Archers thread #203: It's Affair Cop! Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed, and of course we are always delighted to welcome back former or occasional listeners/posters. We don't all agree on all points, although we do mostly try to be civil about it. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you would love to attend Pip's wedding with Natasha and the starry twins, or other unusual views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please! We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-12-cant-wait-for-702pm-join-us-here, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, @DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have - BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Starting the new thread a bit early as I'm not sure I'll have much internet access for the next few days. Fill up the old one first. And then - over to you!

(Credit for the thread title goes to @TripleSulko.)

Why not?

It took me a while but I think JAM might be Just About Managing

Why not? Seems pointless.

The stitches and PND will bring out the real George.

Sorry, used JAM (Just About Managing) for speed, though it's more used about families and the cost of living.

Thank you! I had never seen JAM before.

@Every1ElseInKnowsley. living down here in the dairy-rich southwest we put clotted cream or butter on everything (rarely both together though).

In which order though (team Cornwall ).

Didn't Theresa May talk about people who were JAM?

Pleased to hear things went as well as they could @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I ended up with an emergency Caesarian with my first baby, and felt all sorts of sadness that my body hadn’t worked ‘as it should’. I’m now very mindful of opening that as a possible discussion with women when I do their postnatal checks (see also couldn’t breastfeed when they wanted to). However, what stays with me from the experience is when I got pregnant the second time a colleague of mine (a Nurse, no less!) asked me if I was “going to do it properly this time?” So much for solidarity and any level of support. Thanks a bunch.

I think the portrayal of Amber - who last night must have been about day 3 so peak baby blues and sore nipples - is very realistic so far. Susan was lovely and just the right mix of sympathetic and “this is normal you’re doing great”, and George is doing a good impression of essentially wanting to be helpful but having no idea what the right thing to do is.

Amber is beautifully acted at the moment.

I'm rooting for her and George and Baby Not-Joe.

I’m a little confused. Between Between Grundys, Carters, Horrobins, Gordons, and all the brands inundating Influencer Amber with free stuff I would have thought No 1, The Green was absolutely stuffed with every possible thing both new mother and baby could possibly need. The minute MaybeNotJoe was delivered Emma would have put in a large order at any supermarket with a decent pharmacy. She wouldn’t have left anything out. So why was George scrabbling about for bits and pieces at the village shop?

So why was George scrabbling about for bits and pieces at the village shop?
Plot. So Susan could do her stuff.

I wonder if they had all the glamorous things donated - beautiful bedding, mobile for the cot, lovely clothes etc, maybe even some lovely neat sanitary towels that do the square root of fuck all when faced with early lochia - but none of the stuff you actually need with a Velcro newborn who feeds all the time - maternity pads, breast pads (as per George’s list) and lansinoh on tap.

Urgh, really took me back to those awful days where you’re just padded up everywhere

Agree the dearth of unglamorous essentials was a plot device, but you would think at least one or other of Wilyum or Emma would have mentioned these things. There have been plenty of Grundlets.

You get more cream on doing it the Devon way, as you can make a hollow in it and fill it with jam. With the Cornish way I found the cream slides off the jam. Obviously with splits it doesn't matter.

I like a thin layer of jam spread on the scone not a blob on top of the cream. If you eat them quickly enough the cream doesn't slide off.

Yes, the freebies might have been the more glam stuff. But the women of the wider No 1, The Green clan would have ensured that they had everything within hours of arriving home, if not before.

Pretty scrumptious either way! It's not possible to eat them slowly. Or perhaps I'm just a glutton. I prefer butter on saffron cake though.

I thought Susan was perfect. Gosh, that day where the milk comes in and you can’t stop crying. It’s very hard.

I was wondering about it being that particular day three or whenever it is post-birth when the hormones make everything seem impossible.

It was a really well written episode. Amber and her struggles, Susan stepping in, George and Eddie being George and Eddie.

I had a lot of stitches and the maternity pads hurt. I decided I had to have smaller ones, even if it meant changing every 5 mins. So I explained and sent my mother who bought night-time maxi pads. Hardly any smaller and just as painful. So I explained again and sent my husband, who returned empty-handed, because he was bewildered by the choice.

I cried.

Fortunately a friend told me that what I needed was not smaller pads, but a rubber ring to sit on. And she lent me one!

But Amber sending George on a quest to the village shop for pads sounded spot-on to me!

Amber's bewilderment at the pain and blood really resonated. I also had a "straightforward" first birth but was in complete shock at just how much it has hurt and how messy it was. And the lochia - nobody warned me about that. It was made worse by the fact that nobody recognised my trauma, because as far as anyone else could see it had all gone smoothly, the baby was fine and I was up and about. For weeks I just kept reliving the pain and fear in my head, and it was a very lonely place to be.

Yes childbirth is a normal, everyday occurrence - but that doesn't mean it's a normal everyday experience that women just bounce straight back from. Especially someone as young as Amber.

Definitely.

I could make a suggestion about that.

It really was - well acted too.

I remember being shell shocked after the first one. Even though nothing can prepare you, the preparation is also slightly lacking. I found that written well - the disconnect between the reality of it and her aspirations for it. Naturally enough, she will feel like she failed. I think she is not going to bond with the baby.

I was lucky. As a single mum in 1980 I had no aspirations and was expecting it to be an ordeal. It wasn't as bad as I'd expected. I think people expecting a perfect birth are in danger of being disappointed.