Reply to Federal employee FMLA - Post-birth leave questions

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm pregnant with my first and trying to figure out how my maternity leave will pan out. (Fair warning that this is a super boring post unless you're interested/knowledgeable about this stuff.)

Basics:
I'm 43 (per the OB/GYN - advanced maternal age)
We've been trying to get pregnant for four years and it finally happened - so for years, I've been stockpiling leave in hopes of a pregnancy.
I have 160 hours of use or lose leave for 2019 that I will try to get kicked over and reinstated in 2020.
I have a ton of sick leave (more than 900 hours) and would love to take as much of it as I can.
I have additional leave hours banked (comp time, etc) to cover me through my Dec 4 due date, so no worries there unless things get dicey and my whole master plan is out the window.
I have 40 hours of reinstated leave from the shutdown that I can use in 2020.
I'll get an additional 2020 batch of 160 hours of use or lose leave.

So, if all goes well, I'll have the following leave hours available in 2020:
900+ hours of sick leave
40 hours of reinstated shutdown leave
160 hours of 2020 use or lose leave
And HOPEFULLY 160 hours of reinstated 2019 use or lose leave
Not including sick leave, I hope to have 360 hours (9 weeks of leave) to use.
Ideally, I will use my allotted FMLA leave and then tack on the additional 9 weeks of other leave that I have.
(I will also have an additional 240 hours of leave in my leave bank that I carry over each year, but very well could use in 2020.)

Essentially, I am trying to have the longest maternity leave possible while still getting paid.  I have many questions, but I'll try to just ask the most important ones:

1.  I have a ton of sick leave and would prefer to use that first. I've read that I get up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave.  If my OB/GYN says I need 12 weeks of sick leave to recover, can I use all 12 weeks of FMLA with sick leave and then take my other 9 weeks of leave after my FMLA leave? ---&gt;yes but it depends on how much your agency allows outside of FMLA. mine allows up to 6 months off total, it's up to me how I break it down. the only rule about sick is you can only take as much as your doctor certifies you need, which is usually only 6 or 8 weeks.

2.  Can I use my other sick leave hours during my maternity leave outside of the FMLA window?  --&gt;only for appointments for yourself and the baby

3.  I've read that OB/GYNs usually dictate that 6-8 weeks is sufficient sick leave for post-birth recovery - what are the chances they will prescribe more for an old mom like me?

4.  Has anyone had any luck getting their use or lose leave reinstated in the next year? My thought is to request leave and have my supervisor decline my request because of the press of work, then petition to have the leave reinstated in 2020. Do you think it will work or do you have any other ideas to accomplish getting my 2019 use or lose reinstated in 2020?

5.  Does anyone know what is the total amount of maternity leave I can take? (only 12 weeks of FMLA leave?, as much leave as I have stock-piled?, etc.?) --&gt;depends on your agency's rules; see above

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, to anyone willing to pore over this and share their expertise/experience.  It is very appreciated!
[/quote]
I attempted a few of these, see the --&gt;[/quote]

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