Those of you working till birth -

I'm not sure what you do for a living.

But, are you concerned with the "unknown". Like you could go home tonight and go into labor and not be back in tomorrow to finish anything you might have "pending"?

When I was figuring out when to go out on maternity leave I just kept thinking how I don't want to leave anything unfinished.

I am the only one in my department technically. And although I have trained various people to take on my responsibilities there are still things that I wouldn't want to leave pending for someone else.

And what about personal belongings? Do you not keep anything at work? I feel like half my life is here. I've taken a lot of stuff home but after 7 years of working here it's like moving to a new home. Takes time.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

My job is not a job that has long term projects. There are two other women in this department that can find the paperwork on my desk (I'm organized) if they have to.

I don't have too much personal stuff at my desk, just some pictures of my family etc. They will be here when I get back.

Each of us basically does the same job and when any of us are out for vacation, or a hospital stay (which has happened) we can easily take up the slack.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

When I left I took all my belongings because the girl that was doing my job was going to sit at my desk. I ended up becoming a SAHM so I am glad I did that. I kinda ended up working until the end. I was due 4/20 and was going to make the friday before my last day. A co-worker talked me out of it so I left 10 work days before my due date. I left on friday, monday and tuesday I was home. Wed. my labor started and DS was born on Thursday.

My mom actually went into labor with me the day she went on maternity leave.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

Every day I leave I worry about what I didn't get done and what would happen if I went into labor that night. I have tried to prepare as best as I can but I am in charge of compensation for over 5000 employees so there is always a long list of things that need to be done.

I look at it as I will only be 100% unavailable while I am in the hospital. Once I come home, I can clean up anything else and transfer it to the Denver office (where there is 1 person who is one my team) for my leave. As for my personal belongings, I can always go into the office if I need something over the course of my leave.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

I already took most of my personal belongings home I moved offices about a month ago so that is when I did a big cleaning out and took my stuff home.
I'm not worried about leaving anything pending. Right now I am managing my department while our manager is out on disability, so I handed most of my projects off to others and now am just doing the managing and coordination of our projects. This enables me to be able to work from home some afternoons when i am feeling run down. I work in a lab but a lot of the administrative and project management work and dealing with customers (email) can be done from home on my laptop.
Once my due date passes, I am still supossed to be working according to my companys disability policy... but I worked it out with our director that after my due date I will only be working from home.
Last week I gave everyone all the info they would need incase I went out. I feel OK leaving at any moments. I tied up all the loose ends and have alkso copied someone from work on all of my emails for the past 3 months incase I happened to go out early, so there would be a record of where I left off.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

because my job consists mainly of report writing (i work in the court system) my supervisor is taking me "off the line" sometime in july. that means i won't get any new cases, and i will just have to finish up the ones i was previously assigned.

some of the cases i could potentially be assigned do last for several months, and i am not being given those cases.

there are several other people in my office who do the same job i do, so they will "pick up the slack" so to speak when i am out.

if there are any loose ends when i leave (and it's pretty much guaranteed there will be, since court cases often get adjourned for months, even years) my supervisor will handle them.

ETA: i am leaving any personal belongings i have here, because i will be returning after 12 weeks. no one will really have to use my desk because all of our work can be accessed at any computer through the network.

Message edited 5/13/2008 10:44:40 AM.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

My due date is tomorrow and I'm still working. Every night before I leave I make sure I leave my desk in order and notes on EVERYTHING. I've also been transitioning a lot of my day-to-day work to my back up person, so she's prepared...just in case.

I figure they can always call me at home if they have any questions, but I think they can handle it!

Re: Those of you working till birth -

I teach and I am teaching summer school. The last day of summer school is August 15th. My due date is August 28th. My feeling is that anything can happen at any time. I already know who my leave replacement is and it is someone I trust. I will slowly start to pack personal belongings up, but if I don't, it is no big deal.

My only concern is that we have trips once a week that I do not feel safe going on. Management/behavior issues arise and I'll be 8 months + with virtually no ability to chase after kids in public. In the building, I have back-up. Outside, not so much. I stated I did not wish to go and they can send a replacement once a week for trips-keeping me in an air conditioned building. I'm already meeting resistance.if I have to get a doctor's note for an accommodation, I will.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

Re: Those of you working till birth -

I work in a PR firm and went into labor and delivered 3 weeks before my due date. Needless to say, I had a lot of stuff pending, had my personal items still in the office - even copies of my charts and insurance info that I needed for the hospital, etc (MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THAT STUFF WITH YOU IN YOUR PURSE JUST IN CASE). Thing is, will come when he or she is ready and my supervisor understood obviously. I made sure to call into the office when I got home to update him on what I was working on prior to delivery and status of everything. They really appreciated it. I also made sure to be somewhat available during my 8 week leave to answer any questions they may have - I thought it was only fair since I left so unexpectedly.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

I have similar concerns as well. I'm an attorney and always have things pending. I'm not due until Christmas so I have plenty of time to think about this. Things tend to slow down a bit the last week or two of the year, but I still worry about leaving unexpectedly while things are pending.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

Yeah I've thought of it. I'm due in Sept but have already started working down my stacks of paper like I'm quitting.

By August I want minimal paperwork at my desk.

Pesronal stuff, yep... taking it home. You never know what can happen at the office, I don't want prying eyes, hands, etc in my stuff.

Leaving no food, papers, etc behind.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

I don't go to an office everyday, I am a road rep, but I know what you mean! The thought of someone else trying to "handle" my clients while I'm out is Iam a total control freak and dont even want to think about it!

Re: Those of you working till birth -

My boss was more worried about this than I was. I developed a "Kelly Status" report that I updated several times a day, and my desk was completely organized and dummy proofed each night just in case. Then the last week or so I had almost nothing to do because I had given off all my projects and I didnt have DS until his due date!

I knew I was coming back so I left most of my personal things on my desk. If you take all personal effects, people will assume you arent returning! Thats what started speculation a few years ago with one girl. She literally stripped her office of all pictures, etc, and as her 12 weeks came to an end, she said she wasnt returning.

Message edited 5/13/2008 1:17:56 PM.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

Re: Those of you working till birth -

I am already working on my accounts and trying to minimize work for whoever temps for me. Plus I dont want them to uncover something tht wasn't done while I'm out. As far as my personal stuff i'm leaving it here except for stuff I dont want people to touch since I know someone is going to be sitting in my office.

Re: Those of you working till birth -

my job is unique becuase I work totally independently... I determine what my workload and projects will be.

I am purposefully making sure I am not doing active labwork in sept... I will be doing desk work.... analyzing data and writing manuscripts. So, when I go, for the most part, no one will care, becuase there is no need for anyone to replace me. I will pick-up where I left off when I return.

I also made sure I have no students for the fall semester.....