Not sure can hide it for much longer!

[Doodleydoo]

Hi All, Am 8 weeks tomorrow on 2nd dc and have discovered that can't get anything to fit me round the waist and that however much I squeeze myself into clothes or "suck me in" pants I just look like I am putting on a lot of weight. (Actually haven't put on any weight just popping out in all the wrong places!)
Is a little frustrating as don't want to have to tell anyone until I have at least been to the Dr and had my booking in session and 1st Scan to make sure all ok, but as we have just moved, hadn't been able to do that until later on this week.
Help - advice required I think!

Oops that was meant to say with 2nd dc not on 2nd dc!

I sympathise I am 8+1 today and seem to have a huge tummy ( I have been suffering with indegestion and neausea and this is causing a lot of bloating!) When I get up in the morning my stomach is a lot flatter. However we have already told most people as we had a dating scan and saw that everything was ok. I don't know how I could have hidden it otherwise, even though it is just bloating, other people would just see a big tummy and assume 'pregnant' and would be right of course!

Just moan a lot about the weight you have put on over christmas and hopefully nobody will dare to comment

Bigger sizes, baggy tops, elastic waist expander thingies - I was the same and it's most annoying!! You'll need them after the birth anyway!!

Thanks Plant a seed, its just the looks of "you're obviously up the duff" whilst no one says anything - mind you perhaps I will have to just make it the worst kept secret - I just don't think I am ready to let everyone know until we have seen a scan piccie and know its all ok!

Will just have to say I ate a lot of choccie and crisps!

I wore a pashmina like scarf over my clothes so it hung down the front. Worth a try. Good luck.

I used bump bands from new look. They seemed to work for me

You think you've got trouble with a bit of 'Christmas weight!' Just try having a job you are not legally allowed to do whilst pregnant, and your hobby being showjumping! I am having to come up with some seriously tall tales to explain to people why I am doing neither of the above at the moment. Not to mention the fact that all my in-laws kept commenting on how little wine I was drinking over New Year.

Yes that might be a bit more tricky than just looking like you ate all the pies! I got over the non drnking at Xmas by either tipping my drink into plant pot, sinkmor hubby's glass. Poor guy was rat arsed for most of dec! I know my issue is small and insignificant but one of the problems is that I literally lent all my maternity clothes to a friend and can't ask for them back without the huge giveaway! oops can we justify a shopping trip in a recession, at least I suppose the sales are on!
Btw pandora what do you do that makes it illegal to fo when pregnant? I am intrigued and very nosy!

Hi Doodleydoo,

If your are not ready to tell people (and I would be the same) then don't.

Let people think you have put on a bit of weight over Christmas as nearly everyone else will have. Just because it is top of mind for you doesn't mean it is for everyone.

There is also a bigger difference in you actually telling people and people thinking you might be.

I had to hide morning sickness from a couple of friends a few weeks ago and when we told them we were pregnant after 12 week scan they said thought something was up because you looked really pale and rough! We laughed about it and they didn't even suspect it was morning sickness.

Good luck only 4 weeks till 12 week scan,

xx

Doodleydoo - airline pilot. It's a complete no-no, so I am putting off telling work for as long as I can get away with it (fortunately for me my sister infected me over Christmas with her hideous bunged sinuses, which is an instant get-out-of-work-free card! Then I have 2 weeks holiday. So I can string it out for a bit longer yet. Then I get the delights of the 'we don't know what to do with you but we are buggered if we are going to allow you to sit on your arse for 9 months and still pay you, so we will give you this crap filing clerk/tealady job. And pay you less for it. And expect you to come in more frequently.' It sucks!) My main sympton last time was the need to EAT OR SLEEP AT ALL COSTS! The eating bit would be easy at work, the sleeping bit would be a bit less desirable.

And after all that crap I can't even blow the cobwebs away by going for a good gallop. As apparently that is irresponsible. It's enough to drive you to drink. Hey ho.

My solution for extra tubbi-ness - get down to TKMXX and buy some cheap ski salopettes that fit, then tell everyone you are soooo cold at the moment you need extra padded pants.

Pandora - off to TKMaxx go I! I thought you might be in the "air" so to speak as have a friend who is "trolley dolly" (her terms NOT mine) and she was instantly grounded and has been on maternity leave now for 2 years as she was just about to finish her first year of maternity leave and had her second child! Bad luck about the pay though - that really is shit, I love the outcome but frankly sometimes being pregnant can feel like a pain in the backside, especially the maternity clothes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still am off to TK Maxx to invest in something cosy and stretchy I think.

The xmas excuse for those nosy enough to ask & waists not tucked in.

Pandora - surely they aren't allowed to pay you less if you are medically unable to do the job? I had similar problem being Sister in an A&E department who gets to look after confirmed swine flu patients - the Department of Health banned me from my own job. I got shifted around every 5 minutes from office jobs to different wards, but they weren't allowed to pay me less.

Yeah Pandora check out the law on that your protected legally being pregnant same as return to work they can't pay you less.....unless your on a flexible contract maybe? that states you only get paid for flying hours? Or RAF maybe have some weird thing but I'm pretty sure the RAF would not reduce pay?

ACAS website will be able to help you and there helpline is free get some advice, don't just take what they say as they can get it wrong ;0)

www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461

Sadly I have been here before. Our pay is complicated - normally we get basic pay, flying pay (an hourly rate based on time spent actually flying) and time-away-from-base pay (another hourly rate based on the amount of time we are away from home.) If I am not flying I get basic plus an average of my last 3 months flying pay, but no time-away-from-base. Which seems mean, but that part of our pay is supposed to cover buying meals when we are away in a hotel. In reality noone ever manages to spend all of it while at work though. But the taxman has decreed that we cannot be paid it if we are not away from base. While grounded I will be given a ground job at base.

The really annoying thing is that I will have to drive into work every day. Normally I do the drive about 3-4 times a month, as I will be away for 2-3 days at a time (as we are paid for the number of hours we do, not the number of days, I normally manage to get all my work done in 9 days a month. Cushy!) Once grounded I will be paid for the number of days, ie 2 and a half days a week. I live quite a distance form the airport, so will be keen to explore ALL of the working from home options.

Now. back to big pants. I have been out to feed the chickens and am sitting here in my old ski pants as I type.

Pandora, Do you still fit into your uniform? Assuming there is a uniform dress-code, how do you manage this? Most of us can adapt our wear as things change, and don't have these constraints, so it would be interesting to hear of your changes, how you deal with it and how people seem to react or not notice. What has changed thus far, when, what did you do? Same clothes, suck-it-in, etc, when did these stop working? Would be fascinating to learn from your experiences! Kind regards, Nette