Planning your maternity leave? SAIF welcome!

[ProfessorChaos]

As I approach 36 weeks, it's time to decide when I stop working. This is very weird to me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. So I thought I'd see what people have done or are planning to do. It seems especially weird bc one doesn't know when the baby will show, so you might plan on taking two weeks before your due date, then have almost a month of sitting around twiddling your thumbs waiting, and you could end up with very little time with your baby post-birth if you only have a given number of weeks. So it seems like the pressure is on to take as little time off as possible pre-birth.

I'm a professor, and the post-birth leave I have (6 weeks) will take me from my due date until the summer break (although if baby had come early I might have been in trouble). Since being told that this rib pain isn't likely to go away before the baby is born, stopping work seems more reasonable since I actually FEEL "disabled" at this point! I can take some time (how much is complicated) before baby comes, but I'm feeling very weird about it. I was just told that I'm really not supposed to work at all, as once I'm on leave I'm declaring myself "disabled," so doing anything would sort of negate that. If I ended up with that month (or even three weeks) of waiting this would be a frustrating and colossal waste of time.

So that's me. What are you ladies thinking?

[llm100811]

I plan on working as long as I can. My due date is Sept 13th, and I am a teacher, so I want to be in my classroom as long as I can to get the kids squared away for the sub. I am hoping to take 8 weeks, but have to use any sick time I have banked (which isn't much, I've only been here 3 years) and then also use short term disability. Anything after that is unpaid, and I can not remember how many days of short term disability I get (it runs at the same time as my sick leave, which stinks!). I'd love to take more time off, but we just can't afford it.

[sewfie2]

Like llm100811, I'm planning on working as long as possible. I'm within walking distance of the two possible hospitals that I'll give birth at, so if I can work to the point that labor starts, I probably will. I only get paid for whatever time I have saved up. I have short term disability, but I need to find my plan information, since it changed this year *again.* MH has a bunch of sick hours saved, so he'll be able to take a good bit of paternity leave at least. We work for the same university, but the shared leave program here is a joke, so he won't be able to give me some of his time, unfortunately. Plus, we can't take FMLA at the same time if everything goes normally. I'm going to see what we can do though.

[iheartsippycups]

I am having a repeat c-section May 19. My last day of work is May 18, lol. I will then have a total of 7 weeks off before I go back. With my first, I was induced & worked until 2 days prior.

[katemonster]

I'm planning to work until baby comes. I'm due July 2nd so if i go late I'll get 4th of July holiday off. I get 6 weeks paid and can take up to an additional 10 unpaid. My plan is to take off the max. It's scary/exciting to think about!!

[hbanana18]

I may try to end the week before my DD. I am taking 8 weeks after. It would just be easier to hand everything over to the girl taking over my position then to leave things hanging. I will also take how I feel into account. It would be great to have a week of down time to get last minute things done at home, but I don't want to be sitting around either.

[runawaylaurel]

SAIF lurker here! I was planning on working right up til my due date, assuming I'd go late. Well, D came 2 weeks early with no warning. If I could have done things differently, I still would have planned on working until the end (same worries about twiddling my thumbs for 3+ weeks as you have ProfessorChaos), but 1) I would have prepped some sort of break glass file/email for my coworkers (my boss and I procrastinated, assuming we had 2+ weeks) and 2) gotten all my FMLA/disability paperwork done. Nothing worse than trying to figure out how you'll fax a form and get it signed by your supervisor when you have a 2 day old baby.

Sooo... that's my very non-specific advice.

[bluefairy5]

I'm of no help here because my husband and I work together in our own business, so being self-employed is a different beast altogether. But can I tell you how relieving it is to see that everyone but me doesn't have this figured out??

[sugar4bri]

Because I'm expecting twins, my doctors said they would be willing to put me out on maternity leave at any point after 32 weeks. I will be 33 weeks tomorrow and my last day is Friday. I was going to try and hold out until 34 weeks but I have been really struggling at work the past couple of weeks and decided it was time.

[ProfessorChaos]

Good point runawaylaurel!

I'm realizing that I have a follow up question to the general what do you plan on doing. That is, what would you do if the amount of time you took off pre-baby didn't affect the amount of time you had post-baby?

[jessimi06]

Mar 18, 2015 18:46:25 GMT -5 ProfessorChaos said:

Good point runawaylaurel!

I'm realizing that I have a follow up question to the general what do you plan on doing. That is, what would you do if the amount of time you took off pre-baby didn't affect the amount of time you had post-baby?

Does it affect your income at all? If not, I'd say go ahead and take a week or two off before your due date (especially since you're struggling).

[cml112]

So I can only use short term disability prior to delivery, but I do get 3 months paid ( a portion of my pay) and 6-8 weeks maternity leave after depending on type of delivery. With twins, I know I won't make it to my due date, nor would I want to,

[dharmachick]

I plan on working in the office until a week or two before I'm due, then working from home until the baby arrives.

[katemonster]

Mar 18, 2015 18:46:25 GMT -5 ProfessorChaos said:

Good point runawaylaurel!

I'm realizing that I have a follow up question to the general what do you plan on doing. That is, what would you do if the amount of time you took off pre-baby didn't affect the amount of time you had post-baby?

Hmm, i would def take some time then, maybe a week or two?

[mrswillie]

SAIF response. With DS1, I intended on working up until he arrived. I left work for a long Easter weekend, being due the following Friday, and went into labor over the weekend. With DS2, I was scheduled for a RCS on a Wednesday. I planned on working until the Friday before. If I knew how bad I would've felt this second time around, I would've planned to try to be done work maybe the week before, but that's with knowing exactly when he'd be here by. I didn't want to have to worry about using too much time before DS1's arrival either. I think your case is different. Are you able to take any time off now and then your 6 weeks after still? I hope you can find a little relief!

[anchovies]

SAIF lurker!

I worked up until the end. I left work on a Friday and went into labor on that Saturday. (I was due that coming Tuesday)

If I could've taken that last week off without dipping into my leave, i so would have done it. I would've had to start my FMLA, and I wanted as much time with LO when they came. So, I am very happy now I pushed through it. I will say they stopped scheduling me on weekends and evening shifts (both I would be the only pharmacist on duty) a month before my due date. This relieved a lot of anxiety for me.

[ProfessorChaos]

mrswillie, jessimi06, I just found out that the time I take before doesn't affect my six weeks after. It's much harder to come up with a reason not to take it in this case, except for the fact that I may go completely insane waiting for labor to begin!

[kam10]

At this point I'm planning on working right up until he's born. I only get 12 weeks FMLA and I don't want to use any of it waiting for him to get here. My job is mostly at a desk, so I'm hoping I'm not too uncomfortable at the end, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. If the time I took off before labor didn't affect my 12 weeks after I would look to take leave the week before his due date.

[jessimi06]

ProfessorChaos I would definitely be taking some time off before hand then. You could always just take a week or two to get final things around the house ready and relax a little.

[rella22]

I plan to work until 4 days before my due date. However..the struggle is real (already).

As a teacher, we don't get a maternity leave, so any days I take will have to be sick days..and I'd much rather spend my days with my baby then fiddling. So I'm going to tough it out as long as possible.

HOWEVER, if I had the option, I would absolutely take 2 weeks off before my due date.

[pinkdoggie]

I actually quit my job at the preschool before getting KU and was working as a nanny watching my aunt's 7 and 9 year old daughters (my cousins). With her it's easy because I can just be like I'm done at this date (I am thinking sometime in October just so we can prepare for the baby) and then come back whenever she needs me again after a long break. I have other cousins who can watch them in my absence and the good thing is I can bring my LO with me to work. 

[Deleted]

I plan on working as long as I possibly can. My job does allow 3 months time off, but I only get paid with STD for 6 weeks. We're working out our finances now so I can take that full 3 months though. Thankfully I only work 5mi from home, but towards my due date it may turn into me working half days. I guess it just depends on how I'm feeling. In your situation though, I can't imagine how uncomfortable you are, I'd probably struggle to stay as long as possible, but then give in because I'd be grumpy as shit.