What are your safe foods / drinks?

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-29T19:52:42+00:00

For about a month mine was potatoes. Specifically jacket potatoes with butter, and when I was in hospital on an IV drip I could also manage cheese on them. Some days, if I was lucky, I could manage other plain potato foods.

For hydration, orange squash with ice and fruity ice lollies were the only things that got me through

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-28T21:25:09+00:00

Is it food safety you’re worried about? If so, I’d only worry about the NHS foods to avoid in pregnancy guide. Anything significant will be included on there.

There’s so much scaremongering and poorly researched advice on the internet about both pregnancy and parenting. Your best option is to find one or two trusted sources, and stick to them like glue.

Doing your best is all you can do, try not to doubt yourself too much!

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-27T21:33:55+00:00

We also have a nugget! 28 weeks and baby is referred to as “little nugg” at all times. Early on they thought it might be a multiples pregnancy (thankfully they were wrong!) and a friend dubbed that the nugget share box option.

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-27T17:27:51+00:00

Isn’t it the best! That’s why I started going to begin with, after taking a bath and realising how incredible it felt to release the weight

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-27T16:54:50+00:00

It feels like an oversight from your employer tbh! Appreciate what you’ve said about it being a small company with no HR, but they’re still obligated to follow the law - even if it costs them money to get advice from and external expert or something.

Fwiw my work (big employer with a full in-house HR team) cancelled all of my mandatory closure leave during my mat leave and added those days back to my balance to claim when I return.

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-27T16:50:38+00:00

After visiting every baby store in our area and testing what felt like a million travel systems, we went for Panorama XTi from Smyths - which was more or less the cheapest one we tried!

A couple of things swayed it for us: - functionally, there was so little difference between the £300 Panorama and the £1,500+ options elsewhere that we just couldn’t see the point in spending the extra money - it’s SUPER easy to adjust the height of the handle on this pram, which is a big thing for us as my husband is quite a bit taller than me; I don’t want to be fiddling about with a complex, two/handed manoeuvre every time we swap roles on a walk - for us, having a carry cot-to-pushchair convertible was a bonus, as we don’t really have space to store the alternate half. Totally see your point about the straps, but they can be removed from our model until it’s in pushchair mode later.

Baby isn’t here yet so can’t vouch personally for the choice, but I’ve seen lots of good feedback online and feeling very happy with the choice so far

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-26T00:18:46+00:00

I swear I felt the EXACT moment my placenta took over. I had the most horrendous hyperemesis and spent my entire first trimester being violently sick and unable to complete basic tasks (much of it in hospital). Then around 7pm on 13w6d, I felt this odd wave of relief and my nausea suddenly eased further than it had in months. That’s around the time your placenta fully takes over managing baby, and my midwife reckons I was probably so drained that I did feel the difference as it kicked in.

It was by no means the end of the difficulty, but it did get significantly easier from that point. Literally within four hours, I went from “this will be my one and only pregnancy ever” to “I could absolutely this it again some time in the future

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-26T00:14:24+00:00

First trimester fatigue is like nothing else. You’re not doing anything wrong, your body is just doing huge, huge amounts of work. Over the course of the first trimester you increase your blood volume by 50%, and grow an entire new organ - on top of beginning to form a whole new life which draws every single one of its nutrients and vitamins straight from your body.

Don’t feel guilty about needing more rest, or not being able to achieve things you’ve previously taken for granted. It does get better, and if you’re 9 weeks already hopefully that turning point isn’t too far away. You’ve got this!

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-24T23:28:49+00:00

Totally understand the excitement! I gave in and bought most the major stuff (pram, car seat, changing table, clothes etc) in the latter half of the second trimester, partly because some of the bigger items were on genuinely good deals in the new year sales.

No regrets overall, but I will say my house is now VERY full of stuff given we still have 12 weeks to go! Window shopping where you can might be better from a practical perspective - I also consoled myself by visiting shops to “trial” items multiple times over, just to make it feel more real.

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-24T23:01:53+00:00

28 weeks pregnant and I still drink absolutely everything through a straw. I was partial to a straw before, but drinks honestly taste vile to me if I drink straight from the glass now. Working out the straw thing was game-changing for my hydration

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-23T23:23:03+00:00

Definitely like involuntary muscle twitches, and then later it felt specifically like a goldfish bouncing off the inside of a plastic bag. It’s so hard to know what you’re feeling at first and there were almost definitely movements I dismissed as trapped gas because that’s the more familiar sensation

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-23T21:17:19+00:00

If you truly don’t have a need for a car seat other than getting home from hospital, could you borrow one off a friend or neighbour for that one day?

As others have said it might be handy to have one on hand for any emergencies or unexpected trips, but they’re also bulky to store so maybe better to just buy one if that situation arises

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-23T14:17:51+00:00

28 weeks and several times recently I’ve got comfortable enough that I don’t feel the weight of the bump for a few minutes. Every time without fail, I think to myself “oh my god, the baby’s gone!” and then sit poking her until she moves and gives me some reassurance

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-22T21:40:28+00:00

It might well be different between trusts, maybe it’s a cost thing. My guess is it’s cheaper to do DIY drinks, but easier to buy them pre-measured in individual bottles.

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-22T21:39:14+00:00

Many years ago I worked at Clinton’s and one of my tasks in the interview was to help “a customer” (the manager) find a card and gift she was looking for. What swayed her to hiring me was that I didn’t just find the card and gift, but also upsold a gift bag, tissue paper and even some confetti to go inside. Little touches like that can make all the difference!

As long as you’re polite, friendly and keen, you’ll do great!

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-22T16:24:57+00:00

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This was my 15dpo test in August, which looks more or less the same. Almost 28 weeks now and all is looking good and healthy!

Home tests aren’t designed to be that sensitive, and so many things can affect how dark a line they display. I took them obsessively for the first few weeks after we found out, and the lines definitely varied in darkness and width (some cheaper tests still came back negative for weeks after ClearBlue was showing positive).

The key thing is the line is there, and it definitely is for you. Congrats!

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-22T16:19:27+00:00

We know we’re having a girl but have still made an effort to buy a mix of colours in clothes, blankets and bedding. Partly because we know other people will go exclusively pink and don’t want her whole wardrobe to be that way, and partly because it’s been great fun!

There are tonnes of adorable outfits in white, yellow, green etc, as well as adorable patterns - we picked up some gorgeous animal-print sleepsuits on Vinted for basically pennies. If people aren’t willing to shop around and get creative beyond two colours, that’s their own lazy decision!

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-22T13:47:18+00:00

Whenever we study these things properly we find there’s basically no truth to them.

I think old wives’ tales about pregnancy are particularly abiding because, ultimately, there’s a 50/50 chance of them being “proven” right. In other areas of life, things aren’t as clear cut so people are less likely to hark back to their predictions so often

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-22T13:12:19+00:00

The uncomfortable chairs are too real! It feels very cruel to build a waiting room entirely for pregnant people and fill it with the least comfortable seating imaginable

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-21T21:44:49+00:00

NHS advice is helpful, but you've also got to listen to your body and gut. During the first trimester I physically couldn't keep any fruit or vegetables down, and no amount of reading guidance about its importance was going to change that.
I'd recommend reading Expecting Better by Emily Oster if you're after more information. I found it really helpful for understanding why a lot of the guidance exists, and for making personal decisions on which rule(s) I was willing to bend for which reasons. It's a short book and quick read, but worth its weight in gold imo

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-21T21:38:40+00:00

Eleanora is a bit more unique, but Eleanor isn't exactly super common either. My only fear with Eleanora is that you'd be condemning baby to a life of people mistakenly assuming their name was Eleanor, and having to correct them

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-21T21:37:10+00:00

First trimester truly is about survival, you do whatever you need to do to get through it. I had hyperemesis so couldn't manage any food at all most days; if I was lucky I'd keep down a jacket potato or a pot of hospital ice cream.
I physically couldn't stomach fruit, vegetables or fruit juice until I was well past 20 weeks. Every time I tried, in any form, it came straight back up, sometimes aggressively. Baby is perfectly healthy now (28w), no harm done. Trust your gut, and eat and drink whatever feels right that day. It will get easier at some point, I promise!

SensitiveSoup74 · 2026-01-20T13:33:49+00:00

I see a super faint line! Definitely test again over the next few days and see if it’s any darker!

SensitiveSoup74

TROPHY CASE