August Due Date Crew - Trimester 2 (Thread 7)

[AnnieApple123]

As always, newbies are most welcome.

Apologies if I’ve missed anyone. Do shout if so. Ditto if you have any changes or updates.

July
26th @MidnightSunshine12
27th
28th
29th @DesertSnow @Mulner88 @Porcupette @Loudmouth1 & @overwork
30th
31st @AnnieApple123 & @BusyBushBaby

August
1st* *@ChloeN @CityKity & @SnowL2021
2nd @sprollie11
3rd @PumpkinEverything @Chl0o@Miraclesdohappen88 & @LS88
4th @BMK @Alpacabag22
@Amme18 & @UsernameNotPresent
5th @LBF2020 @Desperatelyboredhousewife & @BoodifulGoose
6th@buttercupbee@somuchtolearnabout @Rowanandremy & @TattyTil
7th @marleyandme
8th @RGxo13
9th
10th @VickiGo& @Sjw30
11th @tax19@nadsc& @@Rose05
12th
13th @sally16 @newmummie & @@Nic2908
14th
15th @Gizzyanne
16th @Recoba
17th @Narwhal88, @jollydollyirl& @cococat88
18th @sommeliermama& @EsmeSusanOgg
19th @Firsttimemomma1 @P1pk& @allgoodthings84
20th
21st @BCxx
22nd
23rd @MinnieFirstTimeMum
24th
25th @unluckyinlife
26th @MummaYoung2023 & @Wife2b
27th
28th
29th
30th
31st

September
1st @froglou

Also @SkullCollector. Apologies, I don’t have a date for you yet.

@BCxx also hoping the friend due two weeks before me won't pick one of my names - DH and I can barely agree on any so we'd be stumped if we had to rethink that late in the game 😂

@AnnieApple123 sorry to hear about the blood, that sounds stressful. Great that you've got that appointment lined up for extra support. Hoepfuly all will go well!

@Marmaladebear Sorry that you're going through at work, it sounds infuriating and really narrow-minded of them. Family friendly indeed! Did you have your gender scan in the end? (I think it was you who was going to have one, apologies if not! Just trying to stay on top of the list 😅)

@newmummie twitches is a good way to describe what I've been feeling movement-wise too. Really hoping for some stronger signs that I can definitively say "that's movement" but 20+4 and still waiting.

I think I've had one or two big movements, it feels like sharp kicks and I exclaim swear out loud lol 🤣 I've also been feeling a rolling motion up by my ribs. It will be really funny if it's all just gas. It all seems to be at night so maybe it's just the digestion of dinner 😂

@AnnieApple123 I'm sorry to hear you've had a worry with some bleeding. But I'm glad it's settled down now 😊

@LS888 I don't drink tea but was off coffee up until 16ish weeks. However, I could always manage an iced coffee. Do you think you could stomach that? Otherwise, Costa does an strawberry and mint iced tea. I've definitely found the cold drinks more palatable.

@Createcomet @BCxx thank you both - I should also add that we also won the pitch that they destroyed me in my appraisal about 🙄 so made a lot of money for the company

@BusyBushBaby Definitely a lot of promoting people who look and sound a certain way. My company is very posh and I am not... My husband wants me to kick up a stink about that too but I'm already causing a bit of a fuss about the childcare situation and tbh I'm a bit exhausted by it all. Had a meeting about it today and another tomorrow and the person responsible for most of the feedback is now trying to cover her back by saying I had a bad performance outside of the childcare issues which is nonsense and going back on what she said previously 🙄

@MinnieFirstTimeMum thank you! On the movement I haven't felt anything yet and I'm a second time mum and almost 18 weeks - think it's because my placenta is at the front!

@Marmaladebear what a load of bullshit from them re performance review. I understand the exhaustion from it all.

Holidays with a toddler and being almost 20 weeks pregnant is not very relaxing. It's a city break, lots of walking, toddler is being a nightmare with time change and change in the routine. I am so tired. And not even being to drink wine to get through it.

Ok so this is totally tmi but I'm on holiday and had travellers diarrhoea and my bump is so much smaller now! I knew I was a bit constipated but had no idea my bump was like 50% bloat/poop! 🙈

Thanks for your words of support everyone. I’m feeling a lot better today.

@BMK I’ve also had thoughts of hoping lots of activity doesn’t mean a child who never keeps still and thinking I maybe should have been careful what I wished for when I was so keen last week for movement to start! My scan is on the 27th.

It’s true that I do like order and organisation but have definitely had to accept that having a children inevitably brings a degree of uncertainty and chaos!

@Marmaladebear Sorry to hear you’re facing such issues at work. Definitely not stress you need whilst pregnant. Would you like to stay with the company long-term ideally?

Haha @BusyBushBaby I'm convinced I'm the same! I'm almost jealous you've managed to shift some of it, though I do hope it's not ruining your holiday

@DesertSnow that’s how close one of them is to me too! I can’t imagine going back to the drawing board if we’d already picked a name and called her it 🙈 It’s just bad luck and you can’t say anything if it does happen either but it would be so hard if it did!

I’ve just properly discovered vinted! I’ve never bought anything off it for my little boy but since we’ve booked a holiday for December I’ve realised how good it will be for buying cheap bits to take for him and the baby. Some things are literally £1/2 and some of the stuff has tags on! Makes so much more sense to buy good quality second hand stuff if it’s literally only going to be used for 1 week then back home to winter clothes in that size. I must have spent hundreds on his holiday wardrobe for the last holiday and I’ve sorted through all his old clothes today, I can’t believe the amount I must have spent on baby clothes 🙈 determined to reuse as much of the neutral stuff as I can rather than go and buy it all again

@UsernameNotPresent argh hope you are at least able to get some rest when your toddler is in bed! Had a similar experience when we went to Ibiza last year - felt like I needed another holiday afterwards

@AnnieApple123 I might have been tempted to stay long-term but with everything that's happened with my feedback I'm ready to leave and would have resigned by now if I wasn't pregnant and definitely need the maternity leave money (ours is slightly better then statutory). Husband has agreed I can take mat leave early though so I can say least have some stress-free weeks leading up to the birth (unlike last time when I worked until 37 weeks, totally stressed and had my son after 1 day of maternity leave)

For anyone not on the Facebook group, I had my 20 week scan today, all looks good thankfully!🥰

Wonderful news @ChloeN !

@Marmaladebear how you feel makes total sense. How soon can you start leave? 29 weeks?

I’ve only been feeling movement for around a week (at 20 weeks now) but am feeling like I have an acrobat inside me today.

@DesertSnow so sorry I missed your message! I did have the gender scan, we're having a little girl 💕🥰🥰

@AnnieApple123 yes I can take it at 29 weeks but I'll try for a bit longer than that - aiming for end of June/first week of July when I'll be 34/35 weeks. Think that's the longest I can handle!

@Marmaladebear outrageous how you’ve been treated at work! This taps into my fears too. I’m on track for promotion and have been given lots of good opportunities this year but I know deep down as soon as I tell work I’m pregnant the same sentence ‘needs a other year’ will magically come up. Most of my big meaty projects wrap up by August so in theory Mat leave shouldn’t affect my performance this year, but you know how these things go!

This is why I still haven’t told work, I’m still getting confirmation of some new projects which I want sorted but I’m running out of time which is stressing me out more and more.

Tbh I’m not enjoying this second trimester as much as the first, I’ve lost energy again and am tired constantly, I’m eating like crap, not hydrating or exercising as much as I want to be. It was all going so well until around week 18, and I just feel overwhelmed by everything and a bit useless and low. I’m 20+2 and starting to show and I’m not loving it tbh, I just feel like I’ve let myself go. We were outbid on the house we wanted, so that’s still up in the air, and I can’t face buying anything for the baby or even Maternity wear for myself because I’m just head in sand about everything right now. Everyone here seems (quite rightly) so excited and I’m still terrified!

Sorry for the low mood post, I just need to vent as it’s really hard/taboo to admit these things irl especially when I have friends around me who are trying.
20 week scan next week and I’m hoping that will reset some of the excitement for me again!

Hi @CityKity - if it helps, there is little excitement here neither. Though for very different reasons, (we weren't trying to get pregnant, and then we'd just started to get our heads around it we found out there was a small possibility of serious concerns with the baby, and now we just don't know what to think).
I've gone from having barely put on any weight to having put on what feels like far too much, and I've been breathless the whole way through so I sound even more unfit than I feel. I can't exercise due to a separate knee injury which the GP is refusing to treat because I'm pregnant. I've never enjoyed shopping but shopping to accommodate the fact none of my normal clothes fit isn't a joyous occasion for me.

What I meant to say was I don't think either of us are particularly unusual with our feelings and they're still valid, even when everyone around you feels differently. Hopefully it doesn't bring anyone else down neither, I love hearing everyone else stories and I try and get swept up in others' excitement.
I would also not mention to anyone in real life because I appreciate how it would be really hard to hear for some people. Added to the fact I've no one to talk to about it as I've still not told anyone!

Sorry some of you are struggling. I’m majorly struggling at work too but that’s another story, I’m taking maternity leave at 29 weeks. Hoping to do something else after so I definitely won’t go back! I haven’t cried, just been very stressed! Had a friend’s dad suddenly die yesterday and found out someone I know with cancer has days left 😢 it’s put it into perspective and I’m just trying to think how lucky I am. Watched Lewis capaldi’s new video for ‘pointless’ and it’s about a man who starts a football team for sands charity after losing his daughter as a baby. Just bawled my eyes out at it, literally couldn’t stop 😩

Oh @CityKity and @overwork I feel for you both and also relate.

There’s an expectation that pregnancy will be such a joyous time. As someone who was trying for a while I definitely - naively -viewed it as the ‘happily ever after.’ Yet of course in reality it brings a whole lot of new challenges and concerns. Even if you have a totally straightforward pregnancy, nine months is a long time. Life goes on within that time with all its ups and downs. Feel free to vent as much as you like.

I’ve been sleeping really badly the last few nights. Aside from the anxiety, I can’t lie on my back anymore (I quickly get breathless) and have been struggling to get comfortable. Hence I’m back to feeling knackered during the day again, first trimester-style and this has felt like a real setback.

I also completely understand not wanting to upset or burden friends who long to be pregnant but aren’t and may never be. This is a huge thing for me currently.

@BCxx I’ve also been crying loads which is really unlike me. Not that to go now for you with work, considering you must get time off for Easter.

@AnnieApple123 yeah I know, 11 weeks or something, I can get through that 🤞🏼 The tears just seem to come so much easier when you’re pregnant, I can feel my eyes going at the slightest thing

@CityKity @overwork I can relate as well I think. Our pregnancy was planned, I so want to have 2 kids (very set on this!) But I don't love being pregnant this time! Last time I felt better by about 15 weeks or so and obviously didn't have another child to care for. This time, I'm 18 weeks and still feel rubbish, if I'm not dizzy or nauseas it's constant exhaustion, nosebleeds and waking 3 times a night for a wee. I mean it's not the end of the world, but it's hard to find it enjoyable.

I'm excited to have 2 kids, but I'm not loving having to choose between vbac and elcs and genuinely don't fancy either 🤣🤦‍♀️

And....We've just bought a company, and I'm secretly loving my days in the office. Its peaceful and I'm left to my own devices. Even when it's busy it's not like trying to deal with the 2 year old who is relentless 🤣 🤣

But yeah I think there's this weird pressure that being pregnant is supposed to be this amazing time, and we're all meant to be buying tonnes of baby things and "glowing". Try not to feel bad if you don't feel like that all of the time. I too feel the size of a house, I want to go for a run and I'm fed up of needing to eat so much. I also cannot get over how exhausted I am this time!...But it's just temporary and I guess we don't have to love pregnancy...We just have to pray for healthy happy little babies and enjoy the moments that we can 💛

Totally agree @Createcomet

Every time someone says about you having a baby it’s like you’re expected to jump up and down with joy and look over the moon. Obviously I am delighted but I feel like there isn’t that much to say every single time someone asks about it. You just kind of gloss over the fact you’ve spent months being sick and feeling absolutely awful. The fact I was sick all down myself in the car that day just sums it up 😂 yet you’re expected to be like ‘oh great, we’re delighted’ 😃

For everyone struggling with work, I'm with you right now. I work in a fine dining restaurant so it's 98% of the time on my feet. Was doing 50 hour weeks which have now been reduced to 40-45 hours, still a lot I know. Also was told I won't be doing 12 hour days by myself any more but that only lasted 2 weeks - today I'm by myself all day.

Also I'm not allowed to book any holidays at the minute because we are so short of staff!

Just struggling getting through each week and wondering how I'm going to make it until summer. I haven't told them when I'm going to start maternity leave just yet but I would love to make it to 34 or 35 weeks. Seems impossible right now when I'm only 18 weeks tomorrow!

@overwork I am glad these feelings are normal to some extent. I’m really sorry that there’s a risk of problems with baby, I’m sorry if I missed that earlier in the thread. I hope you get some positive news soon. Like you I love reading other peoples excitement, but it does just make me question my own feelings to some extent.

@AnnieApple123 I think you’re onto something, I had terrible insomnia during my first trimester but now I’m exhausted but just can’t get comfortable sleeping on my side at night at all. I’m sure the lack of sleep isn’t helping my general rubbish mood right now.

@Createcomet you have put into words exactly how I feel! I want to run but I’m getting slower and slower, I’m eating for England despite usually being very healthy, and I hate feeling so out of control of my body right now! Im so tired it’s affected how good I feel about my work performance, I’m worried where we’re going to live and practically everything in between!

This pregnancy thing is quite the rollercoaster. In all honestly I have no idea how you ladies with kids juggle it.