September 2018 Moms

Planning Maternity Leave

Curious as to how everyone is planning their maternity leaves. STM, how long did you work during your last pregnancy?
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Re: Planning Maternity Leave

  • I have an extremely laid back job at a church office. I would like to work as long as possible as the church has <50 employees and we will be responsible for the full insurance premium during my leave. I wonder how long some of you were able to make it? I'm shooting for mid-August. How realistic is this? 
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  • I am planning on starting leave Aug 16 (beginning of a new pay period and 2 weeks before my due date). I will very likely be induced before my due date (my DD was over 9 lbs and 11 days early). Also I wouldn’t mind having extra time to spend with my daughter before we add another child. Last time I was planning on starting leave the week of Thanksgiving (9 days before my due date) but on the Wednesday before my last day I started having contractions after my doctor appt., so I worked from home Thursday and planned on working from home Friday but went into active labor that day. 
  • Thanks for your feedback, ladies. I will be full-term august 25th. Now I'm thinking I will stay as long as possible since it's such easy money (including the insurance premium savings.) Sounds like as long as I continue to have a normal pregnancy, I should be able to work until my water breaks :-p 
  • I work on my feet at a bar and grill, and my last was 5 weeks early. Due Sept 7 this time, and I won't go back to work for...well may not happen. We want to use the money though, but keep baby in. Hoping to work until Mid July, but that will be only if my body cooperates and isn't threatening early labor starting at 28 weeks again. I'm confident, but not dumb. Told my boss to plan on me working till June to start, and hope to stay longer.
    _______________________________________________
    Me: 33
    DH: 32
    Married 7/18/15
    1st born at 35+4 on 6/6/16
    Team green turned BLUE!
    2nd born at 38+6 on 8/30/18 
    Team green turned PINK!
    Due with #3 on 6/6/20 Team Green

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

    Pregnancy Ticker
  • I worked until 39 weeks last time before I told my doctor I was ready to be done. I had short term disability for 6 weeks at 50% of my pay (still responsible for my share of insurance premiums) and then used FMLA for the last 6 weeks and had a bunch of sick/vacation time banked to be able to get at least partial pay for the remainder. I also then had an unexpected appendectomy 2 days before I was scheduled to return to work and ended up being out another 2 weeks and having to use non-FMLA coverage and one more week of STD to limp through. 

    I plan on working up until that point again this time. If I can work longer, great! I drove myself crazy with the "is it going to be today?" thoughts and I was sometimes bored out of my mind until I was induced at 39w6d. This time I also will use STD (6 weeks at 60%) and NYS has a new paid family leave benefit that will provide an additional 50% of pay (capped to $1000 per week I think?) for 8 more weeks so I'll likely take advantage of that too and use some of my PTO to fill in the gaps.

    I'm more so concerned about how long I'll be allowed to drive an hour outside of where I'll be delivering since I currently have to do that twice a week and there's no maternity unit at this hospital and the closest one is like 30-40 minutes away. So we'll see what my OB has to say about that.
  • I worked essentially up until my due date and plan to do so again, but I work an office job and can work from home if I want, so it’s not physically taxing. My husband got 2 weeks paternity leave he started the day I got induced, but I was in the hospital for an entire week so he only got 1 week home with the baby. That sucked. 

    My office is closed the week between Christmas and New Years, but if I’m still on leave at that point it counts as my leave and not as a free holiday week! So I’m planning to go out a little early so I’m officially back before the break, but using vacation time for the week I’m back. 

    My work gives amazing leave benefits (for America)...16 weeks fully paid...and with vacation and holiday I should be able to stretch it to at least 18.
  • I work a physically and emotionally taxing job in healthcare (often 6 days/wk), have a high risk pregnancy and we are moving across the country at 30w, so I’ll be done in May. 

    I will miss out on a pretty awesome paid maternity leave policy, but we can afford to take the hit and I’m looking forward to my summer sabbatical
  • I worked up until 40 weeks, then due to my work schedule at the time (5 days on, 5 days off) and ability to take a couple extra vacation days, had off til my induction at 41 weeks. Then had 12 weeks off for standard FMLA. I plan to work until I’m in labor or induced this time since I now work M-F and don’t have as much vacation time. My 12 weeks of leave will be covered partially by old sick days I banked before my company got bought out, vacation time, and short term disability. I also have an Aflac plan I’ll cash in again that should cover remaining medical bills. We have enough in savings to make any deficiencies in my pay work. 
  • I have an office job. Last time I worked until the day I was induced at 41 weeks, I didn't see the point in twiddling my thumbs at home waiting to go into labor and I'm glad I didn't. I had to use 30 days off sick leave before my short term disability kicked in to get me to 6 weeks off, then I used PTO to get to 8 weeks off, then DH and I were able to both partially work from home with MIL babysitting on Fridays to get DD to almost 1 yr old before she went to daycare.

    This time I will again work until I go into labor or get induced. I have enough sick time/PTO to take 12 weeks off, then I'm hoping to partially work from home alternating with DH again for 6 months but I'm not sure who my supervisor will be (mine just retired, they haven't filled the position yet and I'm interviewing for a promotion that would have be working under someone else) and if that person will agree to the work from home set up again.
  • I’m an attorney at a small very flexible firm. So with DD I planned to work till 39 weeks but I cut out a bit early. It was the year the east coast had a huge snow storm and DD was due that day. The next week was clean up from snow so I didn’t go back (she was a week late). I took 3.5 months then worked flex until daycare spot opened up. 

    This baby my plan is to stack court hearings until mid September (im due 9/25). I’ve told my boss I’m planning 12 weeks— so around New Years I’ll go back. Daycare spot is supposed to be open mid December so maybe we’ll gradually start. 
  • I work in an office job and last time I worked up until the day I went into labor.  I got 6 weeks of disability at 60% of my pay and had enough vacation time to cover the other six weeks. This time I’m going to be short on vacation by 2-3 weeks, so we’re still trying to figure out if I go back to work early or just suck it up and do leave without pay for a while. 
  • I worked until the week before my induction date and I took 10 weeks with dd with no maternity benefits. So I basically used 2 weeks of pto and the rest was unpaid...that sucked. This time is a little better. With my current company we have to use all pto before std kicks in. I have 5 weeks of pto built. I plan to work up until the day this time and go back the week of Thanksgiving (due sept 24). I work from home 3 days a week so my job is much less physically demanding than my last with dd.
  • lalavglalavg member
    edited April 2018
  • I worked until the day I had my DD at 39 weeks. In my state, I can take up to 16 weeks off, but the only part that was paid was 3 weeks of sick/vacation time I had accrued. I took 15 weeks and saved a week which I ended up using when DD and I were sick a bunch after she started daycare in January. I plan to do the same this time, although I’ll have close to 6 weeks of paid sick/vacation time to use this time at the beginning. I’ll likely take 15 weeks again and save the extra unpaid time in case we need it. 
    Me: 32   DH: 32
    BFP #1: 1/23/2012  DD: Born 9/20/2012  <3
    BFP #2: 12/30/2017  DS: Due 9/10/2018  <3


  • When did all of you "officially" announce at work/namely, notify HR? I have told my direct supervisor but at our company, everything goes through HR in terms of maternity leave benefits. I don't feel emotionally ready to tell people (and I'm able to hide it so far) but I'm not sure when it's expected to notify others. I keep hoping I will feel more confident after the anatomy scan but I don't feel close to ready yet (tw -- I had a second tri loss in the past). I am currently 17 weeks so I imagine I won't be able to hide it forever...


  • With my first I told my boss first, because I was worried someone else would notice and tell him or something petty like that, then I contacted HR to learn the policies and what I needed to do. I didn’t actually tell any of my coworkers for at least a month later. Probably around 20 weeks when I couldn’t hide it anymore. 

    But as as someone else mentioned, you don’t actually need to talk to HR until much closer to your leave, legally. 
  • I have an office job and with DS I planned to work right up until labor, and I did just that. I started having contractions on a Monday morning and worked from home while in labor all morning. At that point I told my boss it looked like I'd be heading to the hospital that night and that my leave would likely be starting the next day. I had done all my leave prep in the months leading up to my due date so the sudden departure worked fine for me.

    I am planning to do the same for this LO. The only difference will be that I'll most likely use some personal days once we get closer to spend some one-on-one time with DS before the baby arrives.
    _______________________________________________________________________________________________
    MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks
    DS born 9/13/16
    BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
  • jayliijaylii member
    edited April 2018
    @adirat Can you take a look at your HR handbook? That will lay out family leave policy for your company and may say at what point you need to submit FMLA paperwork. Usually there is a requirement that you give notice of leave at leave _____ days before taking FMLA.

    As for my leave, I'm a Librarian so my job is a mix of desk and active work. I teach multiple classes to adults every week and work at a reference desk. Both of those parts of my job require me to be on my feet. In any case, my plan is to work as long as possible. If everything is fine I will work until I go into labor. Right now my boss has mentioned taking me off the teaching schedule starting in September which is unexpected but also awesome. For leave, I plan to take 12 weeks FMLA. At my company I will be paid for 8 weeks using accrued sick leave and after that I will need to use ETO time to cover the remaining 4 weeks.

    Are any of your spouses taking parental leave? In the U.S. spouses are also allowed 12 weeks parental FMLA leave (this is companies that employ > 50 employees) although it's not common, I know. We're still trying to decide. MH will for sure take two weeks when the baby is born, but not sure if we will ask for some more time when the baby is a bit older. 
  • jaylii said:
    Are any of your spouses taking parental leave? In the U.S. spouses are also allowed 12 weeks parental FMLA leave although it's not common, I know. We're still trying to decide. MH will for sure take two weeks when the baby is born, but not sure if we will ask for some more time when the baby is a bit older. 
    MH is self-employed but primarily works with his brother so he doesn't get any leave or paid time off. When DS was born we were in the hospital Monday night through Thursday afternoon, MH stayed home with me on Friday, then went back to work Monday. That's sooner than some moms will want, but it worked out ok for us. My BIL then surprised us and still paid MH for the whole week even though he only worked Monday so that was nice. Hoping he does something similar again.
    _______________________________________________________________________________________________
    MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks
    DS born 9/13/16
    BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
  • I plan to be out a week before my due date (since I'll probably schedule a c-section around then) and for the 12 weeks. That's Sept 16 to Dec. 10. I plan to go back to work for two weeks then take the xmas holiday off since the kids are off from school then too. I'm sure the boss will be thrilled. (eck).
  • @jaylii my husband gets 2 weeks paternity leave, so he’ll be taking that the first two weeks. He’s also going to take some vacation time during my maternity leave and when I first go back to work to ease the transition. We did that last time and it worked out well 
  • With DD she was born on a Saturday, we came home from the hospital Tuesday. DH took Monday off, worked a few hours Tuesday until we were discharged, worked a little Wednesday, Thursday was thanksgiving, and worked a bit Friday. He works for his dad and could have taken time off but he didn’t want to get far behind. Also my mom took 5 weeks off so she was helping me every day.
  • @jaylii H has a ridiculous amount of PTO racked up so he’ll be taking a month off. No actual paternity leave though and with me being self-employed we can’t afford the 50% pay FMLA would give him. 

    I’ll likely still do computer work during my maternity leave I’m giving myself. I have hired two stylists so I won’t need to attend any stagings or consults for at least a month. A little more than half of the business income is passive from rentals so I should be able to pay myself a normal salary for the month. 
  • I have an office job and with DS I planned to work right up until labor, and I did just that. I started having contractions on a Monday morning and worked from home while in labor all morning. At that point I told my boss it looked like I'd be heading to the hospital that night and that my leave would likely be starting the next day. I had done all my leave prep in the months leading up to my due date so the sudden departure worked fine for me.

    I am planning to do the same for this LO. The only difference will be that I'll most likely use some personal days once we get closer to spend some one-on-one time with DS before the baby arrives.
    Quoting myself to add more.

    I'll get the 12 weeks FMLA plus I can take an additional 4 weeks because the state I live in offers leave up to 16 weeks. With DS I was off from birth on 9/13 through New Year's Day, and I'm expecting to be out a similar amount of time this time. My company recently implemented a 1 week paid leave for new parents plus I have short-term disability so I'll get the next 6 weeks at 60% pay. Any additional time off after the 7 weeks will be unpaid, unless I end up having some unused PTO.
    _______________________________________________________________________________________________
    MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks
    DS born 9/13/16
    BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
  • DH works for a small business, so no FMLA. He never uses his vacation time, so he has four weeks banked (two from last year and two this year). He will take two weeks off when this LO is born and a week for our vacation in June. He will save the rest for sick time or random days off later in the year. Luckily, his company lets him roll over his unused time, so anything not used gets moved to next year. 
  • I'm really excited for an end of the year baby this time around. I have saved up leave time to be off through mid December... Then I get my yearly PTO hours Jan 1 so I won't ever really be without PTO in case I need a sick day or something
  • @jaylii my husband didn't take off much for our first and he regrets it. He had maybe 2 weeks or so and then went back to work. He wishes he took at least a month. There's a lot of family adjustment in that first month. If he were home it would've been easier. This baby, hes adjusted his vacations so hes off pretty much mid august thru October (he works for police, 4 days on 4 days off, and gets 10 tours off per year.) Then he goes back to work but come January and his vacations reset, hes taking off more time.
  • My H is able to use FMLA but that would be unpaid and whatever PTO he has accrued, but also he's entitled to NYS paid family leave which provides 50% of pay up to a certain amount for 8 weeks. We both are able to use PTO along with the paid family leave so it can be 100% of our pay which is really nice. I'm thinking he'll take about a month off with me to help get used to newborn + toddler.
  • Paternity leave is not really accepted in my husband’s work culture (he works at a hedge fund) so he will likely take off (ie work remotely) for a few days while I’m in the hospital and shortly after discharge, but after that it’s  business as usual. He has a work trip across several European countries I think 1-1.5 weeks after my EDD, ugh. 

    I’ll try to piece together help from our moms (5 hour plan rides away) but I’m hoping I can otherwise make it work. I guess hiring out help can be a backup option for a short period of time if i have a particularly hard recovery. 
  • I have a desk job and do some of my work from home. Last time I worked up until I delivered, but I went down to half time about 2 weeks before my EDD. I think my last day worked was a Friday, and LO was born very early Monday morning. She was a few days early, so I worked until just over 39 weeks.

    This time I plan to work as long as possible, but I'll probably go to part-time around 38 weeks. I'll have to figure out what schedule will be best. I'd like some one-on-one time with DD before the baby is born, but I'd also LOVE some time to relax and do things by myself before we head into the whirlwind of having a newborn + preschooler. Maybe I can use some of my disability benefits towards that.

    I'm in CA as well, so I get state Disability Insurance for up to 4 weeks before the birth and 6 weeks after, and Paid Family Leave for up to 6 weeks past that, which doesn't have to be used immediately or all at once. I'm not eligible for FMLA so I don't have to worry about those time constraints, and I know my job is safe. I have an Aflac short-term disability policy, too, so I'll be able to tap into that for whatever it gives me. I'm trying to save up what PTO I can, but so far I keep having to use it and we have a vacation planned this summer as well.

    I went back to work for literally a few hours around 6 weeks, because my temporary replacement wasn't available for some time-sensitive stuff. I went back at part-time hours about 8 weeks after DD was born. I spread out my PFL while working part-time as long as I could make it last.

    I'd like to take a little more time off this time. I'm hoping to work from home initially, at least at first, then do more of a mix of at-home and in the office. My maternity leave will probably end up being real leave at first, then me trying to work at home with a newborn, which won't be full-time hours but will take entire days of work.
    2/13 Blighted ovum, D&C -- 6/13 MC -- 8/14 DD born -- 3/17 MC -- 9/18 DD2 born
    Expecting again -- EDD 7/27/20
  • @adirat you'll also get 6-8 weeks of disability but the pay is crap unless you have a short term disability plan. 
  • @adirat they can be used separately, they cannot be used together. You'll have to use your disability first followed by the paid family leave benefit, only because your OB specifies the disability period. But both can be used for the same leave of absence.
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