Advice wanted re: maternity leave...

MelScreven

Hello Ladies!

I rarely post on here but I wanted to get your ideas or hear about what you are planning to do about maternity leave.  I work 1 hour away from my house and the hospital.  I planned to work until 38 weeks and 5 days.  However, upon telling my midwife my plans, she said it was "very admirable to want to work that far into the pregnancy".  She then said I could leave anytime after 36 weeks but that it was up to me.  Now, I may be putting too much thought into her comment, but I am no longer sure if I should work until I'm that far along.  All I keep thinking is...what will happen if I go into labor at work?  Or, on the way to work?  My first daughter was born a week early but I know that doesn't mean anything this time around.

When are you ladies going on maternity leave?  Is anyone else far from home or the hospital?  Would you chance it or do you think I should leave work earlier in the pregnancy?  I wanted to save my time for after the birth of the baby (planning on taking 10 weeks off to stay home with the baby).  Thank you so much for your help and suggestions!! 

lindsay.lou

My work allows me to leave as early as two weeks before my EDD and I'm taking full advantage of that. I'm a teacher and do NOT want to go into labor at school.

rowanthefrog

I wanted all my time with the baby, not waiting around for baby to show up.  When I was pg with my son, my water broke when I was driving home from work, so I worked until the day he was born.  There was no problem, and even though its your second child, I would think that you would be in labor for long enough to get to the hospital...1 hr isn't too far.

A 

jteneback

I plan to save as much of my leave (12 weeks) as I can for after the baby comes.  I plan to work until 39 weeks 4 days.  I'm almost 2 hours away but a) most labors start in the middle of the night and b) it's my first so I figure I can make my way home (train or taxi) in early labor. 

I suspect I will go late so I don't want to take off any earlier.  Yeah, it would nice to take the last month of pregnancy off but it's just not feasible for a lot of people.

lynsef

With DD I worked up until 2 days before I was induced (at 41 wks).  With this pregnancy I plan to work up until I either go into labor or am induced.  I live about 35 min from the hospital, but I work about 10 min from the hospital.

Red_Dahlia

Any time that I use before the baby is born, is time that I DON'T get with her after she's born. So, I'm hoping to work right up until I go into labor.

blessedandhopeful

This is my first pregnancy, so I could have high or unreasonable expectations, but I am planning to either work up until my due date (a Friday), or start my maternity leave that Monday before my due date. I know you never really know when baby will be ready (whether it will be early, on time, or late), but that's my current plan.

kristennd

Red_Dahlia:

Any time that I use before the baby is born, is time that I DON'T get with her after she's born. So, I'm hoping to work right up until I go into labor.

This is my take on it as well. I'm also much less than an hour from the hospital, whether at work or at home, but labor seems to take quite a while too. 

What does your midwife expect you to do for four weeks? Meditate? 

cas889

I'm due April 28th (or May 1st, depending on which date I go by) and I plan on working up through April 21st if the baby will let me.  I'm a high school teacher and April 22nd is the first day of spring break, and I definitely want to save my days for after the baby arrives. 

KallieandJustin

I live/work only about 10-15 minutes away from the hospital.  With my DS I worked until the day before I delivered as I was home sick the day before due to being in the hospital with a false alarm and just needed some sleep.  This time I also plan on working until LO arrives so that I can use all of my 12 weeks after LO is born.

Raquellyo

I am planning to work up until I go into labor.  With my job, I should be able to work from home, so I'll try to swing that a couple weeks before the due date so I am comfortable and ready to go once it's happening -- plus the hospital is 5 min away.  Then I'll have 13 weeks off and can use some of my vacation days to extend that a bit if I need to.

mayowife

I have a scheduled c-section at 38 weeks. I'm a special education teacher and I'm on my feet all day long.

I'm not working past 36 weeks. I'll actually make out better financially working until 36 weeks than I would working until Spring break (37.5 weeks). I'm going to crunch numbers and possibly stop at 34 weeks- but only so that I can have some quality time with DS before DD is born.

With DS I planned to work until Winter break (39 weeks) and ended up stopping at 38 weeks.

If taking time before baby decreased the amount of time I could take after baby I'd work as long as I could. I'm allowed up to two years off (unpaid).

ETA: I live 15 minutes from the hospital, work between my house and the hospital, and DH and I work together. Getting to the hospital safely isn't a concern for me.

ccorso

I am working until I can't work anymore.  I am hoping that all goes well and I can work up until I give birth...that way I will have more time to be at home with the baby

tokenhoser

I plan to work to 38 weeks, but work is actually closer to the hospital than home. I also have a very sedentary job (sit in front of a computer all day), so the physical aspect isn't an issue, nor is the drive (15-20 min).

My actual plan is work to 38 weeks, then 2 weeks vacation (following Easter), then start my maternity leave (52 weeks).

lindsayj09

I'm taking my maternity leave at 36 weeks, but mostly because I have to fly to Wisconsin to deliver since medical care is really poor up here and the doctor doesn't want me to fly any later than that.  If you can swing it with your job and feel more comfortable taking more time before, I say go for it.  I think it really depends on your work's policy, as well as your own financial ability.  If I left at 36 weeks, I'd have exactly 8 weeks until the end of the year (I'm a teacher).  I say do what makes you feel best.

chloephoebecali

You live in NJ, so you should totally take advantage of the leave.  You will still get paid, and still get the same time after baby comes, whether or not you leave 4 weeks before edd.  I left early, but more like 2.5-3 weeks before my edd.  I made a little more money working, but ultimately, I just wanted to be done.  However, I was a pharma rep, drove up to about two hours from home/hospital and sadly my 23 year old counterpart took his life about a month before I left.  It was too stressful with the loss, not even so much the driving/work.  I physically felt good, though, and probably would have stayed otherwise.  I was a little bored, but it was fine.  If you have a low-key job, it may be worth it, but legally in NJ, you will get the same maternity leave regardless of when you go out.  GL!

tlc11934

With DD I ran out the door as fast as I could at 36 weeks.  My company gives 4 weeks before, 12 weeks after and doesnt let you interchange time. 

casirdms

I plan on working right up until delivery. It wasn't a problem with DD.

And actually now I am working at the hospital where I will deliver so that makes me feel a bit better.  

mybobofo

I plan on working right up to my due date.  I hope this works out because it will mean that I only need to take 4 weeks off until the end of the school year.  My leave is unpaid, except for the sick leave that I can burn through - but that's only about a week and a half right now.  I don't want to have to go back to school at the end of the year.

Also, no one in my whole family has delivered on time.  Mostly we go 10 days to 2 weeks late.  I expect to go down the same path.  My sister just had a whopper of a kid - 10lbs and had to be induced when she was 2 weeks late, then had a c-sect.  She only had 4 weeks with her kid before returning to work.  That barely seems like long enough to recover!!!   

ruthiewith

I live an hour away from work and the hospital too, in opposite directions.  I plan on working right up until my EDD or maybe only taking off a couple of days beforehand.  I want to save up as much leave as possible for after the LO arrives.  :-)

JJSunshine817

I also work about an hour away from where I live. At first I thought I might stop working at 39 weeks, but like most of the previous posters I decided that I wanted as much time with baby as possible, not waiting around for her.

I will work until I go into labor but if I am past 40 weeks I might see if I can work from home until I go into labor.

green bean

In CA 4 weeks paid at 60% before edd so I plan on working until 36 or 37 weeks iam also lucky I get a additional 10-12 weeks at 60% maternaity leave once lo is here.

labooshki

I will work until my due date. I went late the first time. As uncomfortable as I was I want to take more time after the baby is born!

rssnlvr

I worked until my due date. I didn't want to waste any of my leave up front when I could use it to spend time with the baby afterward.

TimingisEverything

I wanted all of my maternity leave to be with the baby. I work an hour away from home/hospital and I worked up until I gave birth. My last day was a friday b/c I had her on a Sunday. Worst case scenario, I go into labor and have to go to the hospital closest to my work. Wasn't a big deal for me.

LittleEgypt

I wouldn't take a second of leave before my baby was born, if it cut into time after the birth. You could go to 41 or 42 weeks, and you would have wasted weeks of time with your baby. I worked (desk job) until the day before I went into labor. I took 12/22 off to do some Christmas stuff and because I wasn't feeling so hot - and I went into labor that night! The odds of you going into labor and having your water break in public are really slim. If your job isn't standing on your feet all day, I would get an exercise ball to sit on and keep on truckin until you go into labor!

helm74

I worked the day before both of my children were born, I plan on doing the same thing again.  I want all of the time I have available (8 weeks) to be spent with the baby.  My son was 9 days late, if I had taken off 2 weeks before his due date I would have seriously cut into my time with him.  Also I think it would be terrible to just sit around and wait for it  to happen, I want to keep my mind occupied.

Even though you are an hour from the hospital you need to consider that only in the movies do people grab their belly and rush to the hospital (most of the time, I know there are exceptions).  Your midwife will be able to tell you a couple of weeks before you go into labor that you are effacing or dialating.  This should help them estimate how much longer it will take before actual labor starts.And the average woman is in labor for 13-17 hours, plenty of time for an hour drive.  In my area that's a pretty typical distance to a hospital and I've only known of one woman who it gave problems.  She has very, very, very short labors and we were having a rough winter so she parked her RV in the hospital lot a couple of weeks before her 4th was born.

MelScreven

Thank you everyone for all of your responses!!!  I guess I just needed the point of view of others who are in the same situation as me to know whether or not my decision to wait until almost 39 weeks is not a crazy one.  I was in labor with my first daughter for quite some time before I actually went to the hospital (6 hours) but the drive to the hospital was grueling.  Luckily, I wasn't the one driving.  I don't know what it would be like if I had to drive myself one hour away to the hospital while in labor.  I know you do whatever you have to do when the time comes but the thought it a little frightening.