Due April/May 2016

@Maj - The chalkboard in your kitchen sounds so cool. And I can just imagine how nice an aqua colour is.
I only have 3 drawers left to paint (a second coat) and then the waxing. I cant wait to start washing the baby's clothes and start packing them in the drawers.

Our appointment went very well. We provisionally booked the c-section for 12 April @ 10h00. It still feels so so long....but it is only 34 days of which about 20 of them will be work days. I am thinking of working until 8 April.

I am very much the same Maj - I start projects and then tend not to finish them. I really have to make a point of finishing it. In this case it is easier, everything has to be done before the baby comes.

@CDLK - Nice to hear from you again. I have not yet packed my bag either. I am hoping that I can do it in the next week or two. I have a few more things to buy.

How is all the other ladies doing?

@CDLK, I had similar worries about how my employer will react to my resignation. Numerous people also asked me why I did not take the maternity leave before resigning, but we have a similar clause, work the time back or pay the money back.
The reaction I received from everyone was that they will feel the loss, but they wish me the bests, and completely understand why I am doing it. My suggestion, if you can make the decision before you leave, rather let them know now, and dont take the maternity pay (if financially you can manage it).
Regarding the financial changes, if you can make financial sacrifices to spend the time with your children why not. My bigger worry for later on, is whether I will get "bored".
Glad the scare was unfounded, and everything looks back on track.

Regarding the UIF, I read somewhere about an online system and that the co. can do the initial application, but you need to do the ones after. I can seem to find anymore info though, so please let me know if the agency reckons everything is still the same as 4 years ago.

I have also picked up abut 10kgs

Regarding the raspberry leaf tea, I read through one of the books which have it listed as inducing labour naturally....
The evening primrose oil: the actual oil from the capsules is used for perineal massage, especially when you have scar tissue from previous tearing. one should not insert the actual capsule!

Regarding the maternity leave and when to take it, its an odd one. I was on leave 4 weeks before my daughter was born, but I was at my mums house, so I got really bored. I had also done all the prep for the baby in our house before I left.
This time around, I am leaving 2 weeks before my EDD, and have left alot to do. Looks like we might be moving in the 1st week of May
But I am feeling so tired somedays, I am unsure how I am going to manage working for much longer!

regarding the hip pain, try to sleep with a cushion between your legs, and try to get both legs off the bed at the same time, so you not stretching your hip muscles. Also use an ice pack on them, and sit on an exercise ball or at least put a cushion on hard chairs.

@ninies, I also loove the chalk paint. Painted a chalkboard wall in my kitchen, in an aqua colour, its so pretty! which I could do more furniture, etc, but then my daughter will want to paint with me, and that will just end in a disaster!
I also have a habit of starting projects and never quite finishing them
How did the appointment go?

Doc says baby is doing well, everything is normal, looks like she might be about the same size as my first (3.5kgs). She gave this massive yawn, just as he started the scan! and was lying with her hand draped over her forehead, wonder if I am going to get another drama queen!!

Hi there ladies!

Sho I haven't been on in ages, so much to catch up on.

From what I can see everyone is doing very well and all the births are basically already planned - can't believe it's almost time for all our little ones to make their appearances!!

Where to begin - I have been very scarce due to work loads and trying to get everything ready for our little girl's arrival next month. Everything is still going well with the pregnancy, I am just sooo very tired lately and really not in the mood for all the nonsense at work anymore. We're going through massive retrenchments at the moment, luckily I am still safe however construction and mining industry is so volatile at the moment, no one knows what is going to happen!

Hubby got an excellent job opportunity (he is in IT) although it is contract work, it's a very big offer. I am so happy for him. That has actually allowed us to now start thinking that I'm possibly going to try and do things part time after maternity leave, which means I'll have to quit my job. I can take a bit of a salary cut if all goes well with hubby's new job, that will also mean I get to be more flexible, which is so important I believe with 2 kids. I know my current employer will not be very happy about that, but all this stress is not worth the money. Yes I'll miss earning a very good salary, but my kids and spending time with them is so important. So we have a few numbers to crunch and some decisions to make over the next few weeks (I already have a possibility lined up for part time work). Only thing is if I go on maternity leave and my current employer pays 50% of my salary and I resign within a year, then I have to pay back the benefit of that 50% salary over 4 months - which is quite a substantial amount

We had a bit of a scare about a month ago with baby. Went to gynae at my 28 week check up and our little girl was in the 85percentile all the way through when all of a sudden at this scan she ended up on the 14percentile. It had me sooo worried especially with the miscarriage we had last year, I was in complete shock and went into worry mode. We went for 2nd opinion and gynae explained to us that it's quite normal etc etc. Well went back again for our 32 week scan last week Thursday and little madame is up and over the 90th percentile! We think the way that she was lying (bridged) in my stomach caused the measurements to be all out. We are so happy now that everything is ok. She is already estimated at weighing around 2.1kg now. And I picked up a pretty 10kg so far during this pregnancy oi vey...

Did you ladies pack your hospital bags yet? I need to do that and also started sorting out all my forms for UIF again. I used a company called MOthersjoy back in 2011 with my son and I'm using her again. Very professional lady and I received all my money right on time. So luckily all of that has now been sorted, just waiting to go on maternity leave . My ceaser date is 21 April and I'll be working until 15th - if I last that long lol. Baby is lying very low the doc said at last appointment so I'm already becoming a bit more uncomfortable every day...

@Sonsbaby, thank you for the feedback! I have not been drinking the tea lately as I have been so busy, for about a week (32 - 33 weeks) I used to make some at night and put it in the fridge to drink as ice tea the next day, but I did not find time to do that the last 2 weeks, so maybe that is a good thing. You do find a lot of conflicting information on the internet, some people do not recommend it, and other women said they believe it helped them to have a fast easy labor, so I guess everybody has to decide for themselves what they want to do, I will do more research and decide.

I think I will start drinking the evening primrose oil from 36 weeks

Hi ladies!

@Sonsbaby, were you able to speak to your SIL about the Raspberry Leaf tea and the Evening Primrose Oil?

@MamaK, welcome! Do not feel alone, a lot of us are planning to have a natural unmedicated birth

AFM, we went to our gynae for our 34 week scan last week Thursday, baby is doing very well and we got another 4D photo, will post that below



I did talk to her about having a natural unmedicated birth, and she was very diplomatic and said that is fine, she will not force me into anything, I would have to be on the bed on my back when I have to push, and I must just remember that should I choose not to have an epidural, but later decide that I want one, I may not be able to get one as it was not arranged and the anesthesiologist may not be able to come. That being said, even though she was very nice about everything, I think I am ready to make my final decision about where I want to give birth, I am going to need all the support I can get and all the options available, and I think the best place will be the midwife birth unit at Femina, as the midwife is really pro-natural birth and I can sit in a bath and even have a water birth if I choose to, and if I want the calm natural birth I think that is my best option, so I think that is what we are going to do! Wish me luck

I am planning to work until the baby decides to come, and my company is fine with that, but I do hope I do not go into labor at work, hehe hope it will be at home Like I have said before, I have 4 months fully paid maternity leave, and my husband is also taking a month off from work when the baby comes, so it is going to be a wonderful bonding time for us. My mother lives on our property so she will be there when I need her except when she is at work, but she is also planning to take a couple days off work when the baby comes, my mother in law and father in law also want to come and visit for a few days and my grandmother as well, so we will have a full house with a lot of support, hope that is not going to overwhelm me haha

I am struggling to sleep lately as I am quite uncomfortable, at this stage I only get up once at night to go to the bathroom, I am sure that will increase in these last few weeks. At last weeks appointment, my gynae did pick up that I have some kind of infection (TMI), I did not even realize it, so I have been on medication the last couple of days, but I am sure it is all cleared up now

I did have my baby shower on 27 Feb as I suspected, it was awesome and just spent time with all my family and friends and got awesome gifts for baby and some to spoil me so it was a wonderful day! We did our maternity photoshoot on Sunday night, and the photos I have seen so far look awesome! I cannot wait to see the rest. I basically have everything ready to pack my bag for the birth unit, just have to physically pack everything in the bag/s, I will get that done this week! And then I am looking forward to get some much needed rest this weekend, the past couple of weeks and weekends have been hectically busy, so I have not rested as much as I would have liked to.

I hope you all have a lovely day!

I almost forgot I spoke to my SIL about the raspberry leaf tea and she said she does not know too much about it. She did some findout out and she came back with this: Allot of dr's don't recommend it as apparently it can act similarly to the estrogen hormone and cause trouble during labour. But on the other hand a naturopathy doctor would recommend it as they believe it can only do good. Sorry this is not really much help it does seem there is two definite opinions about this tea and its benefits.

She did however say to please not put Evening primrose oil pills where they don't belong. Only take them orally!

I must still remember to ask her when I can start drinking the jungle juice for milk production. She also has a nice recipe for cookies that help with milk production YUM!!

@Monei, my work also has the 4 week policy but they do allow you to bring a dr letter stating you still fit to work up to 2 weeks before the due date. Maybe find out if you can stay up to 2 weeks before with a dr letter as well?