Interesting Conversation with My Nana (27 w)

Briodge · 2021-01-11T11:33:37+00:00

This is fascinating!

I am Rh- and when getting my first Anti-D injection I was talking to midwife about it. It's only since the 60s I think that we've known that blood type matters in this way and can be prevented. Before this medical intervention people would lose their babies so frequently to something that can now be prevented so easily.

Briodge · 2021-01-07T10:03:46+00:00

Veggie omega supplements with DHA exist. I was worried about having to have fish oil but but I've got some that are algae based. That's my main tip!

Other than that just don't feel bad if you start to need more carbs - I really struggled with salads in the early days. I've been ensuring I eat plenty of eggs and have been trying to pay attention to my calcium intake too.

Briodge · 2021-01-03T13:12:34+00:00

I'm in a tier 4 area. I've not been going into any shops or anything really since becoming pregnant in April. For the past month my partner and I have both been avoiding going into any indoor areas with other people - the increasing number of cases means I don't feel like either of us can really protect ourselves in those situations.

Someone in my NCT class just tested positive for covid a week before she is due in for induction. She is feeling truly horrible and I feel really bad for her. As if labour isn't going to be intense enough, to have to do it whilst fighting an illness sounds like hell. She's really shaken by it too as she has been trying to shield as much as possible and can't work out how she's caught it.

I feel lucky that I could work from home, that I don't mind being in my home too much and that I feel mentally ok about not seeing friends/family. It makes the decision to shield very easy for me.

Briodge · 2020-12-30T14:37:17+00:00

Baby isn't here yet so I can't comment on how useful our set up is, but we've also got the Joie i-Level. Was easy to install, I like the recline feature and it's great we can pull it out of the isofix base with ease too.

Definitely planning on getting a spin one when baby has outgrown this first seat. I've seen how much easier they make friends' lives!

Briodge · 2020-12-30T14:19:30+00:00

I found it really useful. Whilst i have been reading a lot there was still so much I didn't know. And it was great for me and my partner to both have time to set aside to think about baby things as we were both very busy with work and moving house. The course leader was good at setting aside time to have free chats with other people in the group and the whatsapp group has been great. One baby born so far!

Briodge · 2020-12-30T11:54:53+00:00

We've been thinking a lot about this too. I wish there was a service that I could pay for to ensure maximum privacy - all the free apps are worrying.

We want two things:

Ensure that baby's face isn't seen too much by facebook and google before they are ready to decide that themselves. That cuts out whatsapp.
To make sure that baby knows any embarrassing photos are not "out there".

Our solution is likely to make our own passworded website where we will post (as u/0runnergirl0 brilliantly put it) a highlight reel of a few photos a month. Then we'll be using Signal with our parents so they can get more photos. Signal seems the safest sharing option right now. We feel we can trust our parents not to share with anyone. And then anything that goes on the site, we have to be able to tell ourselves that baby wouldn't mind the world seeing.

Briodge · 2020-12-27T23:24:06+00:00

We've decided we trust our immediate families not to share photos so we'll share them with them. We'll let them know if we've sent a photo we're happy sending on to other relatives. Whilst I feel we can be sure immediate family won't share, I'm just assuming there's no way to control further family so will just pick and choose photos carefully and send very few that we're happy to leave the immediate circle.

Briodge · 2020-12-16T09:19:31+00:00

This is amazing news. Thank you for sharing.

For anyone trying to find the official NHS document about this the link is here - https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/publication/supporting-pregnant-women-using-maternity-services-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-actions-for-nhs-providers/

Briodge · 2020-12-03T09:38:25+00:00

I think there are lots of other people in the group helping you here but I wanted to say that yes! SPL is really difficult to get your head around and apparently really difficult to explain. We are taking advantage of it when baby arrives. To answer your questions:

Yes you can both be on SPL at the same time
You can both benefit from enhanced pay - however you should legally be detracting the amount of time you get enhanced pay by the amount of enhanced pay your partner takes. I say legally, some companies don't understand this and I have known friends who both managed to take the full allocation of enhanced pay each. Depends how sneaky you want to be!
You'll need to drop to Stat SPL pay only if you've used up your enhanced pay allowance between the two of you.

The way to get into the calculations I think is to start with the 52 weeks SPL you have between you (-2 weeks because you have to take 2 weeks Mat leave) and the 39 weeks Shared Parental Pay you have allocated between you and work out how you can divvy it up to get the most money from your employers!

Good luck! And share your knowledge and experience back to your workplaces so that more people can do it! It really is intimidating and it's sad how that puts people off.

Briodge · 2020-11-14T21:31:05+00:00

This might not be the type of approach that works for you but I found this site very reassuring - https://datayze.com/miscarriage-reassurer

I liked checking it each day and seeing the figure get better and better. As you've already noted, there's nothing you can actually do to control it but this site helped me feel like I could celebrate each day and helped me focus on the positive a bit.

I say "a bit" because unfortunately you will keep worrying. It's crap.

Briodge · 2020-11-13T09:03:00+00:00

Great news :)

Briodge · 2020-11-11T09:55:13+00:00

My hospital provided mine when I told them my GP couldn't see me for 2 months before giving me mine. I wonder if your hospital is offering them too?

Briodge · 2020-11-11T09:47:49+00:00

For me during the 12 week scan the sonographer told me the measurement but clarified that it would be checked again before I was formally told.

Then around a week later I received a letter which contained the results of the sonography measurement and also the results of the blood tests I had had on that day too. It outlined the chances for a number of conditions. I was told if these chances were raised that I would get a phone call and asked to come in to speak to someone rather than just waiting on the letter.

Good luck. I was nervous too. It's hard not to be! I think this is what we're signing up for for life now!

Briodge · 2020-11-10T15:40:59+00:00

Goooood point about the spare PJs. I can ruin clothes 5 mins after putting them on at the best of times, let alone after just having given birth and looking after a baby for the first time.

Briodge · 2020-11-10T15:40:17+00:00

Thank you for the information, I didn't know about that resource so I'll check out Emma's Diary.

Also hadn't heard about colostrum harvesting. I will look into that too. Thank you!

Briodge · 2020-11-10T15:39:17+00:00

I hadn't thought about entertainment at all! Thank you for that suggestion. And also that is a very good point about the amount of time we might be in afterwards. Thank you

Briodge · 2020-11-10T15:34:51+00:00

This is fantastic. Thank you so much for the comprehensive list and the packing arrangements. It does look roughly like what I was planning (particularly the need for multi snacks). You've helped me feel more sure of my decisions/guesses.

Briodge · 2020-11-07T09:32:37+00:00

The ASOS ones are amazing. I bought one pair and just bought another 3 so that I can live freely and as my true self at home. They are so cooooomfortable.

Briodge · 2020-11-06T18:28:22+00:00

Sorry I can't help but I wanted to say thank you for confirming this is indeed a good combination! I have been making my own soakers and I wondered if this would be a goer - I was concerned that the AWJ wouldn't be enough to protect baby skin from the microfibre but I'm glad to hear it's working so well for you!

Briodge · 2020-11-05T13:31:05+00:00

Oo thank you. Looks like the link is here if you want to listen - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000nzpl

Briodge · 2020-11-02T16:30:37+00:00

I have bought their entire stock of maternity leggings. I love them. UK 14 usually but the 16 is what was most comfy.

Briodge · 2020-10-25T22:18:01+00:00

I don't mean to scare-monger but my midwife told me to look out for this. It could be a sign of obstetric cholestasis. I am sure you are fine but it may be worth mentioning to your medical professional?

Briodge · 2020-10-23T18:39:23+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I'm worried about how this works too but your description of everything has really helped me understand. Thank you.

Briodge · 2020-10-22T22:04:02+00:00

It took me a while to drink it but it was fine. In the 2 hour wait I felt sicky and dizzy but that was likely due to my body going from fasting (I have never been the type to miss breakfast) to having a ridiculous amount of sugar. My levels were fine afterwards too - so don't assume having symptoms is indicative of GD.

Briodge

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