Maternity Leave Question

lifewrite

I'm 34 weeks and I'm just done! Work is becoming harder and harder everyday. I'm a dog groomer and so I'm on my feet all day lifting dogs up and down on tables/tubs. By the last 3 hours of the day I'm getting a ton of Braxton Hicks contractions. When I come home and finally rest I can barley get up out of the chair and sometimes can't walk at all.

Other than that though everything is going well with my pregnancy. Baby is doing great. My blood pressure is good. I don't have anything that makes me high risk. I want to ask my doctor if she can recommend me going on maternity leave within the next couple of weeks but I'm not sure if that's okay?

I know I can take 12 weeks of FMLA and it won't be a big deal, but I'm not sure if I could get my STD pay without there actually being something worse than me just in pain all day. I can't afford to take the time unpaid. Is it okay to ask the doctor to put me on leave? WWYD?