How much time did you take off from school/work for maternity leave?

[starshinebby]

Ive been kinda wondering the same thing. but im in high school and school will start when imo n bed rest and ill be giving birth a few weeks into school not sure how muchi should miss and since its a new born i dont want anyone to watch him/her. ivethought about waiting about a mnoth then going back. but i dont know if you can bottle feed and breast feed but bottle feeding breast milk.

Have you talked with the administrators of your school about this yet? I spoke with my advisor and she told me I could take as much time as I needed off but I'd like to keep my time of relitively short so I don't get too used to not doing anything.

A month seems reasonable. That'll give you enough time to establish your supply, get some rest and bond with your newborn.

And yes, you can bottle feed your child breast milk, that's what those fun breast pumps are for (note the sacrasim, lol)! I'm investing in a double electric pump for when I need to start building a stash for when I go back to school. It's also portable, as I'll need to keep it in my car so I can pump between classes. I'll be keeping a small cooler in the car as well to store the milk in. I'm hoping to have my schedule planned out so I can give my son his morning feed before I leave and then feed him as soon as I get home.

I know it's going to be hard for me to leave my son as well when I go back to college. But I'm lucky enough to be able to leave him in the care of my grandmother and grandfather, so no extra child care fees and I completely trust them to care for my son the way me and my OH will. I couldn't imagine leaving my son with a stranger. I've seen too many nanny cam clips. Just heart breaking. I'm even reluctant to leave LO with OH's family. Mainly because there house hasn't seen a baby since his step-sister was 2 (she's now 16) and they have large dogs, and the enviornment just isn't suitable for daily care of our child. It'll be years before I even think about letting LO spend the night with OH's family. I'm already overly protective and attatched at the hip to my son. And since I'm going the Attachment Parenting route, it doesn't make for easy seperation on either of our parts. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[PregnantTeena]

thank you i think im going to havee my OH's Mom watch the LO because him and i will both be home before she will leave.. but im not sure

 

[lorynn]

I was in college for my first two kids, for my first I did the whole school year (I got pregnant at the beginning of my freshman year of college). I think I was about 36 weeks when I left after finals. With my second baby, I was a little more exhausted (and bigger, this one was 8 lbs) but somehow I stayed until about 33 weeks or so. Now that I'm expecting twins, I left work two weeks ago, and I'm due in May. So I guess every pregnancy is different. Whatever works for the mom I guess!

I'm leaving at 36 weeks too! Next week are my finals and I'll be 36 weeks on Tuesday.

How long did you take off of school though? After finals.

After my first baby, which I had in June, I just stayed home the whole summer, then my boyfriend and I moved back to college with the baby in August. I had my second baby in December of the next year, and I took the last few weeks off school and finished my classes online. Winter break was about a month, I went back to classes for the spring, but I was basically part time. Now that I'm having twins, I took off work a lot earlier. I'm due in may and I took off of work about 2 weeks ago. But yeah, if you're up to it, 36 weeks is a great time to leave, it gets you as much done as possible! Congrats on your pregnancy!