10 replies to this topic

[Kris1984]

I am currently 19 weeks pregnant with twins and trying to plan my maternity leave from work.  I keep hearing that twin pregnancies are more likely to result in bed rest, or pre-term birth etc.  I wanted to ask you girls how long you were able to keep working before it became too uncomfortable or medically unable to keep working?

 

Thanks!

[jojo10]

I worked up until 33 weeks, healthy pregnancy , no issues, delivered at 36 weeks.

I was at a desk job as I could not work in the field any longer.

 

Good luck, Congrats, enjoy your expanding belly and treasure your free time! And those first 3 months ask for help!

[vball_gal]

Definitely make sure you know what you would need to do if you are required to stop working early just in case.  It can happen very quickly i.e. go in for an ultrasound and they noticed your cervix dilating and it's immediate bed rest.  In my twin group here I would say over half the group ended up on some kind of bed rest.   It ranged from 22 weeks to 34 weeks.   Having said that I have seen lots of twin threads here where no one required bed rest and in my city here I know lots of twin moms who never had to either.   It's really hard to predict what will happen.

 

In terms of discomfort, I remember a lot of us started to complain around the 31-32 week mark and each week just got tougher and tougher.   I think I was at 34 weeks when I was done lol.  I delivered at 36 weeks and boy was I happy to get them out by that point lol.

[Crazy]

I am on my feet a lot at work and started to get really uncomfortable around 26 weeks. My belly also interfered with my ability to do my work.

I was taken off work at 28 weeks because I was 100% effaced, 2cm dilated, and one of the babies had her head pushed against what was left of my cervix.

Ask your OB when they typically take people off work. Before I had cervical issues my OB said that I would be taken off work no later than 35 weeks.

[cheers]

I was taken off work at 26 weeks (shortening cervix).  It happened very quickly.  At 24 weeks my cervix was great; 2 weeks later I was on bed rest.  That being said, I was told that the procedure for twin pregnancies was to take women off work at 28 weeks (multiples are automatically considered high risk even if there are no complications).  So technically it was only 2 weeks before when I was planning to stop. 

 

I was pretty uncomfortable by 26 weeks.  However, given the option I probably would have continued working till 30 weeks as its hard planning the mat leave etc….

 

Ask your ob whether there is a certain process for twin pregnancies.  

 

Good luck, I hope everything is smooth sailing!

[CatL]

I also have a desk job and worked until 34 weeks and delivered at 38wks 2 days with no sign of going into labour at all (I was not dilated when the scheduled my c-section).  I could have worked longer but they were concerned about one of the babies not moving during an u/s and I had to have a bunch of NSTs so my doctor "finally" gave me a note to stop.  It must vary from one doctor to another as my doctor told me that I was not high risk if everything was going well and that I could work.  I actually felt great most of my pregnancy but remember feeling really tired and uncomfortable the last month especially because I had really bad carpal tunnel issues.

 

Good luck!

[juice]

Great question, Kris. I have been wondering this myself, feeling very big and exhausted at 14 weeks. I do not have a desk job - it takes a lot of physical activity and energy. Thanks for all the responses! Keep 'em coming!

[Bug88]

I was taken off at 26 weeks ( I'm a nurse) and was out on bed rest at 32 weeks for shortening cervix and had my babies at 34 weeks.

[vball_gal]

I forgot to mention I was put on bed rest (at home) at 26 weeks for having some spotting with complete placenta previa (babies placenta covered my cervix) and remained that way til 36 weeks for my planned c-section.

[oneMorechance]

My doctor suggested that I stop work at 25 weeks. But I stayed until I couldn't do it any more at 29 weeks. I was a bartender and very active at work. I didn't have them until my scheduled c-section at 37 weeks. Never went on formal bed rest.

[Terraplant]

I started cutting back my hours and cutting out activities (like business trips) around 20 weeks. That kind of worked for awhile, but I end up on leave when I hit 28 weeks. I love my job so leaving early was a tough decision, but I honestly needed to just concentrate on taking care of myself and the babies. I needed way more rest than I could get while I was working.

 

I really believe that leaving early was the right call for me. I'm almost at 38 weeks and my gut feeling is that I wouldn't have made it this far if I kept working. It is different for everyone and it would have been a more difficult decision if I didn't have access to a good benefits package through work.

 

People are right, talk to your doctor about their expectations. My OBGYN and family doctor both said that they wouldn't recommend working past 28 weeks. Knowing this, my employer and I were able to consider this while planning work coverage.