Active Jobs and Leaving Time

Hi all

Wondering if anyone out there has a similar job to me in terms of physicality? I am a vet, which, whilst not very active, does require a lot of squatting, kneeling, sitting on the floor, getting up again, restraining large dogs and of course just standing all day.

I was wondering if anyone else with a similar job would mind chatting about when they decided to leave work and how long I can expect to keep on going? This is my first pg, I haven't had any morning sickness, I was quite fit before falling pg and am still pretty active.

I spose I'm also wondering when my belly will start to get in the way!

Hi there,

Whilst I wasn't a vet, I did have an active job when I was pregnant with Olivia (project manager, working on construction sites), in the heat of a tropical climate, so can understand why you are asking........

I was nervous about the conditions of my workplaces (lots of building dust, red earth dust, hot cabling/electrical cupboards etc) and I did a lot of walking around between sites/architects offices etc. which was tough in the heat. A lot of the auditing was a lot of standing adn bending and kneeling to follow telco wires etc.

I did contemplate leaving early, but ended up sticking at it until 32 weeks (the completion of a big project coincided with Christmas and it tied in nicely) and I was really glad to finish, but glad I had worked through it.

My boss and the crew I worked with obviously knew I was pg.......hard hat & steel capped boots and a big pregnant bump tend to stick out a lot, so they tended to maybe afford me a bit of slack, but not much.......I had to speak up if I felt I was unable to crawl through various roof cavities to check wiring/nodes etc!

Not sure if this helped any, but my advice would be to let your practice manager/boss know as soon as you can, play it by ear, and listen to your body..........

Oh wow Lucy, sounds like you had it much rougher than I do, especially since I have air conditioning!

I told my boss asap since there are heaps of dangers at work (xrays, chemotherapy drugs, etc.) and they have been great (esp. since I had only been at my job for TWO DAYS when I foundout I was pg!)

Squeeze..........2 days??!! That beats my record.......I was pg within 2 weeks of my contract starting and I thought that was bad! Hope your boss is nice and understanding but most of all that you are enjoying your job...........

Take care,

christy would be another good person to chat to as she is a vet aswell..

sorry i cant help, i was working at mcdonalds and that wasnt too bad, my feet were always killing me though, left realy as we were moving

take care
Lesley

Hi Squeeze,

I'm quite similar to Lucy in that I'm an engineer on a production facility.
I had hungover morning sickness - ie I felt like i had a hangover until about week 14-15?? I had alot of trouble eating, and after a few weeks of trying to sneak out to get food when I could eat it, I told my boss. So it was about 10 weeks I guess.
I am very active on the site - similarly to lucy steel caps, noisy environment, ladders, steps etc, and really your body will let you know when its had enough.
I wa able to play netball til 19 weeks too, and it was really only about 16 weeks that I was too slow to get the ball off the ground in a competitive game.
Be careful, but listen to your body. If you feel sick, sore or lightheaded, just sit down for a while and rest. If you have let work know, they should be pretty good making sure you are taking it a bit easier, and if you have problems, let them know and they'll understand.

We aren't disabled, but we are growing little babies, so thats number one job now! I'm working til 36 weeks, but I fin d now that I can probably only walk around the site 3 times in a day(about 1km per lap?) before I start getting BH contractions, and my belly has had enough.

HTH
Fi

Fi makes a really good point about food: I used to stash bananas and little bags of nuts around the place so I could always have a little energy fix if I got that hung over morning sickness feeling in the first tri. And in my second tri I was always STARVING and got cranky/dizzy if I didn't eat little and often. I think this is relevant whatever job you do!

Fi is also right about your belly sort of hurting/aching through standing/walking a lot. In my 3rd tri I found myself planning my day very carefully to minimise walking/standing.

And of course, that was at the same time as I subconsiously perfected that lovely pregnancy "waddle" which seemed to get a lot more pronounced if I was really tired, and I always knew when this happened as the crew would start making "Quack Quack" noises!!!!

WOW squeeze... sorry I didn't see this post yesterday. I'm a vet nurse and as soon as I found out I was PG I had to sit down with the partners & discuss what to do... I was the head nurse as well so the entire clinic had to know as it was challanging times with other nurses...

Anyway... I told them that I would give them 8 weeks notice when I felt like things were getting too much. I got some info from one of the vet mags about halothane and I was taken off surgical dutied until they installed a scavenger system and used a mask from AAS (advanced anaesthesia specialists in sydney) that helps filter the gas so I could as I loved theatre. I also discussed the lifting/bending etc. and worked out ways with them. I stopped doing radiography but I continued working on my feet all day. At 16 weeks I went to 25 hours a week, and then at 30 weeks I finished because I couldn't physically do what was needed, (I couldn't wrestle rottys anymore :D ) Actually I remember being 28 weeks PG with a bump and having to hold a rotty with heat stress that was trying to eat me at the same time and being the only nurse on duty... I did do puppy classes & work shorter shifts like every Sat.

We have a locum vet whose doing Sat right now & some days and is 28 weeks. She works consulting hours which are 9-11 and 4-7 and goes home from 12-3 to sleep & rest. Doesn't do surgery but that is an agreement she came to w/the other vest.

I hope that helps! I also have a really close friend whose a vet in Sydney and she stopped working at 28 weeks as she was doing three 10 hour days a week with 2hour lunch breaks... I asked her for advice when I was PG just to figure out what to do... HTH! Feel free to email me if you want!

:)

Ha! The preggie waddle! I had a cracked heel from Christmas through January, and it accentuated my waddle. The crap I got from the guys was unreal!!!
Christy has been really helpful with the vet stuff, and Lucy is right, I found what I could eat changed day by day, so if I felt like a banana today, nothing would make me feel more sick the next day!
Versatile snacks hidden around the place are the way to go - dried apricots and prunes help with the other side effects of being preggers, and dont forget to keep water consumption up!
Fi

Hey guys I just wanted to say thanks for all of your ideas and input! I wrote my first post after a really rough couple fo days and then this week has been pretty cruisy - good clients, no animals trying to eat me, it's been great!

As for snacks....ummm..... :-$ I made my devillish triple choc brownies for work. They use three blocks of chocolate!! But so damn yummy!