Maternity Leave and Medical Support
Donation protected
Parenthood is a leap of faith, no matter how you spin it. For my husband Esli and I, that leap of faith began in July of 2014, when we conceived and subsequently miscarried our first sweet little "Blueberry" babe, around 10 weeks.
As difficult as that was we found hope enough to make a leap of faith again in July of 2015 when we became pregnant with our baby girl, our "Felizita". As we now begin to successfully enter our last month of pregnancy we are reminded almost daily of the fact that we truly are on a journey of faith.
For us, one of our greatest leaps has been financial. I, Katie, have long dreamed of being a stay at home mom. However we are currently unable to subsist totally on one income. While we are still in the process of figuring out what life will look like post-birth, we do know that being able to take a full leave is important to us.
My job has offered the requisite 12 weeks but it will unfortunately be without pay. Through a lack of clear wording in our benefits package, we seem to have missed out on what might have been a temporary and partial pay, through short-term-disability. (if you are thinking about getting pregnant I encourage you to look into this thoroughly as the word 'disability' is misleading). It wouldn't have covered everything, but it would have helped. As we will receive a tax return around the time of the birth, this should allow us to meet our needs for the first month of our leave, however planning to take the second and third months has required another leap of faith.
According to the American Pregnancy Association:
"For families who can afford it, unpaid family leave is an excellent opportunity to further bond with your baby, establish the baby’s routine, get rest, and organize things around the house. It is even more important to plan your maternity leave when you are using unpaid leave because there is a greater probability of experiencing financial challenges."
We know that compulsory paid maternity leave has recently taken a forefront in the public eye and that many of you are passionate about seeing change on a systemic level. In the meantime, what if we were to rally around one another in times of need, achieving together what we could never do apart?
It would be such a blessing for us to take time to bond and to rest and to gain traction with breastfeeding before returning to work. Would you consider doing something like that for us?
Thanks for being a part of our child-raising "village" and for loving us so well,
Katie and Esli
As difficult as that was we found hope enough to make a leap of faith again in July of 2015 when we became pregnant with our baby girl, our "Felizita". As we now begin to successfully enter our last month of pregnancy we are reminded almost daily of the fact that we truly are on a journey of faith.
For us, one of our greatest leaps has been financial. I, Katie, have long dreamed of being a stay at home mom. However we are currently unable to subsist totally on one income. While we are still in the process of figuring out what life will look like post-birth, we do know that being able to take a full leave is important to us.
My job has offered the requisite 12 weeks but it will unfortunately be without pay. Through a lack of clear wording in our benefits package, we seem to have missed out on what might have been a temporary and partial pay, through short-term-disability. (if you are thinking about getting pregnant I encourage you to look into this thoroughly as the word 'disability' is misleading). It wouldn't have covered everything, but it would have helped. As we will receive a tax return around the time of the birth, this should allow us to meet our needs for the first month of our leave, however planning to take the second and third months has required another leap of faith.
According to the American Pregnancy Association:
"For families who can afford it, unpaid family leave is an excellent opportunity to further bond with your baby, establish the baby’s routine, get rest, and organize things around the house. It is even more important to plan your maternity leave when you are using unpaid leave because there is a greater probability of experiencing financial challenges."
We know that compulsory paid maternity leave has recently taken a forefront in the public eye and that many of you are passionate about seeing change on a systemic level. In the meantime, what if we were to rally around one another in times of need, achieving together what we could never do apart?
It would be such a blessing for us to take time to bond and to rest and to gain traction with breastfeeding before returning to work. Would you consider doing something like that for us?
Thanks for being a part of our child-raising "village" and for loving us so well,
Katie and Esli
Organizer
Katie Marie Feliz
Organizer
State College, PA
