FMLA used up while in NICU?

rainydayluck · October 2010

So I have been in the hospital for almost a week now. They probably won't let me go back to work, therefore I have started eating into my FMLA leave. I am really worried that the baby will need a long stay in the NICU and I will be using up my FMLA leave before she gets to come home or that she will only be home for a short time before I have to go back to work.

I can request unpaid leave past the FMLA leave time, but I am not sure we can make it work financially since I would have to pay my own insurance premium and the baby's premium.

Has anyone been in this situation? What did you do? I have a daycare center lined up, but I don't want to send a tiny baby there. In the original plan she would have been 12 weeks old before going there and now I am scared to send her, but I don't know what my options are.

TIA!

smeyer · October 2010

My company gave me the option of going back to work while our LOs were in NICU so I didn't eat into my maternity leave/FMLA. I didn't do it (I wanted to spend my days in NICU with them) but maybe it's an option for you to ask about.

I can't help much on the daycare front. I resigned from my job and now stay at home.

GL with your decisions, I know it's tough.

irishdo · October 2010

I went back to work 10 days after the babies were born to protect my leave. Granted they were born at 24 weeks so I knew we would have a LOOOONG stay. It sucks BIG TIME but we are making it work and I am very looking forward to having my entire maternity leave when my son comes home...which will hopefully be soon.

ShannonSky · October 2010

I know it's tough, but you may have to just play it by ear. If your baby can hold out another week or two, you may be looking at minimal NICU time, if any at all. Unless there are complications, even now you probably won't be there more than 2 or 3 weeks. If the baby's only going to be in the NICU a week or so, you may just want to take your FMLA as planned...if not, you might want to consider the options the PPs gave. GL!

mrsmikey · October 2010

I worked some while DS was in the NICU so I could spend more time with him at home. Was it ideal? Not really. But honestly it wasn't too bad. It kept me busy and gave me something to do. It was totally worth it though. I still had to go back to work when he was 13 weeks actual age because we just couldn't afford for me to be out any longer. Obviously we had more medical bills than we had anticipated. I got to take him to work with me that first week and then he went into daycare at 14 weeks old (6 weeks adjusted). It wasn't how I planned things at all but in the end we all survived. You just do what you gotta do. Hang in there!

Irishsapphire · October 2010

It is always difficult to say how long a preemie will be in the hospital. My baby was born close to 31 weeks, and he only stayed in the NICU/ISCU for 35 days. I just used my paid 6 week maternity leave. It was so much easier to pump. And then when he came home from the hospital, we switched him to formula (it just worked better with my job). I only had one week home with my preemie before having to go back to work. We hired a part-time nanny from care.com to come to our home for a couple of days a week, and then we also had our inlaws come for two days a week for the months of July and August. And my husband and myself used vacation time to offset any other days. I am glad I did the nanny/grandparent option first because it gave my baby more time to get used to his home and to see how he would do with someone else taking care of him (other than nurses or myself).

Baby started daycare at the beginning of September, and he is doing really well.

hnyloven · October 2010

I had my doctor write me a note allowing me to go back to work a week and some days after my DS was born. I worked up until the day he was released from the NICU and will have to go back after 6 weeks of him being home. It all sucks but as many have mentioned the unexpected bills are a killer. Fortunately my mom is here to take care of him which gives me peace of mind.

As much as I wanted to be in the NICU with him 24/7 and stay at home with him now, I had to think what was going to be best for us in the long run. Hopefully you guys can work something out.

Carolina Panther Fan · October 2010

DD was born 12 week early and spent almost 16 weeks in the NICU. I stayed out for 6 weeks then returned to work until she was discharged. Once discharged I took 13 weeks off without pay. DD started daycare when I returned to work.

carlamell · October 2010

I had my DS on August 18 at 29 weeks, and went back to work on September 20. I didn't want to spend up all my time while he was in the hospital so I went back to work. He was discharged this past Monday from the hospital and now I'm off again. I have 7 weeks home with him and I couldn't be happier with the decision I made to return to work. I used intermittent family leave.

After I went back to work, it did cut into my NICU time, but we were still there 3-4 days a week. Our NICU was over an hour away though.

Bippy798 · October 2010

I took off two weeks after my c-section and then went back to work for 7 more weeks while DS was in the hospital. . It was hard but I think best in the long run because I was able to take 8 more weeks when he came home. My husband took 4 weeks off when I went back to work so we were able to stay home with him until he was 5 months old. Aiden had really bad lungs so we hired my SIL for the summer to care for him. He started daycare at about 7 months of age.

Temp984666312503071 · October 2010

I agree with the advice to play it by ear. I have had friends have 34 weekers that went home with them. My 35 weeker didn't need any NICU time either. So you might not be looking at any NICU time, and if you do have some it will likely be short.

I personally was lucky. I am a school counselor so have summers off. I had DD July 3 and had the first 7 weeks "for free" because school was out. Then I took my full FMLA and didn't go back until November 11. So she was over 4 months - 3 months adjusted - when she entered daycare.

lexismom1008 · October 2010

sweetheart18:
I agree with the advice to play it by ear. I have had friends have 34 weekers that went home with them. My 35 weeker didn't need any NICU time either. So you might not be looking at any NICU time, and if you do have some it will likely be short.

This. My DS was born at 34 weeks and had very few problems. If he hadn't been IUGR, he would have been home in a week. He was 3 lbs, so we had to wait for him to grow before he could be discharged. At 34 or 35 weeks, your hopefully looking at a brief NICU stay.

kar5162 · October 2010

Hopefully you are looking at a short NICU stay, but just in case, I would go back to work while baby's in the NICU if you can. If you can't, then you'll make do. Perhaps you could arrange for family to help for a few weeks, or hire a nanny for a few months until baby is a little bigger.

DS was in the Special Care nursery for just over a month and was a 5lb, 6oz 34 weeker. He did really well for the first week or there abouts and then struggled with brady's for 3 before getting out so it really just depends. Hopefully your stay will be much shorter!

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