How much time do you have for maternity leave?

NickaDee07

I'm taking my 6 weeks. I can take 12 but I don't think I'm going to do that. With my daughter I took two years.. Wish I could do that again =( Haha

mbgreenwalt

I get 4 weeks paid mat. leave as part of my benefit package and I have 2 weeks of PTO to use after the initial 4 weeks.  Financially we will have to see if I can stay home longer.  I only got 8 weeks with DD#1 and it wasn't enough, she did great, but I wasn't ready to be away.

Chargersgrl33

I will be taking 9 weeks of paid leave with FMLA thrown in every friday.  This way it's not that big of a hit on the paycheck every two weeks. 

cottonlily84

6 weeks.  Had I not been put on bedrest I would've taken 8.  I'll still take 8 if I wind up with a c-section for some reason.  I agree with you about spending as much time with baby as possible.  I feel like I deserve the time since this is my first and only and as long as we can financially manage it I will take it.

jsjrol

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I thought the recommended recovery was at least 6 weeks, but I have not spoken to my doctor yet. I am high risk for a couple of reasons, so I am sure that this will add to my recovery as well.

Unfortunately, our employees consist of me, my husband and a new hire to cover what I would normally be doing...AKA...manual labor & working on my feet for 8-10 hours a day. Although I plan on being home to take care of LO I also plan on returning for admin work until I am cleared by my doc to get back to my old job. 

I guess we'll just have to see how things go after she arrives. We have tried to plan as best as we could, but there are so many variables it's been difficult. Plus my husband seems to have no idea/compassion for exactly what I will have to go through during and after delivery.

Thanks again for your feedback! It's definitely helped!! 

Wish you all the best!!! 

MrsCaddyshack

I just want to echo what previous posters have said... that you need at least 6 weeks to recover physically from a vaginal birth, and 8 weeks from a cesarean birth. Also, it sounds like you have a physical job where you're on your feet at a store, so you really want to be recovered before you return to work.

I am very lucky to work at an organization that has great benefits, and will be able to take 5 months off before returning to work. I think the minimum I would want to take would be 12 weeks.