For those taking maternity leave~

knitsandgiggles · August 2012

Are you planning to work up until your due date or are you planning to take a week or two to finish getting ready for baby? I want to spend as much time with my LO as possible when he/she arrives, but I also think it would be nice to have a bit of time to collect my thoughts and really make sure everything is set. All that said, the baby could come early anyway so all of this discussion would be a moot point.

Suzzy2380 · August 2012

Well I just started at my job in April and then found out I was pregnant a week after, so I plan to work up until I deliver due to wanting to accrue as much PTO as possible. I would have loved to take a day or two off before my EDD but that doesn't look like it's in the cards.

wootownlady · August 2012

Like last time, work up until the minute I give birth (worked all day Friday - no symptoms of onset labor); then went 0-60 in a few hours and delivered on Sunday.

I need every minute with my LO more than I need it to prepare - there's only so much I could do to "prepare" for such a lifechanging event!

fsu78 · August 2012

I plan on working right up until LO comes. DS was born on a Monday (on his due date) and I worked the full week before that. It would have been nice to have some time to myself before DS came but I wouldn't have traded any part of my 12 weeks of maternity leave for that.

simplein06 · August 2012

I'm due on Jan 12th, but will be taking the week between xmas and new years off. I do plan to work until the due date though.

ashdonne · August 2012

I'll be working right up until I deliver if possible. With DD I was headed to work on a Tuesday and I had been having BH contractions throughout my pregnancy so I didn't really know what was going on but I threw up all over myself on the way in so I called my boss that day and went out on leave. I had an induction scheduled that Thursday anyway.

Turns out I was already a 4 and 100% effaced when I went for induction but didn't progress after that so did have to be induced anyway. With baby #1 you should have enough time on weekends/after work to do any preparing that you need to do---I would not have traded the time I had with DD for anything!

RachelG1016 · August 2012

I am planning on working until the date of my c-section. My DH is the one that will be preparing the nursery and we will have the weekend before to finish the last bits and pieces.

Oriam · August 2012

I plan on taking off the last two weeks of the year since my vacation time does not carry over. When my vacation ends I will probably be able to work from home until I have the baby since my drive is far from home. I don't want to risk going into labor and being 40 minutes from the hospital.

ashcody2 · August 2012

I plan on working until I can no longer work. I work for an accouting firm, so being due in January is not ideal (we did not plan this pregnancy!) so I will only be able to do 8 weeks off until tax season is over, then I will be splitting up my remaining 4 weeks by taking 1 day off a week for 20 weeks. My fiance has Mondays off, so I will be taking Tuesdays off and that way we will only have to pay for part-time daycare.

zonagirlie · August 2012

I plan on working until baby says I can't. We aren't making a nursery for baby so there isn't really anything to put together or plan for. There's only so much prep that you can do with babies. I want as much time as I can with the little one.

jenn248 · August 2012

I also plan to work as long as I can. I guess I will see how uncomfortable I am when the time comes, but I think I would go a little nuts just sitting at home waiting to go into labor - I figure work will at least be a distraction. My office is maybe 20 minutes away from the hospital, so I am not too concerned about going into labor at work (aside from the potential embarrassment of having my water break in a staff meeting or something like that).

mallrat147 · August 2012

I found out today that if I took off before LO comes, it counts as sick pay/disability leave, once LO arrives starts maternity leave. Check into your time away policies to see if your job offers this as well!

nycbride2011 · August 2012

My goal is to work ALL the way until the end! My due date is a Saturday..if this baby doesn't come that weekend; I'll be at work Monday. I only get 12 weeks; I don't want to go out of work early and then the baby comes late and I've lost 2-3 weeks with him/her.

bearkatjen · August 2012

I want to work up until I have the baby, but I'm really going to push to work from home starting in week 39.

drpayne · August 2012

knittylady:
Are you planning to work up until your due date or are you planning to take a week or two to finish getting ready for baby? I want to spend as much time with my LO as possible when he/she arrives, but I also think it would be nice to have a bit of time to collect my thoughts and really make sure everything is set. All that said, the baby could come early anyway so all of this discussion would be a moot point.

OR the baby could come late and you won't know what to do with yourself Smile I took a week off but I didn't intend to initially. I thought I'd work up until labor but I was kind of a basket case listening to 20+ patients tell me I looked ready to pop or try to be funny when I said my due date passed. It wore on me and I thought I might snap at someone. DS ended up being 9 days late and I do wish I'd spent that extra week with him. This time I'll play it by ear again.

laurapacheco · August 2012

I plan to work up until the end, but I will be working from home for the last month or so... our office is like a ghost town the last two weeks of the year anyway, so probably starting the week before Christmas. I just don't really want to be commuting an hour each way on the metro & walking through the icy winter streets of DC while 36+ weeks pregnant.

ungraceful13 · August 2012

I work at a school so I will have from Dec. 21-Jan 7 off. Since I am due Jan 10 I will start my mat leave at Jan 7th.

knitsandgiggles · August 2012

You all are speaking the truth and I will most likely work until my due date.

I'm just having one of those days at work Smile I'm pretty detail oriented so I'm sure I'll have all my preparation finished well in advance. Thanks for all of the input!

amjung2103 · August 2012

My plan is to work up until LO arrives, as long as LO allows me to! I work at the hospital I will be delivering at so my thought is towards the end its the best place to be (even though the last thing I will want to do probably is work :-D )

==N== · August 2012

I always take the last week in December off anyway so I had already put in for it. My vacation time has to be used in 2012 so I figured Id save it up and take the last two weeks in December before starting my official maternity leave.

With ds I worked right up til he came, I worked all day Friday and went into labor on Saturday. Id do it again, it just worked out that this time I dont have to so Im taking advantage of it.

heathbar10210 · August 2012

ungraceful13:
I work at a school so I will have from Dec. 21-Jan 7 off. Since I am due Jan 10 I will start my mat leave at Jan 7th.

I also work at a school and am due on January 9th so I'm planning on starting my maternity leave on January 7th.

SPK926 · August 2012

I'll work up until the day baby is born. We have to use our accrued sick days to get paid out during maternity leave and being home with baby is worth so much more to me than having a few days to "get ready". It's not like you can bank sleep so I'm not sure what I'll need an entire week to do. Plus, I get 2 weeks off for Christmas break and I can do any last minute things to babies room, or stuff then.

lifeisbetteronthered · August 2012

I have to use my holidays as they don't roll over, so I will be taking 3 weeks off before baby (basically from Christmas to my due date). I only plan on taking 6 - 8 months off once baby gets here so I'm not worried about losing time off after baby is born seeing as I don't plan on using my full year anyway (Canada).

Plus, I can't imaging doing surgery when I'm 9 months pregnant. Standing for 4-8 hours at a time, etc. No thanks.

goofyteacher · August 2012

I'm going to play it day by day, but at this point I plan to work up until Friday, Jan. 25th (due 26th).

StacyCardinal · August 2012

I'm a teacher with a due date of Jan. 1st. So, I'm hoping to leave for Christmas break... have the baby before school starts back up again... and then take the six week maternity leave. If by chance, the baby decides to come late, I'll go back to work and enjoy my students for a few more days since I'll have the vacation to get the last minute things done.

SanDimasMama · August 2012

It depends on whether I have a scheduled C @ 37-38 weeks or I make it to a VB on/after my due date. Even though I'm a January bumpie I only have like a 35% of making it to January because I have a uterine that often yields breech babies and/or early babies.

So...If I have a scheduled C in December I will work up until my C, I'll have everything ready the weekend prior. If I make it to January, I will use my extended sick leave to start my maternity leave on January 2 so I don't dip into my state benefits early. I am due January 8,

brittandjp · August 2012

fsu78:
I plan on working right up until LO comes. DS was born on a Monday (on his due date) and I worked the full week before that. It would have been nice to have some time to myself before DS came but I wouldn't have traded any part of my 12 weeks of maternity leave for that.

I totally agree. As long as there aren't any complications or dangers, I plan on working for as long as possible. I want to take the full 12 weeks with my LO. My EDD is January 20th and I'll actually be on winter break (teacher) until the 4th. So, as it is, I'll have the two week winter break to prepare and then I'll go back for two weeks, give or take a little, before Baby is born.

Jessie333 · August 2012

I plan on working as close as possible. I don't know if I will be able to though, I'm already starting to get back problems...

Kingston54 · August 2012

I'll work up until I'm in labor! Hopefully I can. I want to use my maternity leave with the baby. I'm going to have 10 days off between Christmas and New Years so I will use that as my getting ready time. Then go back to work for a week or two.

2PuppiesHon · August 2012

I plan to work as much as I can and save my leave for when the baby is here. That said, my vacation time doesn't carry over, so I might take off a week or two at the end of December.

Of course - all these plans might go out the window - a friend and co-worker who is due on the 12th was just told Friday by her doctor that she needs to stay home on bedrest because her blood pressure is high.

Smiley-1980 · August 2012

I'm going to leave at Christmas since I'm in Canada and have a year off. I also have to use my 3 weeks vacation so I'll take that from Jan 1st before my Mat leave actually starts

EAMommy · August 2012

I work from home as a daycare provider. I always close the week between Christmas and New Year's and with my due date being Jan 12th, I plan to just stay closed until after the baby is born. My job tends to be on the physically demanding end and I don't think I'll feel up to caring for 4 kids everyday at that point. Also, I don't want to risk being exposed to germs right before labor. (Obviously, I could pick something up from anyone but I don't see the need to *invite* germs into my house if I can avoid it.)

I plan to stay closed for 4 week after the baby is born... And love that I get to be with my baby everyday when I *go* back to work!

SJRowe · August 2012

I plan on working up until I give birth. I only get 12 weeks so I want to save that all for after the baby is born. I need to look into our maternity leave and disability a little more. I do get to use sick/vacation time so that helps so I can get paid for my 12 weeks.

Allison546 · August 2012

I'm planning on working up until my due date/labor, but I think I'm going to be able to work full time from home those last few weeks.

betheppert · August 2012

I plan on working up until my due date. I did this with my first and it worked out fine. You will have plenty of people offering help after little one arrives so, if something is missing I'm sure you will get it.