12-24 weeks pregnant (part 3)

wendz86

Sorry to hear about your worries about work Missy. Can you do a job share or similar? I work 4 days a week now 9-5 , also commute into and back from london so my daughter goes to nursery from about 7.45 till 6 although my DH picks her up earlier some days. My DH works shifts so he is around sometimes on week days but we found it easier to just have her in nursery 4 days. I will prob go back 4 days but may have to reduce my hours as my daughter will be at school when I go back so would either have to have both children at a childminder who would take dd to school and pick her up. Or my daughter can go to before and after school club and new baby nursery but then i will have two drop off/pick ups.

I can't wait to feel baby move but i have an anterior placenta again so may be a while.

Sorry the consultant was rubbish Ringtobe, does seem like you are wasting your time!

Carrot34

Hi ladies

Just had my 24week scan and the girls are growing well - 1lb 7oz and 1lb 8oz - so very happy. Have next consultant appointment tomorrow morning so time to start planning things.

As for going back to work - I will go back after the year as I need to work for 3months at least to "pay-back" effectively. But I will have 66days annual leave for 2016/17 so I will probably go back full time but only work part-time for the first few months using annual leave. But I think we will need to consider things while I'm off. I'm anxious about how far I work from home if anything was wrong with the girls (1.5hours on public transport).

I'm more thinking about the fact that they have started to talk to me about when I'm finishing work. I was planning on finishing at 33 weeks but the consultant and GP are talking about earlier. Both are aware I have a very stressful job and so want me to go earlier. I'm not keen - due to stressful job I don't feel ready yet or there isn't anyone on the horizon to take over. OH is keen for me to stop sooner. I am very aware though that bubs take priority over everything. So as much as I never thought I'd say this but I will leave work early if its deemed best (amazing how easily these little things can change us).

So much for us all to think about. I think our repertoire of worries has just increased and I don't think we will ever stop worrying about something from now on.

x_missymoo_x

Thanks for all the comments RE: returning to work. I spent over an hour writing my letter last night, trying to make sure its written in such a way to persuade her that working part-time will benefit my work at school but also my health and well-being too. I also stressed at the end that I am completely flexible and am open to suggestions, so hopefully I hear back soon and get the news I want. I've asked for 3 and a half to 4 days, ideally wanting the lower option but with a possibility of working around the 4 day option if that's all she can offer. I also checked childcare costs, and me working part-time and spending less on childcare works out as roughly the same as if I worked full-time and paid more on full-time, they seem to balance each other out. I'm the same as you Princess in that I don't want someone else bringing up my baby while I work, so for me the part-time option makes sense. I also spoke with DH about it last night as he could see I was upset, and like always he managed to convince me it will be ok. I knew I married him for a reason


We are going to buy all the big stuff after Christmas. We've seen a buggy, car seat and furniture set that we both like after our shopping trip this weekend so we are going to keep an eye out in the January sales. I've seen so much stuff but I need to wait until my parents move out of our spare room as we can't fit much more in our loft!

Aunty-Pickle

Any news on your scans
gayleygoo
georgie
phoenix?

Hope everything is ok.

Pington

RE work, my current ideas are to finish work at the end of Jan (35 weeks), use 2 weeks of holiday, take 9 months maternity leave then return to work using accrued annual leave to work 4 day weeks until the end of March.

Now I'm wondering if finishing at 35 weeks might be leaving it a bit late, especially after reading Carrot's reply, so perhaps I will need to go earlier. Work have told me anything I say now is subject to change anyway so I can adjust anything if I want to. It's just so hard to know when twins might arrive!

janed9388

Pington, I think it depends on your job and how you have to travel to get there. If you are driving a short distance and sitting at a desk most of the day then you might be alright, I think you definitely would be with one, but with twins it might be more difficult. My friend who had twins at the same time I had my first found her last trimester much more tiring than I did.

Your work seem quite flexible to things changing so you can always stick with this plan and change if you have to, you might be better off using your 2 weeks leave to cut down your working week to 3 or 4 days for the last few weeks so you can get more rest. good luck either way.

ashtray_heart

Hello all. Thanks for the advice about NCT classes. I think it is more about the friends that you make but it does seem to be an awful lot of money.

Still really tired all the time. Hoping that tiredness will be less soon. It doesn't help that I am still being sick. It is really difficult working at the moment as I feel rubbish.

When did everyone 1st feel the baby move? What does it feel like? It is my first pregnancy and I have no idea what to expect. Midwife said I should start to feel it in a couple of weeks but that I probably won't recognise it until later.

Aunty-Pickle

ashtray heart - I think I've started to feel the baby in the last week or so. Kind of like bubbles low down . I was told having an anterior placenta I probably wouldn't feel much early on - and I'm 21 weeks now. Apparently it really varies when people first feel things - even as a FTM! Most should expect to feel things between 18-22 weeks though.

Re: Mat leave
I think (!) I've decided that I'll plan to work until I'm 36 weeks - because it's "only" a 20 min drive and is basically a desk job. My mum said that it's probably easier to bring it forward if I'm struggling rather than go off early when everything was ok - I think she's probably right (mum's usually are !) Now we just have to decide when I'll go back. I think I'll definitely take the 6months and almost certainly the 9months. It just depends on finances to take 12 months. Then I'll go back to work and see what happens from then on!

Hope everyone is ok and getting organised for Christmas! I have Christmas music playing a lot and hoping OH can get our tree soon!!

janed9388

re: Mat leave, Aunty Pickle, you should be find working to 36 weeks, with DD1 I worked to 38 weeks, finished on Friday (in an office 3 hours away !) and went in to be induced on Sunday (planned induction so I knew it was unlikely that she would arrive before I finished work). I just needed to keep busy and would have hated being at home and twiddling my thumbs & waiting. I'm planning on finishing 2 or 3 weeks before I'm due this time just so I can spend some time with DD1 and she doesn't connect mummy being at home only with the new arrival.

I also thought I'd only want the 6 months off with DD1 as I was very career focused and thought I'd be bored by then but the reality was I just couldn't face going back and leaving her, luckily my boss was very relaxed kept extending for me and I eventually went back after 10 months. With most employers it is probably easier to ask for more and go back soon, than to try to get extensions.

ashtray_heart

I have already started thinking about maternity leave. I am hoping to take 9/10 months off by using holiday and KIT days to finance part of it. My mat leave will span two annual leave years so I am planning to use 3 weeks of this one to leave work at 37 weeks. Then use some of next years at the end. Although my package is really good I can't afford to not be earning so 12 months is out of the question even though I would love to stay with baby that long.