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Permalink Reply by CaseyK on November 15, 2011 at 12:10pm

I think this is a very personal thing that differs from one person to the next, depending on what your finances will allow and how easy the pregnancy is. I'm 29 weeks along with my first, and everything is in good shape right now (cervix, placenta, blood sugars, blood pressure), so if I stay the course, my doctor is in full agreement that I can go to the point of delivery before taking maternity leave. However, if things change (and they might), I'm prepared to take leave early. As it is, although my due date is early February, I know that full term is 38 weeks, so I'm putting plans in place to be gone after the third week in January. Best laid plans and all...she may decide to come early, which throws EVERYTHING out the window :)

Because I work for a large enough company, I am going to take a full 12 weeks of leave. I have about 9 weeks of paid leave accrued, but I qualify under the Family Medical Leave Act for up to 12 weeks, so I'm taking it. Financially, we can make that work, and between the D, my age (39) and this probably being the only one I have, I want to take as much time as I can. Truth be told, I'll probably work from home some starting about week 6 if everything works out okay, since I'm the only one who does my job, and I'll be staying up on emails the entire time I'm gone.

Permalink Reply by Lisa L. on November 15, 2011 at 6:10pm

Congratulations on your pregnancy! I wouldn't anticipate that women with diabetes would have any longer maternity leave than normal, unless you are required to be on bed rest or have any other condition that may prevent you from working.

I had a somewhat unusual set of circumstances with my first. My water broke at 35.5 weeks and she was in the special care nursery for several days due to jaundice. I took another week off before I was back to the office part time (it was 1/2 block from my house and I'm self-employed so I could set my hours between nursing). I was able to work part time for the first year.

I'm anticipating you should start having more prenatal appointments. I had 1 dr appt per month until 32 weeks, where I went in 1-3x per week for fetal monitoring.

Permalink Reply by Super_sally on November 18, 2011 at 3:04am

I didn't get maternity leave. I live in Philippines and am manager of a small business. If I don't work, things don't get done. Anyway my water broke one night on my way home from the office (38 weeks exactly). Had the baby 24 hours later and back at work three days later. But I live close to work and was able to arrange flexitime, including returning home at lunchtime for breastfeeding.

Permalink Reply by Kд§$ị (ИσvΔ) on November 18, 2011 at 4:17am

Wow. I'm really sorry to hear that. In Canada, you are given up to 52 weeks maternity leave after giving birth. I recently discovered that I can actually take 2 weeks (or so) of doctor recommended medical leave prior to my due date so that I do not have to use my maternity leave. Unfortunately, I live very close to work, but my job does not permit breaks, or returning home at any time during work. Child care is extremely expensive here. It costs almost as much as you'd make working.

Permalink Reply by Kristin on November 18, 2011 at 5:51pm

I live in Hungary, which has very generous maternity leave (2 years!). Given the way things work here, my endo did not want me to work during pregnancy at all. I managed to convince her to let me work until month 4 and then I worked from home.

I can tell you that I was happy not to need to go into work in the last months. I would recommend using some of the 52 weeks for before the birth if you can.

My son is now 5 months old and I'm home with him almost full time (since he was three months old, I work one day a week and my mother-in-law comes to be with him then). I could not imagine going back to work earlier, but we are different and not everyone has the opportunity to be home. BUT if you do, then I would say that the first 3-4 months are very intense and I would recommend taking advantage of the option to stay home.

It is really a personal decision, but you will need childcare support when you return to work. In Hungary, there is no day care that takes a baby before the baby is 6 months old (as it is expected that the mother is home with the baby). So when I wanted to return to work part time, I had very few childcare options. Unless you have very supportive childcare that you can afford, then returning to work is quite stressful.

Hope this helps!

Permalink Reply by Kд§$ị (ИσvΔ) on November 19, 2011 at 10:59am

Thank you, Kristin! I must say, I am very jealous that your country gives two years! That's impressive! I had planned on trying to qualify for medical leave for the last little bit of my pregnancy. Here it is common for women to work full time up to 37-38 weeks (about 14 days before the due date). I have to have follow-up with my doctors still about when they suggest I stop working, and when to start at least scaling back my hours. Thankfully with the advent of winter, my boss has scaled back some of my duties (taking out garbages, lifting boxes) because it is icy out. I am planning to save as much of my maternity leave as I can for after the baby is born, but I won't sacrifice my health if it is recommended I stop working sooner. I was originally told that I would have to stop working around 6 months (I am 4 months tomorrow) but that was before I got pregnant, and it has been a nightmare trying to get in to see an endo here. I suspect that I may have to travel a few hours out of town to reach an endo sooner.

Sugars are good, but I am very tired a lot of the time. I find I can only stay up for short stints, for about 4 hours at a time before it becomes a chore to stay awake. I nap several times a day, when I have the option.