mat leave

[littleash789]

Hi,
Just wondering if I'm being feeble or if it's time for me to call it a day and finish. I'm 32 weeks with dc1.
I'm a vet, and I cover nights and weekends for other practices when they're closed, it's not every night but shifts are around 15 hours and as it's emergency work you cannot predict how busy a shift will be- some nights the phone doesn't ring, sometimes I have to grab food standing up in between patients!
My back hurts if I'm standing too long, I'm now starting to get pelvic pain, my morning sickness is awful when I'm tired after a shift, to the point where I lost weight during my first 2 trimesters, and now weigh only 2kg more than I did pre-pg, and my blood pressure is low- my mw says she expects it to start to come up this trimester as my circulating volume increases, but I'm feeling increasingly dizzy and breathless!
Baby is growing fine according to mw, and I feel like I'm letting everyone down by wanting to stop now-the rota is split between me and 2 other vets, and I know that they haven't found cover for my leave yet, so I don't want to leave them in the lurch. I provisionally said I would finish at 35 weeks when I gave in my mat b1, but I really don't know if I can cope with any more busy shifts!

[2015isgoingtobeBIG]

I think you know the answer-sounds like it's time to finish. I'm nhs and also on my feet and this week I've had to say I can only do admin from now on as like you my back and pelvis can't cope. You will feel guilty but you have to put the health of you and your baby first at some point and they WILL cope. If there is anyway you can step off the rota for on-call and offer to do all the admin for everyone then you could keep going for a bit longer (it's dull compared to normal clinical work but it's made a huge difference to how I feel at the end of a day).

Good luck making the decision

[ChickenMe]

Sounds like the right time for you. I used to work nights and shift work is much more tiring than regular hours. I'm 32w and am finding 10hr shifts really tiring even though my boss lets me do more regular hours now I am office-bound.
I have booked a load of my 2015 leave before going off at 35w. I feel guilty going at 35w but you sound exhausted so go!

[sleepybee]

I am due to finish at 38 weeks exactly, but after feeling horrendous & speaking to midwife she said after 35 weeks it may get really tough. I also go to yoga & hypno birth classes & tutor there reccommended finishing early where possible as pregnancy really is tough on the body & better to go into labour relaxed than be finishing work one day having baby the next due to stress. I'm now finishing at 35+5 but I only have a desk job with 10 min walk&20 min train there & back so not a massive commute.

[GoooRooo]

Finish! I worked up to 37 weeks (and my waters went on a Monday morning just before I was due to get on a train!)

By 35 weeks I'd really had enough and wish I'd stopped before then. I have an office job sitting down so I can't imagine doing nights and standing a lot. I think you've done well to get this far.

[KentExpecting]

Can you talk to the two other vets and tell them that you'll either have to stop work earlier than planned or at least stop doing the night / on-call work? Would it be an option for you to do shorter daytime shifts instead?

[littleash789]

Thanks for the replies- you're right 2015, I do know it's time, I just feel bad about going off early, but I'm just going to have to woman up here and point out that they've known I'm expecting since last summer, and not feel guilty about admitting that I'm at my limit.

[BlanketOfStars]

Do you have any annual leave you can take before you start maternity leave? You could use them to shorten your hours/ weeks for a while. Or discuss other options for shifts and job roles ( as another poster suggested).
In my first pregnancy I took my mat leave at about 31 weeks! I was just so uncomfortable and I had a straightforward pregnancy and an office job
This time I'll stay a bit longer but you have to listen to your own body

[gallicgirl]

Has your employer done a risk assessment? They should make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your pregnancy.
You shouldn't have to start maternity leave just because of the demands of the job.