I ended up leaving two weeks before my due date because it was August (last year) and extremely hot. My commute was 40 miles and I was so huge that driving was becoming difficult. Then the baby came a week late, so that was three weeks without pay, added to the six weeks of maternity leave without pay. It all worked out, though. If I get pregnant again, I will plan a bit better, save more money, etc. I have friends that worked up until their due dates, but different I chalk that up to "different courses for different horses."

I am considering this issue right now; I'm due at the end of September. I don't want to have to take too much time without pay, so maybe I will just go until my due date as long as I'm feeling up to it. I just really don't want to go into labor at work!

Whatever she (and her employer are comfortable with). With baby number one, I had planned to work until 2 weeks before, but had to go on leave almost 6 weeks before because my job is very physical and my back pain was making it difficult to work. Luckily, my employer is very flexible.

With the girl, I was planning on working until one week before, but my supervisor gave me two weeks in case the baby came early, which she did.

My SIL worked until 3 days before her induction date because staying home and wondering when she was going to go into labor was driving her crazy.

My daughter-in-law's feet and ankles swelled up so that she could only wear flip-flops. It was early December, so that was a bit inconvenient, but she soldiered on, since she diidn't want to hang out at home forever. When she hadn't seen her feet for a couple of days - lost under that huge belly - she decided to stay home. It was about 3 weeks before my granddaughter was born, but she reports that the rest of the staff (she's a teacher) seemed relieved.

With my second child I had complications that required about 6 weeks of bed rest (not so easy with another child at home). I had stacks of books I really wanted to read, but couldn't concentrate on them, so I ended up reading one murder mystery after another, hoping I wasn't dooming my unborn child to a life of crime. (So far, so good!)

I'm lucky with my company. We have great short-term disability, so my maternity leave started whenever my doctor wrote me out of work (which was two weeks before my due date for me because of my blood pressure), but you still get the full 6 weeks after for vaginal birth or 8 weeks for C-Section. Since he wound up inducing me a week early, I really only got one extra week at the beginning, but it was great!