Lesbian parenting

[gertrude100]

I have recently become pregnant by a sperm donor, and although it is early days me and my girlfriend are very happy. I was wondering whether anyone has any advice for lesbian parents. Also, more general advice about what to eat and what not to eat, and what kind of exercise it is ok to do.

Any ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hello and welcome; and congratulations!

There are quite a few lesbian parents on MN. Look around, join in and oh on the eating and stuff, that's pretty straightforward, any pregnancy book/mag should be fairly informative.

congratulations to you!!! Sorry, no sound advice available though

Well done, My advice read alot about the ealry days before it comes around then my the time the baby get to toddlerhood you will feel more like yourself and be able to find the time, oh and decorate as much as yu can (we didnt and 3 years down the line we still have rooms to do!).

Cat me if you want more help, I read alot and can recommend some if you would like.

Congratualations! I agree with jellyjelly read all you can now as you may find yourself a little busy after the arrival

Congrats!

On the advice, erm... I loved my ante natal yoga which I found v relaxing and was gutted that you can't eat PATE! Or soft cheese!! boo hoo...

Good luck and enjoy it!

Or my yummy smelling handcream which i so wanted to eat because it smelt of old fashioned turkish delight.

yes, i'm a bit gutted about the pate and soft cheese too. how about alcohol? is a beer or glass of wine now and again ok?

i'm thinking about doing yoga or swimming...

Cooked soft cheese is fine, though. And pasteurised soft cheese.

And I just ate what I wanted, anyway.

And yeah, a bit of wine or beer is fine. More fine in the later months, but fine whenever.

that's the answer i wanted to hear

i have just been made redundant and was wondering about maternity leave as well. will i get statutory? also, will my partner be able to have some 'paternity leave'? not sure how this works with same sex couples.

Alcohol is one of those things. There's no way that THE AUTHORITIES can say that it's totally safe to drink X amount, so it's probably safest to assume that there is a risk involved in drinking any alcohol. general medical advice in this country seems to be that drinking a unit a day is unlikely to be a problem.

hope that didn't come across as too puritan!

i found that nearly everybody had some pet thing they thought was bad for pregnant women. Coleslaw is quite a common one, mainly because if it's eaten from a salad bar it sits around for a long time, plus is it made with mayonnaise and therefore potentially raw egg? not sure. And my mum came up with quinine (tonic water) but I have never heard that from anyone else! i think it's because decades ago they used to put quinine in dodgy drinks that were supposed to cause an abortion. Didn't worry me.

Hello Gertrude

Congratulations on your pregnancy . I am one of the mumsnet lesbian mums, though I lurk mostly. I'm not sure how much being in a lesbian relationship impacted on my experience of pregnancy. The only thing I have found, especially after my dd was born, is that I am more "out" than I ever was before. This is partly because you tend to have more contact with officialdom - NHS, schools, etc.

About the maternity leave question, I think you are only entitled to maternity leave if you are employed. However, you might be entitled to maternity allowance. Try the Maternity Alliance web site for more info. And yes, same-sex partners are entitled to paternity leave.

thanks for your advice. yes, i am hoping that i will get maternity allowance so i'll have a look at the website. whatever happens i'm sure it'll be fine.

Also I say, read books (if you want - I liked to) but take them with a pinch of salt!