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I realized how short 12 weeks really is and wished I could taken more time off. I hated putting such a young baby in daycare. But, instead of taking more time off, my boss encouraged/urged me to come in late and leave a couple hours early for my first 2 weeks back.

I took more time than I thought but worked part time
From home. I also decided to go back part time after.

I went back earlier than planned for two reasons: the first being to preserve some time off for LOs surgeries, and I was going crazy - newborns are not my thing.

Well I got pregnant again at three months pp so instead of going to back at a year I gave up my job.

@oliviaoblivia: will you be going back to work or full time SAH now?

LO1 was in NICU for 10 days so I ended up WFH until he was 6 months old.

With LO2, I quit while pregnant because of LO1. I returned to working, this time from home on contract basis when LO was around 7 months old. SAHM is not my thing.

With LO3, I will probably start working right away but less hours. I work from home so it's super easy to get in hours during naps. LO1 and LO2 will be at daycare/preschool FT.

@oliviaoblivia: I work from home and love it. Of course, I send B to school FT and D starts FT after the holidays. But the baby will be home with me. I've had no issues working during D's nap time plus she just plays in the office while I work. But once she's 1, I think she will need the social interaction from school.

Nothing changed the first time. Nothing really changed this time either, but I did have dates mixed up... it was still the same amount of total time I had planned on taking though. I wish it could've been longer this time (even though I took more weeks than the first time).

@oliviaoblivia: That is the one thing, I sometimes feel like I'm short changing D. That's why I'm sending her to daycare when she's 1. I'm just not a good crafty/Pinterest mom. I can teach her tax and accounting but babies don't find that interesting.

@BandDmommy: yeah. I really like the baby stage. We don't need my income and I'm not missing my job but I don't know if I'll want to SAH long term. I'm giving myself next year to figure it all out.

I was going to go back to work but during my mat leave my entire org changed and I went back briefly but decided it wasn't what I wanted to do so I quit to be a SAHM for a year.

@oliviaoblivia: Wow per kid or for all 3? My private daycare here is "only" works out to $85/day and it's one of the more expensive ones!

I took an extra week because I ended up needing a vaginal scar fixed

It didn't with my first (I took 15 weeks fully paid and then came back at 100% and put LO in day care full time). I expect nothing will change with LO 2 (14 weeks instead of 15 but everything else the same), unless he comes early or has complications.

@regberadaisy: So I should tell my boss to fire me then re-hire me? lol! So sad! So the govt it saying it's better to be jobless than to have a baby..

My plans did not change at all... Not much wiggle room for us financially to prolong an already unpaid mat leave.

Instead of taking 3 months (6 weeks paid), I extended my maternity leave one more month. I wasn't quite ready to head back.

I asked for the full year off that I'm entitled to in my position with the intention of going back at 6 months (my bosses recommended I request the full amount and come back when I wanted to). However I had an extremely colicky reflux baby and the first 4 months were miserable and I didn't want to go back to work just as he was becoming a more tolerable human being. We also bought a house when DS was 7-8 months and I needed to oversee some renovations so I decided just to get everything done, enjoy the summer, throw DS' birthday party and start back after a year. I returned part time as planned.

Plan: take six weeks paid then the first five Fridays as vacation days
What happened: six weeks paid, three days vacation then three days work, two days vacation, then four days work one day vacation. I didn't realize I wouldn't be able to handle five day work weeks off the at so I eased in.

Time never changed (12ish weeks), but I went back to a different job! My dream job was advertised just after I got my BFP, but I went for it anyway. It was an extraordinarily long hiring process, and I got my official offer letter 10 weeks into my maternity leave. Until then, I didn't know which job I'd be going to after my leave was up. It was quite stressful, actually, as there were a ton of complicated financial planning we needed to do in our household.

Plan: take 5 months off (paid) and then go back part time.
What happened: DH got an amazing job opportunity/promotion near the end of my mat leave which required us to move. I resigned and became a SAHM.

Um, this thread is making me really surprised about all the US people getting more than 12 weeks off and their bosses seemingly not caring... man, sometimes I think I need to consider a career change!! As a middle school teacher, some of my administrators, coworkers, and parents of students have been a bit "put off" that I'm taking my full 12 weeks, instead of the medically required 6 or 8. Some of these people even know about our loss and fertility issues, yet they're all like, "12 weeks?!" And of course, it's all unpaid. Thankfully, currently, I have saved enough sick time and paid into short term disability....