Commuting while pregnant??

MrsDoodleXO · September 2010

Did any of you commute long distances to work while pregnant?

Long story short I was told I could switch to another office closer to family, so my husband accepted a new job, then I was told I could no longer switch to the new office. Their going to help me out for their mistake by letting me work 2x week at home but the remaining three im expected to be in the office. Thats an 85 mile one way commute! Ridiculous I know.

What do you think are the chances of the dr placing me off work? Work pays 4 months full salary STD. And Im pregnant with twins...

ShufflerChick · September 2010

Yikes. 85 miles is tough not pregnant! I assume you're driving, right? Chances are, as you approach your due date, you will not be able to do that commute (though who knows, anything's possible). Would they consider letting you work from home full time when you're further along? Will the situation change after you deliver, if you're even planning to go back there? Because I would not want that commute with a newborn either.

carlab44 · September 2010

I would have had no problem commuting while pregnant, but I had very easy pregnancies and wasn't carrying twins. As you get closer to your due date I'd be concerned about being that far from the hospital (if your hospital is closer to your home than office).

I don't know about having your doctor placing you off work though. I wouldn't want to stop working too early and use my time off before the babies get here. I'd rather save as much as possible for once they are born.

What was their reasoning for changing their mind? Would the consider letting you work out of the other office as you get closer to your due date? Or work from home full time?

MBandBud · September 2010

First thing that comes to mind...4 months salary STD is amazing! Do what you can to keep them happy for the short term. I commuted 2 1/2 hours via car/bus 1x a week while pregnant. It was fine and then when I got to be within a month of my due date they did not make me come in any longer. I would go along with this for now, and in the meantime figure out the details of what you will do once the date gets closer. I am not sure what date you are comfortable being that far away from the hospital.

The question on what the chances are of the dr placing you offf work really might depend on your doc. Remember, though, that if you are claiming std then the insurance company will be requesting documentation from the doc so this does need to be legit (it needs to be more than just the doc writing a note). And as the pp said, you really don't want to burn your std pregnant either. Now, the doc might be able to say that you should be close to the hospital, etc and that might work for you being able to go to the other office or work from home after a certain point.

I, personally, would keep this company happy until the time comes closer. Don't let on what your hopes/plan is until the time comes and then play it out the best you can. Who knows this may play out for you based on how your pregnancy goes.

Congrats on the twins!

alysiasc · September 2010

I work out of town, so I communte in on Monday, then back home on Friday - the drive one way is 183 miles. I did this up until 2 weeks before my delivery date, but I had an easy pregnancy. I also had a two good doctors that were willing to work with me, I had one at home where I was planning to deliver, and another in the town where I was working - went occassionally to the doc at home, and carried records back and forth with me at all times "just in case". It is doable, but only if you feel up to it, the worst problem was getting tired on the drive, I had to make stops that I didn't usually do, and had to agree that if I went into labor at work and it was too far along for me to drive home that I would not try and make the trip alone. My doc did threaten to put me out of work, but he only wanted me out a week earlier than I was planning to go out on vacation anyway, so he let me stay until I chose to go out of work.

aocain02@yahoo.com · September 2010

Talk to your doctor. At 36 weeks mine didn't want me traveling more than an hour and a half from home. I was pregnant with one. I also went on maternity leave at 36 weeks to take advantage of my work's disability policy.I had a 40 day waiting period. My conversation with my doctor was something like me asking when I could go on leave. Then he asks when I wanted to and signed my paperwork. I was surprised at how simple it was.

RobynK · September 2010

I communted 30 miles/one hour each way until I hit the multiples wall of hell at about 26 weeks. My MFM started talking about taking me out of work but I was lucky enough to be allowed to WFH instead. I ended up going into work 1 day per week (the same day I had my MFM appt).

Even if you can do it now I'm willing to bet you can't handle it about 1/2 way thru your pg. In fact, after that point most docs don't want a MoM to be to travel more than an hour from the hospital if you can avoid it.

carrie4g · September 2010

I worked remotely and then commuted by train. once my boss and coworkers saw how fat and miserable I was with my swollen ankles they told me to just work from home the last two weeks. I think they felt sorry for me lugging my work back and forth and walking from the train station. I worked up until the night i went into labor.

MrsDoodleXO · September 2010

I think they are avoiding the whole feel sorry factor because I've already been a pain in the first place about them originally telling me I could commute to the closer office.

I am going to discuss with my Dr. tomorrow and I'll keep you posted what he says.

I really am only interested in keeping them happy in the short term. They have shown me no loyalty since the whole situation went down and I already know of a few places I could work once the babies are born.

I tried to ask for more than 2 days of working from home and they were like no.. we dont really like people working from home (even though we're totally paperless and everything can be done from my work laptop).

I feel like I just saw something on a CA FMLA discrimination poster about this matter... or restricting an employee against a dr suggestion or something.

carolrohrsetzer · September 2010

I commuted 87 miles each way until I was 37 weeks pregnant, we moved to another state 2 months after I found out I was pregnant but since my company offers 15 weeks of paid maternity leave and if I changed jobs I wouldn't have any so it made sense to stay.

It was hard and annoying but I survived, I had to stop along the way to pee and to strech at the end of my pregnancy. I also kept peanut butter and crackers in my car to snack.

GL

Tikat · September 2010

Congrats on the 2 for 1 deal! It's early days yet- you can still see your toes. Big Smile However as a working mom commuting 5 days a week 100 miles R/T...I can tell you that the extra 2 hours it sucks out of your day SUCK!

You can commute while pregnant...the odds are you'll have to pee midway. I met a lot of nice people that way *grin*

4 months of paid leave are fantastic- so I agree with prior posts...do what you can...and keep in mind with twins they'll be worried you'll pop any day after your 2nd trimester...so you should be able to work from home at that point. In the long run it comes down to how much you love your job. The world changes when a baby is born- never mind 2- will you hire a Nanny? Daycare?

You have 4 months of paid leave to make up your mind and name the conditions. Once the babies are born you may not want to return to work.

In the mean time- happy commuting!

jenuine · September 2010

So are you going to collect the 4 months leave, then quit when you return? That's pretty crappy. And asking to be taken off work when you really can work is also lying.

If you are truly unhappy there and plan to work when the kids arrive, look somewhere else. It's better for all us working ladies if you are honest with your employer.

As far as a long commute, I did a 3+ hour round trip for the whole 9 months, working up until about 3 hours before I went into labor. It really wasn't a big deal. And you really shouldn't complain if you can work from home 2 days a week. If you get uncomfortable at the end, maybe they can increase that amount of time from home.

I know you are upset with what they did to you, but I think you would be better leaving on good terms than misleading them.

SaraSmile · September 2010

I commute about 60 miles a day and did it through both of my pregnancies throwing up the entire duration of both of my pregnancies. I am not sure how I survived it but I had no other choice.

MyBabyG2010 · September 2010

Wow, twins! I commute 60 miles one way, and I'm a week from my due date. Most of the ride my DH carpools with me, then I drop him off, so that helps my situation. I did notice on days I was at home I felt much better then when I was riding in the car for so long and sitting all day in an office. I had a lot of sciatic/hip/low back pain.

Where you're pg with twins you might have a good shot at bed rest anyways!

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