35+3 and feeling guilty about work

[SarahFrances89]

Everyone encouraged me to push my maternity leave as late as I could in order to maximise time with baby after and I'm lucky to be working from home so much easier to do with no commute etc., but the last week or two I'm really tired and feeling really guilty for how little work I'm doing, definitely not my full hours. I'm booked to just start maternity at 39 weeks but should I pull it earlier? I'm not super tired so don't really want to just be sitting round the house waiting but I'm definitely on 2/3 or 3/4 work right now. Really hoping I can pull myself back into it over the next few days but am trying and struggling, and my work are really great employers so I don't want to take the mick! Plus I'm already insecure that my maternity cover is going to do a way better job than me and my performance right now is not helping with that.

I would listen to your body if I were you. If you feel like taking it easy, do so. Can you use up any annual leave and go off a bit earlier? My maternity leave started at 37 weeks but I used my holiday and went off at 35. Honestly those last few weeks alone before the baby was born were heaven and god I needed them. Good luck x

I'm totally with you on this and I booked my actual MAT leave to begin on my due date because people told me I would definitely go over as it's my first baby. I'm now 37+3 and finish work at 38 weeks but am using 2 weeks leave. I so wish I'd have started my MAT leave earlier though. If you can bring it forward and you can then I would :) and dont worry about your MAT cover because they are just that, cover until you return. X

Do what makes you feel most comfortable, and if you're feeling that you want/need to stop earlier then please do so.

I'm planning to finish at 39 weeks (2 weeks from now) and my productivity is definitely not what is usually is. However, a lot of that is because I've managed handover of my workload and responsibilities. It must be normal to have less to do in the final days/weeks.

@Floopyandtired and @Shawla92 thanks so much for your lovely messages!! The thing is early on I never wanted to go so late just felt like I’d be being self-indulgent to have lots of time off and would feel silly so just booked to start late. Silly to bother so much what other people think eh! I have got annual leave I can take so might look at stopping at 37 or 38 as that only being 2 or 3 weeks left of work might actually get me working well for those last weeks cos I have loads to do before I stop if that’s the case! 😂 Woops. You’re right about trying not to worry about mat cover and even if she is better (as I expect) there’s nothing to do about that anyway than try and live up to it once I do go back! Thanks for your encouragement to just listen to my body and do what I need to do, hard not to feel lazy/like I’m wasting time but I guess that’s all irrelevant anyway. We do what we need at the time eh! Best of luck with your pregnancies and hope your births are smooth! :) x

@Keepingcomfy you’re right that it makes sense to have less to do because of handover etc too, and a level of me being less busy is because I’ve wrapped up (or am in the process of wrapping up) some big things and they’re obviously not being replaced with anything else. I might float to my manager finishing at 38 weeks and try and get handover etc ready for that and see how things go! For some reason 1 or 2 weeks’ difference feels more manageable and also like I can push through and work well for that rather than having a full month to go still and it dragging on and then not feeling like I’m doing well for work or resting so not winning on either front really. Hope your last fortnight goes quickly and everything with your birth is smooth! :)