Working beyond 32 weeks - any advice?

[Teds77]

I'm currently 21 weeks with twins and am having a variety of work-related problems with a boss who isn't being hugely supportive about my pregnancy.

I know that I can just ignore this and do what I want to do/go to HR etc. but I'd like my remaining weeks at work to be stress-free and amicable.

So, would really appreciate any info/advice from twim mums...

• Did you work beyond 32 weeks and if you did, for how long and how hard was it?

• When did you 'officially' start maternity leave vs. using up annual leave - i.e. did anyone 'risk' booking annual leave in say weeks 34 or 35 of your pg?

• If you did work beyond 32 weeks when did you have the twins? Or alternatively if you finished early when did you have them? Guess my point is, from your experience, do you think there is any correlation between the stresses of carrying on working and having the twins early.

Thanks very much.

Hi there Teds, congratulations on your twins pregnancy!

I also had a pretty unsupportive boss and a stressful job and I finished work at 31 weeks. I took all the annual leave I could, so statutory maternity leave actually started at 36 weeks.

I had them at 37+1 so pretty close call! (although if they had come before 36 weeks, all that would happen is that the mat leave would have started earlier and I would have just had a few days annual leave to take at the end of mat leave instead of beginning). I had ELCS and in fact would probably have carried them longer except that there was an issue with twin B's growth which meant I had them 9 days earlier than the originally scheduled ELCS.

The 6 weeks I had off before the twins arrived were great for preparing for their arrival, relaxing and getting in the right frame of mind. Ideally I would have only had maybe 4 weeks off as I got a bit bored! But there is no way I could have worked any later, I was exhausted and very stressed and found it hard to physically commute into London every day (in fact I took cabs home for my last week as was working till 9pm some nights).

So I would advise to finish as soon as you can. Believe me, you will not have any time to rest or relax after they have arrived (but its fantastic to be doubly blessed!

Hi Teds - congratulations.
I was lucky to have really supportive managers but finished at 30 weeks as I had alot of al and by then I was huge and starting to struggle.
My plan was to relax, eat cake and watch daytime tv which went out of the window when I had them 2 days after I finished work. So my mat leave started pretty much straight away.

I agree with ceeveebee finish as soon as you can - you probably wont have them early but it's a good idea to stock up on rest, sleep and long soaks in the bath before they arrive.
I loved my job it was not stressful I had alot of support and I dont think it could of contributed to them being early.

How stressful is work for you ? Do you think you could report your boss when you go on to mat leave ?

I had a very supportive boss and worked to 35 weeks. For the final 3 weeks I worked Mon Wed Fri, using annual leave days up. The boys arrived at 35+5. I had a very straightforward pregnancy and fortunately was able to work up til then. My main reason behind it was that I worked til 37 weeks with dd1 and then she was 2 weeks late and I was going crazy after 5 weeks of mat leave. I felt it was a complete waste and so was determined to not repeat that with my second pregnancy even though it was twins.

However I do think working so late probably did mean the twins arrived early, so for that reason I would probably not reccommend it.

I finIshed at 31 weeks, I was completely exhausted at the end of every day. I was taken in to hospital 2 weeks later for observation and had them a week after

Work were ok, supportive in the 'you don't have to carry heavy boxes around' kind of way. Not so much in the career kind of way, left out of appraisals, training, staff meetings.

I planned to work until 37wks on the basis I didn't want to use lots of my leave before the babies arrived, but knowing it was proably unrealistic but could be changed. Everyone expected the twins to arrive v early & I felt I was on standby from 26wks or so. In the event I did work until 37+1 and the boys didn't arrived until 40+3 (induced). I teach & we had Ofsted a few weeks before I finished though my head was more concerned with babies by then. The last couple of weeks were hard even though I slowed right down (office work only) and I couldn't have worked another day, but working later can be doable. I was lucky enough to have a very straightforward pg though.

Finished at 31 weeks had them at 34&3, identical though which tend to be earlier. I was far too exhausted to work any more, would of loved another couple of weeks of before they arrived though. Don't do too much, listen to your body

Thanks very much for all the info.

Sooo very fed up with boss' behaviour today

Hello,

I planned to start my mat leave at 36 weeks, saved 4 weeks annual leave to finish at 32. As it was, got signed off at 27 weeks as literally couldn't walk and there was no way I could manage the commute and then they turned up at 31 weeks. Best laid plans and all that!

Hello,

I planned to start my mat leave at 36 weeks, saved 4 weeks annual leave to finish at 32. As it was, got signed off at 27 weeks as literally couldn't walk and there was no way I could manage the commute and then they turned up at 31 weeks. Best laid plans and all that!

Hi

I worked up to 32 weeks but found the last week really hard so worked from home most days. For me it was the absolute limit not so much for work when I actually got there but for the commute into central London. I had the girls at 36+3 but pretty much as soon as I stopped work I developed OC and my time was consumed by baby monitoring and hospital visits.

I definitely would advise building in some flexibility in your last weeks if you want to work as long as possible up to the birth but sounds like this might be difficult with your boss.

That really annoys me by the way - as if you don't have enough on your plate - and a crap boss just making it harder. Stupid boss.

I worked up to around 30 weeks and had them a week later. Getting to 30 weeks was an utter slog too, despite working from home some days and getting a later train in the morning to be sure of a seat, and I don't have a physical job at all nor a difficult boss. It was just exhausting walking anywhere and my bump always hurt, as did my back and shoulders (at least partly because DT2 was lying transverse, bloody uncomfortable!)

With hindsight, I do think working as long as I did was not great and I should have listened to my body but I was feeling a bit conscientious still. I wonder whether them arriving so early was partly because I didn't rest enough (though no one's ever said it was a cause), and I absolutely regret that I didn't have several weeks of rest and relaxation before they turned up!

That said, everyone's different - you might not be anything like so uncomfortable and may end up delivering closer to your due date.

Thanks so much for everybody feedback - plenty of food for thought.

I've managed to go through concerns with my boss more productively over the last day or so and generally feel more sorted and less stressed. I think I'd got myself into a bit of a tiz about the whole thing - though it wasn't helped by her general attitude to the pregnancy... However, at least for now we're getting on okay!