Q about a friend with a preemie

palma44

A friend of mine just had her baby at 32 weeks, she is staying in NICU until further notice, which of course is most likely going to be awhile. My friend is very upset about everything, and seeing as she can only afford to take 8 weeks of materinity leave she wants to go back to work asap while the baby is in NICU so she can take her leave when baby actually comes home.

What have some of you done about your materinity leave while baby was in NICU, I understand her point, she doesn't want to spend all of her time off without baby being home and then go back to work as soon as baby is allowed to leave the hospital...

jacque_z

Congratulations to your friend!  I took off 3 weeks after my emergency c-section.  Then I went back to work for 11 weeks until C came home from the NICU then I was given another 12 weeks off. 

iristony

Pretty much the same thing here- took off 3 weeks after emergency c sect, went back to work for almost 8 weeks, and then home for another 8 weeks after son got home.  It was rough financially to take all of that time off unpaid- especially after I was on hospitalized bedrest for over a month unpaid too.  But we made it work.  I was very lucky though because the 8 weeks I went back to work my boss let me work from home full time and I was able to run to the hospital at lunch every day and right after work. 

adrielegorburu

I took 8 weeks FMLA leave unpaid after my c-section and during babys "touch and go" time after birth. I wanted to be there with her. Then I went back to work part time for two months - going to hospital in the am-then office for a few hours then back to NICU - When she was discharged I took three months unpaid "maternity leave" - I didnt want to deny myself that time with her - I would have had three months unpaid leave anyways if she was full term - so I was essentially out of work for 7 months - financially we are still recovering - we never expected to have me out of work for so long and I'm the main breadwinner in the house. Since she has been home, i have missed a LOT of work for appointments, therapies, etc. 

WaitingforGrace

My girls were born at 32w3d. One of mine only spend 3 weeks and 1 day in the NICU. If she had a c-section then I'd think she needs at least 2 weeks for her body to recover and then depending on how baby is doing, it might not be worth trying to go back for a week or two.

Perhaps seeing if she can arrange to work from home as a transition period or go back part time or something would be a good compromise?

zoeyandsummersmom

I delivered just after Thanksgiving and worked remotely and part-time for about 3 weeks after I delivered. I have since started to work again, but from home and will continue to do so until the end of this month maybe slightly longer. I think it depends on her job and what she does. I live on my computer for work and pretty much only interact with people via conference calls, intra-office chat, and emails. For the past week or so my manager has said that everything I do should be based on what needs to get done and not about punching a time clock to hit 40 hours a week.

Not everyone is that lucky, but she should talk to her manager and HR to see what they can do to help her out.

GatorNurse

adrielegorburu:

I took 8 weeks FMLA leave unpaid after my c-section and during babys "touch and go" time after birth. I wanted to be there with her. Then I went back to work part time for two months - going to hospital in the am-then office for a few hours then back to NICU - When she was discharged I took three months unpaid "maternity leave" - I didnt want to deny myself that time with her - I would have had three months unpaid leave anyways if she was full term - so I was essentially out of work for 7 months - financially we are still recovering - we never expected to have me out of work for so long and I'm the main breadwinner in the house. Since she has been home, i have missed a LOT of work for appointments, therapies, etc. 

 

This, almost exactly. I am a nurse, so because of the strenuous job I have, my OB required me to take 8 weeks off. I went back to work for a while, & now I'm on unpaid LOA for my remaining FMLA plus six weeks.  

Pips09

I was able to work from home part-time while she was in the NICU (this really helped financially). I'd work for a few hours in the morning and go to the hospital every afternoon. When she came home, I took off full-time for the remainder of my FMLA.

weezie825

I had my LO vaginally with an epidural and I wasn't even cleared to drive for a week after I was dischareged from the hospital, so 10 days postpartum.  You really need at least that long to recover physically.

If her finanaces require it, I would suggest is for her to contact her employer and see if there is any way that she can work from home or work part time while the child is in the NICU. 

That being said, I don't know how I would have been able to concentrate on work while my daughter was in the hospital.  I was a total wreck and I don't think I could have been productive at work.

Good Luck to your friend!

vsalt31

I went back to work (office job were I sit at a desk all day) on myDS's 2 wk bday. My company has been super awesome & Allowing me the flexibility to work shorter days etc. Once my DS comes home, I will be given the rest of my maternity time (6wks off then working 2days/wk for another 4 wks). I wouldnt be surprised either if they extend my time to give me my original 8wks once he is home.

SushiNoMore

I talked to my company about coming back from work about a month after my son was born, but they wouldn't really let me.  The policy was that I had to take all of my paid leave (6 weeks) consecutively.  If I'd interrupted it, I would have lost the leave.

So, I ended up taking 17 weeks of in total.  I had a vaginal birth, which would have entitled me to 6 weeks' paid medical leave.  My boss gave me the amount of leave I would have gotten if I'd had a c-section - 8 weeks.  Then, I took 1 week of paid "family leave" that my company offered - the leave for people taking care of an ill / injured family member.  Beyond that, I took 4 weeks of vacation, and a month of unpaid personal leave.

It's so hard to manage when you have a preemie, and our out of pocket medical expenses were astronomical.  My husband is a SAHD, too, so all the financial burden fell on me.  We're also still digging out, but I think we've turned a corner on that.