Due June 2022 (thread eight)

[Annabell1]

New Thread.

I am not feeling emotional about mat leave. Except for the emotion of "can't bloody wait". I must admit, I have started phoning it in a little at work.

I have been climbing this unforgiving greasy pole for almost 2 decades. I am SO ready for a year off. And I don't even care if that makes me a shitty feminist.

Career be damned. It's 12 months of Iggle Piggle and nipple cream for me.

I'm with @PeeAche on the maternity leave, all the way! Really enjoying being away at the moment. Sleep, watch the snow, take a little wander around town, eat some poutine 😬

I have my snüzpod waiting to be built when I get home too! Anyone know anything about the Jolie versatrax? It looks just like the Nuna-triv but half the price! Going to have to go on another pram-hunt I think..

@destiEos
We looked at the Joie Versatrax as really liked it online, in store I found it quite flimsy though.
We ended up going for the Oyster3

@unknownscot that is so freaky! Those are the 3 I have in my JL wish list 😮 The issue we had with the Oyster3 was that the car seat wouldn't come off again after it had been put on (I'm assuming the shop one was just broken) and the 5-piece buckle to strap the baby in was a little cumbersome. Otherwise, that was my favourite, DH preferred the Nuno-triv. I'm guessing the price is reflected in the flimsyness, thought it might be - thanks for the feedback

Hi everyone. Tentatively making my way back to this thread after the rescan of my cervix on Friday (via private doctor, the NHS are still being rubbish) looks like it is now stable.

Lots to catch up on! Hope everyone is feeling well and bumps are growing nicely. Mine seems to have had another growth spurt this week.

@Prema112 on natural deodorant try Elsa’s organic. I tried loads when I made the switch of all my beauty and household products to organic/plant-based last year (ivf cycle 3 - desperate times!) and it’s by far the best I used. As good as Dove. You can buy on Amazon I have the pink one, smells lovely.

Fully with @PeeAche and @destiEos on the maternity leave! I love my job but I can't wait haha.

@JAR1981 glad everything is OK with your cervix! Sounds like a dodgy first measurement.

I feel very pregnant (also known as fat haha!) today.

@destiEos
What car seat was it? We went for the MaxiCosi Pebble x

@JAR1981 that's good news! Great to hear all is stable down there and to have you back frustrating that the NHS are being rubbish but so glad you could see someone privately

Haha just me on the mat leave worries then I am looking forward to having the time with baby... just one of those sickening people who really loves their job and I'm worried about what I'll miss out on. But also don't want to miss out on time with my baby girl either

Woohoo! Welcome back @jar1981 . Great news.

@JAR1981 Welcome back! Good to hear cervix is doing its job! Thanks for the deo tip, I'll have a look at that one!

@unknownscot just the one it comes bundled with: Oyster i-Size capsule truffle car seat, so it should fit!

Welcome back, @JAR1981 - glad things are looking stable! 😊

I have my second attempt at my ‘20 week’ scan tomorrow (well… today on U.K. time). I’m weirdly more nervous than the first go around, I think.

@PleaseSendNoodles best of luck today!!!

I have fully cleaned out bugaboo cameleom 3 and it's looking fantastic 😊😊 Now I need to focus on a car seat that is compatible with that and rear facing.

Re maternity leave I think I'm going to go back to work in the new year. I'll only take the paid 26 weeks + annual leave for this year. Many exciting changes in my company coming and I don't want to be left behind 😂

I love my job but I'm also looking forward to maternity leave. I'll be going back to work full time in about April next year so I definitely plan to make the most of my time with the baby.

Career-wise I think I have the best of both worlds - I'm in a professional training program, so I'll just qualify a year later with hopefully no major career hit.

Minor rant - NHS continuous service. Moved to Scotland and they don't automatically recognised your NHS work in England/Wales. You have to get it added manually. Such a painful process. Had to make multiple calls to multiple HR departments. Everyone is so helpful when you speak to them, but then they don't do anything /update you when there's an issue. You have to call back and check to find out that they haven't been able to do something because they need this specific field (which they didn't ask for before), which you then have to email the other HR department for and follow up with a call ... Finally done but so frustrating!

Anyone got a teeny car boot and have any good pram recommendations? I have a Yaris so needs to be a compact pram. Last time we went to mothercare and tried them in the boot but mothercare doesn't exist anymore!

Concur with those who can't wait for maternity leave! I have a countdown set up and it tells me I'm only 12 weeks away 🤣 Anyone else planning to take 14 months of mat leave like me...🤞🏼

@PeeAche @destiEos Agree 100%. I do enjoy my job but I can’t wait for leave. I’ve even taken 2 weeks holiday + 2 weeks maternity before due date. This may be my last baby so I intend to make the most of every minute with her and my time before she’s born

@Matilda30 we had a nightmare with our tiny boot, but the venicci tinum 2 fits in on its side with the shelf removed in the boot. Even fits with the seat on and room for a shopping bag

@GrowBabyGrow I feel the same with maternity leave. I am looking forward to it but at the same time I have a fear of missing out things at work, as I do love my job and even when on holidays I check emails and messages and reply to them if I can (my husband says I'm a workaholic)
My EDD is the 30th and my plan is to be on ML from the 27th (if baby girl doesn't come earlier) and then back partial time in December using holidays to only work 2 days per week and then full time in mid Jan.

I must be honest I can't wait to start mat leave! I do actually love my job and have definitely been a workaholic in the past, but have actively worked on taking a bit more time to myself over the last couple of years. I've got 7 weeks left actually in work (3 weeks of annual leave between now and mat leave). Having always loved work though I'm finding myself well on the way to mentally checking out already. All my projects are long term ones so there isn't anything that will get neatly wrapped up before I go, which I don't think is helping things. It's a new feeling for me this not being so work focused and I feel like I'm going through a kind of identity change, very odd!

I can’t wait to start my Mat Leave either, but mainly because I am feeling so stressed and unsupported and am getting close to burn out - I just want a break!
I haven’t got any headspace to think about buying baby stuff because I have so many work deadlines. I’m still covering some areas for a colleague who is off as well as my own, and have been asked not to tell clients about my pregnancy until there is a plan in place for my maternity cover. 11 weeks until i start my mat leave (although I was first baby and 3 weeks early). Was hoping to use annual leave to reduce my days to 4 per week for the last month, but what’s the point if they aren’t going to reduce my workload accordingly? Already been told I can’t have a day off in April because there’s no one else to do the work and they won’t flex any deadlines.

@MrsTwentyNine yes me !!
Using AL to drop down to 3 days a week from April so I only have four weeks of full-time working left 🤯 then working three days a week is up until mid May when I’ll be using annual leave to finish altogether until my Mat leaves starts early June. Carrying a week over to next year plus the bank holidays for start of next year means I’ll have two weeks added on to the end of my leave before I even touch next years annual leave to add to it too so it’ll work out I’ll have about 14 months off!!

I don’t dislike my job I’ve just stopped caring Which I know it’s terrible I’m just in full baby mode now.

Exciting times now ladies

I also can't wait until mat leave - 12 weeks to go for me, all going well. I really enjoyed my first one, even though most of it was in lockdown.

The plan is to stop work at 37 weeks, ahead of the C section at around 39 weeks. My lovely boss said he'd envisage me winding down slowly and handing over from around two weeks before, so around 35 weeks. I'm very lucky with him; my previous manager was nothing like that.

@MrsTwentyNine I'd love to take 14 months but sadly can't- my plan is to go for the full 12 months though, all going well. An NCT friend had about 16 months off - she loved it. I admit I was very jealous.

Hi all, just wanted to know if anyone else gets discomfort near and around belly button area? I’m 25+2 and over last few days my belly feels sore. I assume it’s because everything is staring to stretch as belly grows? My bump only started to develop rapidly the last couple weeks. Any tips for alleviating this mild discomfort?

I also want to continue playing sports but stretching up to reach things sets this off - has anyone used a maternity belt or band to stabilise bump while exercising? Google isn’t very helpful as I’m looking for a sport belly band rather than a PGP one. :)