Thankful Thursday 8/11

seeds_of_joy

What are you thankful for this week?

justkp

Parental leave policies in my country!!! The other thread we have going on about that makes me feel 2nd hand anxiety. 

Also thankful that scans were good, NF + double marker test were very good, and that my nausea is gone. Just a thankful week altogether, really :-D 

Paturkey

@justkp The US parental support system is horrific (read: nearly nonexistent). I LOVE the NHS and am so thankful that I've been able to have my children here where I have medical support, but I've noticed it is getting less egalitarian here under the 'hostile environment' policy. I've watched as the country has become actively more aggressive towards immigrants since I immigrated here in 2011, particularly regarding access to the NHS.😒 Congrats on your good scans and lack of nausea!

I'm thankful for the NHS and that I get to have my first official scan tomorrow!! I am so nervous about NT results but excited to see the baby looking less like a blob and more like a baby.

justkp

Paturkey Is... hostile environment an official name? Sadly I think it might be an all European thing with the anti immigration policies and attitudes at the moment. Sorry to hear it's hit your healthcare system as well, is that a Brexit thing? And is it something you notice as an American, or is it against specific groups of people?  

It does sound quite bad with the US parental support. I was half expecting leave to be unpaid (which is also a novel concept to me), but the fact that you are not guaranteed leave of any kind of you have only recently started out in a company is terrifying! 

seeds_of_joy

Like I said in another thread, my husband had to cut off his fingers with a lawnmower to get off 6 weeks for our 3rd child (wasn't on purpose). And he only got disability pay which is not full pay. Thankfully his work place now gives off (I believe) 6 weeks full pay when I have a baby. 

That being said, I am thankful that I stay at home with the children and get to educate them at home. It's not what I thought I would be doing or would have wanted to be doing  20 years ago but I am super thankful to have a husband who values it as well. 

justkp

seeds_of_joy Glad he doesn't need to cut off another finger this time around to be able to stay at home with you and the baby (Also I obviously hope in general that he stops injuring himself doing home stuff, there's a finite number of fingers to lose! ;-) ) 

seeds_of_joy

@justkp me too 😌

Paturkey

@justkp Indeed, Theresa May introduced the 'hostile environment' policy when she was home secretary (pre-Brexit). It is most definitely racist in intent, but it also hit me as an American immigrant. I am a resident here now so it's not going to impact me anymore, but when my daughter was born, I had to pay an NHS surcharge (fee) when I applied for her visa (there's no birthright citizenship here) despite living here and having paid taxes to the NHS for the previous five years. The NHS app the midwife recommended to me has a section titled 'I'm pregnant...' that has three follow-up links: 1) What next? 2) Your pregnancy in weeks and 3) I am not a UK resident. 👀 It was not like this when I had my son in 2013.

@seeds_of_joy I'm so glad that YH can take time off with you this time and that you've found home-schooling to be so fulfilling I tip my hat to you because I am just not cut out for that.

cpk3535

@seeds_of_joy I’m likewise very grateful to be able to homeschool my kids. This year, as I mentioned in another thread, I think we’re going even more off the rails and trying the unschooling methodology. With my 11 year old heading into 6th grade and how scarred both my husband and I are from the terrible California public school system experience, I’m thankful to have the option of going the hippy-dippy route and let DD somewhat lead what we study based on her interests. 

Another thing I’m thankful for this round of pregnancy is being closer to the doctor’s office/hospital than we ever have been before! This time, it only takes me like 15 minutes to get to the hospital. First time was almost an hour and second baby took at least a half hour to get to. Being so close is kind of exciting, lol!

seeds_of_joy

@cpk3535 that's probably a big relief, being close to the hospital! It's good to hear you found something that works for your family as far as school! Glad we have the freedom to go the alternative route! 

fertile-turtle

Today on my lunch break, I saw a baby being put into an ambulance to go to the children's hospital on one side of the hospital and a mom and new baby leaving together on the other. It just made me thankful that I’ll be delivering there. There are midwives (and OBs, but I’ve been seeing the midwives), birthing tubs in the rooms, all types of pain control available including gas, and a great NICU on the floor with an associated children's hospital across town. I’m from a much smaller area, where those options don’t exist in a hospital setting so you’re stuck choosing between low-intervention environments and the safety net of an OR and NICU on site. Being able to (easily) opt for fewer interventions while knowing there are multiple backup options available and an excellent medical safety net is my personal sweet spot, and I’m very thankful for it.

ttc3y

@fertile-turtle I couldn’t agree more with your personal sweet spot for where to birth your baby. I also chose a midwife and hospital similar to your situation. 

I’m grateful for a lot of things. I’m grateful that my energy is returning and I’m able to do a lot more tasks than before. I’m grateful that I found a midwife last week that I really like who I can collaborate with and has a strong relationship with the ob in their practice if my care needs to be escalated to a higher level. I’m grateful that my meat aversions are finally abating and my normal healthy eating patterns are returning. I’m grateful to be 12 weeks pregnant today! I’m grateful that my husband has been extra sweet and affectionate with me. He’s already affectionate in general but he has become even more tender since we got pregnant. ❤️

seeds_of_joy

@ttcy awww! That's awesome about your husband. 😍I think mine is more so scared of me because I'm a grouch this week...snd the week before but I have 2 sons who have been constantly kissing up on me since I've been pregnant. For some reason I think the affectionate men and boys are extra sensitive about babies. 

justkp

Paturkey That is the most horrible name for any policy I have ever heard, not even trying to sugar coat deliberately making lives harder for non British people! Also, Christ, restricting healthcare of all things! Glad it won't impact you anymore with your current pregnancy.