12-24 weeks pregnant (part 4)

LittleMoog

Oh dear, hugs for Lulu and Laura, both situations sound pants!

Laura, I think it's your right to *TELL* HR when you want to officially start your maternity leave (no later than EDD, will be triggered early if baby arrives before that date), and unless you're signed off sick in the last 4 weeks they can't argue.
They should advise you about how your holiday arrangements will work, and any leave that you need to take to avoid losing it while you're off - eg when I went on leave with my daughter in October 2012, I needed to use all my remaining annual leave as we're only allowed to carry leave over until the following March, and I wouldn't be back in time to use it. Hopefully your manager will be able to sort it out, it's not like people having babies in the NHS is unusual Your DH's situation sounds pants as well, are they not working to an official quality system (GLP/GMP/GCP?) if they are and he has concerns, I think he can go to QA or management (higher than his management) and report them. I work under GLP and if I had concerns over something and the person I raised them with wasn't responding I'd just take it higher up, especially if he has concerns over patient safety x

Lulu, can you push back to your manager and say you need some of new girl's resource to cover everything? after all I guess you'll be finishing earlier than "normal" with twins, so it's time for them to start planning handover x

We're moving house today, but I'm at work and DD at nursery while DH supervises the removers, so not that stressful for me Probably will be at DD's bedtime though, she was a right pain last night as she wanted to go to sleep in her new bedroom. Tonight she'll probably want the old bedroom :rotfl:

Not much else to report, baby's been pretty active recently and seems to enjoy using my bladder as a trampoline!

laura_hoggle

Littlemoog DH works in QA... So its him who is spotting all the mistakes in the reports etc. His company is working for a global pharmaceutical company, and says if they had an MHRA inspection they'd be shut down, but nobody (the QA managers, the higher management) seem to be listening. The other groups put completely unrealistic time schedules on the QA team, and expect that if something is due to be implemented or finalised by 9am Friday morning, they can hand it to QA to sign off at 4.45pm Thursday night, expect them to sign it off & not find any issues with it. Obviously, DH has been finding loads of issues but is facing so much resistance with trying to correct it. Its not a huge company but has recently expanded, and i think they are struggling to keep up with demand. He's been going in early & staying late so much, working through his lunch breaks, and getting really wound up about it all so he really would be best off out of it. One of the hardest things for me is he has said were it not for baby, he'd have probably walked by now, and that he's petrified he's not going to be able to deal with this job & the baby.

Good luck with moving house, hope DD still wants to sleep in her new room tonight!

2 of my best friends are also currently pregnant, and we are all due within 5/6 weeks of each other (as I'm due first, I like to think I'm somewhat of a trendsetter ) Sadly, none of us live close by (me Buckinghamshire, one in Kent & the other in Dubai!) so don't get to see each other often. One of them broke her ankle about 7/8 weeks ago after falling down the stairs & has just had it out of plaster. The other said yesterday she has just broken something in her foot! As things normally come in 3s, I'm wondering what's in store for me! :rotfl:

lulu_92

Here's hoping. I did say earlier that I won't be here to pick up the pieces when I'm off!

I'm just sick of clashing with my line manager. We have to write briefing notes then send them around the team for approval. She wrote some and I sent her feedback based on what we've received before when we've submitted earlier ones and she completely ignored it. Today was the submission date and they've already picked up mistakes, ones I had pointed out! (luckily I emailed them so there's proof!) Grrrrr.

OH apologised today. I hope he gets his act together.

Ooh dear I hope you don't do anything bad Laura!

Moog it'll be nice to come home to a moved in house, but I reckon it'll be a bombsite from all the boxes! :rotfl:

sweetilemon

Littlemoog happy house move! It'll be nice you'll be settled for Christmas.

Lulu glad you've made up with your OH but it did sound quite unreasonable, tbh he's lucky you didn't make a scene at the time demanding a seat on the sofa. Just be glad you'll be on maternity soon and it'll be someone else having to deal with all that! I tell myself that quite often. Even had someone today phoning me asking me to organise an event for march, when I explained I was due to go on maternity they suggested I just purspon it until the summer! Er, no, get someone else to do it! Between that and being accused of not handing in work I have already sent ( by email so have proof) I'm REALLY looking forward to my maternity date!

Laura hope you enjoyed your pampering! Wine will taste nicer after a break from it lol. With HR I would put the date you want in writing, at least if that person is leaving you can hopefully get someone else who knows what they are doing. It's hard to say no at work but there's no point in making yourself ill, no one will thank you. Just tell people your taking a break if you need it, easier said than done I know. Hope your husband settles in or finds something more suitable, not a stress you need!

sweetilemon

Oh and lulu, totally with you on the inappropriate questions! I've had all sorts, including the "was it planned?" from a new middle manager...what am I meant to say?! Felt uncomfortable saying yes when I had applied for a promotion recently but didn't want to say no, just said "if it happens it happens". Also had a (now distant!) friend accusing me of putting my unborn child at risk of downs syndrome by eating bruchetta for lunch! That's not even a thing! It upset me at the time but it is laughable now.

LittleMoog

laura_hoggle wrote: »

Littlemoog DH works in QA... So its him who is spotting all the mistakes in the reports etc. His company is working for a global pharmaceutical company, and says if they had an MHRA inspection they'd be shut down, but nobody (the QA managers, the higher management) seem to be listening. The other groups put completely unrealistic time schedules on the QA team, and expect that if something is due to be implemented or finalised by 9am Friday morning, they can hand it to QA to sign off at 4.45pm Thursday night, expect them to sign it off & not find any issues with it. Obviously, DH has been finding loads of issues but is facing so much resistance with trying to correct it. Its not a huge company but has recently expanded, and i think they are struggling to keep up with demand. He's been going in early & staying late so much, working through his lunch breaks, and getting really wound up about it all so he really would be best off out of it. One of the hardest things for me is he has said were it not for baby, he'd have probably walked by now, and that he's petrified he's not going to be able to deal with this job & the baby.

That's dreadful Laura, I can't believe the QA managers aren't taking him seriously. Our QA seem to love giving out findings It sounds like the culture of the department is poor if there's not a commitment to quality standards and letting things pass by with known errors. Can he start to look for work elsewhere? I don't know what the QA job market is like at the moment, we've just recruited a new QA manager and auditor and from what I heard there weren't many qualified candidates around so he might be in a good position. Fingers crossed he can find a resolution, I guess all he can do is keep raising his concerns, and refuse to sign things off if they're not done right. The SDs/TFM should soon get the message

laura_hoggle

LittleMoog some of the stuff he comes home saying he's found or has happened has even me in shock, and I don't always understand all of it! I spent some time yesterday looking for jobs for him, there seems to be quite a bit out there. Last night he fired off his CV to a few recruitment agencies, and I've been fielding calls on the landline this morning so fingers crossed! He's not quite at QA manager stage as he needs more manufacturing experience (which was one reason he moved to his current position as QA Officer, it was a small step down for him to get the experience) but has looked at a few of the auditor positions around. He barely slept last night as he was so stressed about things & couldn't switch off. I questioned whether he should go in today but he said if he took a day off he'd only have more to do tomorrow.

On a more light hearted side, I had a GP appointment to have my heart & lungs checked this morning as my midwife said I had to at 23 weeks due to my previous heart issues. I thought I'd mention to the doctor about a small issue I've been having *TMI alert* with painful bowel movements, which I understand is common in pregnancy, and ask for advice. What I hadn't expected was that the new male doctor would be a complete hottie!! So I skirted round the issue until he brought it up. I felt so stupid and childish afterwards, but messaged a friend about it who said she'd had the same problem with a good looking male doctor with her last pregnancy! :rotfl: Anyone else been in a similar situation at all??

LittleMoog

Glad there seems to be some interest in his CV Laura, hope he can find something quickly as it sounds like he can't continue to work under stress like that for long

I got very bunged up in early pregnancy, a handful of dried apricots every morning has helped, plus make sure to stay very hydrated and have plenty of fruit and veg. Piles are much more likely when pregnant due to increased blood flow and tissue-relaxing hormones, so it's good to keep things moving and avoid straining Hope you feel better soon, can't be any fun!

moneypenny21

lulu sorry for you I had pelvic and back pain from 11 weeks carrying just one child so can only imagine how two must feel. Hope you are ok x

kroberts

Sorry to hear those who have not been having a good time of it lately. Hope all improves.


Everything has been fine here but woke up with a massive headache this morning and have had to resort to paracetamol, hopefully the one dose will last me the day.