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When will you stop working near your due date?

2K views 21 replies 10 participants last post by  sarafl 
#1 ·
For those of you who are currently working, when do you plan to stop prior to your due date? Or for those who worked during a previous pregnancy, when did you stop working and why?

I keep hearing multiple people mention (in real life) about stopping work a week before the due date, for example. My boss even made a comment about not really expecting me to work up until the day I go into labor. Maybe I'm a naive first timer, but why couldn't I? I assume I'll be uncomfortable, and not sleeping well, etc., but I work in an office a mile from my house, and could even work from home. My job does normally involve travel occasionally, but obviously that will end well before my due date. We are starting to work on longer term plans to reassign my projects, but there are still some things I could continue working on and just pass off when the baby is ready to come.

I'm trying to wrap my head around if I did stop working a week prior, let's say, or stopped working right at my due date but then didn't actually give birth until a week later, how is that time off counted? Does FMLA time start then? Is it just free time off / sick days (depending on how your employer is)? Tell me about your plans or past experiences.
 
#2 ·
I think FMLA or any maternity leave doesn't start until you actually give birth. I remember asking off early for my last pregnancy (like a month early due to being barely able to walk to the other side of the building) and the HR person said that actual leave doesn't start until the baby's birth, so we compromised and I took off 2 weeks early. But then, as planned, I let them know just after the birth that I wouldn't be returning.

I worked at home with the second, but with the first, I also took a week off before the due date and that weekend after my last day went into labor. I also did not return to that job. I'm not even sure how women return to work. I'm very lucky that I was able to stay home, though I did have some very poor years where I didn't drive, and sometimes didn't leave the house for months at a time. But I wouldn't have done it differently.
 
#3 ·
You can absolutely work up until you give birth if it works for you. In my case, I will have to taper my cases off, transfer clients and do a crap-load of stressful paperwork, so I am planning to take a couple weeks off so I can emotionally and spiritually prepare for birth. But if I had a different kind of job, I would work until labor started as long as my body allowed that. Also, check out your state laws. In my state there are protections that kick in before birth so that you can get time off if you are unable to work due to the strains of pregnancy. My supervisor (her wife just gave birth to twins and also worked at our agency, so she is a great resource for me), told me to talk to HR to get all the info I need.
 
#6 ·
With my oldest, the doctor put me on bed rest a month before my due date, so I had to quit working then. With the second, I got fired over some lies told about me at about 5 months. I didn't even bother looking for a job, because I figured no one would hire me that far along. With my third, I did births up to a month before. I think my last prenatal was a week or two before. So far for this time, my last birth is Novemeber. I am hoping to still get some December and January ones though. I will probably do prenatals right up until birth.
I have had clients call in to work when they go into labor. If you feel up to it, I say go for it. Sitting around the house with nothing to do but wait for a baby is the hardest thing. It really makes a lot of women just become anxious and very impatient.
 
#7 ·
For both previous pregnancies, I worked right up through the day before going into labor (and, for both babies, that was past the EDD).

With my first, I was freelancing, so if I recall correctly, I simply did advance work scheduling up until about a week before my due date; from then on, I was fortunate to get up in the morning, say "Looks like I'm not in labor today; bet I can work," and find last-minute, same day assignments nearly every day. (One of my very last assignments was a pediatrician appointment with a mom I knew slightly--she had had several natural births, and it was so amazing to have her resounding encouragement just a day or two before I had my first natural birth!)

When my second was born, my situation was very different and I was on staff. I had virtually NO paid time off accrued, and was the primary wage earner for my family, so I had no choice--I was going to work absolutely as long as I was physically able. It worked out pretty fortunately again, though. My final day of work was eight days after my daughter's EDD; and I walked 1/4 mile to work, forgot my laptop there, and had a convenient excuse to do another half-mile walk to retrieve it that evening. Walking, walking, walking, cue labor! So I woke up in the morning and called in "having a baby" to work. :)

I plan to work right up until baby's arrival this time, too, the only hitch being that I currently work 90 minutes from home--more if there's bad traffic--and will need to coordinate with my midwife to get a pretty hardcore telework recommendation. Working actually from home will be impossible, but I think I should be able to swing hot-seating about 25 minutes from home for a couple of weeks before the due date.
 
#8 ·
I went to work the morning I started labor, with my 2nd, unsure if it really was labor. I was 8 days "late", and just kept trucking along, shoveling snow, hauling loads of laundry upstairs, and worky worky worky! I also sat in a cubicle all day, answering phones and typing on computers. Not very strenuous.

I gave my notice today at work! Not only because I'm pregnant, but that played a small role. My job is very physically demanding, and honestly I've felt a shift in my physical strength with this pregnancy (much to the dismay of my ego!), so I didn't really feel it fair to my coworkers, and often found myself asking, "what is my role here" with this change in abilities. It was also time for me to move on from this job- this pregnancy is stirring up some changes in my life in my ways. I really am starting to look toward the future, and feel called to make the changes I want to see happen NOW, when I have time to sort out the details of the next step.

Though I had such a wonderful day at work, and felt so much energy and enthusiasm with my work and my coworkers that I feel a little sad about this departure. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a job so much.

Is anybody else feeling completely ready to stop working, but not necessarily due to the pregnancy? There are many energies brewing about us right now, especially ones that call about change. Is that effecting anybody?
 
#14 ·
Is anybody else feeling completely ready to stop working, but not necessarily due to the pregnancy? There are many energies brewing about us right now, especially ones that call about change. Is that effecting anybody?
While I love the person to person aspect of my current job, the demands of my work from a systems level is insanely stressful, underpaid and undervalued so I have been feeling the call to stop for a while. I feel called to do work that is more in line with my values (i.e. not part of a huge system in which I am a cog in the wheel). All that said, I have enormous student loan debt, which is incentive to finish my license so that I can apply for a program that would forgive my debt in two years if I worked f/t at my agency. Unfortunately MA has hoops to jump through which will require an additional year at f/t - aprox 9 months more than CT or VT for me to get my license. Long story short, I do feel the call for a shift, so am trusting it will all happen in the right way, while also being grounded in the realities that could impact my family longterm. My priority in the short term is to stay home with this baby as long as I can.
 
#10 ·
It's hard in a way. But I really embrace change. Nothing stays the same for long, and whatever is coming next is going to be better. My philosophy is always move forward. A new home? It's gotta be an upgrade. A new job? Needs to make more money, or bring deeper happiness. New kid on the way? It's gotta create more beauty.
It's working for me so far! :wink:

My work always accepts volunteers, and provides a delicious vegetarian lunch to its crew, so though I won't technically be working, I'm sure I'll feel enticed to give another few days before it's really impossible.
 
#11 ·
This time I'm a SAHM, but last time I worked until about 38 weeks I think. I knew I wouldn't be back, it was a convenient time (payroll-wise) to quit, and it was a super physically demanding job with lots of stairs and ladders, hauling stuff around (a massively massive Anthropologie. The SF location if anyone has been). About a month before that I cut down on my duties, did more hours in less demanding roles, no more closing shifts, etc.


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#16 ·
I am ready to be a stay at home mommy. Mostly because it may be a possibility if my husband lands a job he is trying to get.. but we won't know until November or so. It would basically replace my income and then some. I might try to work a little bit to pay off debt but chances are I am going to fall in love with this baby and want to stay home. So i am crossing my fingers he gets it. :) If not, we will figure it out and hopefully I can be at home in a few years or so. I do worry that I would get bored but I'm pretty sure I could find a hobby or maybe even a part time job that I love doing just for fun.

I am very burnt out at my job too so it makes it easier. I am working on transferring departments so that might help.
 
#18 ·
I am ready to be a stay at home mommy. Mostly because it may be a possibility if my husband lands a job he is trying to get.. but we won't know until November or so. It would basically replace my income and then some.
I hope your husband gets that job. When we first moved out here, we both made almost nothing and lived in a terrible apartment where all of our neighbors didn't speak English as a first language. Fast forward five years to now and he is making more than we were making together back then. But buying a house and putting kids in daycare has definitely changed the expenses. But we also did the stay at home thing back when we lived in that terrible apartment and it was so wonderful. Just being able to be there with the baby with no other expectations is the best feeling. I really hope that you are able to do that if that's what you want to do.
 
#20 ·
Forest, I'm feeling that sage wisdom so much with this pregnancy, and experienced it directly after the births of my boys. They sprinkle magic dust everywhere, and our blissful state of euphoria allows us to soak those particles in, and BAM! wonderment happens.

I feel so fortunate after reading each of your reasons for not whole heartedly jiving with work. The political stuff at my work is pretty well under wrap, and it's a non profit sustainable community, which aligns wonderfully with my life perspective. This is more like that sage wisdom of change and powerful motivation that Forest is talking bout.

Here's hoping that job comes through! And you won't get bored! You'll have so much other things on the to do list, most importantly LOVING THAT SWEET ONE, that the time you stay home would fly right on by!
 
#21 ·
I was working while pregnant with #1 . He was due mid-September, and my plan was to work through the end of August, taking vacation for the pre-birth days (i got 8 weeks short term disability after birth). However, my water broke at the end of June, so I called my boss and said, "Um... I won't be at work today... or ever again." They already knew I wasn't coming back, and thankfully they had already had another guy learning about my portion of the project, so everything was covered.
 
#22 ·
Since my job doesn't offer any paid time off, my ideal would be to work as long as possible, and then go into labor at the end of a weekend shift. I want to be able to spend as much time as possible home with the baby, after all.

Luckily I'll be able to go back at pretty much whatever pace I want, so while I'll have to go back earlier than I want, I think it will only be two nights a week at first.
 
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