anyone else feel down on maternity leave?

[s098]

One week in on maternity leave and i feel depressed! Ive got bits around the house i can do and have to go out atleast once to walk the dog but i just feel like a bored housewife waiting for my OH to come home every day! Im only 31 weeks so still got ages to go and not planning on going back to work when the baby is here so think i might eventually go insane

How come you started your leave so early? No wonder you're bored!

I was working with horses so not ideal and doing about 2.5 hours driving a day so i was struggling with tiredness and actually expected to be much bigger than i am now.

Can you make a list of everything you enjoy/would love to do and make your waythrough it?

Cinema
Read books that youd planned to
Watch box sets
Nap
Christmas Shopping
Swimming

Definitely try to plan something for either the morning or afternoon each day. I've been getting a head start on my Christmas shopping, been to the cinema, met friends for coffee/lunch. Batch cooked some meals for the freezer, cleaned out my kitchen cupboards etc. I then spend the other half of the day just napping resting. Are there pregnancy yoga/pilates classes you could do? Or swimming?

Ah I see.
I plan to spend my pre-baby maternity leave batch cooking and freezing food to take the pressure off in the early weeks.

I'm guessing this is your first baby.

Take my word for it - enjoy the rest and peace & quiet. I was signed off at 34 weeks, DS arrived at 42 weeks. Looking back on that lovely quiet time when I had nothing to do, it was bliss. This time I'm starting my mat leave at 36 weeks and plan on sitting on my arse, batch cooking, nesting etc.

Get some box sets, go mooching around shops if that's your thing, go for coffee...just enjoy. You can't really expect each day to be full of excitement if you finish work at 31 weeks

Thanks for the replies i think its just going to take a bit of getting used to when your used to being busy then actually having lots of time.
Im not very good at just sitting down and chilling sometimes so going to try and do that a bit more! Will see if i can find anything decent on netflix to get into

Yup! I stopped working at about 25 weeks (work contract issues) and just being a housewife since then! at first i loved it. but now, Sometimes I cry at home cos I feel like my life is so pointless with nothing to do everyday and it makes me so sad. you can only go shopping, prepare baby stuff etc so many times before it gets old. But yeah... This is the only time I'm gna be 'me' without a child so... enjoy it while i can. It's nearly xmas too! Something else to look forward to.

OP, I totally get you. I'm off in a week when I'll be 29 weeks, and an worried about boredom. We've had the builders in so I'll have a lot of work to do around the house (unpacking boxes, putting books on shelves, etc), but that will only last for a couple of weeks, then I'll have 2 months to kill!

Also find it hard to concentrate on most things, so can't even watch TV or read a book, really!

Arrange to meet up with friends, go shopping, go for a walk etc. I found having a rough timetable of things to do helped.

First week I have the carpet fitters coming, my hair cut and coloured, an appointment with my consultant and a day of rest. The second week is the week before Christmas so I will be baking/ preparing/ cleaning and food shopping week in between Christmas and new year will be visiting people and batch cooking, and the 4th week will be more batch cooking. After that I expect I'll get bored. I'll also be over due and uncomfortable.

Museums, cinema, theatre matinees, read books, watch films, knit/ sew/ crochet (or learnt to knit/ sew/ crochet), clean house, batch cook, bake and freeze, see friends, stare into space, read up on breastfeeding, go swimming, do pregnancy Pilates or yoga. Etc

I know this isn't AIBU, but I don't understand these posts about being bored on pre-baby mat leave. There are so many ways to fill your time - I'm sure in a week or so you'll be wondering how you ever had time to work!

Oh yes, and def get a hair cut, go to dentist for check up and cleaning and get nails done (if that's your thing) while you can. A pregnancy massage is nice too.

Where in the country are you, OP?

Im in Lincoln, moved here earlier in the year So family and some friends not that close. And i get what you mean darthvader about not being able to concentrate! I can only read or watch tv for a bit. Films are a struggle!
I know there's plenty of ways to fill the time but sometimes its not just about having things to do its finding the motivation to do it if your feeling down and lonely. I'm also reluctant to spend too much money.
Atleast christmas will take up some time

Oh wow, I have never had this problem. Honestly I could happily quit work and just potter about quite merrily for the rest of my life. I've been signed off for the last two months and it's been bloody brilliant - just sleep in (easy to do as my toddler keeps me up half the night), prepare dinner, run a few errands, maybe read the paper, and before I know it it's nursery pick up time again. But I am naturally pretty lazy and also hate my job, so appreciate I may be in the minority!
Hope you feel a bit happier soon. Can you hunt down some other local pregnant people through antenatal pilates or similar, and just fill your time chatting and eating cake? That's what I did first time round!

Batch cook and fill your freezer
Prepare anything for baby
Pack hospital bag
Box sets
Doze
Browse in shops
Buy and wrap all Christmas presents
Write and address Christmas cards
Read magazines
Doze
Buy any birthday cards/gifts for the few months after your baby arrives so they're wrapped and sorted
Swim
Visit coffee shops
Doze
Take long baths
Email/phone/catch up with anyone you've been meaning to for ages
Doze
Read mumsnet guide to babies
Go for lunch
Doze
Exfoliate
Look up local playgroups/baby classes
Look up local breastfeeding support
Doze

I have a 3 year old and am 24 weeks with dc2 and I wish I could have a day to myself to do any of these!!!

Don't get me wrong, I was made redundant a few years back and didn't get a new job for about 8 weeks and I was going out of my mind with boredom then so I know how you feel!

Having my son was the best thing in the world but being 'bored' or not having anything to do is a thing of the past. I miss browsing aimlessly in shops, sitting round drinking a lovely frothy coffee, not having to look at my watch, going for dinner with my girls browsing the net aimlessly, going for a long swim/shower at the gym. I mainly miss my own company and going things for myself or by myself!

Actually, I think mainly I'd just sit round eating cake if I'm honest

Enjoy your rest before baby comes and enjoy your baby when he/she arrives - such a special time

I found it boring too but I missed my job. When dd arrived, I found the transition from professional to parent really hard. DD had colic and I really struggled. Going back to work was right for me but I'm a teacher so I get the holidays with dd and I can work from home when I'm not teaching (as in the kids leave at 3.15 and I can take all of my planning/marking/paperwork home to do after she has gone to bed). The only advice I have is to try and fill your time as best you can. Good luck!

Can definitely relate to this. Definitely batch cool I intended to buy never quite managed it and it was mayhem in the first weeks. Get a pedi, hair cut etc. Find your local bumps and babies group it's run by the nct (but you don't have to be a member to go along ) !which might be a good way to meet other mums. ..

I will doing:

• unpack and put house back together
• reread "The Good Birth Companion" to prepare myself for the big day
• pack my hospital bag
• wash baby clothes
• sort baby's main room
• buy any supplies (including medicines like calpol, sudocrem, etc) we haven't yet got
• do my kegels and pregnancy yoga
• read "The Babycare Bible" to make sure I have SOME idea of what I'm doing
• go to NCT classes with my DH (two saturdays)
• hang out with my friend who will just have had a baby
• fix up a dollhouse for when the bubba is older

I've been off for a week OP and had lots of plans, however these have been entirely scuppered by my current insomnia. I have just about managed to sort out my hospital bag, but that's about it. Most of the daytime I am spending trying to recover from another sleepless night!

Can't wait until the much-publicised "nesting energy" kicks in, as feeling pretty crap right now!

I tried to do one fun thing and one practical thing a day, seemed to fill the time quite nicely.

I was signed off sick at 28 weeks with pregnancy induced hypertension, and won't be going back until Jan 2017 (if at all) and can totally relate. I live over 100 miles away from family and friends as moved for mine and OH's work, and sitting in the house all day, having no one to talk to is driving me insane! Before I worked, I was a distance learning uni student, and pretty much stayed at home on my own all day while OH was at work. I got so depressed and I can feel myself falling straight back into it. Are you planning on attending any mother and baby groups etc. once the little one arrives? There seems to be loads going on in my town.. Breastfeeding support groups, stay and play, baby massage, yoga etc. I'm hoping I can go and meet some other mums, so that I can have a bit of a life. Have a look on your local sure start website, see what there is to do. In the mean time, I'm trying to be productive getting everything prepared, but definitely feel your pain!

Thats good that there is plenty going on when you live, atleast once the baby is born you can get out and about. I think there is a mother and baby group in my village so i will have to give that a go!