Work until due date or work until labor?

[Anonymous]

Due with my 2nd in 3 weeks and curious to get a sense of how many women stopped working at their due date vs continued working until going into labor (assuming you went past your due date)? DD was a week late but I stopped working on her due date. I'm contemplating doing the same this time even though, physically, I *could* have kept working until she was born. I know there are numerous factors at play in one's decision. In my case, I have plenty of leave time, financially will be ok (though we're not super rich) but I manage a staff and am just kind of torn about what to do.

[Anonymous]

I worked up until labor. Got off work at 4pm. Went into labor around 8. Got to hospital around 10. Baby born at 1am.

But I had a VERY easy pregnancy. Was not uncomfortable and had no issues walking 2 miles to work that day.

[Anonymous]

Up until labor, but I did work from home the last few days.

[Anonymous]

Op here- Should also add, how did you plan around such uncertainty? Part of my reason for thinking stop on ny due date is simply to avoid the ambiguity of closing out each day as if it's my last for the next 8 months? Granted, I could go into labor tomorrow but obviously odds only increase as time goes on.

[Anonymous]

I am not a cheery pregnant person even on the best of days. By the end, I leave when I think I cannot go another day without setting the building on fire or losing it on someone for no other reason than my own misery.

That ended up being the day before my due date with my first (and a week before DD actually came) and then 3 days before my DD arrived (a week before my due date).

I was better off using up some leave early than I was getting fired for being a hot (pregnant) mess, ha

[Anonymous]

As a person with staff, having them ready to go now and be fine without you. They will be anyway but remind them of that sooner than later.

[Anonymous]

I worked up until labor. I only got 6 weeks of (partially) paid leave, and I wanted every bit of that time with the baby.
I also had a very easy pregnancy, a desk job, and a short commute. I may have made other plans had that not been the case.

[Anonymous]

What about the extra appts that happen after your due date? When I went past 40 weeks, I had to do a stress test I think every couple days. But I guess if your dr’s office is close to work, that’s not a huge deal. Just something to consider.

[Anonymous]

I walked to work and back on Friday, went into labor Sunday morning, gave birth Monday night (started leave Monday).

[Anonymous]

How are you getting 8 months off?

[Anonymous]

I worked until labor with my first (which was over a week past due so I'm glad I didn't stop sooner) and up until my induction date with the second. Based on my experience with the first, scans, etc, i was pretty sure I wasn't going into labor naturally before I was induced, and I was right.

In both cases I made sure all projects were completed and work was handed off so anything I was still working on was not crucial. Also made sure my supervisor and subordinates were informed of my plans and I made sure my backup knew where everything was in my office.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thanks, this is helpful. My doc/hospital is closer to work than home but it's a public transportation commute. I may just plan on reducing my in office workday. And in response to a pp: my office has almost no paid leave but an extremely generous LWOP policy which I'm planning on taking advantage of.

[Anonymous]

With my first, I was taking 6 months of leave so I worked until the Friday vefore my due date and didn't worry about it.

With my second, I only took 12 weeks and didn't want to waste a minute of it, so I worked until labor. I did start working from home on my due date though because I just could not deal with commuting and sitting in the office after that point.

[Anonymous]

I’m a Fed so I wanted to save all of my precious leave. I planned on working up until I went into labor, but my supervisor allowed me to work from home starting a week before my due date. I was induced a week after my due date, so I teleworked for 2 weeks.

[Anonymous]

With my first I worked until I couldn’t take it anymore, which was 4 days after my due date. I went into labor that evening, after I’d sent my last transition emails. I’d been working from home for about 2 weeks.

With my second, I had an induction scheduled for a Wednesday, and I officially worked until the preceding Friday, though I worked from home a bit after that to finish up some loose ends.

I really liked being able to wrap things up or cleanly transition to coverage before starting my leave. I think if I waited for labor I would have been worried about that stuff.