Working while pregnant with twins

ChristineW

Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2016
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Hey girls,

A bit of background info! I'm a high school English teacher, and started teaching at a new school at the beginning of last academic year; hubby and I weren't trying for a baby, but over summer we were blessed with an unexpected pregnancy. I told the headmistress very early on that I would be willing to teach until I hit 36 weeks, when I'd start my maternity leave.
To cut a long story short, we got a little more baby than we bargained for, and with that comes a lot more bump! I'm 31 weeks now with two big baby boys, and I am absolutely huge, but staying on at the school out of guilt more than anything else.
Do any of you have any tips for working whilst vastly pregnant? I'm having a bit of a tough time!
 
Last edited:
Get out of there!
I have the same job and originally I was 'encouraged' to work up until 38 weeks! I spoke to my PTC who is really understanding and made sure I gave her plenty of notice before pulling my mat leave date back a bit. I'm working this week then that's me. Finishing up at just over 35weeks, which I don't think is unreasonable for my first.
I know how you feel though. Schools are stretched so much right now and even taking an afternoon for appointments has felt like I'm putting extra strain on colleagues who then have to cover, not to mention leaving the kids with 'cover work' which is never as productive.
But I know that this is a better decision. If I pushed too far and ended up I'll or in early labour is be leaving them in the lurch with little notice. At least this way they have a set date in mind to work towards and be organised for.
Besides, I'm only having the 1 and twins tend to come much earlier. Keep yourself and them safe xx

Sent from my Hudl 2 using Tapatalk
 
How very sensible of you!
No, that's not unreasonable at all, and I'm glad your PTC has been so understanding.
But yes, it's exactly that - I don't want to end up putting my colleagues or my students under any more pressure, as I recognise that their lives are plenty stressful as it is. Especially as this is only my second year at the school, I don't want anyone to form a negative opinion of me for doing so.
You are right, though; I'm just worried that I'll be too big to teach before my leave rolls around - the kids are already complaining that my bump is blocking out the board! How embarrassing!
 
Bless you! Twin pregnancy is particularly hard work so I commend that fact that you're still plodding on - I was teaching and I ended up leaving after the first trimester as I had such bad sickness it was just impossible. Can you talk to the head and explain that you're finding it too much and that you would like to leave sooner if there is any possibility that they can start your replacement sooner?

If you're set on staying to 36 weeks, i'd just say make sure you sit down a lot, invest in a very comfy cushion, get the kids/colleagues to carry things for you as much as possible and nominate one of them each lesson to do some of the writing on the board (answers, etc) to save you from having to be on your feet.

Good luck xx
 
That's very kind of you to say, and congrats on YOUR twins- it seems that we have a very similar EDD, as well! I'm sorry to hear about your sickness, though: that sounds unbearable.
I'm certainly going to have a chat about bringing my leave forward, but I'm already doing several of those things, thank god, or I'm not sure I'd be able to carry on. There's definitely a lot of sitting down going on, in particular; some teasing certainly goes on in the staff room as my bump's nearing my knees when sitting down at this point :)'D).
Bless you on your beautiful babies, and I hope that all three of you are strong and healthy.
 
That's very kind of you to say, and congrats on YOUR twins- it seems that we have a very similar EDD, as well! I'm sorry to hear about your sickness, though: that sounds unbearable.
I'm certainly going to have a chat about bringing my leave forward, but I'm already doing several of those things, thank god, or I'm not sure I'd be able to carry on. There's definitely a lot of sitting down going on, in particular; some teasing certainly goes on in the staff room as my bump's nearing my knees when sitting down at this point :)'D).
Bless you on your beautiful babies, and I hope that all three of you are strong and healthy.

When is your EDD? Mine will be here between week 36 and 37 so end of December - can't wait to be out of pregnancy misery, awful as that sounds! I hope your meeting goes well with the head, and hopefully they will be really understanding and fine about it.
 
Sorry about the wait; it's been a hectic couple of weeks!
I'll hit 36 weeks in 21 days exactly, so due about the same time as you, it seems :)
Update on maternity leave: I had a meeting with the head this week, who was reluctant to let me off earlier because of the fact that the agreement had been made a while ago. However, I stressed that that had been decided before I knew that I was having two, and she seemed to see reason. However, I think that it was watching me struggle to get up out of the chair in her office that really sealed the deal!
To cut a long story short, this week is my last, and thank god for that! At the rate these two are growing, I'm not sure that I would make it for much longer than that.
 
Hurray!! Well done! I bet Friday can't come too soon.
 
Oh, you are so right. The kids said that it'll be sad to see me go, which is very sweet of them, but I'm sure they'll all be relieved to have a teacher who's a little more active and animated than I am!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
473,572
Messages
4,654,624
Members
110,012
Latest member
lauramayne90
Back
Top