The Ultimate Hard and Fast debt clearing mission

poddle911

ah that's great Zig! Glad you're having an awesome time - you deserve it

ruby_eskimo

Belated Happy New Year to you all! Glad you're having a great time Zig! I really want to go to Australia at some point but don't know if I could handle flying all that way!

Dinah93

Glad you're having such a great time Zig, I've been having a few sneeky peeks at your facebook photos and you look so happy. I also think you can officially say you're over him! Plus you know we have rules about facebook relationships in here (other than we generally hate the fake showiness of them) - if you have to make it public for the world to see then things are not right behind closed doors.

Can I just not post a graph and chart for December please?! As predicted we technically stayed pretty level, however due to some pretty lazy money shuffling on my part on payday (as in I only did it today) it looks like we actually ran up about £640 of debt again (money was in the current account but not paid off the OD/card). I will come up with a graph etc later, but please be aware it will be really small and preferably unreadable.

We did get some money off NIMs dad and my granddad at Christmas so that has helped the cause, and meant we have enough in our spends pot this month to buy a new mattress (both NIM and I are very asthmatic at the moment and the mouldy one can't be helping). We tried to go mattress shopping but it's not an environment which encourages me to spend money, it's so boring and clinical. Plus the second mattress salesman didn't seem to want to sell us it. I will pluck up the courage to try to go again this weekend.

I haven't been feeling well for about 10 days, and I've suspected it's my blood pressure. Just headaches, dizzyness, poor spatial awareness - nothing striking but symptoms I recognise. When I went to the midwife yesterday it was a bit up (130/90) but nothing alarming. She suggested maybe I was getting low bp spikes which made no sense to me knowing my body. So she called my hospital team who said go to A&E or your GP. No chance was I going to A&E with suspected high blood pressure, so I went to the GP. Never seen this GP before but she is now my favourite medical practitioner probably ever. She really listened to my concerns, explained the options like I'm an adult not an idiot, then took my bp. And sure enough it was through the roof at 145/108. She suggested that the best thing to do is to sign me off work, but I'm quite nervous doing that at 5 months from due date. So she's told me I need an occupational health assessment if I am determined to go back, but in her opinion I'm better at home. So I'm in a bit of a dilemma - I don't want to seem like a skivver given how long I was off last year, but equally I do want to keep this baby inside for as long as possible and at the end of the day health is more important I guess??? I think I'll see what my consultant says on Monday but opinions are very welcome.

On the plus side I got to hear the babies' heartbeat again yesterday, and apparently he was wriggling away from the doppler just like with the sonogram - the midwife says he's exceptionally active and is going to keep me awake once I can feel the kicks. He's also measuring very well for number of weeks, which is reassuring considering high bp=tiny babies. On the medical good news front apparently my iron levels are fantastic although I don't have any resistance to German Measles.

wendz86

That is a tricky one Dinah. Obviously your and the babies health is the most important thing but it must be tricky with the work situation. Nice to know there is a doctor that is helpful though! Think best to do what you said and see what consultant said.

Ohh an active one, I have got one of those trying to pull paper out from under my dads computer right now hehe.

I think it was measles i had no resistance to, I had to have my mmr again after i had Poppy.

archersluck

Yay Zig that's great news. Have you just met people in hostels etc so far? Everyone said Melbourne was great (apart from people from Sydney of course!) when I was over there, would have loved to go.

Glad you've found a nice doctor Dinah. Health is the most important but guess you've quite a bit to ponder over, would you get full pay despite being off last year? I imagine maternity pay may kick in sooner if you're off which could affect how long you get at home with the baby. Would you go mad at home!? What is it about work that isn't helping: stress? lack of sleep? commute? too much activity? - I don't know much about BP or your job so could be missing something obvious!
I think I'd be attempting the ocupational health assessment first, maybe after getting signed off for a week to get things more under control? If you feel it's not helping then get signed off for longer. Hope you're feeling better soon though & yes you do have to post the graph!

Nothing to report here, wish was still on holiday!

Dinah93

Is MMR the one they do the multiple pricks on your forearm then the one in the upper arm? I definitely had that. I do remember the year above me at school getting some injection only girls get when they were 12/13, but my year didn't get it when we were that age.

I'd get full pay yes. maternity would kick in at 36 weeks, but it's likely I'd have the baby at about 36/37 weeks anyway based on current circumstances so I'm not too bothered about that. I'd also get all next years annual leave when I return to work so I could work 3 days a week for full time wages for about 6 months, which would be nice. I'm just weighing up the pros and cons I guess, Work doesn't help in that firstly it's a very confrontational job, but secondly I should be sat with my feet elevated/laid down and that's not really possible at work. Spoke to my principal officer this morning and she was very much 'do what's best for you and the baby, work doesn't matter'. I know I'll go on bed rest at some point, is it better to do it now and hopefully keep the bp lower for longer, or work another month or two but have a higher bp when I do quit? Decisions decisions.

archersluck

Thats the TB jab where you get a test jab then the proper one. I missed the ones you have aged about 14 for tetenus, polio etc due to doctors thinking school did it and vice versa, so now I've got to have about 8 jabs before I go to south america Ouch. German measles is dangerous for pregnant women isn't it? Be careful! Saying that I've never heard of anyone getting it.

Work sound supportive which is good, I'd agree with Wendz to see what the consultant says, and take it easy!

wendz86

MMR you get when you are little but there was this whole thing at the time we were small that it was linked with autism so think my Mum didn't take me and sis to get second lots of jabs.

I think my only worry would be that i'd be really bored but that isn't as important as health! I'm also sure that you'd manage to keep yourself occupied.

My best friend lives in Melbourne, would love to go and visit one day.

kavics17

Can you request flexible working hours? Let's say from 9-2 for the next couple of months? My boss requested as she was really ill while on ML and the company agreed, she did 9-2 for the last 3 months of her pregnancy. She found that it kept her occupied but by the time she felt sick, she was at home resting. Not sure whether you can or not but it's worth a try.

I would choose being at home TBH, not worth risking yourself and the baby.

Is it a boy than?

Dinah93

I'm convinced it is - won't know for sure until 1st February though when we have the next scan.