How soon before your due date did you go on maternity leave?

[Deleted]

How soon before your due date did you go on maternity leave?

[malibu]

I worked until 3 p.m. the day I went to the hospital. Was supposed to leave at noon. Damn job.

[candreco]

I worked up to the baby being born both times, though with DS I was working from home under doctor's strong suggestion.

ETA: I will add that DD was born on her due date, DS was two days early.  I don't know what I would have done if I had gone past my due date.

[Deleted]

SS. Between 0 - 1 week before. The nature of my job requires someone there daily and I had to give an end date so they could schedule a replacement. I left at 39 weeks, had my baby at 39 weeks, 5 days. This time, I'm cutting it closer- last day will be 39 weeks, 5 days.

[ECB]

I worked past my due date. Doctor told me to stop working on a Friday. I had DS the following Tuesday.

I didn't want to waste ANY time before. I wanted to save as much of my leave for after he was actually here.

[eddy]

Worked until the bitter bitter end.

[polka]

I worked up until my first baby was born (which I had been planning to do, if possible). When my second was born, I was already using leave time because I was on modified bed rest.

They were both born 4 days before their due dates.

[Deleted]

Baby # 1 I worked up until the day he was born. Luckily he came on my days off so I didn't go into labor at work.

Baby #2 was late and I was leaving to be a SAHM so I left a week before she was born. But I wish she had came on time so I didn't have to be induced.


It was REALLLLLLLLY nice having a week off before she got here. However, I had quit working. So if I was on maternity leave I would not want to give up a week with the baby to be home by myself. Everyone is different though.

[Redpoppy]

I was working half time from home at that point. The OB wanted to write me out of work completely but I asked her not to so I didn't burn through all my sick time. I worked the day before I went into the hospital.

[daisybuchannan]

I was due September 21st and finished the school year in June. I never intended to go back to work September 1st to work for a few weeks, but I know some teachers that have done something similar.

I had some pretty serious swelling and discomfort that really would have made it impossible/unsafe for me to work past 36/37 weeks.

[pinkflats]

SS 0-1 week-My due date was the Monday after Thanksgiving, if I didn't go into labor myself I was to be induced that Tuesday. The day before Thanksgiving was my last day.

[noodleskooze]

SS--I am a teacher, so I was out of school by May and had my son in July.

[donthasslethehoff]

I was late, but worked up until my 41 week appointment. I went in on a Thursday and they said they would be inducing me the following day. I left the Dr's office, went to our Thursday happy hour and let me boss know that that day was my last day.

Unless you have a very loose maternity policy and you're still capable of working, I think taking time off before the baby is born isn't worth it. Personally, I preferred the time off after. I think if I would have taken time off before, I would have been driving myself insane waiting for the baby to show up. Everyone is different, though.

[Overthemoon]

I took a month off with my first pregnancy, and I have zero regrets. I was pretty sick the whole pregnancy and between that and the heat of a GA summer, I was so worn out. I was also leaving my job to be a SAHM so I didn't have to worry about using up leave time or anything.

[Kristinmo]

I worked 1 week past my due date both times.

[saucyc]

I waited until I had my baby before going on ML so I could have the maximum amount of time allowed to spend with them.

[underwaterrhymes]

Haaaaaa.

I was training my coworker the morning i was in labor and sending work emails from my phone at 4:30 AM before I gave birth at 8:30 AM.

[noodleoo]

You need a SS for those of us without kids who want to see the answers.

ETA: How much maternity leave do you get?  Most of my friends worked as long as they could because they wanted to save their time.  But I feel like law is one of the fields where they try to accommodate mothers with generous ML policies.

[cville]

L, 1.5 weeks.

O, 2 weeks.

Both times because I went into labor. With each I intended to work until the Friday before my due date. But the kids didn't cooperate.

[vanillacourage]

Both times I worked up to my due date, and would have kept going except my boss(es) told me that I was done, but didn't have to take PTO for it.  In both cases I had a summer intern who was ready to literally sit at my desk and take over, so it was actually more efficient for the office to just hand things completely off and chill at home. 

I wouldn't take off a chunk of time before the baby is there, because unless you have a super-generous ML policy you could burn 2+ weeks of your leave just sitting at home waiting to go into labor, which does not help what is an already semi-anxious time.

[marshmallowmars]

I worked until the bitter end.  I worked a full day, got home and went into labor about 8pm. DS was born at 4:30am.  I was exhausted and wonder if taking a few days off in advance to relax and/or sleep would have been smarter. But I wanted to save all my leave for when the baby came.

[Deleted]

I worked up until the day I delivered both times and will do that again.

[wambam]

Jan 17, 2014 13:16:50 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

You need a SS for those of us without kids who want to see the answers.

Agreed

[wkatie]

#1 - last day in office was due date, baby was born 5 days later.
#2 - work until 38 weeks, had contractions/false labor all that week. Baby was born 10 days early, 2 days after my last day in office.

[copperboom]

I was planning on being a SAHM, so I left my job two months before my due date. If I had been planning on going back, I would have worked until I delivered so I could use all of my leave with the baby.

[Deleted]

DD was early, so 2 weeks earlier than expected but I worked until my water broke.

[oregonpachey]

With DS#1 I worked up until the day I went on leave.
DS#2 was a scheduled c/s, so I started maternity leave the day before my c/s.

[thatgirl2478]

My boss let me work from home for the 2 weeks before I was due.  Since I ended up being induced, I worked from home up until induction day.  However, since most of my responsibilities had been transferred to others, it wasn't really 'work'...

[VeryViolet]

I worked until the Friday before I was induced on Monday. It was easy to plan because I scheduled the induction about 10 days out (I have chronic high blood pressure so my doctor didn't want me to go past my due date). Physically I think I would have been fine working until I went into labor on my own (I work a desk job so I was no more uncomfortable here than at home). However, I was so done being pregnant I told them my last day in the office was my due date before my doctor scheduled the induction. I was just an uncomfortable, angry, hormonal mess at the end.

[janegold]

I'm disappointed that I can't see the results of this poll because I have never had a baby and cannot vote.