How early did you go on maternity leave?

[GreyAndCopper]

How early did you go on maternity leave? I'm 26 weeks and can't wait. I hate my job and I don't want to go back after the baby. Just interested to know when anyone else went on maternity leave or if anyone went on it early?

36 weeks here - and my waters broke the next day. I was FURIOUS I'd been denied 3-4 weeks of pottering about!

In the end I was glad, because the first 2 weeks would have been annual leave and I got to use it at the end of mat leave instead to go back 3 days a week at first.

However, if I'm lucky enough to have another I'll definitely be opting for 36 weeks again.

I'm currently 34 weeks and my last day is this Friday, I can't wait. I was supposed to stay another 2 weeks but I have a 19mo already, I'm absolutely exhausted and can't handle the commute anymore, so going to enjoy the next month or so of rest before baby comes

I went on mat leave at 36 weeks, finished just before Christmas. It was a lovely time of year to start it :) Then was induced at 38.5 weeks so was not off long enough before the birth to get bored.

33 weeks as I had horrendous SPD and couldn't walk to work anymore. I'd planned to sort the house and get ready for baby. He was born that day via c section so I spent a week in hospital instead of relaxing before baby

My maternity leave started the day I gave birth at 28 weeks. I had planned to start maternity leave at 37 weeks, which was the day DD came out of NICU.

32 weeks. I was too big to continue with my job which was physical and I couldn’t pick things off the floor. It was all a bit awkward.

Number 1 - 35 weeks. Started today!

@GreyAndCopper trying to work it out for you, will you be using different funds for when the baby is born? If it comes at 42 weeks the 3 months will be before its born if I'm not going mad? You need to do what works best for you and what you can afford to do

36 weeks

I booked my maternity leave to start on the due date and then used up holiday before maternity leave bringing it to 36 weeks

I'm planning to finish in a few weeks time, at 39 weeks. I do work from home and would have finished much earlier if I was working externally/commuting.

37 weeks last time, will be 38 weeks this time (end of next week). I’ve felt much rougher in this pregnancy and have been ready since Christmas, especially with commuting into London. I’m lucky enough to get a decent package and would potentially have gone off sooner, but have a few bits I want to get done first.

36 weeks. There was a heatwave and I was just so fed up being at work. Plus I was finding the car journey and sitting down all day so uncomfy.

DD was then a week late so I gave 5 weeks being hot and uncomfy and grumpy at home!

I’m going at 36 weeks. I’m a doctor and there’s not much sitting down in my job. Feeling good so far (nearly 30 weeks) but worried about the next few weeks particularly covering A&E and emergencies:

29 weeks...loved every minute 🙌

I'm currently 31 weeks and have been signed off sick by doctor, likely until my mat leave kicks in at 36 weeks. I was planning on staying till 37 weeks so I feel like a bit of a failure! I'm a teacher, and I was struggling with fatigue to be honest. Signed off as I have developed horrendous pregnancy-induced eczema which means I can't sleep and my dad has also just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Even with those things, I'm still feeling like I should be able to continue to work: we give ourselves way too much of a hard time.

If you feel ready to leave at 30 weeks, do it and do it guilt-free; everyone is different and comparing yourself to others is only going to lead to anxiety IME. As I keep being told, we WILL miss the opportunity to rest when baby comes! All the best for the rest of your pregnancy

36 weeks and 4 days but i had a physically demanding job working 55 hours a week on my feet. That was fun.

I spent the next 4 weeks sat on my bum so i got really fat. Looking back i wish i cut my hours down to half and took holidays and worked until a week before due date.

37 weeks. I'm glad I waited as I started to get bored just before baby came and it means I earned more money.

If you aren't going to return anyway, you could take the piss a bit and call in sick if ever the pregnancy symptoms get too much!

26 weeks
In and out of hospital for the next 2 weeks
In hospital and then Ds born at 32 weeks

Or maybe it was 29 weeks? It was along time ago,think it was 29

36 weeks. I was struggling to reach the patients to intubate them, with my bump in the way! And as an anaesthetist, in the days when we were on call for 48 or 72 hours continuously, the lack of sleep and heavy workload were gruelling.

It's completely personal.
Some people crave the break during pregnancy. I thought I was dying in pregnancy. Severe SPD and a job that involved a lot of walking with 2 school age children left me in tears every night.

But now that I have a sleeping 6 month on me it's all a distant memory. It was worth it. Because now I won't have to go back to work until my daughter is 13 month rather than 9 which is a massive difference.

But she's also my last baby. So I am holding onto every second.

37+5.
It was the Friday closest. The rest of the office has left for a major international conference the day before and it was 2 weeks before Christmas so there really was no point trying to extend it further.

But it was really busy in the run up (because of the conference). I was fit and healthy - doing pg yoga weekly and lots of walking. Bosses were good to me. DH was driving me to work and home again from about 30 weeks almost daily (when i needed it, there was a good bus service, I generally got offered a seat, and it wasn’t too long a walk from home to stop, stop to office was only a few steps!). I had been commuting one way by bus, both if necessary for timings, for years, as DH worked longer hours than me. And at the time, I only got 14 weeks mat leave.

DSIL left a lot earlier - I think she was 30 weeks but had a far more difficult time with the pg than I had generally. And mat leave had been extended a couple of times between the two of us needing it.

I had two weeks holiday owing so I took that in the two weeks prior to due date. Ds was 5 days late, so I had nearly 3 weeks at home.

Currently 34+5 and will be finishing work at 38+4.

I have an office based job with underground parking so the amount I have to actually walk isnt far at all.

Worst part of it all is that our building has decided to shut the toilets on our floor for a refurb which will last approximately four weeks. Pretty much exactly the amount of time I have left! Means I have to haul myself up a flight of stairs which is a drain, but I can take a lift if my hips start to fail on me.

Still working 38+4. Will work till baby arrives. Did same last time. Love my job, passionate about my career, great friends with my colleagues, maternity pay not particularly superb so in all makes total sense.