Right now the plan is to work right up to my due date. Thankfully, because I have a year off I'm not overly worried about burning through my time off if baby comes late. I thought about starting mat leave at 39 weeks, but the way July falls if I work right up until 40 weeks it makes it a 5-pay month for me so we'd have an extra week in the bank.
Post by liverandonions on Feb 24, 2015 12:03:43 GMT -5
My plan last time was to go out 12/21 with several days off for holidays and my EDD of 1/28-if a doctor writes you out early it doesn't affect the leave after baby is born at my job anyway. We have to use 5 days of our PTO before STD will kick in so I would have been taking off about 3 weeks off. I ended up with a kidney infection at the beginning of December and was written off on 12/5. She was born 4 weeks early on 12/30 so I'm glad that happened!
Doc said it's highly likely I'll go early again with this one so i'll probably do WFH at the beginning of August and plan to go out about 3 weeks early again-my doc will write me out.
Post by 5kcandlesinthewind on Feb 24, 2015 12:17:37 GMT -5
I'm planning to take at least the week before my due date off, but it's going to depend on how I'm feeling by then. We can take up to 2 weeks before our leave using sick/personal/vacation time, and I have plenty of sick time banked (almost a month as of right now) if I decide to go out for the full two weeks. Since I'm an oooooolllldd they've already told me they won't let me go much past my due date, so I won't have to worry about using it all up before and then hanging out waiting for two more weeks for him to make his appearance.
This is the other thing that sucks about 'maternity leave' in the US. You're pretty much forced to work right up until you deliver if you don't want to start your FMLA clock before baby arrives.
So, I'll be working until the bitter end. I think I might try to telework as much as possible once I reach my EDD.
The biggest logistical obstacle I'll have is that my laptop needs to physically be on the network at least once a month so there might be some issues getting it back on the network when I officially start leave but that can be managed.
I will work until the end. I wish I could have taken a week off before to have one last relaxing week for just me, but I want the full 12 weeks with the baby and I can't extend my leave, unfortunately.
I'm not sure. I'm due May 16 but I'd like to go out early if I can. My family has a history of delivering early and I also just dont' think I'll be up for dealing with this job at that time. However, I'm not sure how our maternity leave policy works if I want to go out early. I think I can use my PTO and maybe take time as unpaid, but that would start my FMLA clock before the delivery. So I'm not sure exaclty how to plan all this, which is frustrating. I've been asking benefits questions via email so I have a paper trail, but their explanations have not been super clear.
My plan right now is to work up until I have the baby. I actually work right across the courtyard from the hospital I'll be delivering at, so in a way the most convenient thing would be going into labor at work and just walking (or waddling, most likely) over there and checking in. Of course it probably won't happen that way.
I would love to stop working earlier, but don't get any paid maternity leave and need to save my vacation/sick days for after the baby comes.
Ended up I was on bed rest for one day 37w, 6d thinking I might be on bed rest for a week and ended up going to deliver 38w flat (the Sun following Fri bedrest) after my water broke.
I wouldn't have changed working to the end, but I would have taken it a lot easier and more aggressively passed projects to colleagues the last couple weeks.
Post by estrellita on Feb 24, 2015 12:56:24 GMT -5
I left work in early labor, haha. ML at my work doesn't include any time before baby is born, only after. I would have had to take PTO to go out before. I already have to use one week PTO for leave, plus it's so early in the year that I wanted to save the rest of my PTO for later instead. It sucked to be at work up until the last day, but now I have more time to spend with E
Post by Velar Fricative on Feb 24, 2015 13:00:24 GMT -5
I worked until my due date. I was induced and DD arrived 12 days after my EDD but I still felt great enough to work up until the end if I were permitted by my employer to work past my EDD. Those days of boredom at home were miserable.
This time, I'm with a new employer and there is no policy on when I have to leave work, so if everything goes just as smoothly as it did last time, I want to work until the very end this time. Considering the total lack of progress I experienced last time, I am incredibly doubtful that I will go into labor on my own this time too, so I'm not worried about my water breaking at work or anything (though yes, I know anything can happen!).
This is the other thing that sucks about 'maternity leave' in the US. You're pretty much forced to work right up until you deliver if you don't want to start your FMLA clock before baby arrives.
Post by hainesherway on Feb 24, 2015 13:06:26 GMT -5
I'm planning to work all the way up to my due date, unless I have complications. I have placenta previa, but have had no symptoms thus far to indicate I'll need to be put on bed rest.
Post by starburst604 on Feb 24, 2015 13:54:03 GMT -5
My plan is to work until I go into labor, with the understanding that if I'm feeling awful toward the ends, some of that work will be from home. I want to maximize my maternity leave for when the baby is here though.
Post by hbomdiggity on Feb 24, 2015 13:59:38 GMT -5
My leave is a straight proration of billable hours so I am trying to bank as much as possible before I go out. That way I can extend my leave or come back slightly reduced for the remainder of the year.
I'm working until I go into labor. However, I have the ability to work from home. My boss let me start over a month ago with 3 days / week at home. Since yesterday, I will be WFH full time until this baby is here.
Jealous!
I'm thinking I'll pull the trigger on something like that in a week or two.
Post by smiledamnit on Feb 24, 2015 16:25:51 GMT -5
Another "work until I pop"er here. My boss is open to a modified schedule (e.g. more work from home) if necessary, but I've not felt the need to take advantage of it yet. As the weather craps out and my commute gets longer, I may revisit the option though (...honestly, mostly because I'm having a hard time going more than an hour without peeing and the thought of peeing myself in the car gives me nightmares).
Last time I worked until Thursday after my due date, my due date was the Sunday before. My boss who is awesome but a toxic bachelor said something like "You are making me uncomfortable, I am just not sure I want the responsibility of helping you to the hospital or anything... just go. leave, please. Don't worry about the leave." We didn't get much maternity leave so I was determined to not blow any of it until the baby was born. I was like "score!, Peace!" That was the beginning of my shift Thursday, I went into labor late Friday night.
Ha. It still makes me laugh today, almost 7 years later. The fear in his eyes was real.
This time I will probably work from home starting the week of my due date. We are pretty flexible like that.
I will teach until the end, but I've decided to stop taking doula clients once I reach third tri. The work is too physical and the hours and too long and unpredictable.
Post by feistypants on Feb 24, 2015 18:50:29 GMT -5
My last scheduled day is 3/15, because the current plan is for an induction on 3/17. If we push my induction date, I may push my maternity leave a little bit. We'll see.