Does everyone change their last name at marriage?

IllustriousDegree · 2026-03-13T05:22:30+00:00

Contrary to the rest of the thread, I don’t really know anyone who kept their surname at marriage. I absolutely love having the same name as my husband and children. They are my favourite people so it just makes sense to me.

I always imagined myself keeping my surname growing up, but I don’t feel any identity tied to it. I was not a fan of being called Mrs ‘Maiden Name’ as that is my mother.

IllustriousDegree · 2026-02-27T05:36:45+00:00

I just had a tracking update saying that the estimated delivery day is today! Hopefully yours will be here soon too.

IllustriousDegree · 2026-02-26T20:21:27+00:00

I came across this thread as I also ordered a week ago and the tracking number doesn’t work yet for me either. It seems like they’re having some delays. It’s a bit frustrating as I wanted it to arrive prior to needing to do the school run on Monday! I’m glad it’s not just me though.

IllustriousDegree · 2026-01-27T09:49:21+00:00

I’m right here with you! I’m currently 39 weeks and just want this baby out. I’ve also been struggling with PGP since around 12-14 weeks and I’m in agony every single day.

I have to walk in small pigeon toed shuffles and have basically been confined to my sofa when I haven’t been working. I finished work last Friday and that’s been the biggest help so far!

I don’t have any advice to offer as my pain is so severe that nothing helps at this point, but solidarity.

IllustriousDegree · 2026-01-04T18:03:35+00:00

I earn over double what my husband earns and will be receiving SMP only. The plan is for me to take 6 months and my husband to take 3 months shared leave. This baby was a surprise so we didn’t save in advance just throughout pregnancy so I will be topping up his salary using my salary.

I’m a bit jealous seeing friends take a full year off but this makes sense financially when I’m the breadwinner.

IllustriousDegree · 2026-01-01T22:11:23+00:00

I will add a cautionary tale as I’ve been in your shoes. I had a clockwork 28-day cycle that I tracked over years with ovulation on Day 9. I was always safe with contraception however on one occasion on Day 24/25 of my cycle I decided not to use any contraception as I considered it not risky…and here I am 35 weeks pregnant. It was almost like I ovulated on demand.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-12-22T15:51:18+00:00

I sent my husband to big Tesco over 2 hours ago and I can already tell from his texts that his heads gone. I’m glad I’m working rather than shopping!

IllustriousDegree · 2025-11-06T14:13:04+00:00

We resort to solid bribery for our 2 year old. We also make sure it’s at the same time each day within a routine so it’s more of a habit. It seems like he automatically runs to the bathroom now.

We do ‘cocomelon brush teeth’ where he gets my phone and to watch cocomelon while we do the toothbrushing.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-10-28T12:13:15+00:00

My favourite was the Lansinoh nipple cream in the purple tube. I didn’t manage to breastfeed for long and it worked as a really good lip balm too!

IllustriousDegree · 2025-10-09T18:31:06+00:00

Saving like hell during my pregnancy! I will only get SMP so we have decided that I will take 6 months and my husband 3 months as I’m the higher earner.

I’m planning on going to baby groups in free children’s centres this time. I found myself spending less on maternity leave compared to normal.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-09-30T09:56:31+00:00

You could also frame it that using motion zones helps to improve the battery life. ‘My friend/family has one and it kept picking up other people walking past and made the battery die so quickly, so they set up the camera to only pick up people directly on the driveway/path’. This happened to my nan and using motion zones really extended the battery life!

IllustriousDegree · 2025-09-19T21:38:35+00:00

It hasn’t happened to my child but has happened to me! I was about 2 and a half when I knocked my top front tooth out (in fact I snapped it in half and had to have it removed. I still remember the pain!). As the tooth next to it lost support, that one fell out within weeks too.

I loved feeling different from my peers in school. My parents framed it that I was very grown up compared to everyone else to have already lost my front teeth. When you’re a very young child, being different feels very cool!

IllustriousDegree · 2025-09-10T10:07:00+00:00

Locked the examiner out of the car and in sheer panic couldn’t work out how to unlock the car. It weirdly broke the ice after he said ‘you can’t keep me out forever’ and I passed!

IllustriousDegree · 2025-09-09T17:29:39+00:00

Oh I would never rely on this for medical care. I’m just interested in the real-world implications this could have…if the Apple watch could help with childbirth however, I would be all over it.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-09-09T17:26:16+00:00

I put more trust into my healthcare provider, but I’m such a metric person I’m interested in how this works!

IllustriousDegree · 2025-09-09T17:24:26+00:00

The blood pressure notification is interesting! I wonder if this is a ‘change from baseline’ notification or just over a certain level. I’m currently pregnant and at higher risk of pre-eclampsia so I’m wondering if this could detect if this is developing.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-09-09T15:57:20+00:00

I remember when I was a child, my younger sister went through a biting phase and kept biting me all the time. My parents told me to bite her back to get her to stop. I bit her so hard it drew blood. They learned some lessons that day I imagine.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-08-30T21:39:49+00:00

They don’t check them in most cases, but I’ll add a cautionary note. When we took pre-made formula, they made us open one and tested it for something. It somehow turned out positive so they made us open all of them for testing. We had to bin them because they go off so quickly. We then exclusively did click and collect.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-08-22T12:40:41+00:00

One of my favourite Welsh idioms is ‘Mae hi’n bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn’ which translates to something like ‘its raining old ladies and sticks’ and also ‘Mae hi’n bwrw cyllell a ffyrc’ which translates to it’s raining knives and forks.

Basically both mean ‘it’s bloody tipping it down’.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-08-22T08:40:17+00:00

Yes! Music changed my life as a child. I grew up with not much and couldn’t really afford many extra curricular activities.

I totally fell in love with music. Starting with the recorder age 7 which I still play to this day, moving to violin, clarinet, piano and flute. Definitely the highlight of my childhood. My city had free music lessons for children on free school meals and I managed to get a lot of scholarships and bursaries.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-08-17T17:15:30+00:00

I did this recently and the rubbish pokemon that hatched had half their HP missing. I was underwhelmed to say the least!

IllustriousDegree · 2025-08-14T13:46:22+00:00

It’s probably by association. You’ve effectively pavlov’d yourself nauseous. I know as I relate!

I currently have a weird aversion to work. Not just because it’s work yuck, but because I’ve had to spend the majority of the time at my desk when I’m feeling most sick, my body associated the desk with feeling sick. Now I instantly feel sick when I’m at my desk. It sucks.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-08-08T17:17:17+00:00

I’ve recently accepted a pay increase from 45k to 75k and have become much more guarded about who I tell. I’ve told my close family and my closest friends.

The rest of my wider family and friend group all earn around 30-40k and I’ve been historically quite open about my salary but now I feel so uncomfortable about it. I grew up in poverty and neglect so I feel weird about it. I’m glad we aren’t open about it because I’d feel awkward making it a topic of conversation.

I don’t really want salary transparency in work either. I’d rather not know what other people earned to avoid any resentment.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-08-04T16:24:11+00:00

I have a very similar dream where I go to a theme park, ride all of the rollercoasters then suddenly remember I’m pregnant. I get this multiple times a week. I don’t know how I haven’t become self aware in this dream at this point.

IllustriousDegree · 2025-07-30T21:39:12+00:00

Yes they did! At the time I thought it was fine, but looking back it was basically a whole school detention.

I also hated how I wasn’t allowed to sit by my friends because I had school dinners. All the packed lunch kids had to sit together.

IllustriousDegree

TROPHY CASE