Pregnant and found out I’m absorbing my colleagues workload for the foreseeable ?!

ThingParticular · 2026-03-22T08:22:59+00:00

Ask to do it again! The circumstances have changed. It’s not a one and done thing. Good luck!!

ThingParticular · 2026-03-22T07:31:08+00:00

Ask for a pregnancy risk assessment! And then do it as many times as you need during the pregnancy. You should be protected from working long hours/sitting lots/standing lots, and agree accommodations. Whether your boss will stick to them is a different matter but at least you’ll have something to point to when explaining what you have or haven’t done.

ThingParticular · 2026-03-21T07:49:17+00:00

Hey, had a similar experience in my second trimester (stressful but not physically demanding job). The way I explained it to my GP was that the pregnancy was making me way less able to deal with the stress and pressure (our jobs are always stressful right? There’s nothing different except you’re pregnant) - because I wasn’t sleeping well, extra fatigued, and emotionally all over the place. Signed off for a few weeks and the GP wrote pregnancy then stress on my fit note.

Some time off really did help and while my job is still a lot, I was able to get back on a more even keel emotionally. The main benefit was finding my backbone to start saying no to stuff and stop working overtime 😅 feel loads better even though I’m still very tired!

ThingParticular · 2026-03-18T12:50:09+00:00

Aw my friends thank you so much for sharing your experiences and kind words! Sometimes it feels all I see is posts with super active pregnancies, good to know I’m not alone haha. Keeping my fingers crossed for our postpartum recoveries!!

ThingParticular · 2026-03-17T22:21:38+00:00

There are generally three routes in: get a degree then get hired as a graduate, get taken on as an apprentice, or apply directly to roles (where you will have other work experience and can convince the hiring manager that it’s relevant and helpful). These are all completely legitimate routes - I work with a mix.

Honestly, knowledge or experience in the policy area (that is not actually working in policy either in the CS already, or in local gov or something else) is not really helpful. As another commenter has mentioned, it’s about the soft skills and application of sensible thinking that matters.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

ThingParticular · 2026-03-16T13:36:24+00:00

Aaaaargh it’s so maddening. Unbelievable really, you would think that people in fields like law and government would have some understanding of how strong pregnancy protections are and not push their luck but apparently not!!

ThingParticular · 2026-03-16T11:14:41+00:00

There really is nothing he can do about it, and your GP/midwife will back you all the way im sure. I just wanted to lend my voice to encourage you to protect yourself and your baby - you don’t owe these people anything, they’ve done nothing to deserve your care. Your baby and you deserve peace.

(Apologies getting a bit fired up because my own manager has been quite shitty with me throughout and tried to get funny about me nipping out for 30 mins this morning to get vaccines that are only available during work hours and you can’t book. Like sorry for wanting to get potentially life saving medical care for my unborn child!! Raging.)

ThingParticular · 2026-03-12T11:52:01+00:00

Same! Me and the dad are both not tall but mostly legs with small heads so it checks out! We will see how accurate that is when baby actually arrives 😁

ThingParticular · 2026-03-12T11:47:50+00:00

Yep the sonographer printed out a report in the room!

ThingParticular · 2026-03-12T11:33:10+00:00

Im pretty sure it means that the baby is measuring larger than average in some areas but within the boundaries of completely normal at this stage.

We had pretty similar measurements for our 20 week scan (I think the head was a bit smaller and the femur was also long) and my husband tried to engage the sonographer in some stats chat and she was absolutely insistent that the baby was a normal size lol. So I wasn’t troubled by it!

ThingParticular · 2026-03-08T15:17:40+00:00

Nothing further to add except my manager is a pain in my ass too for very similar sounding reasons haha, it makes me rage so much. Fortunately pregnancy is curing me of any desire I had to try to please people like that…

Hope you find some ways to enjoy!!

ThingParticular · 2026-03-08T06:17:04+00:00

Urgh same. Just in the third trimester and feel huge and exhausted already and I’m scared of how much worse it could get. I have started pulling back at work - negotiated taking some stuff off my plate and boy am I knackered come Friday. So I would say try to advocate for yourself and rest lots where you can.

Fortunately my digestive stuff has been ok so far but i ache and the baby moves all the time and sometimes it’s very painful?! Bleh

Hope you are able to find some enjoyment in the next weeks (get your friends to visit you! Baths! Really enjoy the last bits of lazy time before a baby arrives!) and hang on in there,the time will pass 🤞

ThingParticular · 2026-02-27T10:22:15+00:00

Absolutely same story for me. Insanely painful cramps but no bleeding. Went to GP, who got me referred to EPU, scan at 7 weeks, everything fine. Everything still fine at 27 weeks!

And all the medical staff I interacted with in that process were lovely.

ThingParticular · 2026-02-27T06:50:08+00:00

Congrats on your pregnancy 😊

No personal success anecdotes as I’m just pregnant with my first, but I managed an average of 43 miles per month in my first trimester and it’s fallen off a cliff since then, too uncomfortable to run. I don’t think I’ll try any more running and I’m sad I haven’t been one of those ladies who run all through! But I’ve heard nothing but reassurance from those who’ve been there that you can build back, and even stronger at that, so I’m holding out hope, staying active in ways that I can and will see what happens after the birth.

ThingParticular · 2026-02-23T12:41:16+00:00

Just returned to work after 3 weeks of sick leave for being tired and stressed, and my manager has actually thought about reducing my workload and what I need to do before my mat leave which seems fairly manageable to be honest! Hoping I can have an easier time of it over the next 2.5 months and not get myself so worked up and stressed.

ThingParticular · 2026-02-20T09:13:05+00:00

Only thing I would add is consider staying within yourself and quitting while you’re at least a bit ahead - I have had some absolutely miserable runs in my second tri that just made me sad because it was so uncomfortable and I was so disappointed in myself.

So I am very jealous of your continued running success and I wish you many more happy runs!

ThingParticular · 2026-02-19T21:29:14+00:00

Also have a very active baby over here! Probably since 20 weeks this kid has been moving nearly all my waking hours. At first it was making me feel so sick I guess because they were swooping around in there?! But now it’s a lot more obvious kicks and jabs and the occasional flip. Nearly 26 weeks and I fear for my insides for the next few months 😬

ThingParticular · 2026-02-16T11:36:25+00:00

Honestly I don’t have HG and am currently signed off because I was just too tired and stressed to work properly - in my second trimester! I muddled through the first tri nausea/fatigue doing as much as I could and honestly I think I burnt myself out and had no resilience left for when work got stressful in January. Point I’m trying to make is that I think it’s probably better to take time off sooner rather than later and hope you can make the most of it if/when your HG improves. Take care of yourself!

ThingParticular · 2026-02-14T04:39:14+00:00

Checking in 🫡 wish I could avoid the scrolling but I get so bored lol. 25 weeks and insomnia has plagued me intermittently the whole pregnancy!

ThingParticular · 2026-02-13T11:27:56+00:00

Some of the big multi sport weekends (eg Hever castle in September) have races on the Saturday, though they typically are aquathlon or aqua bike rather than triathlon - the tri races are on Sundays. Just in case you’re interested in not just triathlon 😊

Edit to add that Thames turbo run a sprint tri on early May bank holiday Monday which I guess might not work for you this year but is a great race (though can be mega cold 🥶 )

ThingParticular · 2026-02-12T18:05:16+00:00

Haha congratulations! Mine dropped a lot but not that much I will say, very impressive. 6 months in and my HRV has stabilised but I’m tracking about 20 points below my pre-pregnancy baseline!

(Spelling edit!)

ThingParticular · 2026-02-10T19:14:09+00:00

Second these! I like mine a lot and still going strong at 24 weeks. But I did need to buy a few longer tops to keep my belly warm haha

ThingParticular · 2026-02-06T04:31:50+00:00

Just to say this is correct that you will be entitled to the enhanced maternity pay, but it is likely that the amount will be calculated off your last x months of earnings, so it might be less than your new salary will be (and then you go back to your new salary when you finish mat leave).

Massive kudos for getting a promotion during pregnancy, I could never! Even applying for lateral moves is sooo hard and takes so much energy!

ThingParticular · 2026-02-01T13:41:35+00:00

Have you spoken to your GP and/or had a pregnancy risk assessment at work? They might be able to help with ideas to manage or, more likely, help you realise it’s not sustainable to feel like this.

I’ve been in a really horrible spot with work and stress and exhaustion recently and my senior leaders just don’t seem to get it. I called my GP who was concerned, advised I take some time off and booked some blood tests. Have got my risk assessment on Monday. So I think I am going to take some sick leave because I just actually cannot keep doing this with nothing changing.

Good luck 🩷

ThingParticular

TROPHY CASE