March 2021 #3

[holb54]

Pregnancy group for anyone due in March 2021 💜

I'm quite nervous about all the scans, but I'm a medic and I know too much, it's an occupational hazard!

Aww thank you @usplusone and congratulations to you too 🎉 my partner and I can't wait until Monday for the dating scan xx

Has anyone got any suggestions on what twin prams are good?

@NewMumma24 I've heard the Ted and Phil prams are good for twins. Also the out n about prams are great, I had the single last year and absolutely loved it. It's such a smooth ride and easy to push.

I've ordered loads now we got the all clear. My bf works as a chef so we are expecting a possible redundancy for him so I'm trying to get everything we need in advance. My stipend is not much but will cover the mortgage and bills but I like to have everything and the rest can go in savings.
I got 2 sets of cloth nappies on offer, the pram, travel system, next to you crib was on offer on Emma's diary and I've been so lucky as my sister was given loads of second hand clothes for her little one, she's passed it on to me so I'm set up to 3-6 months.
I've been looking at pumps because I want to donate to the NICU this time round. I'll probably get an ardo double pump again as it's the one recommended by the NHS and it was really good last time round.

@NewMumma24 I don't have twins but had 2 fairly close. I met a few people with twins who got the bugaboo donkey double and regretted it, just too wide to fit anywhere (they'd comment on my pram and say I wish I'd got that, happened at least 3 times)! I got a mountain buggy duet (after spending over a grand on a joolz that didn't convert to double less than 18 months before!!). I didn't want a pram where 1 child got to stare at the back of a seat as quite a few doubles the width of a single do. The one we got is the same width as our joolz but they are side by side and can both see. You can get carry cots for it, we did, but we moved him to the flat lying seat pretty quickly as the carry cots are quite small.

The only thing that is annoying about it is the size of it folded, not a major issue for us as our car is big but if your car is small you'd need to try it first. Everything seems to have to be bought separately for mountain buggy prams too (rain cover etc etc). I also think they aren't as pretty as your bugaboo etc if that matters to you, but far more practical in my opinion.

@KatyCherry23 I'm impressed you manage to make enough to donate! I breastfed both my children and they both fed well, the second was on the 98th centile just from breastfeeding about 2 months in, I'm quite slight and he was born on less than the 50th so not like he arrived that way! But when it came to pumping milk the most I could ever produce was 5 oz a day (this was with a medela pump not a cheapo one), if I wanted to go anywhere I'd have to start stockpiling weeks before, it was a real pain. Second baby was a complete bottle refuser anyway so I just didn't ever leave him exclusively breastfeeding. It's amazing you produce so much though!

@BatKat my nausea and fatigue was awful but I woke up today feeling the best I have in ages, I'm 14 +1 now and was really hoping it would start to dissappear at 12 weeks too! I still feel a little sick if I get hungry so have to keep a good supply of snacks about.

@NoGinNotComingIn I am very lucky that I make loads of milk, the midwife said I could have fed the whole ward (I didn't think I was lucky at the time though, my boobs swelled up with so much milk my nipple was completely flat so he couldn't latch until I had expressed it was so painful).

I could get 7-9oz from each in a pumping session but I was doing it a long time. When I started expressing it was only a few ounces. I really wanted to donate last time but I was at uni and the logistics were just too hard to pump for him as I was away 3 days a week at uni and then find time to pump for donation. I really hope I can do it this time to help out some of the babies and mums who are struggling to express.

@Usplusone same! I try hard not to be their pain in the arse doctor patient, but it's tough. 😂

@KatyCherry23 omg 7-9oz from EACH! It’d take me 3-4 days to pump out the extra, took ages too!! I’m not sure I could manage it just from a time point of view even if I was making gallons, but respect to you for trying. I know someone that had filled the freezer (for her own baby) but ended up donating it somewhere as she didn’t use it. I always thought they had very strict rules about what they accept, I was surprised they’d take her freezer full!

@KatyCherry23 how are things with you now, has your bleeding and cramping stopped? X

@NoGinNotComingIn it is super time consuming, I used to spend my whole lunch break pumping. I will probably try to do it at night this time, maybe when I'm feeding the baby and just pump from the other side but we will see. The NICU only take milk from 6 weeks to 6months so it's not a long time. And I might actually get a maternity leave this time around fingers crossed if the research council that funds me stick to their word!

I think if the milk bank is in desperate need they flex the rules a little bit. I know you need to have a blood test to rule out infection like HIV, syphilis ect but as long as it's all dated properly they will take stuff that's been pumped already. We are thinking of buying a new freezer just for milk because ours is a bit dodgy and likes to defrost everything now and again. I think I would cry if it was full of milk!

@KatyCherry23 are you a PhD student? I had 2 children during my PhD and got 12 months off, 6 months on full stipend both times. They now also offer a further 3 months on top bringing it in line with statutory mat pay.

@HollieL567
The cramping has stopped thank God, it was so scary. But I had bleeding this morning too so I'm just resigning myself to the fact that this is probably going to be normal for me. Everytime I see it I freak out and then take a deep breath and just try and get on with my day.
They could find absolutely no reason for the blood and pain so unless I get the bad cramps again with bleeding I'm probably going to just try and not worry but I will mention it to my community MW each time.
The MW at the EPU said because I had bleeding more than 3 times I it was investigated so I think it's always worth reporting, I felt much better after she confirmed my cervix was healthy because I was worried perhaps something was going on as I have a family history of abnomal cell growth, endo, fibroids and cervical cancer. I know that's the extreme but my nan died really young so it's always in the back of my mind.

@NoGinNotComingIn yes I am, it's really good to know you had maternity pay, things are definitely improving. Mine is a bit complicated because I'm 50/50 funded. Half comes from the ESRC who give mat pay and half from my university. So they both have to agree to pay for me to get it. I'm not sure what the uni will say because I'm not technically a staff member as I don't teach and I've just had 6 months off for covid as I couldn't work on my project. We are saving just incase the answer is no or I just get half pay.

@KatyCherry23 I was going to say if you were funded by a research council such as ESRC they have the same policies as mine (BBSRC) so I wondered how you hadn’t got it if it was a Uk research council. My uni were pretty useless the first time around and tried to say I’d get nothing (I had checked before getting pregnant, it was a planned pregnancy!). It took a lot of emails and calls to sort it out when it shouldn’t . A friend of mine had a baby around the same time and was uni funded and I’m pretty sure she got 0, she returned after 2 months (no idea how!).

I complained about my uni, they didn’t have any written maternity policy in place for postgraduate students, bearing in mind this is a big red brick uni, it was pretty shocking. They told me when I had my first child they were currently drafting one, then 18 months later I had my second child (yes my supervisors loved me) and the policy still didn’t exist 🤔.

This is shocking! I'm trying to convince my DH to take shared parental leave this time but he is afraid his company will be unsupportive and will judge him for it.

@ValidUser I now just tell them at any consultation - it gets worse with a child!

@NoGinNotComingIn that is awful! I'm really hoping my uni will come through. They are normally pretty good but I never know. I have 3 supervisors, one is an ex health visitor and 2 work in infant and child health, one in the school for policy. So I have a feeling they will fight for me to get mat leave fingers crossed.

Im lucky i don't have to buy anything this time around, my last pregnancy was 6yrs ago but i gave all my baby stuff to my sistet for her babies, now she just has to give it back! ....... unless in the unlikely chance I have a girl... then its a whole different ball game..... i want a girl 😭 it just doesn't happen in our family.

@chloxhunt i guess girl :)

We've started buying stuff too, literally the day we had my scan we went and bought some unisex clothes, waiting to find out if it's a boy or girl before we buy anymore but we haven't bought any big purchases yet, waiting til payday for that, any recommendations on anything? ☺

@KatieG200394 ewan the dream sheep and extra large muslins!

@KatieG200394 ewan the dream sheep and extra large muslins!

As for the big purchases, definitely worth finding a car seat that will last! We used maxi
We found relatives quite keen to help with the big purchases which helped us to not agonise over the decisions too much. There's so much out there

[quote Usplusone]@KatieG200394 ewan the dream sheep and extra large muslins![/quote]
Ah stupid phone but ewan was so good for us it's worth mentioning twice!

@Usplusone

As for the big purchases, definitely worth finding a car seat that will last! We used maxi We found relatives quite keen to help with the big purchases which helped us to not agonise over the decisions too much. There's so much out there

*maxi cosi

@Usplusone thank you, definitely going to be investing in those, is it worth paying the extra for the deluxe Ewan the dream sheep? I'm lucky my Mum wants to buy the pram for us so that will save a bit ☺ xx