How close to your due date are you going to work?
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Cat:982ab641-9368-4d63-9123-280cf0ac364aForum:85f7c5b4-abd3-456b-860e-4cd13acf5dd0Discussion:22bef34f-94e0-4806-8405-0f2052d6f4ef
Pregnancy
How close to your due date are you going to work?
Curious to know - how close to your due date are you all planning to work? I read/hear about people stopping work a few weeks before, but I don't have that luxury because I only have 11 weeks ma
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How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/3/2009 11:15 AM EST
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Posts: 261
First: 1/1/2009 Last: 11/19/2009 |
Curious to know - how close to your due date are you all planning to work? I read/hear about people stopping work a few weeks before, but I don't have that luxury because I only have 11 weeks maternity leave and I feel like I don't want to "waste" any of that time BEFORE he's born. (And of course, if he comes late, then that's even more lost time with him.) So I'm basically planning to work until he gets here. How bout you guys? |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/3/2009 11:35 AM EST
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Posts: 1510
First: 4/2/2007 Last: 11/23/2009 |
kaydo - I'm in the same boat as you. My maternity leave policy leaves a lot to be desired so I'm planning on 12 weeks total which will probably max out my sick time and possibly vacation as well. If I need to leave my office in a cab to get me to MGH with labor pains, I will! Obviously, though, I know that life can have other plans, but that's what the plan is for now. |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/3/2009 11:37 AM EST
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Posts: 847
First: 4/4/2007 Last: 11/23/2009 |
I too would like to work as close to the due date as possible. Since I already know that I will with either be induced or have a c-section at 38 weeks I have an advantage. I just hope that my blood pressure cooperates and I don't get put on bed rest. I have a feeling that at some point they will tell me to stop working. It's funny you brought this up because I have been going back and forth with my boss on what we are going to do. I work in a small office and there is nobody to cover what I do. I suggested working from home with a laptop in exchange for paid maternity leave. So I am not sure what we are going to do but I keep telling him we have to figure out soon! |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/3/2009 11:54 AM EST
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Posts: 261
First: 1/1/2009 Last: 11/19/2009 |
OCC - That's rough, about there being no one to cover you. I'm in a similar boat - there are 8 people in our company (total) and basically 5 of them are covering various indidivual aspects of my job while I'm out. Problem is, I have to get all of them situated/trained before leaving and it's been REALLY hard to find the time to do that PLUS get my actual work done right now. I have, however, been trying to mentally prepare my boss for the very real possibility that I might deliver before my due date. She's an older woman with no kids, she's been piling work on me like crazy lately as she gets panicky about me leaving (if I had a buck for every time she cornered me on a Friday and asked me if she could send me something over the weekend to "finish by Monday" - argh!) and I think she's just starting to grasp the idea that time is running out (and that she also needs to back off a little). But it's been frustrating. |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/3/2009 12:02 PM EST
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Posts: 847
First: 4/4/2007 Last: 11/23/2009 |
The only good thing about it is that I can do my job in my sleep. My job isn't very demanding or difficult. My boss is really great because he is the one saying that he really wants me to have the time off to myself. When I ask him what's the alternative or who are we going to get in here he cringes. The fact that he has already agreed to let me work part time 3 days a week is great so I figured I would just get a laptop and do most of it from home and come in and get what I need. If I could do that for 3 months paid I'll take it. Have you talked to your boss about starting to rely on the others as the time gets close? How are you supposed to train the others when you are swamped? |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/3/2009 12:14 PM EST
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Posts: 261
First: 1/1/2009 Last: 11/19/2009 |
Well, that's nice of your boss! I will say that when my iron was low and I was really exhausted, they did agree to let me work from home in the mornings, and that's been a huge help. I actually just asked today if I can continue doing so for these last few weeks of my pregnancy (the anemia has subsided, thank god, but the baby is huge and I'm FEELING it). So we'll see. Unfortunately, everyone at my job is swamped. It's a nonprofit, most of us are doing jobs that could easily be done by 3 people, there's just not much we can do but deal with it. I feel guilty making other people deal with aspects of my job while I'm out so I'm trying to make the transition as easy as possible for other people... and making myself crazy in the process. :) By the by, I'm fairly certain I started the process of "lightening" today... I rolled out of bed this morning and was like, WHOA, this baby is LOW! I can really feel the difference and it's been really hard to get around this morning. Eek. |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/3/2009 12:54 PM EST
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Posts: 153
First: 6/4/2008 Last: 11/19/2009 |
In Response to Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?: The only good thing about it is that I can do my job in my sleep. My job isn't very demanding or difficult. My boss is really great because he is the one saying that he really wants me to have the time off to myself. When I ask him what's the alternative or who are we going to get in here he cringes. The fact that he has already agreed to let me work part time 3 days a week is great so I figured I would just get a laptop and do most of it from home and come in and get what I need. If I could do that for 3 months paid I'll take it. Have you talked to your boss about starting to rely on the others as the time gets close? How are you supposed to train the others when you are swamped? Posted by onecoolchick I just want to warn you about promising to work during your maternity leave. It's great that your boss is open to it and would be fantastic if you could get paid for the time, but you aren't going to have nearly as much time as you think you will. When you first get home, the baby is going to sleep alot and you will have a fair amount of time to work, but you're also going to be exhausted from feeding the baby every 3 - 4 hours. Once the baby stops sleeping as much and starts getting more interested in his/her surroundings and YOU(!), it's going to get harder and harder to find time to get work done. If your boss has children, he may realize that you are being overly-optimistic about how much time you'll have to actually work. I was supposed to be in the office the day before I delivered, but ended up in L&D triage instead. The day I delivered, I worked from home. After getting home from the hospital, I worked on responding to emails and forwarding them to someone who could take care of them. I also negotiated a couple of contracts in that first month (this only required a few 1/2 hour chunks of time every couple of days...not extremely time-consuming). AFTER that, though, I suddenly had NO time whatsoever and also decided that I really wanted to spend time with the babies. If your job doesn't have deadlines and if you can work in the evenings after DH is home, you may be able to swing it, but I would advise against making any promises until you know what it's like and how your baby's temperament is. If you have a colicky baby (mine weren't thank god!), you aren't going to have time to do anything but console him/her. Anyway...just my two cents.... |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/3/2009 1:45 PM EST
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Posts: 847
First: 4/4/2007 Last: 11/23/2009 |
Thanks for the input Daisy. My boss is definitely thinking what you are saying. The only reason I am offering and think I will be able to swing it is because my MIL lives with us and she doesn't work. She will be a big help. I don't have a very heavy workload and certainly don't have any deadlines. I keep going back and forth and I know we need to figure out what we are going to do either way sooner than later.
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/4/2009 11:19 AM EST
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Posts: 99
First: 8/4/2008 Last: 11/23/2009 |
I planned to work right up to my delivery date or as close to it as possible. However, I ended up leaving work about a week before my due date (and almost two weeks before I gave birth). I was having some complications from gestational diabetes and required a lot of monitoring, extra ultrasounds and such. Plus it was the middle of winter and snowstorms were making it difficult to get to work anyway. I was lucky in that my work has very liberal sick leave and maternity leave policies. I was able to use sick time for the two weeks before I actually delivered and my 12 wk maternity leave started the day I delivered. I agree with the people who said it may be difficult to work from home during your leave. Unless there's absolutely no way around it due to finances, you really need that time for yourself and your baby. It really is such a blur...I don't know what I would have done if I had to work that soon after giving birth. I needed and wanted every single minute of my leave to be about my new family. |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/4/2009 12:53 PM EST
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Posts: 13
First: 9/15/2009 Last: 11/20/2009 |
Kaydo - you are due the day before me, so you have the same situation: Thanksgiving is the end of the week before d-day. So you would have 1 workday before your due date after Thanksgiving, and I have 2. My plan is to see what the doc says at my appointment on the 25th, and go from there. As of yesterday my baby has "dropped" and I am 1 cm dilated. :-) I'm hoping I have him a week early! I don't want to waste any of my 12 weeks with the baby either. But I also don't want to go into labor at my desk. |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/4/2009 1:09 PM EST
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Posts: 128
First: 5/30/2008 Last: 11/12/2009 |
I think most woman work up to their delivery or when they are put on bed rest. Few are the lucky ones who can take time off before the baby arrives without being on bedrest. I had a huge project due the Friday before I was due (which was a Monday). My crazy boss at the time had no concept that pregnant woman don't like to work 10+ hour days, with no lunch, when they're 10 mo pregnant...every day when I waddled in everyone breathed a sigh of relief that I was there to complete the project. I had the chief of police (I worked on an Army base) of the base constantly checking on me asking me not to go into labor in the office since that'd be a lot of paper work for him (he was kinda joking). Others were asking me to go into labor in meetings to distract everyone from the issue at hand. Finished the project Friday...had the weekend, Sunday I was complaining to DH that I didn't want to go to work on my due date-DH said I should just stop working then...well, Sunday night went into labor. Monday morning DS was born-I still had to call into work to let them know I wasn't going to be there shortly after giving birth or else I would have been charged AWOL-even though I'm a civilian. As for working on maternity leave-Daisy put it well- you won't really have that much time unless you can work odd hours. I spent my entire maternity leave applying for new jobs-when baby would sleep I would apply-I got no rest when I should have been resting. Resting is really important! Even when the little one gets older and you don't feel so tired-you still need that rest. While I'm thankful I did the work to get a new job (with relatively sane people), I often felt bad that I was so distracted when playing with the baby. |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/4/2009 1:45 PM EST
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Posts: 19
First: 7/15/2009 Last: 11/18/2009 |
I worked up until my DD was born. It was tough the last week, when I was really feeling done with being pregnant, but it wasn't undoable. I agree with everyone else who mentions that you might not have much time to work from home while on leave. First, even if you have a quick labor, it isn't called labor for nothing. I was exhausted, and my labor was quick. I can't imagine what a long labor would take to recover from. And OCC > if you have a C-section you might have more difficulties due to recovery from the surgery (can't lift anything over a certain weight, can't pick things up from the floor/over your head etc. (these were restrictions on my friend who had knee surgery, a less invasive procedure than a c-section) Second, I found it hard enough to do really simple things while on leave, like make my own breakfast/lunch and shower, since I was up most nights and trying to sleep when the baby slept during the day. Once she finally got her days and nights straight, it was time for me to go back to work (11 weeks leave). |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/5/2009 4:48 PM EST
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Posts: 1
First: 11/5/2009 Last: 11/5/2009 |
HI- First congrats to all of you on your upcoming deliveries. I have 3 kids and worked up until my due date with all 3 (with all of them, I worked the day before delivery and went into labor at night). As far as working initially when the baby is born. I did this with my 3rd (I felt fine and was used to being tired) but I did bring him to work when he was just a couple weeks old and he ended up getting very sick (he had a bad cold which went to his lungs and he ended up in the ICU). He may have picked up the cold from his older sisters but I always felt guilty that if I hadnt worked so soon, maybe he wouldnt have gotten sick. Best of luck to you all |
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Hijacking "Working to Due Date" Thread with Health Insurance Question
posted at 11/6/2009 10:41 AM EST
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Posts: 136
First: 5/30/2008 Last: 11/17/2009 |
OK, since I can't seem to start a new thread (AHEM, BDC?), I figured I would post this query under the closest topic. It's Open Enrollment Season, and I'm 99% sure that we're going to continue with our existing health insurance (DH's company pays 95% and it's a good plan -- BCBS, PPO). Here's my question for the PG ladies -- what types of things have you been surprised to find weren't covered/reimbursable by your HI provider? I'm going to call reps from all the plans and ask about various maternity services, but I'm not even sure what to ask. Sorry for the hijack. :) |
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/6/2009 11:07 AM EST
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Posts: 261
First: 1/1/2009 Last: 11/19/2009 |
Childbirth preparation classes and a breast pump. I really would have thought there'd be SOME coverage for those things but Harvard Pilgrim gave me a big fat no on both counts.
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/6/2009 11:20 AM EST
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Posts: 237
First: 5/18/2007 Last: 11/18/2009 |
Hi GC--I have BCBS and have been very happy with their coverage. (I got $90 toward childbirth class and they have covered the rental of my hospital-grade pump [or would have paid for a Medela PIS, but I already had one].) The one thing that surprised me is that there is no coverage for lactation consultation, either through my insurance or my son's insurance. If the overwhleming recommendation is that breastfeeding is best for babies, I don't see why they wouldn't cover services (even if not fully) to ensure that mothers are able to breastfeed and have the support to stick with it.
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Re: How close to your due date are you going to work?
posted at 11/6/2009 12:55 PM EST
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Posts: 136
First: 5/30/2008 Last: 11/17/2009 |
OK, so the classes, the breast pump, and lactation consulting ... excellent information, thanks! The plans all have set things they TELL you about that they do, but no one ever says, hey, by the way, you're scr*wed on the following ... PS, I will repeat my urging to anyone who has flex account options through their employer to take advantage of them. I have both medical flex account options, and a dependent care option, and I am loving life. Of course, I have to choose NOW for 2010 so that's a bit frustrating, but oh well. |