Full Time Working Mums and Sickness

[HyphenCobra]

I work full time and not from home!!

First 2 pregnancies i was only part time so was easy to manage sickness but this time I'm really struggling! Can't exactly get signed off for 2 months due to normal pregnancy sickness!!

If you work in a workplace not from home, how are you managing??!!

Ha! I’m sitting at home having taken a days annual leave wondering the same. 6 weeks with second, can’t sleep, exhausted, nauseous and stressful full on job. I’d love to go sick for two months but it just doesn’t seem right! The struggle is real. I’m going to work from home as much as possible but other than that no idea!

I worked full time with DC1 and was a SAHP with DC2. With DC1 I vomited a lot and sometimes fell asleep on the office floor during my lunch break. I told me manager quite early on, because the sickness was too bad to conceal. In retrospect, I should probably have taken some time off sick - I was throwing up 6-8 times in my working day, and when I had a stomach bug when DD was a toddler, I was amazed by what a doddle it was compared to the morning sickness.

So my suggestions are to tell your supervisor, work when you can, take sick leave when you can't, do anything at work that makes things easier for you, and make sure that your main responsibility at home for the time being is gestating - get rid of most of your domestic responsibilities by passing them on to someone else, hiring someone to do them, or accepting that they just can't (or won't, or shouldn't) be done.

So

Plenty of cold weak mint cordial and fresh air - ask to sit by an open window.

Try flat ginger beer. That helps too. And keep away from other people's smelly lunches.

If youre not well enough to work, you absolutely can get signed off for pregnancy-related sickness. I've had HG both times and was signed off for about 12 weeks with it both times. I couldn't work at all during that time so there was no other option.

Thanks guys!

Problem is it's not severe sickness, it's just CONSTANT nausea like car sickness feeling, just so debilitating. I am being sick but not to the extent of poor ladies losing weight etc during pregnancy.

I just don't know what to do. Think i will speak to my boss about it as honestly, if i can do some working from home that would help me so much!!

I feel for you. It’s so hard.

I took some annual leave and some sick days.

I work with clients so with my boss’s permission cut back on the number of appointments and procedures I was doing and blocked off breaks into my appointment diary.

I learned how to say “no, I can’t do that now/today/this week/ever.”

Even with all that it was hard, I only had 3 sick days total and wish I had taken more. But no one covers for me while I’m gone so the work just builds up, so it’s not as simple as just not going in.

I’m at 17 weeks now and 95% better.

I feel for you. I just tried to take it one day, one hour, one minute at a time and in my worst times put my head down for 5 minutes and sometimes had a little cry.

If you can work out what if anything works for you to ease the sickness - I kept a little diary. With DC1 I was so physically sick and had to be signed off for 2 weeks whilst I got on top of it with medication in hospital and once on top of it managed to keep it at bay until 16 weeks when suddenly I just didn’t need it anymore.

This time I’ve been less physically sick but felt nauseous all the time, especially in the afternoons, which I don’t remember with DC1. All that worked for me was eating little and often, especially carbs and drinking milk. But to get to that discovery I tried orange juice, lucozade, still abs fizzy water, coke (which made it worse) fresh fruit, decaf tea. The list goes on!
I appreciate what you’re saying about not seeming fair taking time off but be kind on yourself. If we weren’t having babies our employers wouldn’t have a workforce in 20 years. I told my line manager early on so I could work a little more flexibly and would make up hours lost in the day in the evening.
Becoming unwell or dehydrated won’t do you or baby any good. Xx

Of course you can take sick leave! This is about your guilt, thinking that morning sickness or nausea is not worthy of time off as it's "normal" but if it's affecting your ability to work and if you're unwell, of course you can take time off sick. You're sick!

I have been signed off for 2 months from weeks 6-14. I have HG but any amount of nausea is debilitating

Problem is it's not severe sickness, it's just CONSTANT nausea like car sickness feeling, just so debilitating. I am being sick but not to the extent of poor ladies losing weight etc during pregnancy.

I had the same for 5 months. I always stood close to the tube doors to be able to make a quick exit, avoided other people's food smells, small sips of water. Basically, sucked it up during the day, came home, cried and ate ice lollies - which was viable since I didn't have any children then to look after.

Go to the GP and get cyclizine, magic stuff and totally safe. Don't be a martyr and take time off if you need it.