Maternity leave

I ended up taking 5 months off. My daughter had some health problems when she was born so I didn't want to go back which meant I had to quit my job and then when it was time I found a new one. It was hard to do money wise but we made it work!

With my daughter I took 7 weeks off and with my upcoming arrival of son will take 2 months off, I work from home and am self employed so will try to get in a few hours when he naps or at night after awhile so that I'm bringing in some income since I don't get paid for maternity leave.

I took two weeks. After that, I worked evening shift and we had a nanny come to our house for two hours every weekday while I was going to work and hubby was coming home. Did that for a year and a half. God a lot of time with my son and hubby did too, got the bills paid, but had little time for bonding with the hubby.

With my first baby I took 4 weeks off. That was all the vacation/sick time I had, and I would have killed for 2 more weeks. But I did get to bring him to work with me for 4 months. I had a pack-n-play in the corner of my office. When my boss told me it was time to find daycare I just couldn't do it, and luckily I didn't have to. So I was able to stay home for the next 6 years. So I guess for baby #3 you could day I had indefinite maternity leave.
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The law in South Dakota is that a woman can have 12 weeks maternity leave and not lose her job. I took off 2 weeks from doing daycare, because he was in the NICU and I need some time to adjust to him and then I waited until he was 6 weeks before getting a part time job out of the house (with 4 kids, can you blame me? ;) )

I took six weeks off, but I was able to bring my daughter back to work with me and I work part-time.

The first time around, I quit one job about a month before I was due, took approximately 3 months and then started a new job at that time. My husband was lucky to be able to take 2 and a half weeks of paternity leave. Then the second time, I never did go back to work because we moved here right before our baby was born, so I'm going on about 2 years "maternity leave". I think it's so important for women to take as much as they possibly can, and for employers to be lenient and flexible with new mothers.

With my daughter, I took 5 mo off, because she was a preemie. With my son I took 10 weeks off. With my 3rd, I plan to take 10 weeks. I am lucky enough to be paid for 8 weeks, and then take vacation for the other 2. I just had no income for about 3 months when I was at the NICU/home with my daughter. It stunk, but was worth the sacrifice.

With #1 I took 2weeks before and 6 after, with #2 I took 13 weeks,and with #3 I recieved 13 weeks maternity leave then used 12 weeks fmla. I had planned to return to work but had some family illness come up right before I was to return to work. I ended up quitting and am now a sahm. I think that it is the best decision for my family and I am very lucky to have a husband that supports me fully. It is a very big change from working fulltime outside of the home, and I do very very much miss the socialization. I do at times feel lonely and isolated, but I wouldn't change my decision for anything.

Pam,dss Jadeyn-11,ds Kristofer-6,dd's Bethany-3 & Emaleigh-1

I took 13 weeks off with both of my boys. With the first one 9 weeks were paid and with the second 10 weeks were paid. The rest I just took unpaid, as I couldn't imagine going back to work any sooner than I did.

I took off just a little less than 2 weeks for my maternity stay. I am considered self employed so I do not get any sick or vacation time. I usually work at night so my husband would take care of my son. I could have taken off as much as I wanted but taking off more time would have also put me in a status that I would have to take training over again and I did not think it was worth it.

~What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy.

I took 13 weeks off with my daughter. She was born at the end of November, so when my 6 weeks of paid maternity leave was up, we were into 2008, and I used my 4 weeks of vacation that I had for this year. I came back at only 35 hours a week, which has been nice, but eventually I would like to cut back to maybe 28 or so (at least by the time we have our next child in a year or two). It is so hard going back to work...I know any additional time you can take at home is worth the sacrifices! As far as personal, yes, I missed the people I work with, but it is fun to visit WITH the baby, too.

I took the allowed 12 weeks through FMLA with my older two boys. I didn't have enough sick/vacation/PTO so I rationed it to about 60% pay per week until it was gone. After that, I did go into work a few hours a week to move things off my desk. My employer allowed me to bring the baby with me during those few hours. I usually scheduled it for naptime.
Things were tight (financially) at the end of my leave but we made it. I'll never regret taking those extra days with my babies... they grow up so fast!
SAHM to 3 Boys!

I took 4 weeks with both my first and second child- the extent of my paid leave. With my first I was ready to go back to work, still pretty overwhelmed and unsure of myself. With my second I wanted more time to rest and snuggle my baby. It's tougher to get that time with two. As a very busy professional I am used to balancing work and home, often bringing work home, and it is not easy. Financially daycare is the toughest. I've coped by finding momentary indulgences- Starbucks, reading a book or a chick mag during a quick lunch to mentally check out. Gotta hold on to a piece of yourself to be a balanced Mom, I think. I try to remind myself we can't be 100% at work, at home, and in our own heads as human beings- a daily challenge. Gotta give yourself grace and require it from others when needed.

I took 6 weeks off, unpaid. As a daycare provider, it was hard to decide what to do - take time off and risk losing daycare children ? Or take less time off and miss out on the one on one with my own baby ? I planned the 6 weeks off - which was just as well, as I had a c-section. Thankfully, all my daycare parents were great, and came back to me when I re-opened :) Some of them are still with me 5 years later :)

Jenny ~ www.LittleHouseChildcare.com