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USAble Life and Babies in NICU - splitting short-term disability time

hcs101hcs101
in Preemies

Last Monday, I gave birth to two girls at 27 weeks gestational age.  The plan is for them to stay in the NICU until their actual due date (~3 months).  I'm recovering nicely and my OB has cleared me to return to work in 1 week.  I work at the hospital where my girls are so working part-time will actually give me more time with them (and some nice breaks during the work day).  However, I am not sure how to arrange my time off so that I can spend time with my girls once they come home without stressing about finances.  In other words, is it possible to split STD using only 2 weeks to recover and potential using the rest when my babies come home?  Unfortunately, my HR department is uncertain how to handle the situation and I have been trying to contact my short-term disability company to no avail (as if NICU moms need additional stress). 

So, my question is: 

Has anyone with USAble Life successfully split their STD using some for their recovery and some for when their preemies/NICU babies come home?

Of note, I do not live in a state that has state mandated STD so my only source of STD is that in which I enrolled through my employer (USAble Life).

Thanks!

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Re: USAble Life and Babies in NICU - splitting short-term disability time

  • vsalt31vsalt31 member
    Congratulations new momma!! Not sure at all about std, but I went back to work FT while LO was in the nicu. It worked well for us for so many reasons... Save my maternity leave until DS came home, got my mind off of watching the nicu clock, and it gave us some extra $. My office would have given me unpaid time, but I declined. Hope that helps.
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  • njdcgirlnjdcgirl member

    Welcome and congrats on your LO!  I hope their NICU stay is uneventful.  Hopefully your HR department can get some answers for you, but I would think that you could not split up your STD leave, since the STD is specifically for YOUR recovery from the birth.  If your doctor clears you to go back to work, I'd assume the STD benefits would end and the only way to have them kick in again later is to be written out of work from a doctor.

    I hope it work out for you - I know how stressful it is to figure out finances, etc. with a baby in the hospital.  It actually turned out better for me to stay on STD and take my other maternity benefits while DS was in the NICU, b/c at my company once you return back to work the benefits associated with that pg were gone.  So, in addition to the STD (8 wks from c-section birth), and any saved PTO I had, my company also allowed up to a total of 6 months leave of absence (unpaid after PTO, but continuing benefits).  If I had gone back early, I sacrificed that 6 months (which I knew I would need when DS got OUT of the hospital.)  Anyway, sorry for the novel, but I empathize how difficult it can be to figure this all out, since the situation of an early birth is unusual for HR and sometimes even STD to deal with.  Good luck!

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