Tis the season to be jolly, Fallon, Alan, Helen, Lillian; Deck the Hall with boughs of Holly, Lily, Will and Jill, Tilly Button. Celebrate Christmas with The Archers!

[PseudoBadger]

Thanks to SmallLegsOrSmallEggs for this thread title way back in November!

Five years ...

Didn't Doc Loc say he'd be ambling along to look at the shivery ladies? Must be tonight if he hasn't been already.

I thought it was just meant to indicate that Lillian drinks more than she thinks.

The coercive control though they did pretty much say it would difficult to make it stick in HelRob case.
Although she coukd just have him prosecuted for sexual.assault.

Oh the bastard

Total fucker

Why has no-one mentioned the fact that Rob is supposed to be looking for a full time job?

Why is Pat surprised about the job share plan when Rob's been telling her for months that Helen's got to rest and she's been agreeing with it all?

Pat could be recovered from her bot takeover

What an absolute bastard he is. And what liar she is.

She certainly doesn't help herself!

Perhaps the penny is finally dropping.

How can I ever forgive myself. I'm such a lazy fat pig not only did I sleep through my own sons stocking opening I can't fit the HUGE dress lovely rob bought me ....more broccoli I think....

Yep, she lied about breakfast and the chocolate, didn't she?

She wouldn't be so tired all the time if she got herself outside a pie or two.

And YY, penny finally dropping for PatBot

What is tomorrow's scan for? Is it the 20week anomaly one?

Pat is starting to cotton on I think?

How could Helen possibly "sleep through" Henry opening his presents? Surely she would have woken up? Do you think Rob might have put something in her cocoa?

He is a bastard. And that crack about the dress. He seems to be deliberately doing things that will ramp up the return of her eating disorder. Note he didn't try to persuade her to eat breakfast.

Does the scan involve a wide-awake, observant midwife?

Oh please let the expensive private scan turn out to be wrong about the baby's sex.

I really, really want the sex to have been wrong. I'm also wondering whether there will be some intrauterine growth retardation going on due to Hels lack of eating.

if it's a girl after all he'll want to sue the NHS

Surely he'd have to sue the private clinic.

DD's specialising in obs & gynae but I can't get her interested in TA. It's so frustrating!

At the very least I would expect Helen's weight to be checked at each stage and she must have lost weight since the last regular check-up.

So relieved that Pat bot has come out of her trance.

But YY it should look really odd to anyone that Knob isn't pursuing his own career. Hopefully Tom & Tony will awaken too....I thought Tom saw through Knob when he first returned from Canada & told him off for ordering non organic feed. Also Knob was jaw droppingly rude to Tony re the display cases a month or so ago. Don't they ever talk amongst themselves about Knob and his awful knobness?!!

Yes! I think Pat is going to finally start seeing things for what they are.....please!

And Tom has returned, he isn't under Knobs spell too is he?

There is no way Knob will be letting Helen go on a spa day with Kirsty! Maybe this will be key as it was Pat's present, she will want to see Helen get to use it.

The dress thing is just so nasty and of course he counters his cruelty with a fancy necklace, how predictable Knob!

It is possible they got the gender wrong at the private scan although it is far more common for girls to turn out to be boys than boys turning out to be girls.

AFAIK they wouldn't be able to sue as the companies have it written in their terms that gender assessment can be wrong and the most they would offer is a free scan or refund as apology.

From what I remember from my pregnancy, I was weighed at least at most of my midwife appointments if not all. Helen should of had one at around 16 weeks, it's the one when they usually listen to the heartbeat for the first time but don't recall them doing that unless I missed it.

If midwife is any good she should pick on Helen looking pale and acting quiet and uninterested and start asking the right questions.

I wasn't weighed at all during pregnancy, just at the booking in appointment, so it's possible Helen won't be. A good midwife ought to pick up on her withdrawn behaviour though and also wouldn't her lack of eating show up in her urine in some ways (low sugars, ketones)? They tested my urine at every appointment!
About the dress, shouldn't Knob have just bought her a maternity dress in her usual size rather than a dress a size bigger? Not that that fits his evilness so well.

Oh right, I was weighed a few times and there wasn't any concern over my weight so I assumed it was standard. Well even if midwife doesn't weigh her, she will start measuring fundal height before long so if Helen really isn't eating then she could measure up small for dates.

Yes any normal man would have bought a nice maternity dress or probably just taken their wife shopping as most wouldn't be 100 % confident with how the sizing works!

What I don't get is why would he want to fuel her eating disorder at the potential risk to HIS boy.

Why was Helen asking Pat if she'd heard from Ian? Didn't Ian confront Helen last week, or did I dream that bit?