Bricks Not Books

Cornish_mum

Dear VH,

I am so sorry to hear about your loss; I am sending you a virtual hug. 

X

CM

South_coast

So sorry to hear this, hope you get some answers soon x

ruby_eskimo

So sorry to hear your news VH.  Hopefully you can get some answers when you meet with the consultant, and some of the NHS hospitals will also offer private work (the Trust I work for in London have a separate private "company" who specialise in cancer and obstetrics) so that might be something to look into for something a bit closer to home.

VintageHistorian

Thank you everyone for the kind words and virtual hugs!

My scan the other week went well. The Doctor I saw is also the lead for miscarriage care at the hospital and she said that because I've had a late miscarriage and then a second miscarriage in quick succession that she'll take me as one of her patients. In 3 months time I have to return to the hospital for a series of blood tests and then I'll have an appointment with her in September to discuss the results. I'm being tested for 3 blood clotting disorders, thyroid function, and something to do with my immune system. These were all the tests we were going to pay for privately, so it's a relief to not have to try and find a private clinic that will take me. I've got to wait 3 months as being post-miscarriage at the moment could affect the results, so Mr VH has said to think of it as a 3 month recovery period.

Last Saturday I met up with my Mum and one of my sisters in town to show them where various shops are. I managed to get some nice new clothes on sale, a skirt and a t-shirt in White Stuff, and a top and a dress in Fat Face. I tried them all on at home and they fit nicely, so I used the opportunity to clear a few bits out of my wardrobe that I know I hadn't worn even before the first lockdown. I also had a browse in some charity shops but nothing really jumped out. I was hoping to get some Big Bang Theory DVDs as I've really got back into the series recently, but the charity shops proved to be fruitless. But in the end I managed to get seasons 1 to 4 for £2 from a CEX, and would have bought more if they'd had season 5 in stock. I'll go back in a few weeks to look for season 5, I don't want to jump a season so I won't get 6+ until I've located 5. They're on E4 at the moment but you can't stream the back catalogue on 4 Online, from what I've read after Googling it it's because HBO bought the streaming rights. Otherwise I'd have bingewatched the entire show by now.

I went back and tallied up my previous OPs. Total for March was £41.15, April was a much better £71.64, and May has started off with £41.05. I also finally remembered to set up my online banking for my Lifetime ISA and found that's broken £1000, and I recently found the details to log in to my "new car" pot, so I can see how much I have in there and also set up a new regular saver for this year. I also finally redid my numbers for my maternity leave savings (I hadn't taken into account small pay increases for the past 2 years) and that's looking pretty healthy too, so it's just a case of plugging away at everything. At some point I'll sit down and actually start tracking them properly, maybe make myself a nice spreadsheet and see if that motivates me to save more.

It's raining today, but tomorrow I might go to the garden centre to get some plants. I want some veggies for the patio pots again, and I want to get some violas for the hanging baskets in front of the house as they always brighten it up. I keep periodically thinking about what we could do to smarten up the front and improve the back, but it involves phoning people to get quotes and I hate using the phone. Plus I've heard a lot of complaints recently about how hard it is to get anyone good so I'm reluctant to spend lots of time trying and failing to find businesses to do the work. Mr VH is also unsure about if/what he wants done, so I'm not hugely motivated to put much effort into it.

Have a good weekend everyone!

ruby_eskimo

Glad to hear the scan went well and the consultant is happy to take you on.  Fingers crossed you can get some answers after your recovery.  Sounds like a lovely trip into town, almost like things are back to normal.  That's interesting about The Big Bang Theory - think it's still available on Netflix at the moment so I should probably start re-watching it before it gets pulled from the platform!

VintageHistorian

I've just realised how long it's been since I updated this diary. Still been plugging away at the mortgage but haven't really posted anything here. My activity on here always takes a dip in the summer anyway (not sure why, it's not like I go out a lot XD) but also I've been keeping my own handwritten daily diary for myself, and a Covid diary for the Mass Observation Archive, and it's hard to keep a third one without feeling like I'm just repeating myself.

But the Mass Obs diary project is finishing at the end of August and we've been asked to get them submitted by the 31st, just time for autumn and my normal return to this diary.

A couple of updates:

• Would you believe my car broke down on the way to Bournemouth in July? I was driving down to my youngest sister's graduation and the car died on the M25! Quite a scary experience. RAC came out and helped me, and the car then broke down again 10 minutes later in a leafy residential street in Sevenoaks. Long story short, I left the house at 7am and got home with the car on the back of a flatbed recovery vehicle at 6pm. A long, exhausting and ultimately pointless day. The car has had a sensor replaced, but I fear it will be quite some time before I risk it on a long journey again. However, I was very grateful to have RAC cover, even if they were really not very responsive or good at keeping me up to date with what was going on.
• We've had all the ceiling lights in the house replaced, except the one in the kitchen which we need to decide what we want to replace it with. The rest of the rooms were easy, just basic lights, and it cost under £200 to get them done.
• Had a job interview at work for a different team. Job looked interesting and I work with the people who are leaving so I know what it entails. The pay was about £3k a year more than I get at the moment but the downside was some weekend and holiday working. Had to interview via Zoom, which was an experience. Didn't get the job and while I had the initial little cry of disappointment I quickly realised that I wasn't too fussed, I'm not sure the downsides wouldn't have started to grate on my nerves after a year.
• I had my blood tests and appointment with the miscarriage clinic - in theory there is nothing wrong with me. But the Doctor has suggested I might want to take Clexane during my next pregnancy. Problem is, you have to self-inject it! For the whole pregnancy! I'm really struggling with this thought as I loathe needles. I have also been directed to take aspirin when pregnant, regardless of the Clexane issue. I think the Doctor thinks I may have an issue that can't currently be picked up by testing as it currently exists.
• I've had my 2nd Covid jab! Arm is aching less today (had it on Thursday) but my chest feels a bit wheezy. Also my joints were aching a lot on Friday and Saturday, so we'll see how they go today. Ultimately the side effects are no worse than a bad cold, but with much less snot and mucus, and far better than catching Covid itself, so I'll roll with it.

I'm sure there's other things but I can't remember them. I'm now going to go eat a cheese scone for my breakfast and find something to watch on TV.

Dinner tonight is gammon steak with homemade potato wedges, fried eggs, and baked beans.

Have a good week everyone!

LadyWithAPlan

I don't mind needles but injecting myself daily.. Nope! 
Could your OH be trained to do it if its an important step?

Loving your organised diary and all your pots. 

VintageHistorian

Thank you LadyWithAPlan! I'm probably not as organised as I appear to be XD

Several people have suggested that Mr VH could help, but apparantly it should be taken at the same time every day (much like the Pill), and Mr VH's schedule is quite varied as he has to go overtime once every 3 weeks and the late shift every 6 weeks, and I don't fancy him waving a needle near me while he's exhausted.

But I don't need to make a decision until I'm actually pregnant, and the Doctor we spoke to said that women make one decision while trying and then change their minds completely when they're actually pregnant, so there's no point getting anxious about it now. The other issue is that we actually have no idea what caused my 2nd miscarriage as I lost the pregnancy at home and was then admitted to hospital so there was nothing to test, it could very easily have been a genetic issue. Because of Covid all support was cut off so I never had an early scan, it's possible the 2nd pregnancy never reached the heartbeat stage (which only an early scan would have picked up). It's mostly based on the late miscarriage for my first one, and in reality there is so little research in to haematomas that the cause of them is still a bit of a mystery.

Oh that was the other thing, next time I'll get more scans to keep a closer eye on what's happening. Not sure how many "more" is but given that I had no scans last time even one before 12 weeks would be an improvement.

It's all fun and games this baby malarkey!

VintageHistorian

The end of August is almost here so a quick review of my OPs over the past few months:

May - £50.51
June - £59.09
July - £63.51
August - £124.95

August was massively boosted by a payout from a side hustle, which had been growing for ages but I hadn't got round to sorting out my W8-BEN for (it's based in the US so I had to fill out a tax form). Finally getting that sorted, and then doing it again so I could take advantage of a tax treaty, meant that I finally got paid. It will probably take two years for it to build up enough for my next minimum payout but it's a nice amount to occasionally land in my Paypal account.

We had a gardener come round this week to do a bit of a tidy up so the garden looks a lot neater. We had a lot of ivy removed (as much as possible, still quite a lot left though), a lilac trimmed back significantly, and some brambles cut back. We now just need to actually stay on top of it and not let it get out of control again. I still need to sort out a tree surgeon for the tree's bienniel haircut, and we're getting our patio dug up and replaced in October. The garden gate is also on it's last legs so we're going to get my brother to take a look at it in the next few weeks with the aim of getting that replaced too. An expensive couple of months, but these are all things that need to be done to keep the garden healthy, and not doing them will cost us more in the long run.

And from Wednesday I am going to be out and about a lot more. I decided to do a walking challenge in September and walk 300,000 steps (10k a day) for Tommy's and the Miscarriage Association. I suspect I'll be quite exhausted after the first week, but it will be worth it to be able to do something to fundraise for two organisations that do such important work.

This bank holiday weekend though I intended to use up the last of my laziness. Someone on Instagram recently mentioned that you can get a 3 month Disney+ subscription using £8 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers! I had some vouchers that were due to expire at the end of the month, so I've used them to get the subscription. We already have a lot of movie DVDs so we'll probably use it for some of the Marvel series that have come out, the movies we don't currently have on DVD, and some documentaries. They have one that's a "behind the scenes of the Disney parks rides" that looks really interesting so I intend to watch that.

I've also got a big pile of Tesco Food magazines on a shelf that I intend to go through and cut out recipes that I want, then stick what's left on a local Facebook recycling page incase anyone else wants them. Might try to do that this weekend to clear some shelf space before Mr VH starts making comments about it.

Dinner tonight will be pork belly slices in a barbeque sauce, with homemade potato wedges and corn on the cob.

Have a good long weekend everyone!

AgathaSquirrel

Sorry to read about the miscarriages. I never miscarried but I did struggle to get pregnant and eventually went through IVF and now have 2 beautiful children.

I had to inject myself for IVF - it wasn’t fun but it was fine and you get used to it. A means to an end. The worst part for me in the whole process was the never ending waiting for appointments and waiting to see if I was pregnant. I can’t regret any of it however as without all of that I wouldn’t have the children I now have.

Well done with your OP. They are mounting up.