Working During Pregnancy Should be Optional

I feel very lucky that this pregnancy has gone so smoothly. No morning sickness. Very light nausea (that was gone with acupuncture). Mild exhaustion (helped with acupuncture). The back issue was really the first "problem", but it was really out of my own stupidity and stubbornness  thinking I could still prance around Boston in anything but flats. Dumb.

I will say however working full time during pregnancy, I am not a fan of. No, I don't want to be home sitting on my ass for the next 4 months waiting for this child to appear. But I do wish however that working full time was optional while pregnant. Can we afford for me to cut my hours? Yes. Do I want to give up that extra money right now? No. It's going to help cover my maternity leave come this summer.

I do wish however that more companies offered part time in office, and part time work from home. (There's something about working in your pajamas, un-showered, in the privacy of your own home that just sounds so wonderful right now.) Which I'm sure many do. However my company is not one of them. I can pretty much work anywhere, and still have access to my work computer. Finish all projects, complete all tasks, communicate to management, everything.  But..... it's not something my boss completely agrees with.

As this pregnancy progresses, I find that my work limit is more like 4 days a week, and not 5. Monday's I end up dragging my ass out of bed late, crawling through the day, eyes half open, and mind half paying attention. I think about all the things I should have completed this weekend, and stress that tomorrow (Tuesday) marks another week of pregnancy. "It's 23 weeks already! I need to schedule (insert class here)! I need to complete (insert nursery project here)! There's only 17 weeks left! What if I'm like (so and so) and go 6 weeks early?! Then I really only have 11 weeks!" And the panic really starts to set in.

So here's my thought/confession/dream: You shouldn't have to work full time while pregnant. At the beginning you're too tired, too nauseous to think. The middle part from about 12-18 weeks, yeah you can probably handle full time. But sometime after 20 weeks, things change, they hurt, you move slower, you begin panicking and all you really want to do is hide under a rock, or the covers napping. And I'm sure by the end, during those hot summer months, I'm going to want to be floating in a pool, with a cold drink, feet up, enjoying the last few weeks of sanity.

So there's my rant. Who's with me?!