Dear Boss, I am expecting! what do you expect as a reaction when you say this to your boss? well in my case, my boss jumped with joy, she immediately hugged me, I had given her this news after 2 miscarriages! she knew how desperate I was to become a mother and often counselled me on how I need to stop thinking about all this and how it will happen when it is the right time. But with that said I had few "demands" on the table. I needed work from home for 6 weeks because my doctor had asked me to go slow and take everything lightly for the first trimester. I used to commute by office transport in morning and would often book Uber to come back home in evening, all in all I used to work 9-10 hours which was taking a toll on my health. not to forget while I was out of home for so long I had to ensure I had the right amount of healthy food with me so that I would not eat any junk from office. and hence I decided I will do the following: 1. I started my work early, as against others who would come to work at 10am I reached office at 8am, work in the most productive manner till 3pm and then would book my Uber and come back home by 3:45pm, rest for about 20 minutes and then would log in again. I had requested for this arrangement so that I could beat the traffic and travel hassle free. 2. I kept myself hydrated in office, had at least 3 litres of water and would go and pee after every 30 mins this ensured that I did not sit for long. 3. sometimes when work would get a lot, I requested my colleagues to help me. we are not super humans, remember you are pregnant and if you need a break you need it! Don't exert unnecessarily! 4. there were times when I had a deadline to meet but i did not let my pregnancy become a roadblock for me, because after all my baby should also get a Rockstar feeling when Mumma does the best. 5. days when I would not feel well I took off rather than choosing work from home because my body demanded that rest. okay while you are in midst of figuring out what's best for you there might be some jealous co-workers questioning your work arrangement, my advice ignore them because you are doing this for your baby. ensure your seating is ergonomically correct, put a leg rest under your chair, do not carry heavy laptop bag use a strolly instead and above all request support from your boss and co-workers. in the last trimester as per law you can demand reduced work and nobody can deny this to you. remember that the more you are aware the better you can handle conversations with your manager/HR/ co-workers. if there is still something that is troubling you at work and you don't know how to deal with it, pls ask me.
@asha chaudhry here is the article :)