Just wondering, did your doctor take you out of work prior to your due date? If so, why?
With my first pregnancy, I worked full time until one week before my due date, and was taken out of work at that time due to pregnancy induced hypertension (which eventually developed into preeclampsia.) I was 32 when I had him. I'm 38 now, and considered 'advanced maternal age.' Aka, old.
This time around, I am feeling SOOOOO done with work, I am working PT (30 hrs/wk), AND I'm only 23 weeks along! I am experiencing a huge compulsion to nest right now. And we will have a lot going on in the next few months, from the holidays, to moving to a new house, to my son's birthday, to me losing my job and transitioning to SAHM (yeah!) Anyhow, things are really stressful right now at work, with my whole department moving across the state, and none of my co-workers moving with it. Stress levels are high, and morale is in the proverbial $hitter. It is very hard to keep doing work when you know your job is leaving. Additionally, our workload has increased tremendously in preparation for the move. So I'm STRESSED! And I don't want to be here!!!
I am thinking of discussing the possibility of my doctor taking me out of work before my due date. Not yet, of course, as I know that couldn't be medically justified. And I'm NOT wishing for a medical condition that would warrant being taken out of work. But I'm thinking that by mid-December, I'd really like to be DONE. I'm scheduled to deliver January 30th, so that would give me 6 solid weeks to rest and get things organized at home, get through Christmas and my son's birthday without the added stress of work, and my hour long commute each way.
Have any of you done anything like this? I know I have no idea what my condition will be at that point, but if I'm still a-ok health-wise, I'm wondering if maybe my doctor will still consider 'allowing' me to stop working, say, for general precaution, with my past history of pregnancy induced hypertension, preeclampsia, increasing stress level at work, long commute in the winter months, etc...
Any thoughts? And please don't beat me up... I'm just done with this job that I'm losing soon anyhow and can think of a million better things to be doing with my days...
I am eligible for benefits as a part time employee (I work 30 hours/week), as well as FMLA. I have no sick leave, and no vacation. However, I am on my husbands medical insurance, so that wouldn't affect me. I am entitled to time off for maternity, but it is unpaid, so leaving work early would not affect any benefits I currently have or would be entitled to. I can't quit, because I'd forfeit my severance package that I'm entitled to as a displaced worker, which I refuse to do. What I'd be giving up by leaving work in mid-December is 3 paychecks. Sure, I 'need' them, but in the grand scheme, I'm losing this job. Three paychecks won't put us out on the street. We're already working on how we'll get along money-wise when my job is gone.
Thank you Tracy, I hadn't considered just taking the FMLA... And since I won't need all of the FMLA I'm entitled to for after the baby comes (since I'm losing this job anyhow), I may just consider taking some of the FMLA. But then, that requires my supervisors approval, and I may not get that with everything going on, but don't know about that unless I ask. It's a possibility worth exploring. (As I think about it, though, I think you have to have a medical condition that 'qualifies' under FMLA to use it... maternity and paternity leave falls under family leave/bonding, so I couldn't claim that before the baby comes, either... not sure whether I'd be able to just request FMLA if I don't have a medical condition warranting it...)
I worked until I was 1 week overdue with all 3 of mine. I hated it, but I didn't have a choice.
If you want to stop working, look up the rules for Family Medical Leave Act and see what the requirements are. You and dad are both entitled to a certain amount of time even without any medical emergency. I just don't know the particulars.
No. I wanted to work right up until I was in labor because I wanted as much time home with the baby as possible.
As it happened, I thought maybe I'd have another week (I thought I'd be late - I had no signs that labor was getting closer), I worked on Friday then went into labor at about 5am Monday morning.
36 hours later our son was born (exactly on his predicted due date) and I was out on FLMA leave for 12 weeks - most of it was paid time off since I had worked for a long time before starting a family and had sick and vacation time accrued,
Well, I worked until the day I went into labor - it was exhausting but I wanted to make the most of my maternity leave and I needed to work (and keep my very good job, benefits and all) even after baby was born....
If you only work part time are you even eligible for any maternity benefits at work? If you work with a company that offers benefits for part timers (which is very generous, I don't hear that often) I would hold on to that if I could.
But if you don't get benefits to begin with (like most part timers I know) then it's a question of whether you can afford to stop working. In that case the decision is up to you (maybe in collaboration with your spouse) and if you can afford not to work just quit! No doctors permission needed to quit a job...
FMLA can certainly kick in before the baby comes. I stopped working about a week before mine came, and FMLA kicked in then. Now, 10 weeks early isn't going to help you. 4-6 weeks early might. (And frankly, being so stressed out might be enough for your doctor to give you the okay. )
Even though we live in Delaware now, we were in NJ for both of my pregnancies. Disability in NJ works differently than apparently anywhere else in the nation in that everyone pays into it similarly to unemployment. Therefore, everyone is entitled to draw from it (with doctor's forms being completed of course) & maternity is included. Every woman in the state is entitled to leave work 4 weeks before her due date (if you deliver late those a just kind of "bonus weeks") and 6 weeks after delivery for vaginal or 8 for c-section, assuming no complications.
For example: my due date with my youngest was February 10th. I went out on Maternity leave January 13th & began collecting disability which is about 75% of your regular pay. I didn't deliver until February 27th and it was by c-section so I didn't go back to work until April 25th & continued collecting disability until the day I returned to work.
Because the state laws work the way they do there, I'm not aware of any woman who would work past her 8th month of pregnancy, but I do know how wonderfully lucky I was to have both of my babies in a state that takes care of it's women a little better than most.
At my company, I had to use FMLA for my maternity leave.
Do you have sick leave hours? Vacation hours? Personal leave that you will be losing? I would just make sure that whatever you do, your company doesn't consider it quitting.
I get the whole 'DONE!' feeling. I was RIF'd in 2009. We had to keep working until our boss said that we were officially done with our work. If we got tired of it all and just left early then it would've been considered quitting and we would get nothing, no unemployment, etc. I had to report to work for 10 months while they figured out if I was done or not. They decided not and rehired me.
I worked full time at an animal hospital until a week beore my due date, when I went to half time. My doctor wasn't crazy about my working at an animal hospital, but that was the job I had, and I sure as hell couldn't afford to leave it.
I handle the FMLA at our work and yes you do have to have a medical condition that would require you to be off work completely, but if you can get your doc to do it, then you could use it before hand.
My doctor put me on part-time only at my 36 week appointment because my BP was suddenly elevated. At 37 weeks, he put me on full bedrest because my BP was still elevated and I had a small amount of protein in my urine...the beginning of preeclampsia. We ended up inducing at 37.5 weeks because of it.
I would just talk to your doctor closer to time and see what his thoughts are. Perhaps explain the environment that you are in and get his thoughts. I imagine a high stress environment with your history, is not the best place for you later in your pregnancy.
Good Luck!
