MSE Pregnancy Club 20

gratefulforhelp_2

SusanC wrote: »

Maybe she was forced to - I was.

Sounds like you were very poorly treated.

iceicebaby

Janapples, hope you feel better soon hun x.

Nic, I'm so glad my mum takes care of all the Christmas meal and food etc, and she enjoys doing so. I just get a few nibbles for OH and I for when we are at home. the rest of the time we are either at My mums or his mums.

Why don't you make a list of what you have left to get and how much money you have and allocate a certain amount to each? That will make it clearer in your mind. You can then see if there is any shortfall or anywhere you can cut back.

hngrymummy

lilian1977 wrote: »

Hi - is it definitely a stretchie or is it the linea negra?



(That's not me by the way!)

http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-symptoms/linea-negra.htm

It's a 'lovely' red stretchy, slightly shiny at the edges. Not had any sign of a linea negra....yet. DH is constantly being asked about stretch marks on the bits of my tummy that I can't see, poor chap.

Make-it-3

Jenapples, hope you are discharged soon. If its any consolation (when you're as far gone as we are) someone asked in ante-natal class last week "what would happen if you were ill around your due date" and the midwife said babies will just hang on in there. She had never had a sick woman go into labour. Good job too, I didn't have the energy to swat a fly let alone give birth, last week.

gizmodo_2

nic2075 wrote: »

Can i pick your brains please ladies? Im panicking about how much money I have left for Christmas pressies plus the Christmas shop.

I still have to buy my Oh-Blu ray player £100 ish. i already got him boots before I knew what I was getting him. Do you do a stocking for your hubbies? Last year I put 2 bottles of nice beer in an old stocking I had. He never does one for me and Im not bothered but I like the idea of doing one for him. It means having to more searching and buying.

I also have to get my 2 sisters. they are both getting perfume £30 and a wee Soap and Glory thing (3 for 2)


Can I ask what you get your brother in laws? This is where im struggling. We normally just spend a tenner on them. My sisters usually get a silly pressie like tiny remote control cars etc. I normally get Boots gift sets.


After all this it leaves me with around £100 to get all the shopping for Christmas meal (starter, soup, booze, nibbles etc) We have the turkey sorted and thought we'd try an Aldis 3 bird roast for in the inlaws on the 28th, so the most expensive bit is bought but im worried I wont have enough.
We also have friends coming on the 27th so I need to consider breakfast, lunch and dinner for them.

I would ask OH but he is paying the rent this month as I dont have a job since the move. He has also bought the turkey etc.


Just reading back and dont know what advice im looking for but I feel better for seeing it all written down lol. Feel free to ignore my mad rant.

I think you're being quite generous considering you're worrying about money. Me and Oh have a budget of £50 for each other this year. Next year will be virtually nothing as we won't have money to spare as by that point I'll be bringing home nothing, not even SMP.

I would scrap the stocking this year. I do a stocking for my OH, but it's half the present! His is full of sweets (about £20 worth, but it's what he likes).

I would rethink about spending £10 on the BILs I did pots of gold this year that worked out at £4 each for 7 of them. Included £1 scratch card, elizabeth shaws (bought when 1/2 price), choc coins (bogof), thorntons moments (half price), forrero rochet (half price). Is that something you could do as a token gift?

Given I spend £100 a month on food, drink (ok so not alchohol as we don't really drink) and toiletries for an entire month, to me £100 for 2 days food is tonnes!!

How many you cooking for? Will people not bring a bottle of wine with them? You could get 3 bottles for a tenner in Asda. Maybe do a punch or something to stretch the alcohol budget further?

Teenie_D

Nic I do a Xmas stocking for Dh but just fill it with choccy coins and jelly sweets, maybe a bottle of shower gel or something, nothing too expensive. We ususally go overboard with one another but this year it is a £50 limit we might look in the January sales for a joint pressie instead.

Not sure what to suggest of BIL's you could look in Play.com or amazon for fun things. We stopped buying for family a few years ago and it's fab! We do a secret santa on my side of the family so my dh has one person to buy for and i have one person to buy for. We still buy for nieces but i'm stopping that after this year too, it's too expensive and they all get soooo much. I always feel it's just a waste of moeny tbh. (what a scrooge eh.....I do LOVE Christmas, but my views on it have changed, must be getting old!:o)

Take care jenapples hope someone sees you soon, it's a nightmare waiting around in hospital to get discharged.

Hope you feel better soon Ice.

MI3 I am batch cooking this time as although DH will be off for 2 weeks, I found it really difficult getting organised when he went back to work. The house always needed a dust or hoover but I always wanted to make sure he had least had a meal waiting for him when he came home (he didn't mind but I did). Going to be mega organised this time.

Metranil_Vavin

I agree with Giz, nic. You are being very generous. Does your OH really need a blu-ray player before Xmas if you have already bought him some boots?

It may be worth waiting till January and getting him one in the sales, there are bound to be some good deals around.

My Bro in law is a toughie to buy for too, so on my sisters instruction I am just giving him some money this year as he wants to get a new shed for their garden (?!). That's fine by me..one less present to think about!

I've told everyone this year that the present front is going to be more frugal, and everyone is fine with that as everyone is skint!

I'm lucky too that my mum is doing the Xmas shop and lunch as I'll be near popping by then, but I will offer to give her some money towards it all as she always buys loads, and will help her out with the cooking on Xmas Day as usual.

Metranil_Vavin

On the batch-cooking front, yes I am planning to do that as OH only has 2 weeks off when the baby arrives, and he's normally knackered when he gets in from work.

I have told him though that I won't be doing all the cooking while on ML! He's been pretty good the last few months and done most of the evening meals when we have got in from work as I have been exhausted, but I have more time now so I can share that with him.

He will have to do some cooking in the evenings though as I daresay I'll be completely pre-occupied with the little 'un.

SusanC_2

iceicebaby wrote: »

SusanC, Can I ask what is elimination communication?

here's the summary on wiki (because I'm too lazy to write a description myself when it's there already): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elimination_communication
If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask.

gratefulforhelp wrote: »

Sounds like you were very poorly treated.

This is why I already have a very clearly worded birth plan written. And why I intend to have a home birth.

KittyKate

Morning all, I am now officially 25 weeks pregnant and last week was an absolute nightmare as I had a chest infection, ear infection, throat infection...I looked a sight with conjunctivitis in my left eye and I drove my poor hubby mad with the coughing. NEVER AGAIN I hope, even the amoxycillin hasn't shifted it and I'm back in the doctor's tomorrow. I think my boss has forgotten what I look like :S

One question if anyone can answer it (and it's probably a daft one), but rather than kicking, sometimes (about 5/6 times a day), baby wiggles - wiggles so fast it's like a little drill tapping away inside! It's not an awful feeling but it takes your breath away if you are walking (as the poor woman in Sainsbury's saw yesterday and I near screamed in shock, haha). What IS the baby doing in there!?

4D Scan on Monday so we can see his/her little face anyway so am looking forward to that (haven't thought of a convincing reason for boss yet. He won't let me have it off as ante natal as it's a private appt. Might just take a very long lunch and hope he doesn't notice..!)