33 weeks pregnant and struggling so much at work!

[Rainbowhairdontcare]

I'm 33 weeks only 4 weeks and 2 days til I go on ML. But this home stretch is proving to be a hurdle. I'm tired all the time, uncomfortable, thirsty, and not as productive as I should be. I don't want to waste a month at home.

Any tips to make it more bearable?

Can you work from home at all or go part time for the remaining 4 weeks.

My doctor signed me off for 3 weeks before my ML kicked in. I could barely move towards the end.

Unfortunately I can't go part time as we need the income (were buying a house!), They only pay SSP which makes it a no-no too.

And WFH is something that it's not available for my position (but will be once I get back from ML).

I'm just so uncomfortable at me desk :(

Your work should be willing to discuss your needs with you. You can request thins such as foot rests, back support, more regular breaks, possibly even reduced hours. If working from home is available on your return, why can they not make some changes so you can access that potential right now?

We have an employee in similar timeframe of pregnancy as yourself she has all of the things that I have mentioned. She is due to go off at the end of this month but we need use of her desk (temp staff coming in) so we have actually requested she work from home until her Mat Leave starts. Employers really do need to be pro-active in at least considering your reasonable requests. If you don't ask, you don't get!

I had a meeting with the owner and for the most part is that he's very clueless. I'm the first pregnant employee ever and they've been gracious with other things so don't want to be too much of a pain.

When I get back, I'll be doing a completely different role and thus why I can work from home a few hours a week.

There's no HR and the closest thing we have to one is an accountant.

I had a meeting with the owner and for the most part is that he's very clueless. Don't let this dissuade you from going to him with suggestions or requests. If he doesn't know what the right protocol is, he may even appreciate a guiding hand. But things like footrests or back supports should be supplied readily if requested by any member of staff, not just pregnant ones!

Otherwise, I think you need to resign yourself to just having lowered productivity until you go off on leave. There's really nothing that can be done to alleviate that if it is coming down to environment that cannot be changed.
My suggestions of things to consider:
*footrest
*back support
*frequent breaks to stretch legs, sit on more comfortable seating
*reduced duties - another perfectly reasonable request i.e. if you had SPD it would not be appropriate for you to sit at a desk for 8hours and they would HAVE to make other arrangements.

Your employers ignorance is not a viable excuse for you not to have the things you require to do your job to a reasonable standard. It is for their benefit as well as your own.

You need to discuss ways to help you carry on otherwise you’ll end up going off sick and triggering mat leave early. Even a day working from home might make a difference if it could be possible with modified duties. Can you take annual leave to end earlier?

I think I can ask for more breaks, that should be doable. I saw a back support thingy, so will grab that one tomorrow.

No idea about the footrest but sometimes there are random boxes here and there.

I think right now they'd reject the request to WFH as they need me at the office (because of some IT security stuff I can't use a laptop).

Oh and I'm using my 5 days of AL to bring my ML forward by a week.

I went on ML at 34 weeks. I couldn't have lasted longer. I was so sleep deprived and uncomfortable. I left in December so I spent the time gently pottering around at my own pace sorting Christmas and then the time in Jan spent sitting on my bum with a tin of Roses balanced on my bump watching recorded films and Christmas telly! It was lovely. It was my first baby so I didn't have to run around after a toddler or anything. It was highly recommended!

That sounds wonderful Itstheprinciple I'd love to do that if baby was due in December. We'll have moved by then and would.make sense to make the house lovely for the festive season! But alas in our situation I'd be packing boxes and won't be able to best much as we'll be moving out within a month of the baby's birth.