What did you do during Maternity Leave before your baby arrived?

[JanieLovesLuckySocks]

Hi girls,
Tomorrow i have to let work know when I plan to finish for Maternity Leave (i'm due 23rd November).

Ideally I would like to work up as far as possible so that I can use my maternity leave afterwards, but i do have about 15 days annual leave to use up as well which i might use to have some short weeks / half days prior to finishing.

So what did you do before your baby arrived? I get a bit bored if i don;t have things to plan, my parents will be away on holidays and my friends will be in work.

Would 2 weeks before EDD be enough or should I take more?

Didn't have any maternity leave with Pregnancy 1, babies arrived very suddenly so I was at work during the day, in the delivery suite the same night!

Pregnancy 2, I worked until 38 weeks. I pottered, cleaned, ironed all the baby clothes, watched TV, picked DC up early from nursery and went to the park - tried to pack as much as I could into my time with them before life went into free-fall

I was at around 28 weeks when my SPD, anaemia, and under active thyroid was so bad that the GP signed me unfit to work

I was forced to take my mat leave early, as I was in so much pain I couldn't walk the length of myself, so spent almost 4 months bed bound.

DS is just 8 months and I dream of being able to stay in bed relaxing.

Slept slept and slept a bit more! And went out for lunch... A lot. Oh and sat bouncing on my birthing ball for the last week!

With ds 1 I read a book a day from 34 weeks when ml started to 38 weeks when he arrived. I loved it, potter to library for new book each day lots of sleep too.
Do you have a physical job? If you do I would take leave early.

Crosstitch, reading

Currently on holidays (teacher) and don't start maternity until end August. I thought I would be so bored as I usually work on summer camps/teach English abroad/travel. However, I am so glad to be off and not bored at all. At this stage of pregnancy I have a good few appointments/breastfeeding classes etc.

Mainly - cleaning (deep cleaning - kitchen cupboards etc)
Decluttered the whole house - a lot of work!!!
Sorted wardrobes - years old clothes - gone
Upcycled furniture - sprayed wicker chair/locker etc
Repainted garden furniture
Baked new recipes- ie. Lemon Drizzle cake
Did an art course
Made photobooks - all our holidays, my hen etc.
Joined a swimming pool - go 3 x per week
Visited people
Hairdressers
Ikea visit
then the worst.... stripped all varnish off skirting boards (orange pine - more natural look now)
Washed and pressed all curtains, ben linen, sofa cushions
Watched boxset - Call the Midwife (lovely)

I have a few weeks left - but very tired now. Going to read, give one final clean of the house nearer the time. Cook more dinners for the freezer which needs a defrost.

Honestly I have an easier time at work!!!

Don't underestimate how tired you will feel later in your PG. I felt great at the stage you are at now - just about 6 weeks later I am knackered and have 5 weeks of work left. The thought is killing me!

I had 6 weeks off and had an amazing time doing hobbies I gave up years ago - reading, drawing, playing the piano, I rested in the afternoons, met up with friends and family, did some decluttering, cooked. It was honestly the best 6 weeks of my life!

ha so i've gone from thinking i'll take 2 weeks off before...to now thinking i might want 6 weeks heehee! it seems too good to be true that if i finish early then i might actually have time to do a proper clean of our house! is it sad that the thought excites me?!

You will never get a chance for weeks like it ever again!! Well not until retirement anyway, so it's worth considering!

We're all different but with my first i felt great, but had told work that i would go at 36 weeks. All my friends were working and i was verybored. I would get up with DH and give him a lift to work just for something to do! Tried knitting, aquarobics, cooking but these are not things i particularly enjoy. Thankfully DS arrived one day early, i'd have been distraught if he'd been two weeks late, as some are.

Take time to enjoy being on your own as in completely on your own, as it will never be just you anymore. That hit me massively after ds was born, because even if H takes him out for a couple of hours a week I'm waiting for them to return!

Made about 5 kilos of marmalade - seville oranges were in season - still eating it now! Built lots of flatpack furniture and watched a lot of box sets.

Finished work 3 weeks before due date and was a week overdue so I was off for ages before baby arrived.

First pregnancy I stopped working on my due date. Left work that day thinking I'd go into labour that evening

DD was 15 days overdue, served me right! Allowing yourself the chance to unwind and relax properly is probably really necessary and may have contributed to my well-cooked dd being so late!

During the two weeks I did have off I went for walks in the park, read lots, watched boxsets and went for coffees as well as slept. I also met up with friends, visited the hairdresser, had a wax, that sort of thing. But to be honest I was pretty bored.

This is my first day of mat leave, second pregancy and I'm 37 weeks. In the country I now work in it is the law, no really, - the law - to take three weeks of the mat leave before edd. So if I go two weeks over this time too I will have five weeks off!! Luckily I have lots of energy as I have a house to decorate this time! Will be doing lots of nesting, decorating, sorting out of baby related stuff as well as getting into the habit of an afternoon snooze! And spend an indecent amount of time on MN of course...

I finished at 35 weeks using some annual leave before official mat leave at 37 weeks.

I had lie ins, read books, cleaned, cleaned a bit more, washed and ironed baby clothes, cleaned a bit, went for lunch/cuppa with friends and generally just relaxed.

Spent a few mornings/afternoons at the hospital and midwife appts every few days nearer the end due to high blood pressure, but all worked out fine and DD arrived at 38+6. Those 4 weeks off were bliss.

Enjoy your leave whenever you start it, but unless you LOVE your job and genuinely get out of bed saying "yippee work today" you will probably want a good few weeks off when you're bigger and uncomfortable

Ha I definitely don't love my job!!!

Netflix!