working long days at 28 weeks?

[H0mers1mpson]

Hello all!

I'm new, my first time here and my first time being pregnant. And am here for a bit of advice if anyone has the time.

I'm 35, currently 14 weeks pregnant and I'm a freelancer.

I've been offered a job in Madrid, happening around week 28. The days will be very long, but my work is sedentary in an air con environment, and the work isn't stressful. I did the same gig last year, and we were working up to 16 hours a day by the end of the week, which sounds long, but a lot of that involves sitting around twiddling thumbs. There's around 4 hours a day of business and very late (early am) finishes are a real possibility.

I'm at a loss as to whether I should accept the job. So far I've had a healthy pregnancy (albeit with a bit of fatigue and sickness), and it would be great to hang on to this job as the team I'm working with might offer more work closer to home once the baby is here. However I don't want to naively accept it only to discover it's all a bit much when I get that far along.

I'm used to long hours, and I'm pretty robust. If the gig was next week I'd jump at the chance to do it. I'm just not sure how I"m going to feel that far along, and I obviously don't want to be doing any damage to myself or the baby by pushing through long days. I also don't want to get close to the gig and find I have to cancel, letting them down.

Any thoughts from anyone who's done this before would be very much appreciated!!

Moomoo
x

I'd go for it personally! I'm 30 weeks atm and have had 2 weeks of long days with my job, with at least 3 more weeks of the same lined up. I'm a freelancer and want to get the most out of working while I still can. If I'd reduced my workload and was sat at home I know I'd hate it. I'm going to start working from home 4 weeks before due date and am just looking forward to that when I'm working long hours atm.
It has felt tough at times - everything takes me longer as I'm bigger and slower and get tired more easily! And I keep forgetting things (baby brain is no joke!!) but I think it's worth it for personal satisfaction. And on the plus side, you are visibly pregnant at this point so people tend to be nice to you!
I also flew within Europe at 29 weeks with absolutely no problems.
Good luck with whatever you choose x

How long would the contract be for?

I am currently 29 weeks and feeling fine - much better than my first trimester, which I found grim. 16 hour days are looong though. Do you get breaks and things in that time? If the work isnt consistent in the long days though, could you go and have a lie down for half an hour if necessary?

We had a consultant who started an 8 week contract in our dept, when she was about 31 weeks pregnant. She was feeling fine, and really happy to have the work. We dont do the hours you do, but we work from 8:30 - 6pm and she has an hour + commute each way. She didnt come into work last week, having arranged to work at home a couple of days (which is fine) but then phones up to say she had preeclampsia and had to have an emergency c section. Her and baby are doing ok (though baby is v small), but obviously she cant continue the contract. I dont think the hours and commute caused her medical problem (maybe they didnt help), but what i am saying is that there is a greater chance that you will not be able to do the contract if you are pregnant than if you are not. As a busy department, of course it is inconvenient, but of course we dont blame her, and my boss would employ her again.

I suppose I would be a little bit worried about becoming ill and in a similar position and not being well enough to come home, and therefore have the baby and stay in hospital until you were both well enough to fly.

That said I am going on holiday next week for a few days.

I would probably go for it, if the contract wasn't more than a week or so. Longer than that I wouldn't be so sure...

Thanks GJ!!!

The contract is a week long. There's probably not much scope for lie-downs during the day (although not completely beyond the realms of possibility), it's more all about hanging around drinking tea + soft drinks, eating biscuits, in a ready-to-go state. Then there will be short bursts of intense work, which I need to be mentally sharp for, but which is performed sitting down. This can go on for 16 hours (+?) in the day. It shouldn't be like that every day though. It seems to get more frenetic as the week goes on.

Last year we sometimes only had time for 5-6 hours of sleep a night. This is the part I am wondering about most. I've done this throughout my career, but I know that things might be a bit different now.

Thanks so much for your advice. I'm so used to working shifts like this, and I feel OK right now, that my automatic reaction is to think...ah it'll be fine! But I know I need to listen to folk in the know, having never done the pregnant bit before!!

Anyway, thanks again, it's very helpful to hear from someone a little further along that me. :) :)

I'm going to take a couple of days to think about and listen to anyone who can tell me how they might feel working long days at the same stage.

x

I reckon I would be ok doing it now for a week. Tired, but ok. Flying is also fine for me at the moment (I fly quite a lot), but I needed a doctor's note to fly easyjet (doctor gave me one).

There is the chance you may have to cancel, but that would be the same for any work you commit to in the last few months.

This is my first pregnancy as well, it is so difficult to predict the course and feelings of a typical pregnancy, and know what I would be able to commit to. I thought I would be snow shoeing and hiking throughout the second trimester, but I have had sporadic pelvic and hip pain, which has really ruled it out. I also find physical exercise far harder than I thought, though swimming is fine which I do a few times per week, so active weekends have really wiped me out. Sitting at my desk and drinking cups of tea, is generally fine though! :)