So my husband and I have been together 8 years, married 3. We just found out that I am pregnant. I'm only about 8 weeks along but this was a total shock so we're doing our best to prepare.
The current discussion we are having issues with is regarding whether or not I should stay home with baby once he/she is born. I work in healthcare and my job does not offer much paid maternity leave (I believe we can have 4 weeks at half-pay but are required to use up PTO first). My best option would be FMLA for 12 weeks (unpaid). Yes, I hate the policies here in the US. To me that's so little time, but it also feels like my best option. There have been other women in my department who have done exactly this, taken their twelve unpaid weeks and then come back to work. My boss has 3 kids under 5 years old and she did this with each of her children. I also would have my job to come back to after the 12 weeks. I don't love my job but it's a good living and I value having earning potential and a career.
My husband thinks I should quit my job stay home for a longer period of time, up to one year. He has valid reasons for his position. I would get more time with baby, we wouldn't have to put baby in daycare right away, I might be less stressed than I would be balancing work, commuting, and parenting, etc. I know the big reason he has is concerns for my sleep. Obviously nobody gets much sleep with an infant, but I had an incident last year where I fell asleep at the wheel and got into an accident. Thankfully no one was hurt but it could've been bad. He worries about me being sleep deprived and driving to work. Also, for what it's worth, caffeine has almost no effect on me.
I can see his side but I worry that if I quit my job, I won't be able to find another in my specific field, at least not another that's as chill and low stress as my job is right now. It's a relatively narrow field in the healthcare space and jobs do not grow on trees. It took me almost six months of job hunting to find the position I currently have, and I worry about being out of the workforce too long.
How can my husband and I best resolve this issue?
tl;dr husband wants me to stay home with baby for up to one year. I think it would be better to go back to work after unpaid leave.
Submitted October 28, 2021 at 06:06PM by Electronic-Web-9837 https://ift.tt/2Zyd3BO
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