I had a similar issue with my disability claim last year, though not pregnancy-related. The most important thing is to act quickly, which you're already doing! One additional tip - when you call EDD, try calling the Disability Insurance (DI) line directly at 1-800-480-3287 rather than the main unemployment line. The DI specialists are more familiar with medical certification issues and can often help faster. Also, if you have your doctor's office send the corrected form, ask them to write your EDD claim number in large, bold letters at the top of the form - this helps ensure it gets matched to your file correctly. The fact that your original doctor already had you certified through December shows the system was working properly before, so this should just be a matter of getting the correction processed. Hang in there!

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this stress during pregnancy! Medical certification errors are unfortunately pretty common. Here's what worked for me when my doctor made a similar mistake on my disability form: 1. Get the corrected DE 2501 form submitted ASAP (which you're already doing - great!) 2. Have your doctor include a brief letter explaining the error with the corrected form 3. Send both the corrected form AND a copy via fax to EDD at 916-464-5018 for faster processing 4. Call the Disability Insurance line at 1-800-480-3287 (not the main EDD line) - they're more knowledgeable about medical issues 5. Ask EDD to put a note in your file about the doctor's error so the claims examiner knows to expect a correction The good news is that pregnancy disability timelines are well-established - EDD knows the standard is 6-8 weeks postpartum recovery, not returning to work on your due date! Since your original certification was proper (through December), this should just be fixing a clerical error. Keep copies of everything and don't panic - you're handling this exactly right by acting quickly.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this stress on top of recovering from childbirth! I went through a similar situation with my SDI claim last year, and I know how overwhelming it feels when you're already exhausted from caring for a newborn. One thing that really helped me was contacting my state assembly member's office - they have constituent services that can sometimes help with EDD issues. I called my local representative's office and explained the situation, and they were able to make some calls on my behalf that seemed to speed things up. It's worth trying if your doctor's office continues to be unresponsive. Also, keep detailed records of every call you make and every person you speak with - dates, times, names, and what was discussed. This documentation can be really valuable if you need to escalate the issue further. Hang in there mama, this will get resolved! The system is frustrating but people do get these errors corrected all the time.

I'm going through something very similar right now with my SDI claim! My doctor put the wrong start date for my disability period and EDD initially denied my entire claim. What really helped me was being super organized when I went to get it corrected. I made a simple one-page document with a timeline showing: 1) What the doctor originally wrote, 2) What the correct information should be, 3) Supporting documentation (like hospital records). I also called ahead to the doctor's office and explained the urgency - I told them this was affecting my family's income and asked to speak directly with whoever handles disability paperwork. When I went in, I didn't leave until they completed the corrected form AND gave me a copy of their submission confirmation. The whole process took about 10 days from start to finish once I got organized about it. Don't give up - medical errors on these forms are more common than you'd think and there are established processes to fix them! You're doing everything right by being persistent.

Hey Omar! Welcome to the community! I can see you've gotten incredible support here already, which really shows how amazing this group is. Based on all the indicators you've mentioned - your weekly benefit amount showing ($1,250/week), empty pending applications section, and especially that "Claim Established" status - you are absolutely approved! I went through a very similar experience after my back surgery last year, and that exact combination of signs meant my claim was processed and ready for payment. The anxiety while waiting for that first payment is totally understandable, especially when you're dealing with recovery and bills piling up. One thing that might help ease your mind: you can also check if there's a "Payment History" or "Payment Details" section in your portal that shows your payment schedule. Sometimes this appears even before the actual payment hits your account. Your first payment should definitely include all the backpay from after your waiting period, so you're looking at about $3,750 in that initial payment. In my experience, it took about 6 business days from when my status changed to "Claim Established" to when the money actually appeared in my account. You did exactly the right thing by physically going to your doctor's office to get them to submit the paperwork. I had to do something similar - some medical offices really don't prioritize these forms unfortunately. Hang in there - you're so close to getting this financial stress resolved so you can focus entirely on healing! This community is here if you need any other guidance. 🙏

Hi Omar! Welcome to the community! I can see you've received some absolutely fantastic advice here already from everyone. Based on all the signs you're describing - your weekly benefit amount showing up, the empty pending applications section, and that "Claim Established" status - you are definitely approved! I went through something very similar after my gallbladder surgery about a year ago, and I remember that exact same anxiety while waiting for the first payment. The combination of recovering from surgery AND stressing about finances is just brutal, but you're really at the finish line now. Since you mentioned you've been checking your account obsessively (totally understandable!), one thing that helped me was taking screenshots of my claim status page each time something changed. It created a little visual timeline that helped me feel more in control of the process, plus it's useful documentation to have. Your first payment should definitely include all that backpay, and based on my experience, it usually takes about 5-7 business days from the "Claim Established" date to see the money in your account. So hopefully by early next week you'll have some major financial relief! Really glad you found this community - everyone here has been through some version of what you're experiencing, and the support is incredible. Hang in there, focus on healing, and keep us posted when that payment comes through! 🤞

I'm going through this nightmare right now too! Been trying to get into my SDI account for 4 days straight with zero success on the text codes. What's really frustrating is that I can see other people are getting through sometimes, so it's clearly not a complete system outage. I tried calling EDD yesterday and was on hold for 3 hours before getting disconnected. At this point I'm wondering if I should just drive to a local office in person, but I'm not even sure they can help with online account issues. Has anyone tried going in person for verification problems like this?

This is such a common issue and it's really frustrating that EDD hasn't fixed their 2FA system properly! I went through the same thing about 6 months ago when I needed to access my disability claim. What ultimately worked for me was a combination of things: I switched from using Safari to Firefox, made sure I was on WiFi instead of cellular data, and most importantly - I found out my phone carrier (AT&T) was automatically filtering the EDD texts as spam even though I had spam filtering turned off in my settings. I had to call AT&T and specifically ask them to whitelist shortcode 95877 which is what EDD uses for verification texts. After that, the codes started coming through within seconds. Also, try requesting the code and then immediately putting your phone in airplane mode for 30 seconds, then turning it back on - sometimes this forces the message to come through. The whole system is a mess but hopefully one of these tricks helps!

I'm new to this community but facing a very similar situation with a spinal fusion surgery coming up in about 8 weeks. I left my job a few weeks ago for personal reasons (completely unrelated to my medical condition), and now I'm worried about SDI eligibility during my recovery. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly helpful and reassuring! The distinction between disability start date vs surgery date that several people mentioned is something I hadn't understood before. My chronic pain condition has definitely been getting worse over the past few months, affecting my ability to lift and stand for long periods. Based on what I'm learning here, I should probably get my doctor to document these current limitations ASAP rather than waiting. Has anyone dealt with spinal fusion specifically? I'm looking at a 3-4 month recovery period according to my surgeon. Also wondering - for those who were successful, did you file your SDI claim before your surgery date once your doctor documented you were unable to work? Thanks so much for all the detailed information everyone has shared!

I'm new to this community but currently dealing with a very similar situation! I have a cervical spine condition that requires surgery in about 10 weeks, and I recently became unemployed (also for reasons unrelated to my medical condition). Reading through all these detailed experiences has been incredibly enlightening and honestly quite reassuring. What really stands out to me from everyone's stories is how crucial the timing and documentation aspects are - particularly the distinction between when you become "unable to work" versus the actual surgery date. My neck condition has progressively worsened over the past several months, now causing numbness in my hands and making it difficult to maintain proper posture for desk work. Based on all the advice shared here, I think I need to get my doctor to document these current functional limitations immediately rather than waiting closer to surgery. The success stories from @Joshua Hellan with the herniated disc and @Asher Levin with their abdominal surgery give me hope that this can work out even when unemployed. I'm planning to schedule an appointment this week to discuss establishing a disability start date based on my current symptoms. Thank you all for sharing such detailed experiences - this thread has been invaluable for understanding how to navigate this complex situation!