When did you stop working?

I've been very blessed to have had a complication-free and uneventful pregnancy so far. I'm still working full-time. My original plan was to work until I delivered (my doctor doesn't put her patients on bedrest as a matter of routine), but ladies, I am tired! I have had it! I just want to be home and sleeping. I have a desk job, so it's not like I'm on my feet all day. But the work can be somewhat stressful and we are in a very busy time right now. I want to help out while I can. And the longer I work is more money in my and my husband's pocket, which we will need since most of my maternity leave will be unpaid.

We have our last ultrasound scheduled for this Thursday and I'm hoping some input from my doctor will help me decide what I want to do.

Anyone care to share their experience? Did you just set a date to start your maternity leave? At what week? If you worked full-time up to the end, how did you do it? Anyone go part time or telecommute towards the end? I'm hoping hearing some of your experiences will help me figure out the best way to make it through these last few weeks.

 

I made it to 35 weeks and I was done. At that point, I had no trouble getting a note from my doctor an getting work to agree.

 

Hi! I had mine at 38 weeks and 1 day and worked until the day of the c-section. I worked from home starting at about 7 months. I am pretty sure I slept through some conference calls but no one complained about snoring. I did get tired but working from home definitely helped.

 

I gave birth on a Friday - and I took that last week off, I was 37 weeks and 5 days at birth. I am glad I stayed home those few days before, I was rested before the birth. I had a scheduled C-Section because both my babies were breech. I had an uneventful pregnancy also and I have a desk job so it wasn't horrible. I worked full time all the way to the end. Towards the end I had a small stool under my desk - plus it was summer so I was wearing slides and I was taking my shoes off and I was putting my feet up while at my desk . Also, I drank A LOT of water, and I think that helped me too. Good luck with the last few weeks, enjoy it, it goes fast . I hope your birth would be uneventful also and your babies are healthy and big .

 

I was a preschool teacher. I was due November 1, but planned on going early just in case. So instead of working into September and possibly leaving new students only a week or two into the new school year, I left on Aug 31. And had the boys on October 18th. I think that brought me to 31/32 weeks. I could have kept going, but I opted to stop then. Not to mention, I had three appointments a week!

 

34 weeks

 

Thank you all for your input! I'm thinking right now that I can make it through this week (which should be the end of our really busy time) and then next week, because it's a short week because of the holiday. I'll be 37 weeks after that, so that might be a good time to call it a day. Several other people have told me that it would be nice if I at least had a few days to rest before the babies came, so it's not going straight from full-time work to hospital to home with newborns.

Also, I LOLed at "sleeping through conference calls." Sometimes I close my eyes for a few minutes while I'm at my desk and hope no one notices.

 

My OB would not let me work longer then 36 weeks. I felt well enough that I think I could have worked another week at least. I had the kids at 38 weeks and 1 day. Good luck with your decision!

 

26 weeks. Bedrest was awesome. I miss bedrest now.

 

I'm so glad that you posed this question. I'm 28.5 weeks and working full time. I plan to work as long as I feel good and my doctor doesn't order me to go on bedrest. I am starting to slow down a little, but could really use the money as I get no paid maternity leave and will only be consulting once the babies are born. But I'm also wondering if I should draw a line in the sand and just say I'm done, and rest up before the babies come. I am pretty much playing it week by week at this point. I think making it to 36/37 weeks is impressive. If I were you I would pull the plug and relax at home. Good luck!!

 

I ended up cutting myself down to 3 days a week, at the end, one day was a doc. appt. day and fridays just to have some more time off. I have to say that the days off, were harder on me than my days at the office, where I also had a desk job. On days off, i felt the need to go do errands, or do laundry, so I was on my feet more than just sitting at my desk.

If you do take time off, make sure to actually rest!

 

I was 33 weeks when school let out for winter break, then I just happened to have had the girls 2 weeks later or I would have went back to work. Thank the Lord I had them!

 

At 30 weeks I started working from home (I'd go in 1 day a week to turn in work and get more) when I had cervical shortening.

At 37 weeks I wanted to be done and at 37w5d I went into labor (on Labor Day).

 

My doctor was convinced (for no real reason) that by 34 weeks I would have the babies so they put me on part time at 30 weeks and took me out of work at 32 weeks. ardon: I was okay with it because I was getting so big I could barely do my job properly and I couldn't drive comfortably so I had my coworker drive me to and from work. :blush: Maybe all the laying down I did kept them in longer? No idea but I didn't give birth until 39 weeks. (and that was me evicting them )

 

I worked from home from 20 weeks on - I have a desk job and I was put on bedrest due to PTL and I worked lying down, mostly on my side and in bed. In the beginning I tried to go in for half a day once a week for the most urgent meetings but as I got hard contractions immediately we soon stopped that. My workload decreased a lot during the last 4-6 weeks of the pregnancy (I did manage to carry them to term), as everyone had been expecting me to have the babies early and I had handed over most of my projects to ensure a smooth experience for my clients. The last project finished about 4 weeks after the birth.

I highly recommend phasing out your work bit by bit if you can organize that to give you a bit of rest before the birth without leaving your colleagues to take on a full workload from one day to the next. Of course, this also depends on your employer's flexibility for a corresponding financial solution.

 

@ Happy June: I would love to be phasing out my work, that was actually my intention all along. But we had new owners come in less than two months ago and they laid off a ton of people, so if you can believe it, that have actually increased my workload since then! I'm as big as house, yet a lot of people seem to be in denial that I am having babies and won't be at work much longer. I think that's part of the reason I am so ready to be done with work.

 

I had a desk job and no other kids. I warned my work that any day/week might be my last. I had a scheduled section date of July 25th but then the doctor was overbooked so he came in on Saturday the 23rd instead. I worked until Friday the 22nd. I was 37 weeks, 4 days. They were born on 37w5d. I had a great pregnancy as well. Good for you!

 

I also have a desk job and planned to work until around 35 weeks, but I spent the night in the hospital with contractions at 29 weeks, and that was it for me. I had already gone to PT at 26 weeks because I just couldn't handle being upright all day long.

ETA: I asked my OB, much earlier in my pregnancy, how I would know when to stop, and she said "Your body will tell you." It definitely did!

 

I'm so impressed by those of you who worked right up until you delivered! I was sure I was going to be able to do that, too, but it's way harder than it seems. Thank you all for sharing your stories.

 

I don't think most of us were happy with how we felt (like- I could be pregnant for 8 more weeks! I'm fine! :nea: ) at the end. It's so hard and for me, was so emotionally draining to be so perennially uncomfortable.

 

I worked until 35+3 (Thursday and the doc took me out of work) - I had planned for that Friday to be my last day anyway, and I then delivered that Tuesday at 36w...I had to stop driving at 31/32 wks because I drove a stick and couldn't reach anymore to put the clutch to the floor!

 

33 weeks - Was at a desk job but just couldn't get comfortable anymore. The walk from the parking lot, sitting in a awful chair for 8 hours and walking up and down halls and stairs .. eck. If you're done, you're done. Good luck!

 

In that situation I can totally understand wanting to leave work, increasing someone's workload while pregnant is unacceptable - and unwise because you will be even harder to replace once you go on maternity leave. GL with your decision and listen to your body!

 

I stopped working at 30 weeks just because I could. I continued to get paid until the birth of the twins and then I got a year mat leave. So, I left at 30 weeks to be with my son and to relax to make sure I walked down the isle for my sister at 36 weeks pregnant! lol

With that being said, I could have worked up until the day I delivered. But....I didn't have to, so I took full advantage of it!

 

I worked until the week before they were born, so my last day I was 39 weeks, 1 day. They were born at 40 weeks. I had a sit-on-my-butt job, so that made it a lot easier. I also couldn't afford to miss a lot of time off work.

 

I worked at work until 36 weeks. My doctor then told me I needed to stop commuting 1 hour each way so I worked at home until 37.5 weeks when the babies were born.

 

My Dr put me on bedrest at 30wks, pretty routine in their practice. I also had a desk job and no complications (until 32wks, but I was already on bedrest). I miss bedrest terribly somedays!!