Anxiety about informing my employer I am pregnant
I am 7 weeks pregnant (yay!) and for whatever reason, I am having major anxiety about telling my employer I am pregnant and will be taking 3 months off. The company I work for offers 8 weeks of paid parental leave and then STD, or alternatively could utilize FMLA. My spouse is taking 3 weeks off when I return so he can learn the routine and have 1-1 time to bond.
I think my anxiety is coming from the following:
- My team is a lot older, although they were mom’s all their kids have grown and are out of the house. There is a dad, but his wife is SAHM and their kid is 16.
-our team has had a lot of additional expectations and responsibilities put onto us. Of course, additional pay is still in question lol. So stress has been added.
-I’ve been recognized by upper corporate leadership and invited to a lot of “kinda secret” meetings of sorts. I am worried that pregnancy will now sideline me, as many women have reported.
- My mom, while going to be a an amazing grandma and has been a great mom, has been self-employed for 30+ years (a bit of a boomer mentality about company loyalty although is self-employed) and has been drilling into me “you need to tell your employer that you have a solid plan to come back! Try to be as open as possible about your return and be available via phone for your leave!” Why do I owe him almost an apology for growing my family? Also, I don’t know if it’s appropriate to be continue doing work while on official leave. If my team would like to call or text to check in, that’s fine but providing consulting services via phone seems wild to me.
Was looking for advice on how to navigate this anxiety, I appreciate you all!