Until you tell the office be sure to have a medical alert bracelet/keychain/necklace stating you're pregnant. Should some emergency arise that you can't tell the paramedics that you're pregnant but they need to know, they know how to care for you.

Also, read up on the state/local laws concerning employment and act accordingly. In some situations in Ohio, you can be fired from your job before you have completed the first month of employment without being given a reason. (A white male friend of mine was fired like that on day 29, later and unofficially finding that he was only hired until an Asian female came along for the job, as the owner preferred hiring only Asian females. He spoke to a lawyer and found out there was nothing from a legal standpoint he could do.) Should a gossipy co-worker find you setting up a Babies R Us registry the first weekend you start a job, you might find yourself legally without a job come Monday if the laws back the company up.

In reference to #2, lie to an employer about being pregnant. I agree with you 100%, do not tell them until absolutely necessary. I understand it is illegal for them to ask a woman if she is pregnant. What are the loopholes around this? I am asking because I had an experience at work that I feel was inappropriate and I am not familiar with the laws/regulations around pregnancy. As I approach childbearing years, I want to make sure, I am informed.

This is what I experienced… I was having a group lunch at a restaurant off site with my manager and the rest of our team. At the time, there were impending lay offs set to occur a few months down the line. My manager ( a woman with a small child) asked the entire group ( we are all women) if anyone was planning to have a baby?!? As you can imagine, silence followed. No one answered. Is it illegal for a manager to ask if you are PLANNING to have a child? or is it a just a loophole? This manager has asked me one other time on site as well.

I have NEVER shared any information. Or never will. I know my manager was fishing for information for the impending lay offs. It is very rare to find a woman manager that actually supports women!!

You are making me clean up my desk. No excuses. Enjoyed your sppech at Ragan last year. Thanks for the motivation.

If you are aware that you have a mental health issue, then you are presumably working with mental health professionals to manage it, and so you probably already have a reasonably realistic idea of which kinds of working conditions you can cope with and which you can't. It is up to you to be responsible about this, but so long as you are, there is no reason why you should be obliged to remind your prospective employer of every single dysfunctional person he has ever hired.

Peneolpe, isn't that statement a little at odds with your views on good grammar?