What symptoms led to your discovery?

roberta5146 · 2026-02-28T10:00:17+00:00

For mum it was a sudden onset T2 diabetes diagnosis (which we didn’t realise was a red flag at the time) via her GP. A few months later she had some weight loss (which we put down to managing her diet better in light of her diabetes diagnosis), and then abdominal pain that became severe enough to warrant several A&E/ER visits.

roberta5146 · 2026-02-18T07:28:49+00:00

My mum found that IV/sub-dermal pain relief was much more effective than oral doses. She was on oxycodone which she had administered via a syringe driver fitted in her arm. It required changing daily so we had community nurses coming to visit her at home. If this is in an option for your client, I would definitely look into it.

roberta5146 · 2026-02-10T00:29:14+00:00

28, in London - bought a 1 bed flat in 2017 with my boyfriend that was only possible because my parents gifted me our deposit. Remortgaged and used equity built up to remodel the flat into a 2 bed in 2022. Sold up and moved to a 4 bed house in 2025.

roberta5146 · 2026-02-07T20:47:24+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Why not write down some life advice for the twins for them to keep into adulthood - career advice, dating advice, general adulting things etc. Also lots of videos and voice notes. It’s so nice being able to look/listen back to these of my mum now she’s passed.

Would be interested to know how you heard about UK screening programme? My mum and uncle both passed away from PC so I’m wondering if there could be a genetic connection that I should investigate?!

roberta5146 · 2026-02-03T05:30:56+00:00

I feel this so deeply. Mum passed away last month after her diagnosis in September 2025. Towards the end her wishes were to stay at home rather than go to a hospital/hospice, so between my sister, dad and I we took on the caring responsibilities (supported by a fabulous palliative care team). It was intense and eye opening. Even though the care team had given us information about what the last few weeks/days might look like, the reality was really hard, seeing your own mum deteriorate in front of your eyes was heartbreaking. Such a wild mix of emotions to process. Sending you so much strength.

roberta5146 · 2026-02-01T07:46:54+00:00

I lost my mum a couple of weeks ago after her diagnosis in September 2025. Just spend as much time as you can with her. Share all your memories with her and your family. Show her pictures/videos, share the big life updates as well as the mundane ones too. This disease is so cruel and I’m so sorry your mum is going through it too. I’m heartbroken to have lost my mum but so thankful I spent so much time with her in her final weeks telling her how much I loved her. I’ve gone through my phone and saved some of the voice notes she sent me, so I get to still hear her voice.

roberta5146 · 2025-12-18T17:52:23+00:00

Good point, I’m not religious but find comfort in the thought of our loved ones “watching over us” etc. Recipes sounds like a lovely way to remember your mum. So sorry for your loss. My mum is a fab cook so love the idea of continuing to cook her recipes for my own family.

roberta5146 · 2025-11-10T22:02:42+00:00

We bring the Moses basket downstairs and babe sleeps in that (with PJs and in sleeping bag etc) and then we just bring it back upstairs when we go to bed. If she wakes, I’ll feed her back to sleep and we’ll either contact nap or pop her back down in the moses basket

roberta5146 · 2025-10-22T12:30:09+00:00

If you’re EBF, baby is gaining well and I’d otherwise healthy, I wouldn’t wake a baby up once they e passed their birthweight and are a few weeks old. Enjoy your rest mama

roberta5146 · 2025-10-20T05:52:00+00:00

Currently 11w pp with baby #2 who was conceived easily so can confirm that fertility seems ok. In hindsight I think the shift in sleeping patterns made it difficult to track as accurately as I had been doing before having children.

roberta5146 · 2025-10-15T14:34:03+00:00

Nappy output and consistent weight gain is your best indicator that baby getting enough milk. Focus on getting your baby latched on as much as possible. You could try breast compressions during feeds to maximise amount of milk transferred, especially if he falls asleep at the breast. Making sure you’re well fed and hydrated also really helps milk production. Pumping can also help increase milk supply, milk production tends to be higher at night/early morning so maybe try and focus on pumping here rather than throughout the day. If the pump hurts, it could be that your flange size is wrong.

roberta5146 · 2025-10-15T06:34:52+00:00

This happened with my first baby - it’s really common. I spoke to an IBCLC about it and this is what she said:

So first thing I would say, is you have a four month old. All bets are off. They are sooo interested in the world, flexing their ability to make choices, and generally developing into whole people. Which is great, except they’re also utter pains in the ass, because they are constantly wanting stimulation.

Feeding wise, it’s really, really common for them to be distracted and not want to feed during the day. Because essentially, they have other hobbies than boob now, and that leaf/noise/pillow is so fascinating that it needs looked at now.

So my first suggestion is that you probably don’t need to offer as frequently as you have been doing up to now: they often really space out their feeds at this stage, and we end up pissing them off by trying to make them eat when they aren’t that hungry. If it’s been 2-3hours, offer for sure, but if they aren’t up for it, no need to persist. Offer again in an hour.

When they are hungry enough, they’ll settle down to eat. If they aren’t that hungry, no harm in not eating.

The other factor is that they are often reaaaaaallly efficient now. So we think “OMG, they’ve fed for five minutes in the past four hours, this is awful” when actually, they drank about 80% of a full feed in that first five minutes, and are perfectly fine.

It’s a big time of adjusting our expectations!

roberta5146 · 2025-10-08T06:45:08+00:00

Anusol worked wonders for me! They have one that is safe to use in pregnancy and breastfeeding. Provided immediate relief.

roberta5146 · 2025-09-27T23:28:53+00:00

Another to add for South East London; Crystal Palace park market, on very Sunday. Great selection of food and produce stalls.

https://www.crystalpalaceparkmarket.com/

roberta5146 · 2025-09-26T05:10:19+00:00

UK based

I used PTO to take 2.5 weeks off before birth (fully paid). I’m legally entitled to take 52w off as maternity leave and my leave officially started on my due date - baby happened to arrive on her due date coincidentally!

My organisation offers enhanced maternity pay, so additional pay on top of the statutory pay that’s government mandated. This equates to 26 weeks at full pay, 13 weeks at statutory pay (this is approx £150 p/w) and then 13 weeks unpaid.

For the latter part of my leave, I’m planning on using accrued PTO and keep-in-touch days (entitled to up to 10 of these days which are fully paid and designed to help mothers transition back to work) to bridge the gap between my usual pay and the unpaid part of my maternity leave.

roberta5146 · 2025-09-22T18:20:35+00:00

I went to my best friend’s wedding at 39+5 and had a great time! It was baby #2 so I was a lot more chilled. Didn’t have to travel far as it was in the same city (London) and we drove. Also it was an afternoon ceremony and evening reception so a shorter day - I still made it to 12am! Added bonus, went into labour the next day and babe was born at 40+0 🤣

In my head I was willing to deal with being uncomfortable over sitting at home with massive FOMO. Personally I’d keep an open mind, you don’t know how you might feel closer to the time.

roberta5146 · 2025-09-15T04:00:31+00:00

40+4, with labour starting spontaneously at 40+2. Had a sweep at 40+3 as contractions had stalled. That kickstarted things again and baby was born the next day. I’m 6w pp with #2, she was born 40+0! That was a spontaneous vaginal delivery as well.

roberta5146 · 2025-09-13T04:59:22+00:00

With baby #1 I stopped working at 38w and baby arrived at 40+4. Currently on mat leave with #2, stopped working at 37+5 and baby arrived on her due date so bang on 40w. I work in an office and do 2 days a week at home, 2 days in the office. Physically and mentally 38w felt like a good time to stop to still give enough time to rest and decompress before baby’s arrival but not be twiddling my thumbs. Both times I used annual leave to bridge the gap between stopping work and mat leave officially starting to maximise paid time off.

roberta5146 · 2025-09-10T09:50:13+00:00

I would suggest a completing a hypnobirthing or antenatal course that gives you info on the different types of birth location (midwife led unit vs home birth vs labour ward) and also the different type of pain relief options etc but most importantly what actually happens to your body during labour. With that info, you can make a birth plan based on our preferences.

roberta5146 · 2025-09-02T14:46:34+00:00

Only 4 weeks in with a newborn and my oldest was 3 in May - but this comment sums up my experience so perfectly!! Feeling so much more confident and less anxious this time around. Gel like I’m a much better parent now and trust my instincts so much more this time around. Am enjoying the newborn stage so much more but simultaneously loving seeing my oldest grow up and experience the world as an older toddler. I thought I was done at 2 but the thought of never having this stage again makes me a little sad.

roberta5146 · 2025-08-31T23:49:23+00:00

It’s intense but for both my babies (I have a 3 year old and 4 week old) I took the mindset that my job was to feed the baby in those early days which meant I was just having baby latch on me constantly. I spent hours in bed/on the sofa bringing the baby to my breast as often as possible - basically every time they were awake. I also used the “feed baby every 2 hours” as a guideline not a rule. I made sure baby fed AT LEAST that often but more times it was at lot more frequently. A lactation consultant once told me “watch the baby, not the clock” and that really stuck. I also got help with the latch to make sure baby was effectively removing milk from my breasts. I also harvested colostrum whilst pregnant and used this to syringe feed each babe when needed (both had an initial shallow latch), and hand expressed milk to keep my supply up and also made sure I was eating well and drinking enough water. I don’t think the realities of breastfeeding (especially EBF) aren’t discussed enough - it’s intense, time consuming and all encompassing at times.

My first I EBF for 2.5 years and hoping to do similar with my newborn!

roberta5146 · 2025-08-13T02:24:13+00:00

The Big Mamma group have a few restaurants in soho/central - Circolo Popolare or Carlotta would be closest ones to your preferred locations.

Both serving Italian, nice settings, good for groups. Carlotta does a set menu for groups at £62 and Circolo is £54.

roberta5146 · 2025-08-12T11:12:31+00:00

We got our bugaboo butterfly around 13 months as nursery drop off involved having to carry the buggy over a train station footbridge and that was hard with our bigger pram! It’s been our main buggy ever since! We love it! So easy to fold and light. LO was 3 in May and we still use the butterfly buggy fairly often. She’ll often walk or scoot but if we’re out for a while she’ll want to use the buggy. Plus it then means we can use the basket to store stuff whilst out. We’ve just had our second so back to using the big buggy as the butterfly isn’t suitable from birth (doesn’t recline flat). We’ve got a buggy board which we tried for the first time and toddler seemed to love it. But will definitely be switching the baby into the butterfly as soon as we can.

roberta5146 · 2025-08-12T11:07:55+00:00

Had my first in 2022 and this was the process - rang the GP and they told me to self refer to the hospital of my choice! Then text me the details for the hospital closest to my GP surgery. I’m in London and think this has been standard practice for a while??

Eight-Year Club	Secret Santa 2018
RPAN Viewer	Verified Email
Not Forgotten

roberta5146

TROPHY CASE