If you work, what do you do for a living?

[laura1985]

Just wondering what everyone does for a living.

I have always wondered if I should go on bedrest once I get pregnant again. My career is very stressful and demanding. I am an investigator in Dallas for insurance companies in collateral recovery. Even when I am at home, my company cell rings and I am doing work from home as well :/ i am one of those crazy people who really loves their job, but I have always wondered if I just should have stayed at home when I was pregnant all those times before. I make decent money, but going on disability at work does pay but 60% of my income.

[Zet1]

I was a Paramedic Instructor in South Africa with my first born - worked 5 days a week and  weekends with students on the road.  Nights preparing lectures for the next day - we received 4 months maternity leave.  Was very stressful ended in Pre-eclampsia - after maternity leave went back to work until little one was one - we then immigrated to Australia and I'm currently a stay at home mom - was a big adjustment from constant work and now being at home but at least we are all relaxed.  Don't know what the future holds might go back into something medical

[Annie2008]

I am a LPN in wisconsin and currently work as a rehab nurse on a rehab floor in a nursing home.  I do like my job, but am getting stressed out and a little burnt out working as a nurse.  Being a nurse was not what I had wanted to do with my life but was pushed in that direction from my mother.  Right now as I am working full time, I have enrolled myself in an online school for Medical Coding.  I can't wait to finish this and take the state exam to become certified as a medical coder so I can work as that instead of a nurse.  I am hoping to stay at the same place I am working now, just in a different job.

That is what I do!  Not very intersting I guess LOL.

[Gina209]

I started my own Travel Company a couple years ago...which has gone great! But over the past year I decided that I had to work outside the home at least a couple days a week (didnt want to become a house rat) so now I am still running my Travel Company and I work as an Event Coordinator, in charge of Weddings, Business Functions, Dinner Parties, Week Getaways etc for an upscale Institution. I'm always on my feet but its a really great, fun job! And its different everyday which I Love!

[tarrah87]

i work for a cable company as a customer account executive, we just do billing problems and set up customers with svc. so i'm in a chair at a desk all day from 2-11pm  on the phones lol. i love it though i started school for nursing in august as well so in 3 years i;ll be taking boards to be an rn. i can't wait. and i'm pregnant now but don't know my due date  yet lol this is a very interesting post to see so many ppl respond to so many jobs.

[KellyA74]

I'm an RN and work 12 hour night shifts.....My Dr. wasn't too keen on the 12 hour shifts (nor the night shift), but I've stuck with it (28 weeks today) and it's been OK so far.  Lots of lifting on people and running around....I'm playing it by ear and may switch to 8 hour shifts after my 32 week appt.

[nikko*ttc]

It is so interesting to see what everyone here does. I am a systems analyst at a public university in TN. My job responsibilities are very diverse. I write programs, launch new computer systems, monitor current systems, and am an IT advocate for the end users. I am pretty high up in our department so at times I also train and work with new IT hires and teach refresher and new learning skill classes for both end user and IT folks. We have just converted our entire system from an old file processing system to a new ERP database system and my biggest area is helping some of the users who are more familiar with the old system get comfy with the new system. Also, since we had the old system for a long time, we've have had to convert alot of our custom programs from the old to the new. I do love my job, but sometimes it is very long hours.

My health, dental, and vision is awesome, but my maternity benefits not so great. I do get 3 months for maternity leave but it is unpaid unless I use my annual leave and sick leave during that time in order to get paid. Needless to say, I don't have much although between the two I get three days a month. But, with the miscarraiges and my gallbladder surgery last year that ate up a bunch of the time I had.

We do have a sick leave bank, but you can only sign up for it in January. I am due January 12th so if I can just make it till then with 3 days of sick leave, I'll be able to sign up for that. The sick leave bank allows people at the university to donate sick time to me and also acts like a bank. I can borrow time from the bank and basically pay it back when I come back to work. If I don't come back to work (which I am 'cause I love my job) then I would have to repay the sick leave I borrowed.

[loismwallace]

I'm a Office Assistant for a family owned, land surveying company. My job is rewarding and being family I was able to take off as long as I wanted, but I was ready to come back to work two months after my baby was born. I actually worked up until the day before I went into natural labor. I was scheduled to induce the day after she was born. I just can't stand to miss making that money.....lol Heck I need it for all the lace and frillys......

[Want2BeMama]

im a hairdresser...im up on my feet all day long...we dont really have maternity leave...we just take as long as we want...but we dont get paid for it..it ***** because i had to take some time off...being that my son was born premature...ive been off work since march...once you dont work you dont get paid..and you loose your clients too!

im thinking about just staying home for the rest of the yr and go back in jan.

[durhamjk1]

I am a high school special needs teacher.  I work with students with mild disabilites, so most of my students go to regular classes and I help with their work.  It's great.  

[Avanaar]

Jame and Feot ~ When I worked at a preschool, I got paid about $9/hour to work with 30+ 3 year olds ...or 25+ 2 year olds.  I loved what I did ...but I seriously thought I was underpaid!!  lol  ...and when I started there, I was at $7.50 - $8 (can't remember exactly).  Teachers are definitely getting jipped in the money department for all the stress they have to deal with ...even the ones who have their degrees and teach in the higher grades!

Right now, I'm a stay-at-home mom ...but I'm trying to get my in-home day care up and running.  I've had a lot of interviews, but no takers.  ; ;  Apparently, it's that first one that is the hardest ...after that, word of mouth and whatnot seems to take care of the rest!  lol  So I just keep plugging away ...hoping that *someone* gives me a chance!!

I pretty much will get to inform my customers (if I can get some before the baby's born! lol) that I want to take at least a month off before bringing their child back into my home for care.  I love the flexibility of still being able to do what I love (educating and caring for kids) while taking care of my own child as well ...and not having to leave home to do it!  =D

[laura1985]

nope. in the good old usa employers are not required to provide maternity leave for employees. a good majority of people here take the time off (because legally they cant fire you), but they do not get paid for it.

[Elyz1214]

I am an Emergency Dept RN. I work nights 7p-7a. For our maternity coversage, we have to use our vacation time for the first 2 weeks and then you can take up to 10 more weeks off at 60% pay. If you have the time-off saved up you can use it to adjunct the 60% if you want. I have enough to get 8 weeks off at 100% pay so that is likely all I will take.

It's becoming harder and harder to be a nurse in an Emergency Dept when you are pregnant. Not only can I not push stretchers with patients, but I try really hard *not* to take patients with potentially infectious problems i.e. shingles, meningitis, infectious mono. However, a lot of the time we don't know whats wrong with them until after I have been exposed. WHen we do and I ask another nurse if they would mind seeing that patient and I would take the next one, some people understand, some don't. The other day we had one with known mono and when I asked someone she rolls her eyes and said "this is an emergency dept everyone is sick, get over it" and went to tell the lead nurse I wasn't taking patients. (untrue, I offered to take ALL of the rest of hers in addition to the ones I already had). Ugh.

[BTS1022]

Im a registered Veterinary Technician. I am also a Professional Horse trainer, with many certificates that qualify me. I currently do not work, since I don't feel that my job is *safe* enough to do during pregnancy. My job gives a 1 yr paid maternity leave, they also do not allow pregnant women to work, since we are in contact with a lot of needles/diseases and so forth. And Horses are not safe to work with while pregnant obviously lol.

But thats what I do.....I can't wait to get back in gear and go back to work, it is a very rewarding but emotionally stressful job.


Hubby is retired Army, but was injured in war twice, so he is now medically discharged. He collects 100% disability from the VA, and play stay-at-home-daddy lol.

[jdamico]

I am  Medical Labratory Technologist / Cert.Phelbotomist/ Certified Nurses Aid  I currently  work as  of site  lab in  MA  on the night  shift  4p-1230a  I have been here  for  almost five years since i  graduated in  2004 but i am  seriously thinking about  going into nursiing after the baby is  born . DH  who is  accountant and  vol firefighter   so there is  a possiblilty of me  being able to  cut down on  working 50 hrs a week  after the baby is born  and going back to  school

[toes33107]

I am a first grade teacher.  This is my 7th year teaching, and I am due in March so I will be taking the remainder of the school year for maternity leave.  That will be a majority of my sick leave days, so hopefully we'll have our 2nd child in May!  

[kikicoates78]

This is funny Dh and I were just talking about me going to part time, I am a nurse for a mental health facility, I LOVE IT! I work mainly with MRDD patients and they are my family. I have been there ever since I graduated my LPN program 3 yrs ago, I am getting ready to graduate next year from my BSN program. My problem is my body does not do pregnancy well and the DR. will probly want me off in the next couple of months. :( I have some time built up to take off but I'm not real worried about that, I am VERY fortunate that DH handles the paying of the bills, I just have a spoiled teenager who is high maintnance! I will definatly at least take off 12 weeks after the baby is born, but I just love all my patients and want to go back, my Boss isn't too happy with my request seeing as I kinda keep our nursing department in order! OH WELL. I guess I will just have to see how it unfolds.

[Shannon125]

I work in MA as well and I am able to collect disability pay. I paid into a policy through my company and got 6 weeks at 60% salary for a vaginal delivery. I was put on bedrest for a back injury in June and my son was born in July. So I collected medical disability from June to July then maternity leave from July on for 6 weeks. And I have since been put back on medical disability for post partum depression and basically haven't worked since June and have been getting paid 60% of my salary. I would look into your disability benefits further. The only way you can get denied is if you were pregnant before you got the policy.

As for what I do, I am a Research Scientist at Harvard Medical School conducting HIV clinical trials. Since my doctor won't release me to go back to work I have some time to think and see if I even want to go back or be a stay at home mom for a while. I am leaning towards staying home at least until my son is a year old and then maybe finding a job closer to home and a little less stressful.

[amy0013]

I love this thread!  It's so cool to see what everyone does!

I am a 6th grade math teacher and love my job!  Of course some days are better than others but I can't complain about the time off.  This is only my 2nd year in this district so I don't have a lot of sick time accrued yet...meaning if I don't have a summer baby I'll have to lose salary for the time I am gone.  I lost all of my earned days from my other district when I moved.  Bummer!  :)

[baby_edgar]

i am a co-ordinator/ accounts officer for a home nursing agency. We find workers to go into peoples houses and provide care for them. it could be personal care, domestic care, respite care ect. i find it rewarding and our clients are so cute as many of them are older people. lol.

In australia you only get paid maternity leave if you work in a goverment job, which i dont  

[Becky30]

I am an adjunct Professor of Music (part-time).  No maternity pay certainly, and the timing didn't work out for me to even teach part of this fall semester (baby is due 10/7), so I am off the entire semester.

The worst part was the first trimester last spring, though.  I was soooooo sick with the pregnancy.  I hated it, but at least my job helped distract me from my own wallowing.:)

[kele1129]

I don't work but am a full time college student...it was a hard choice to make at age 31 but now that I am in my second year I realize how much I love it. I had a part time job over the summer but couldn't handle 5 classes, 25-30 hours a week working and being pregnant...oi it was not fun.

[johannaviles]

Correction: i million cigars a day... (machine made cigars, of course!)

[johannaviles]

Im a Human Resources Manager.  We have 700+ employees and we do all here (recruitment, insurance, trainings, etc) . I've worked here for 6 1/2  years and I love it!
We get 14 vacation (labor) days.  Its a cigars company and we're currently making 1 million cigars every month.
Our maternity leave in DR is 12 paid weeks.
Insurance is pretty good, we can use both social insurance and medical insurance together and get a great coverage!
The bad stuff is that I get to see my girl late, I cant go home for lunch either, but other than that, I think Im very lucky to have my job! :)

[Latrice414]

Well I am an LPN, been doing that for 9years, i just graduated in May from the RN program but i have not yet taken my boards yet  (ive been to consumed into ttc after my m/c in june).  I am self employeed, i basicly have one client that i have been with for 5 years, i go to the client house and take care of the client, she is 12yrs old and cant doing anything for herself and needs skilled nursing care. She is like a daughter to me, so even on my off days i will do little things if the mom needs me to pick up her medication etc,(mom doesnt have a car and its just her and the daughter in the home) I love what i do, when i pass my boards i will do the same thing as an RN, it is so relaxing, and i am not one for stress, thats why i will never work in a nursing home again, and i dont want to work in a hospital. (its like why work with 5-6 patients in a hospital when i can work with 1 for 3 dollars less) The down side to what i do is there is no benefits, so i purchase insurance threw blue cross blue sheild. When i got preggo in april, here in wisconsin they passed some type of law, so i was able to get badger care for my pregnancy term, now since im not preggo i dont have it anymore. Far as vacation time, since ive been with my client for so long, she does not mind me taking vacation time, i jus let her no 3 months in advance and then the mom sends her daughter to a day care service for handicapped kids when im gone or take off. I just took a vacation august 2 up until now, i go back to work tuesday.(was visiting DF ttc, but BFN's, so i have to wait until he moves here in October) So being self employed sorta makes you manange your money right, because i have to pay taxes out of the checks i get from medicare, the state is the ones who reimburses me for the services i provide. DF is still in school but graduates Oct 26 in Biomedical Engineering Technology, so once i get preggo, im taking off work a year. And my client is ok with that. And i plan on dropping my insurance once DF gets a job:))