby size rugby top and give him that. But that would require planning. Who knows I might just be too keen and give him the test!