A work question for those of you that went back/are thinking about it

[shimmy]

My employers are happy for me to come back part time
I love my job but we are a tiny company (4 people) and me taking leave is really going to strain them. They want me to come back as soon as i can. I want to spend as much time with baby as possible but i will only be working 2 days 10-5.30 and its 10 mins walk from my house.
I was thinking to take it as late as possible ( 2 weeks before due date) advisable? and coming back when OH finishes his final first year term , my due date is 31/3/10 and he finishes all his exams in june.
When did you girls go back to work? How long do you think you will take off?
And if i live that close do you think i will miss my baby less as OH will be taking care of the LO? Maybe i should take an extra month so we can all go on holiday? But we will all have 5 days together. My OH will be working evenings
and i get holiday pay. arr sorry im just so confused as my employers really want to know but how am i suppose to know when i will feel OK leaving my baby that isnt born

 

[_laura]

I'm going on leave 2 weeks before I'm due so I can spend as much time with lo after. I only plan on taking 5 months off max as that's all I'll get paid for but I'm going to arrange my work shifts to match when oh is off so she's always got one of us.
Go back when you feel comfortable. And if you want give them more notice and if you go back earlier then it's a nice surprise for your work colleagues!

 

[Sophiiie]

it's difficult to say because you just don't know how you'll cope when you're further along, I managed to work full time up to 37 weeks, then worked a few days a week for another 2 weeks, but my bosses had made my job easier for me and I was just sat at a desk all day, but even that was exhausting. I originally planned to go back in January as I was really worried about how we were going to manage with me being on SMP, but i've completely changed my mind and now I don't think i'm going back at all.

is there any way that you could give some provisional dates but explain that you could need to change them depending on how you find your pregnancy? x

 

[Yazz_n_bump]

I'm going 4 weeks before I'm due yet tempted to go at 6 weeks before though! Not planning on returning to work till my 9 months are up on mat leave as want to spend time with bubs! Also planning on changing careers after I;m back from mat leave, so I want to spend much time with my family as possible!

 

[amygwen]

I worked up until the day I was induced and it was quite easy for me. The end of my pregnancy wasn't horrible and even though I ached quite a lot when I would walk around, it was good to walk around so thankfully I was one of the lucky ones! It's hard to say when you should stop working though because you never know how your pregnancy will end up. Hopefully this doesn't happen but for whatever reason you might get high blood pressure or something and it'll force you to not be able to work anymore. I'm glad your work colleagues are being so nice about your pregnancy, but they have to understand how important it is for you to take care of yourself and your baby.

I had a c-section so I had about 10 weeks off of work, even though I was only supposed to have 8 weeks off. They were constantly like "We're in a big mess, we need you to come back" so towards the end of my maternity leave (when LO was about 4 weeks old) I would go in at least once a week to help them out for a few hours, it was hard to leave Kenny but it made the transition to work a bit easier. So maybe that could be an option? Just volunteer to go in and help out if you can, at least one day a week if they are having problems.

I don't think it will make a difference that you live close to home. What will make a difference is that your leaving your LO will your OH. FOB watches Kenny while I work so it makes it easier, but then it makes me jealous because I wish I was able to watch him instead!! You won't know when it's the right time to go back to work, you just need to explain that to your work colleagues. You can give them a round-a-bouts time and say "I'd like to have __ - ___ weeks off" don't give them an exact week amount but at least let them have an idea. And let them know (if you're willing) that you'll come into help once a week or so if they need it after a few weeks off. You won't really know how you feel though until your LO is born, so just tell them that.

 

[clogsy90]

like someone else said depends how you get on with your pregnancy at your stage i was saying i wasnt going to leave til 4 weeks before she was due but i had terrible back ache as she was back to back the whole way through and was sat down all through my shift so was hardly at work at it was then in the end i had to go on maternity leave at the earliest opportunity so 11 weeks prior to due date, i then at 34 weeks got diagnosed with choleostatis and was at the hospital for most of the day 3 times a week with getting monitorting/blood etc and was then induced at 37 weeks, hopefully you'll have a great pregnancy with the option to work that late but just try and keep an open mind about everything, i get paid fo 9 months so im taking all that which takes me to begining of december and am then taking all my holiday which will take me to beginging of january then looking at going back about end of jan begining of feb. just because it a small buiness dont feel that you are obligated to doing anything you dont want to, remember they have to keep your job for you, and your baby will only be young once so make the most of it and enjoy