25 Weeks Pregnant New-Grad and Struggling

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Any input/advice on working situations later in pregnancy?

I’m a new grad RN working in an emergency room and currently 25 weeks pregnant. They keep changing my schedule on me and now have it to where in a few weeks I’ll be working 3pm-3am for 6 days straight and then several times where I work 3pm-3am one day and 7am-7pm the following day. So I would have an hour commute to work, work 12 hours, an hour commute back home, then immediately need to turn around to drive an hour back for another 12 hours without having enough time to shower and go to bed. I’m already anemic and struggling with 12 hour shifts and wondering how much longer I’m going to be able to keep working, especially if I’m really going to have to do that schedule.

(I just spoke with my manager and managed to take off the day where I was schedule to turn around and do 7a-7p after 3 days of 3p-3a, but the rest of my schedule still looks like a nightmare.)

I have excellent insurance through my husband, thank God, so that’s not an issue. I won’t qualify for FMLA when I’m due anyway. Part of me wants to work until my due date to save as much as possible before leaving to have our son. Part of me gets emotional thinking I’m not taking care of myself and have been in positions that put my health and my baby’s health at risk. My baby is more important to me than a job, but I also feel like people work up until delivery all of the time and I don’t have a valid reason to quit this early.

I’ve heard of RN positions that allow you to work remotely, but most require years of experience.

At what point in your pregnancy did you or when are you planning on giving a notice and stepping back from jobs that require a lot from you physically/mentally/emotionally? Right now I’m just a zombie making it through my string of shifts, then WIPED OUT when I get a day off and feel like I don’t even recover before going back in. I keep seeing articles about shift work and night shift wreaking havoc on hormones, cortisol, and circadian rhythm and leading to pre-term labor and labor complications. it just doesn't feel healthy that I don't sit down to eat a single bite of food, just shovel in a granola bar with my mask pulled down while standing at the nurses' station. I've gotten in trouble for going to the bathroom. I just do not feel healthy. Not to mention it's demoralizing because people talk right in front of me about how I'll have to be re-oriented and trained all over again after having a baby because everyone forgets what they learn when they leave to give birth and what a waste it is to have me there now.