12-24 weeks pregnant (part2)

Birdie85

You do indeed have a very good maternity policy Con! Mine is the absolute bog standard minimum they can get away with... which is why I can't take the full year off... I doubt I'll even be off for 9 months as we're probably going to struggle and don't want to get into debt. I'm gutted that Paternity Leave is so poor too, 2 weeks at SMP rate- it's awful! For the sake of 2 measly weeks off why can't the Dads get full/90% pay? :mad:

I get annoyed with my SIL who was paid full pay for a few months, then half pay and after about 6 months went on SMP and is complaining about not getting paid any more. She should count herself lucky that her employer is so generous, especially as she also has about 30 days holiday to take to top up her leave/go back part time as opposed to my 25 days! Every time she complains I want to make her eat my maternity policy!

con1888

Birdie85 wrote: »

You do indeed have a very good maternity policy Con! Mine is the absolute bog standard minimum they can get away with... which is why I can't take the full year off... I doubt I'll even be off for 9 months as we're probably going to struggle and don't want to get into debt. I'm gutted that Paternity Leave is so poor too, 2 weeks at SMP rate- it's awful! For the sake of 2 measly weeks off why can't the Dads get full/90% pay? :mad:

I get annoyed with my SIL who was paid full pay for a few months, then half pay and after about 6 months went on SMP and is complaining about not getting paid any more. She should count herself lucky that her employer is so generous, especially as she also has about 30 days holiday to take to top up her leave/go back part time as opposed to my 25 days! Every time she complains I want to make her eat my maternity policy!

Im a government worker so I guess they need to be seen to have good policies for family etc.. they do get to us in other ways though but hey we won't go into that as I will rant lol !!

OH doesn't know his works paternity policy but I think its the bog standard 2 weeks SMP as you say.. he's going to speak to HR this week and ask.. if it is that then he's only going to take a week off and probably use holidays as he is quite a high earner so the drop would be significant.

I have managed to get almost a full year off when I take into account holidays, taking all of March as A/L, due date is 29th and then my Mat leave kicks in then.. not going back til first week in January.

I work 4 days a week atm, mon/tues and thur/fri total of 29.6 hours a week and will keep this up when I go back. My mum is a childminder so she will take care of LO, paying normal CM fees though... well she may charge me less than her 'normal' clients but it will still be a significant amount.

Birdie85

At least our childcare costs will be pretty low when I do go back, I work 'normal' hours, OH works evenings so baby only needs watching a few hours on an afternoon, we've got Mums on hand to cover a few days then will be getting a childminder for the other day/s. OH is convinced I've got the better side of the bargain as 'all' I have to do is play for a bit then give the baby a bath and put him to bed then enjoy having the rest of the evening to myself. He clearly hasn't heard of the witching hour! I'm also so scared about doing bath time on my own too!

samtoby

I have just read my full maternity policy for the company I work for. It is exactly as I thought but I do get my car allowance still paid whilst on maternity which is a bonus, I feel very pleased and lucky about that.

I am 15+3 today and just wanting to feel something, I know most don't feel anything until 20 weeks + but I was hoping as its my 2nd I might feel it all a bit earlier. x

laurabllue

amyloofoo wrote: »

I may just be making this worse, and obviously you have to make the decision that's best for you in any case. However I've had the occasional runny egg and plenty of baked camembert through this pregnancy.

Baking or deep frying the camembert thoroughly (or any other mould ripened cheese like brie) gets rid of the nasties which are the only reason it's not recommended in pregnancy. Lots of the soft cheese in this country is pasteurised in any case and whilst this isn't enough to kill listeria in mould-ripened cheese, it's enough for lots of other varieties.

With eggs, I always make sure they're fresh, have been properly stored and have the lion mark. The risk with eggs is salmonella, and lion mark eggs are from hens that have been vaccinated against this. Testing has routinely failed to find any salmonella in lion marked eggs. More info here but obviously it's a personal choice.

Glad you said that Amy! I've been having runny eggs, mainly at home so I know the quality/freshness but will also admit to having had them a couple of times (hotel breakfast etc) without even thinking about it. Obviously it's a personal choice, but I've also had cooked Camembert/Brie as well!

neverdespairgirl

mysecretalias wrote: »

p.s. This might sound really strange but has anyone else noticed their sense of taste being off? I've just sat here and eaten weetabix and had a cup of tea and both tasted extremely strange for no apparent reason!!

I'm usually a great tea drinker, but practically since the beginning, it's tasted funny to me.

lushlifesaver

Amy and laurabllue I'm the same - although I haven't actually had many eggs recently and no brie/camb since our positive its more because I've felt like poached eggs (which I always over cook by accident) or omlettes and I generally only eat brie or camb in restaurants if I share with friends or at my parents so really just circumstances have dictated I haven't had any!

I do have a new found love for broccolli and Stilton soup though despite loathing blue cheeses!

claire16c

I think the baby is pushing her head or back right at the front of my tummy on the right - where she always lays but must be really pushing as every so often I can feel it and if I poke gently it goes down, but tonight it's really hurting every time she does it.

Does anyone else get this?

claire16c

OT question - if you ordered something off a department store website & it cost about £10 and they accidentally packed 2 in the parcel, (and it was something you could give someone as a nice Xmas present) would you tell them or keep it?!

marywooyeah

claire16c wrote: »

OT question - if you ordered something off a department store website & it cost about £10 and they accidentally packed 2 in the parcel, (and it was something you could give someone as a nice Xmas present) would you tell them or keep it?!

Aah just keep it, it's a Christmas bonus!

Don't know about anyone else but I'm in full on nesting mode! Just cleaned my kitchen and bathroom within an inch of their lives, even scrubbed all the cabinets!

Pretty sure I felt a little kick earlier too, am 16 weeks today and apparently you feel it earlier in subsequent pregnancies, can anyone confirm this?