How much time off

Hi everyone....I am new to this page as we just learned on 1/7 that we are expecting twins in August. I have read through quite a few posts and don't see my specific question addressed and that is how long after having your multiples did you take off from work. I know the standard is 6-8 weeks depending on the type of delivery but I am hoping to maybe take FMLA leave as well....I am just not sure how to make ends meet only receiving a percentage of my normal pay since I am the breadwinner for my family.

 

I took 8 weeks off with my first child but only 6 with the twins-the main reason was that I had already been off 4 weeks prior to their birth on bed rest and hadnt accrued any vacation time during my short term disability.  If you are able to, that is GREAT!! 
Welcome to TS!!! And congratulations on expecting twins!
 
What do you do for a living?  Do you have any other children?

 

I am lucky enough to work from home for a dental insurance carrier as an analyst. I have three boys ages 11, 5, and 17 months. I just never felt like it was enough time off with each of my boys and with twins I have a feeling I may feel even more resentful if I go back that soon. I do work from home like I said but I'm pretty strict with my hours.

 

I took 14 months off after my twins and almost two years after the birth of my singleton. I live in Canada though. With the twins, I had maternity benefits for 12 months but between the girls and my son I was self employed so didn't receive any benefits after my son's birth. We were very careful with our spending and just made do with what we had for the most part. We also rented out our downstairs room for a time to make ends meet. For myself, I can't wrap my head around going back so soon and would do whatever was necessary to have as much time as I wanted/needed at home. I also suck at multi-tasking so with newborns I tend to not be able to focus on much of anything except breastfeeding and sleeping. :laughing:

 

I am lucky enough to work from home for a dental insurance carrier as an analyst. I have three boys ages 11, 5, and 17 months. I just never felt like it was enough time off with each of my boys and with twins I have a feeling I may feel even more resentful if I go back that soon. I do work from home like I said but I'm pretty strict with my hours.

 

I took 8 weeks - 2 vacation, 6 short term disability.

 

I took 9 months off with the twins and am taking 3 years now with our singleton. I was scheduled to go back after 6 months with the twins and I just was not ready, so I was lucky that I could extend it a bit more.
 
But I live in Germany and our benefits are generous for the first year. From the moment we decided to have kids made sure that DH's income can support our daily expenses although it takes strict budgeting, my income went into savings (mostly) and extras.

 

I barely took 8 weeks off (was doing work from home for most of my maternity leave)... And I do regret not just taking that time to be in the moment with my girls. I think if the numbers work for you, take as much time as you need. Can you work part time to ease yourself back into it? Good luck with your pregnancy!

 

I ended up taking 5 months off.  I had 1 month paid maternity leave, 1 month on short term disability and just made due for the remaining 3 months.  I also ended up going back to work only part time.  However I was not the main bread winner like I am now.  Now I work from home part time and in the office part time.  I definitely think working from home will make the transition easier especially if you can start out at part time a couple weeks and move to full time. 

 

Thank you ladies for all your useful info. I found out today that I should be able to take 14-16 weeks with 100% of my pay!!! I am already in serious saving mode in case I need to take any time off before my due date.

 

FMLA wasn't an option for me so I only took 4 weeks off after my twins were born.  Just couldn't afford to take more time off and that's all the vacation time I had.  Should have moved to Canada!!

 

You totally still should! Me, you, and Jen could hang out and drink wine and eat cheese (well, not Jen) and stuff.

 

Does it still snow there?  That's what determines whether I live somewhere.  (Also if it's where the military says I can live...) If it snows, I don't go.  :laughing: 

 

I took 12 weeks.  Was supposed to be 6 paid and 6 unpaid - however I had complications with my c-section incision not closing so I was on STD for 10 out of 12 weeks.  I then went back to work part time for 2 years before going back to FT