question - maternity leave

Stillharbor

I could use some advice and would like to hear your thoughts. 

I'm a teacher in a SMALL private school.  My due date is somewhere in December.  As much as I'd love to stay home with my baby, our finances won't allow for that.  Knowing you HAD to go back to work after the baby was born, how long did you take off for your maternity leave?  (I don't get paid leave, vacation, or sick time.)

Monicagail1

I'm not a teacher, but I am the primary income earner and carry the insurance, so I knew I was going back to work.  I could take up to a year off (unpaid) but I definitely don't have the savings for that.  I took as much time off as I could without jeopardizing our finances.  I took 1 week of sick time, got paid 5 weeks via STD, used 3 weeks of vacation, and had scraped together enough savings for one additional week of unpaid leave.  All in all, it ended up being about 11 weeks.

I know you said you don't get paid leave, and your school is small-are you eligible for FMLA?  Your doctor probably won't release you back to work for at least 6-8 weeks, so you're likely looking at having to take at least that much off. 

Julia_JJ

Physically, I felt fine at 3 weeks out. But my job involves sitting in front of a computer, so it's not like I would have been strained.

However - the baby wasn't sleeping through the night, my husband had already gone back to work, and I was frazzled. I still hadn't gotten into a routine at that point, and going back to work would have pushed me over the edge. We put the baby in daycare at about 8 weeks, and I got back to work. I'm self-employed, so any "leave" comes out of my bottom line.

EastCoastBride

What your employer will allow you to do aside for a moment, have you pre-planned at all?  As in, have you saved money so that you can afford to take some time off?

Honestly, I'd take as much time as I could - between what your school will agree to and what you can afford.

Other than an episiotomy, I had an easy birth and recovery.  That being said, I remember at 6 weeks thinking "Thank God I dont' have to go back - so not ready".  At 8 weeks, I was actually feeling human again (baby was beginning to get on a schedule, had a handle on taking care of a newborn).

At 12 weeks, when I went back, I felt "Yeah- I can do this, and I actually think I'm ready to go back". 

Then, just having that time at home w/ my new son was amazing.  It's was a once in a life time opportunity and even though some of it was unpaid, it was fully, fully worth it.

jeffsjayme

I'm taking 6 weeks.  The question, for you, isn't what I would do, but what YOU want to do and what YOUR family can afford.  If most of us answered "We'd take 6 months unpaid", but you couldn't afford to do that, then that's not all that helpful.

erbear

I'm also a teacher in a small private school, but I didn't want to stay home so take this with a grain of salt.

I stayed home for 6 months with DD1 (Feb-Sept). It was way too much. I was home for 9.5 weeks (Feb.-April) with DD2 and that was perfect.

EmilyStL

I'm a teacher too.  By the time my maternity leave came around, I had built up 9 weeks worth of sick days.  I wanted to take the full 12 weeks of FMLA, so I wasn't paid for those last 3 weeks.  We used money we had saved.

Generally, your OB will release you for work at 6 weeks PP for a vaginal delivery, and 8 weeks PP for a c section.  I had a vaginal delivery, but can't imagine having gone back at 6 weeks.  I was exhausted, both mentally and physically.  My daughter also ended up having to be hospitalized for 9 days, so it took that much logner for us to get into a routine once we were home.  8 weeks would have been rough too.  12 weeks was still hard just because it's tough to leave your baby, but physically I was ready. 

Another thing you may want to think about is breastfeeding.  If you're planning to breastfeed, the longer you can take maternity leave, the longer you have to learn the ropes and establish your supply. 

cwm11985

I'm a teacher too, my situation is weird.  I'm due July 12 and start school August 13.  They are making me work the teacher week and the first 3 days of school...so if baby somes on time, I'll only have 4 weeks before I go to work again.  After that first week of school I am taking 3 weeks (our STD company will not cover any leave for me since we aren't technically working in July) so I can only take what I have in sick days.  I'll have 24 sick days to use, but I don't want to use all of them up so I'm just sticking with 3 weeks.  Its going to suck big time.

Ashley&Scott

I work for a small company & do not qualify for FMLA. I was allowed 8 weeks & took all of it. (I used 3 weeks of vacation, the rest was unpaid.)

I know you didn't ask this but it might be helpful. DH also took some time off. He took 2.5 weeks after the birth & another week when I returned to work. It was much easier leaving DS for the first time knowing he was home with DH. We were able to call/email throughout the day which made it much easier for me. 

naflmj

Hmmm, when I was at a private school I had planned 12 weeks but I had that much sick/vacation time. I ended up switching to a public school and only had 14 sick days to use. I took 9 weeks...we were allowed 8 by contract and a vacation just happened to fall during my leave so I ended up with an extra week. Does your school have at least 50 employee's? If so, you can take up to 12 weeks unpaid under FMLA. I think at the very least you want to take 6 to feel like yourself again.

Aubs0009

I took 12 weeks. None of it was paid through work, but I did use sick time to get paid for a small while.

Stillharbor

Ashley&Scott:

I work for a small company & do not qualify for FMLA.

Same here and I don't think we get STD etiher.  I have no insurance with the school, (it's all through MH), no sick time, no vacation, no PTO, nada..  And my salary is literally half of what a public school teacher would make.  The baby is due somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which in a school calendar wouldn't make me miss too much work week wise, however, in the way of school...it's a long while.

Mrs.BoomBoom

I would take as much time off as I could