I am 25 yrs old, 1st pregnancy and almost 33 weeks - have had an uncomplicated pregnancy & been pretty active throughout so far - I worked all through my 1st trimester as a nanny to a 1 year old boy and his 2 older sisters as I gave 2 months notice that I was leaving when I found out I was pregnant - didn't want to be working as a nanny throughout whole pregnancy and wanted to find a bit of a less intense & physical job/do something a bit different before I became a Mum myself...
I then I had a period of not working/doing casual work for someone, but then took another casual job (kind of an informal internship) which was much closer to home when I was 4 or 5 months pregnant. They were happy to take my on whilst pregnant as they didn't want to pay more than minimum wage, didn't have a set number of hours for me at first, and don't really have a clearly defined role for someone yet, they just needed a bit of support (admin, PA, PR, front of house etc) spread across their 2 businesses based on the same site. Started off part-time for the first month and then they asked me if I'd want to do more as they needed more help because other intern was leaving. I said sure - will just see how it goes but I should be able to work until the end of May (Baby due on July 2nd and wanted to give myself time to get things ready/rest/relax etc before baby comes.
But...I just came back from holiday and suddenly the work load has ramped up by about 50% as another staff member has left & no-one has replaced them...so I have been absolutely swamped this week with so many tasks spread across the 2 businesses and have been trying to manage my time/keep up with the workload but my body/brain is really struggling. I feel like I've suddenly been hit by a wall of tiredness, keep losing track of what I'm doing as I keep switching between tasks as emails come in, people ask me things, I answer phone etc - sure this is mostly pregnancy brain but also because I am kind of doing 2 or 3 jobs in 1 ! Plus I've been finding it very uncomfortable to sit in an office chair all day, no matter how many times I get up to go to loo, make adjustments, stretch my arms and neck etc...I still am feeling in pain in my ribs & like I'm all squashed hunched over the desk.
I really have a strong feeling that I want to leave earlier than the end of May - because I'm not being paid enough £ to put up with the tiredness/stress/discomfort & would much rather do 2 days a week (for a previous employer who has said she'd be really happy to give me a few days here and there & wants me to come work for her instead) or not work at all ! --- but now don't know how to tell them this as feel guilty to leave extra pressure on the rest of the team - keep thinking who is going to do all these tasks if I leave?? But I suppose it's not my problem, it's not my business & I'm not a permanent member of staff. And they are currently interviewing for a new intern. I just really wanted to show them that I could do a really good job as wanted them to remember me for in future - didn't want to burn bridges or be remembered as 'that pregnant woman who left early'.
Wondering how I can word it when saying I want to leave/when I should mention? As soon as possible ? I was planning to leave end of May but to be honest I'd be so happy if I just worked next week and that was it !!! Especially if this heat wave from beginning of May rumours turn out to be true. Sitting in front of a computer sweating, and sweating walking on the commute to/from work 5 days a week whilst heavily pregnant sounds awful to me & if I was being paid well or I'd been in this job for a long time I would put up with it but it just doesn't seem worth it to me...Plus there's no role or proper salary for me to go back to after the baby.
Or - evil thought - should I just lie and say I went to the Dr and he said my blood pressure has significantly raised and he advises I stop work as soon as possible ?? Arg Is that awful to tempt fate? It would be totally untrue as Dr actually said I have low blood pressure. Eeeeek terrible lying...?