I went through this exact situation with my first baby! Had a C-section in December and developed some postpartum complications that required an extension. Your doctor can definitely submit the extension request before your 8-week period ends - in fact, my OB's office recommended doing it around week 6 to avoid any potential gaps in benefits. The key is making sure your doctor provides very detailed medical justification on the supplemental certification form. For your incision healing issues, they need to document specific problems like "delayed wound healing with signs of infection" or "abnormal scar tissue formation requiring extended recovery time." For the postpartum anxiety, make sure they explain how it's functionally impairing your ability to work - things like concentration difficulties, sleep disruption, or inability to handle work stress. I'd also suggest asking your doctor's office if they have experience with EDD disability extensions. Some offices handle these regularly and know exactly what language gets approved quickly. My extension was processed within about 10 days because my doctor was very thorough with the documentation. Don't stress too much about the timing - you're still early in your recovery period and have plenty of time to get this sorted out. Focus on healing and let your medical team handle the paperwork! You've got this mama! 💕

I'm currently dealing with a similar situation! Had my C-section 4 weeks ago and I'm also having some healing issues with my incision. Reading through all these responses has been SO helpful - I had no idea I could have my doctor submit the extension paperwork early. My OB office told me to wait until closer to the 8-week mark, but based on what everyone's saying here, I think I'm going to push them to submit it around week 6 instead. One question for those who've been through this - did any of you have issues with EDD questioning the extension, or were most of you approved pretty smoothly as long as the documentation was detailed? I'm a little nervous about the whole process since this is my first time dealing with SDI. Also, has anyone had experience with extensions for wound healing specifically? My incision just doesn't seem to be closing properly and my doctor says it might take several extra weeks. Thanks for all the amazing advice in this thread!

I'm really glad you're getting this sorted out! Just wanted to add that if you're worried about the financial gap while waiting for SDI to kick in, you might want to look into local food banks or emergency assistance programs in your area. Many counties have temporary financial assistance for people dealing with medical emergencies. Also, if your husband's employer offers any kind of emergency hardship fund or if he has accrued sick leave that could be converted to partial pay, now would be the time to ask HR about those options. The combination of getting SDI filed plus finding some temporary relief could help bridge this difficult period. Wishing your husband a smooth recovery!

Just wanted to share my experience since I went through something similar! I filed for SDI about 7 weeks after my knee surgery due to similar issues with doctor fees and financial stress. Even though I was past the 49-day window, EDD still processed my claim but I only got benefits from the date I filed, not backdated to when I first became disabled. The key thing that helped me was being completely honest on the application about why I delayed - I wrote in the comments section that it was due to financial hardship and inability to pay the medical certification fee upfront. While I didn't get the full backpay, I was still approved and started receiving benefits within 3 weeks. Don't give up hope - even if you're slightly past the ideal timeline, they do consider individual circumstances. Make sure to document everything and be transparent about the financial hardship that caused the delay.

I went through this exact same thing a few months ago! The key is being super organized with your documentation. Make sure you have multiple forms of ID verification - I ended up sending my driver's license, passport, AND birth certificate. For address verification, I included utility bills from the last 3 months, my lease agreement, and even a bank statement. The wage verification was trickier - I had to contact my previous employers to get official wage statements since my paystubs weren't detailed enough. Also, definitely keep calling them even though it's frustrating. I finally got through after trying the early morning approach others mentioned. Hang in there - it's a pain but you'll get through it! 💪

Another thing that really helped me was creating a checklist and timeline for myself. I made a spreadsheet tracking what documents I sent, when I sent them, confirmation numbers, etc. EDD processes are slow but having everything documented made follow-up calls way more productive. Also, if you have any employment gaps or worked gig jobs (Uber, DoorDash, etc.), make sure you have documentation for those too - they're stricter about verifying all income sources now. The whole process took me about 6 weeks total but staying organized and persistent was key. You got this! 📋✨

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! Just got my first SDI payment for my maternity leave and realized there's zero federal tax withholding. Like others have mentioned, I definitely don't remember seeing any clear option for tax withholding during the online application process - it must have been really buried or unclear. I'm planning to follow the advice here about having my partner adjust his W-4 to withhold extra federal taxes to cover my SDI and upcoming PFL payments. Does anyone know roughly what percentage of SDI benefits typically gets eaten up by federal taxes? I want to make sure we withhold enough but not too much. Thanks for starting this thread - it's so helpful to know I'm not the only one who missed this!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm currently 32 weeks pregnant and planning to apply for SDI soon, so this is exactly the kind of information I needed to know ahead of time. It sounds like I really need to pay close attention during the online application process to make sure I don't miss the tax withholding option. From reading everyone's experiences, it seems like the key things to remember are: 1) Look carefully for the tax withholding checkbox during the online application (apparently it's easy to miss!), 2) If you do miss it, you can't change it mid-claim, and 3) You'll get another chance to select withholding when you apply for PFL after your SDI ends. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions - especially the tip about adjusting your spouse's W-4 withholding to compensate. I'm definitely going to bookmark this thread to reference when I apply in a few weeks!

I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - my claim ends in February and I've been stressing about whether that final day counts. Reading through all these responses has been so helpful! It sounds like the consensus is clear that you DO get paid for the end date, which is a huge relief. I had no idea about the daily calculation being your weekly amount divided by 7 either. That's really useful to know for budgeting purposes. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is such a lifesaver when you can't get through to EDD directly!

I'm new here and going through my first SDI claim - this thread is exactly what I needed! My claim ends next week and I've been losing sleep wondering about that final day payment. It's so frustrating that something this basic isn't clearly explained anywhere on the EDD website. From what everyone's saying, it sounds like I will get paid through my end date as long as I'm still disabled that day. Quick follow-up question though - when you do your final certification, do you mark that you're "able and available" for the end date if you're planning to return to work the next day? I don't want to accidentally mess up my final payment by answering incorrectly. Thanks for all the helpful info everyone!