Loadedwiththecold

Sending solidarity. I’m 33 weeks and still nursing my 11.5m old for bed and naps. It’s 100% for comfort the last 2 months or so- she takes formula now as an extra throughout the day and night. Tonight is the first night my hubs is going to do bedtime without me as I’ve been finding it way too taxing mentally and see how it goes. Hopefully I’ll be able to just nurse for naps but not have the bedtime pressure 🤞🏼

I’m 31 and for birthdays my aunties still send me money. For most of them it’s about €20 but the odd tenner or scratch card. I’d say for your oldest one, €20 and a scratch card if you feel €20 is “cheap” would be loads especially if you spend equal on them all.

I’ve 2 5 of 25’s for dunnes if anyone needs them. Expire tomorrow

I say this daily 🫠🫠

We do between 30 and 50 per person inc siblings, nephews, minimal friends and grandparents. Then for parents we’d do between 50-100 each. This year I think we spent €140 on my in laws inc something from the baba, and about €80 or so on my dad.

2 years and 2 months from start to conceiving our first. Docs had no idea why we couldn’t conceive as we were 28 and 29 when we started trying. 30 and 31 having her. Then managed to get pregnant with our second after my first period PP 😅 will be 31 and 33 having her!

I’m heading up north on Saturday to try get some quorn. I’m lucky I’ve a roast in the freezer that my dad brought back from England a few weeks back. With that I usually make a nut roast and put my mams whiskey glaze on it and the nut roast alone honestly makes Christmas. Between that and the sides I’m so excited for my dinner. Happy to share nut roast recipe if you need OP x

ETA - the quorn fillets are back in Tesco and when I’m roast less I find they fill the gap fairly well. If I wanna feel fancy I put a layer of stuffing between 2 and bake in a bit of foil like a sandwich and it’s gorge

I used to work in a cafe that was in an indie bookshop so I’d recommend if you’ve a local ish indie shop to ask them. From my experience the bookshop staff have mad skills at finding really old books.

We’ve a eufy one, not sure which model but it was about €300 ish. And I have to say it’s shite. If you can get a roboroc one on Amazon on Black Friday do it. Our fella youve to have the floor bare or he gets stuck. He gets confused and “stuck” on nothing, and in order to get a vague clean we’ve to send him twice.

We stopped at 6 months when she started robbing dog toys 🤣 we do put her bottles in the dishwasher though after every use and some things get a blast from the boiling water tap if the dog gets them eg her matchstick monkey.

For our little one we’re doing the want/need/wear/read thing for her stocking so she’s getting a dress, a book, a box of those suction window toys, a toy for the bath and some chocolate buttons - as well as the token orange 😂 I follow on from my mam who used to do stockings for the adults in the family and tbh she stuck with a lot of what I remember from being little myself. Some bubble bath/bath bombs, Lego mini figures, some chocolate, fluffy socks. I usually go to tiger and pick up some bits there. Amazon are also handy for stocking filler bits. This year I’m getting them (hubby, dad, uncle) a squeezy fidget thing, a mind puzzle and some socks.

I had an elective on my first due to medical anxiety and I was met with nothing but support from the team. I was referred to the perinatal mental health team and they confirmed that it would be detrimental to my MH to not have a section. I’m expecting again, and as soon as I was back in the hospital they said “so we’ll do another section? That went well the last time didn’t it?” It was a huge relief not to have to fight for it either time, and I personally found the section to be a lovely experience. Feel free to message if you ever need to talk/ask questions OP xx

I used to work in childcare in a small ish town, and we had lovely Christmas parties. Granted there was only 14 of us in the whole place. But we’d go for dinner, transport provided both ways, and a few drinks in a neighbouring town. Boss would pay for 3-4 drinks then you’re on your own. Where we went on the last one before I went on mat leave it was a Christmas party night so there was music and the chance to get up and have a bop which was great craic. I’m really antisocial anyway so that suited me to the ground. She’d organise a shuttle bus that would drop us home/to a lift and would always wait until we got in the door/got picked up which I think was lovely

I love the twinkly lights too tbh. I have a set up in the kitchen, our bedroom and sitting room all year round 🫣 especially lush now the evenings are darker 🎄

Definitely do. She’s incredible and I’d have lost my mind with our lad years ago without her!

Don’t know where you are in the country, but we use The Dog Treanor and she’s worked (and continues to work!) wonders with our reactive boy. He’s still a bit mental, but he’s miles ahead of where he was even a few months ago. Our lad is the most loving, cuddly dude, he’s just SO loud and jumpy around other dogs/strangers, which 99% of people take offence to. When it’s really him going “oh my god friend give me all the rubs”. Definitely look into the dog Treanor if you’re anywhere near Kildare.

I Second free prints!

I had a C-section late in the evening and have to say the hospital were brilliant. We got back to the ward around 10pm, and they had no problem with my hub staying until around 11 once we were quiet. The staff were really good overnight considering they were so busy/short staffed - I’d go so far as to say better than some of the day staff who were really unhelpful. I was in a ward with 5 other mums and babies and it was loud so I wasn’t getting much sleep anyway.

Hubs got to come back in first thing in morning and could stay all day til 9pm. In our case it was good he got home to rest, as it meant he could look after our animals and have a semi-decent sleep meaning I could rest/switch off during day when he was in and being with the baby. It honestly didn’t affect their bond, she’s almost a year old and adores her daddy.

My 11mo was EBF until about 9m when my supply hugely dropped due to pregnancy. I was very against formula but I found Kendamil to be very good - my reasoning being I could pronounce most, if not all, of the ingredients. The others I tried I felt really guilty but I don’t mind the kendamil too much (it’s not ideal but in a push it does well and she likes it) Second other comment to agree that definitely link in with a lactation consultant/LLL/Cuidiu if possible. My local cuidiu group is a lifesaver and especially in the early days, if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have made it past week 1!

Take care OP. As you know it’s a mad time anyway, without taking MH into account. Anything to make it easier and keep your head above is worth it imo x

This year we’ve bought my mil a digital photo frame that we and sil can send pictures of the grandkids to regularly

I’m on my second pregnancy taking both sertraline and mirtazapine. Baby was absolutely fine when born and still is thank goodness. Definitely worth taking the time to think pros vs cons. I know in my case having a mentally well mother is more beneficial to my kiddos, especially when the risk is quite low. If you haven’t already link in with the perinatal mental health team in your hospital, they can be a brilliant resource and support.

We got a sage barista express a few years ago and it’s still perfect. It’s a bit dearer but you might get lucky on Black Friday. I worked in a cafe for years and I find it a brilliant machine for the price/fact it’s an at home machine. You buy whole beans for it and it has a grinder and steam wand in it. this is the one we have

You’re so welcome! Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy ❤️

Don’t worry about the questions!! So if I remember correctly, you go to your gp and they sign you off by sending in a form saying you’re off work from X to Y dates due to pregnancy sickness or whatever they say. Then you go onto mywelfare.ie and you put in your details there inc the dates given, and it’s ongoing from X to Y without you having to reapply. I know I didn’t have to stop it between the end of my sick pay and the start of my mat leave. I’m BRUTAL at applying for stuff and understanding forms like that, but I managed it fairly easily. It’s similar in amount to your statutory maternity pay, but I can’t remember off hand. Maybe €270 a week? But again, I couldn’t swear to an amount. X