March 2021 babies

[Sussexbysea]

Hi everyone,

This is a second thread of March 2021 babies. I’ll add people as I go xx

@Sussexbysea @bumblingalonghappily @Taylortyler I was thinking about asking my boss if I could carry over loads of leave to bump up my mat leave but I'm not sure what the outcome will be!
I think OH and I will both have to do compressed hours to minimise nursery fees- the nurseries near me are £65-70 a day. No wonder some women never go back to work! X

@Charlotte2020 have you thought about shared maternity leave?

I’m going to ask the same about my 2021 holiday and ask if they can pay it to me as it’ll be a couple of months salary. But, because of covid I reckon they’ll be arsed about it. If they say no, I’ll be on holiday from early March with full pay and my maternity pay kicking in May 2021.

@EmMissingnormalfood I can totally relate to how you're feeling about your belly. I was training for a few marathons before Covid hit and so not exercising in the same way has hit me mentally. Every woman wants a cute bump, and definitely no bump at such an early stage. Already not fitting into clothes is definitely getting me down!

@Sussexbysea are you due in May?
Maternity has to start when baby comes.
Sadly not many businesses will agree to pay holiday rather than roll it forward because of a statutory holiday restriction of 20 days plus 8 bank holidays. You can ask to be paid anything in excess of the 28 days but the 28 days have to be rolled over if not used. It’s 28 days because we accumulate the bank holidays too.

I’m thinking of rolling them and using them in the last month of maternity when SMP will have finished. Also using some in lead up to maternity leave. Keep in mind when you use them at the end your maternity leave will automatically end but you will have normal holiday pay again.

@Sussexbysea we could do shared during the full pay period but my OH earns a lot more than me so we couldn't afford bills etc just on my salary. I might suggest he takes a couple of weeks leave when I go back though so at least it's paid! All depends on the covid situation- my office will be wfh until at least February!

We are also in a shitty position for money. We haven't even left home yet and both don't have full time jobs yet. OH is contracted to 35 hrs a week but du to corona its dropped to 25. I've recently just started bank shifts at the hospital so won't be eligible for NHS mat pay and have to have SMP. £600 a month will be tough but its more than I've been getting from my recent job as it was part time whilst studying. I guess we will have to make it work and I know family will help out.

For everyone worrying about money - there is still time to save and if you have a partner please remember this is their responsibility too. You will save money on maternity leave as you won't be going out as much. You can go to cheap play groups where you pay about a £1 for a coffee and some biscuits; free rhyme time in your local libraries; walks in the park... There are lots of nice things you can splash out on like Baby Sensory and Water Babies but they're not essential. I had 13 weeks at full pay with my first and then I went on SMP. This time around I'll have 26 weeks at full pay before going on SMP, which is going to make such an enormous difference compared to my last maternity leave.

Babies don't have to be expensive. I had no money with my first as I was in the first year of my degree but bought everything second hand, bags of clothes of marketplace, even a wooden cot for free. The only thing I bought new was a breast pump and bottles because I needed a good one to express at uni but I even sold that one on after on ebay and got my money back. I wish I kept everything now but due to the situation I was in I thought I would never ever have children again. I'm already starting to have a look on ebay and I can't wait to get out to a charity shop but my partner has taken my car for work so I'm sort of housebound!

I'll be going second hand for certain bits- especially things you are using for a few months. Facebook looks good for clothes bundles. We'll be okay- it's just a bit of a shock to the system- I've realised having a baby is a bit like planning a wedding. The costs are endless if you let yourself get carried away!

@EmMissingnormalfood I don't think so, pretty sure it's just statutory but I'm going to double check on Monday.. the only copy of the maternity policy I know of is hanging in the canteen so I'm going to have to try and sneak it out of there without anyone noticing!

Hey how is everyone feeling today? I have another 5 days to wait til my 9week scan and I just wish it would hurry up! Had light spotting ever since my 6 week scan & even though there was a faint heartbeat at the 6 week scan, I just keep thinking the worst.

Hope everyone is staying cool today and having lots to drink and lots of ice lollies! I’m always a warm person anyway but pregnancy has made me boiling all the time so today I’m feeling HOT!!

I feel more normal today than I have done all week which is making me worried. You just can't win with pregnancy. I feel like I've got too much saliva in my mouth so I'm drinking a lot to keep it at bay & I've gone off my beloved coffee. My diet has gone downhill the last few days which isn't good when I need to really be maintaining my weight and not piling loads on.

@MsK2be89 soooo hot!! I’ve just come out of the hospital for another round of blood tests. I’ll be here minimum once a month checking my thyroid. It’s crazy, but I’m feeling super looked after

I'm all good here. I have intermittent nausea which I am not enjoying especially after car rides. I didn't have it at all with my first and had no symptoms except a giant bump early on and tiredness. It's actually cold here so I think we've missed the heat wave or it's coming. It's really grey outside.

I just can't wait until my scan on Monday. I'm excited but also scared

@KO2018

Hearing about everyone’s nausea makes me feel so sorry for you all! Mine has kind of gotten better over the past couple of days so I’ve stopped taking meds for now. I really hope it’s not a bad sign...

I feel like we shouldn’t have to suffer like this, especially if you can’t keep down water @Mrs1989 ! So I am urging anyone who feels really bad with it to go to the GP and get some meds to help cope. It was really not a big deal for me to get them.

Don’t be a hero girls x

Oh no, it wasn’t me that was struggling to keep down water @KO2018, it was @EmMissingnormalfood! I think. I lose track on here when I’m catching up on messages! I agree though, it’s pretty rough on us during this stage with either too many symptoms or worrying about not having symptoms! xxx

@chloxhunt what time is your scan today?

@Babafarmer it's was at 10:30 this morning

@chloxhunt how did you get on?

@Sussexbysea it went well thank you! Measuring at 7 and a half weeks I still don't have a midwife yet which I believe doesn't usually happen till 8th week but we will see

@chloxhunt that's great news

@chloxhunt I have my phone call with the midwife next Thursday so should be 8 weeks +4 (ish) but when I did the self referral it was about 2 weeks before I heard anything, and then the midwife from the local gp surgery called: why couldn't I just ring her to start with?!

@Taylortyler yeah I'm still waiting for a call from the triage nurse and if I haven't heard anything in 10 working days I have to phone them, a triage nurse phoned yesterday but only because I had message my gp saying I had cramps so I still haven't been referred there yet which is annoying!

It’s sad to say but the booking appointments are later to avoid it happening too early when the chances of mmc are so much higher.

The midwife team at my local hospital are wonderful, I’m very lucky x

@Sussexbysea I've got an appointment to see the midwife on Wednesday finally

My midwife appointment is by phone on the 11th August x