At how many weeks did you give up work?

[LeBe]

Just wondering what the general time is. x

38 both times (delivered at 42 weeks)

Bundle - did you find that a struggle? Most people i have asked have left about 30 weeks and im that now and already finding it a bit of a nightmare. I am due to leave at 36 weeks and starting to think i should have said sooner.

38 weeks and had baby at 40+5

I left 7 weeks before the DofC - turned out to be 9 weeks though

38 weeks with DD, delivered at 41
This time am giving up at 32 weeks, not intentional but it ties in well with the end of a contract at work and means I get to spend 6-10 weeks spending lots of time just me and DD which I'm really looking forward to

35 weeks - but I had 4 weeks leave to take otherwise I may have left it later.

39 both times

gave up at 33 weeks when PG with twins as thought they might come early - they didnt and had a divine 6.5 weeks of sitting on the sofa watching daytime TV and eating cheese on toast.

This time round (with one baby) am giving up at 37 weeks. But wish I could stop now (at 28!)

38 weeks, went into labour 12 days later.

I was bored witless for those 12 days, and wished I'd worked longer!

33 weeks, joyfully. I wanted LOTS time to myself. Baby arrived at 38 weeks so I had less than I'd hoped for. But I still got to do antenatal swimming and yoga with other implausibly large women, go to the cinema by myself in the daytime and watch novelty olympic sport on the telly. Would thoroughly recommend it.

This has just made me realise I only have 4 weeks left at work. 4 weeks tomorrow and I am done YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

30 weeks. I was a care assistant though, and was under huge stress.

LeBe, no I slowed down a bit at the end, but I didn't really struggle and only fell into afternoon nap mode once I was at home full time. 30 weeks sounds terribly early (I don't know anyone who left that early unless they had complications) and doesn't leave you much time left once the baby is born if you do return to work (which imo is when you need it most, I wasn't ill when I was pg)

In germany you are entitled to stop at 34 weeks on pretty much full pay. Stupid me kept going till 37 though, as when I'm not there vast numbersof students don't get taught and I 'wanted' (i.e. was under a degree of gentle pressure) to get the courses finished. Stopped on the Fri, went into labour on the Mon. Next time (fingers crossed) I'm stopping as soon as I'm entitled.

with my first I worked till around 36 weeks. With this one I had to stop at 29 weeks as my mum had a heart attack and couldnt look after my dd any more. It was easier to start maternity leave than look around for alternative childcare. Feel like a total SAHM now and I've still got 6 weeks to go till my due date. (I was also signed off work for 6 weeks prior to starting maternity leave due to the heart attack too so I have been off for months and months) I would have liked to have worked longer this time but it just didnt work out that way.

I cant believe everyone worked so far in i really though people left eariler. My mum owns a baby shop so obviously gets lots of pg ladies in and she said the majority of them left by 30 weeks. I feel quite a wimp only staying to 36 weeks now i thought i was being really strong cos all i want to do is sleep and watch daytime tv!! But then all the doctors, midwives and family and friends are sure im further gone than i am so maybe they are right and this is my body telling me to slow down now??? Even my boss isnt expecting me to be here up until i said i would be and he is a man and doesnt know anything about pregnancy - he even asked when i was calfing down!!!!

I'm due in the next 2 wks and I'll stop when contractions start. Then when I've delivered, I'm officially back at work again (albeit at half-mast and with half a brain...).

37 weeks last time, but this time I have 2 PhD students who are desperately trying to finish before my baby comes so I will probably be reading thesis drafts between contractions.
Mind you, most of my work can be done while lying on a sofa - if I had anything I needed to rush around for I would stop much, much earlier.

39 Weeks!! couldn't get out of the office fast enough...

To be honest I think working up to the very brink of parenthood is madness. It must be much better to have some time to divest yourself of the stresses of work and prepare yourself mentally and physically for labour (and then the 6 week twilight zone, after the birth). But obviously everyone should do what feels right for them - if you only need 20 minutes then fine, but noone should feel like a wimp for needing longer (much, much longer).

If I didn't work up til the final hour my company wouldn't exist by the time I decided to stroll back in - no job, no money, nothin...

practicality, rather than madness in my case, I'm afraid..

Only stayed that late because wanted time off afterwards. Would love to have left at 30 weeks but that's over 2 months of paid time off could have had later.

Sleepfinder - Dear God I feel for you!!! I cant believe that is the case for you, and you seem so upbeat about it aswell. Is this your first baby? Basically i want to leave earlyish because i have had some problems whilst being pg and i am one of lifes natural worriers and so i ythink i need to have a few weeks getting everything sorted in my house and my head!! But i feel like im going mad cos i am counting down the days till i leave but then when i think of leaving (im not coming back) i want to cry cos im gonna miss it! How bizzare is that

With DS1 I finished work 6 weeks before my due date. I work in a school & as he was a Sept baby it fit in nicely with the summer hols.
With DS2 I finished work 2 weeks before my due date, but he came a week early, so it worked out that I finished work a week to the day before he arrived!! I sure cut it fine!!

Its ok because I work from home (I should have said that) and I get to call the shots. If I feel crap I can have a lie down at lunchtime and turn the phone off and no one need know. But I love my job and its taken me YEARS to get to the stage where I'm doing what I want. And yes, first baby - so I'm aware that reality hits hard in the first few wks so I've got help lined up immediately to keep me relatively sane...
If I worked in an office with other people as you do, I would have wanted out in the first three months. Office politics aside, its stressful pretending to feel brilliant all the time when you may feel a bit sick or tired, or cranky etc. Believe me, I completely understand wehre you're coming from...[grin}