Not sure when to stop work

[bextas]

I work full time leaving the house at 6.30 each morning and don't get back until 6.30 each night. Work over the last few months has become very quiet so there is not much to do and the time is dragging. My baby boy is due on the 16th January and I was originally going to stop work on the 21st December with holiday up until 31st December so my actual maternity would start 1st Jan and I would go back to work probably 6th Jan working just 2 days but I am thinking of finishing at the end of November. I feel shattered all the time and can think of lots of things I could be doing at home. I come to work and all my work is done by 9.30 and it just drags so much.
If I did finish in November it would mean coming back to work 1st December but as it's only 2 days a week and my baby would be almost 11 months maybe I should just do it. It would mean I loose a month with my baby which I might regreat but then I will only be away from him on Mondays and Thursdays and he will be with my mum or dad the two days I am at work....Ooooh decisions decisions I don't know what to do!

 

[Lulu]

Would working half days in December be an option - using holidays for the other half of your day? That way you might still be able to work later into December but you'd be getting more rest so it might not be as exhausting and at the end of your maternity you wouldn't need to start back quite as early.

It is difficult to know when to stop, with my son I stopped 5 weeks before he was due but this time I'm planning on only finishing 2 weeks before.

 

[purplelou]

I am finishing work tomorrow Ill be 37 weeks then. I thought Id be fine working quite late on, but I am a nurse and its quite physically demanding and I am soooo tired just now. I wish Id gone a week or two back if Im honest.
I think ifyou can consider part time, especially if you are doing a lot of hours/physical work - it might be worth thinking about.

 

[Noodlebear]

I finished in the middle of the 36th week and he arrived at 38 so don't push it too far! lol. It's nice to have a little bit of time to prepare and enjoy having time to yourself before it's GO GO GO xx

 

[Halle71]

I'm pushing it as far as I can and finishing 10 days before my due date.
It will be really hard but if I can hold on, by adding 31 days annual holiday to my year off, I will stop work on November 16th and don't have to go back to work until January 2014!!!
My daughter starts school next September so I will be able to do a whole term settling her in which is a massive bonus.

I have an hour commute each way on the tube in London so it is getting very hard though.

 

[weebun]

I'm 30 wks with 3rd, I have a 9 year old and a 14 month old, I finished work yesterday I am not due till 26 December but I am waiting for a planned c-sectiion date at 39 weeks, I had complications in my last c-section. Based on that I only had about 14 days before i had my little girl and afterwards recovery was a long drawn out process due to a bladder tear and having a catheter, so I have decided to take a much deserved long break, some me time, time with my kids and just look forward to my 2nd baby girls arrival x

it's personal choice and depends on how you feel, my little girl still wakes in the night and I am a little more tired xx

 

[Bumpblessing4]

With my first, I finished school at 30 weeks and didn't start work until my baby was 12 weeks old. Then with my 2nd and 3rd babies, I worked until the night before I went into labor with both. I plan to work until I go into labor with this one too, because I want to save all my time off for the actual maternity leave.