New RN and wanting to start my family...

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I am a newly licensed RN in PA. I passed the boards 4-1-14 and have been looking for a job since. I just turned 30 and my husband is turning 35. We have been married almost 5 years and have put off having children till I was done nursing school. My question is (and I know this is ultimately our decision) should I start trying now to conceive or wait until I have a job and am in that job for a few months before trying. I am unsure of maternity laws in pa, other then FMLA (12 months or 1250 hours) most new grads are finding jobs 6-8 months out of school. I also just started my BSN classes which will be done in August 2014. I am excited to have a baby and would love to start now but I am so unsure what to do---I don't want to postpone too long since we would love to have 2-3 children. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!

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I would start now since 35 is considered advanced maternal age. And even as a younger woman, you can't just count on having a baby when you decide to. Nature may have something else in mind for you- and that something might be trouble.

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Strongly agree with last post. Make baby the priority

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I guess I'm different in my opinion. I would say wait. I am in a similar situation, will be 30 in the fall and I just graduated with my BSN and will start my job in the CCU in June.

My husband and I have been married almost 4 years. However, I had a clinical instructor once tell us that it's never a good idea to plan any other major life events during your first year of nursing if you can avoid it, I.e. Weddings, babies, moving etc. she said the first year is TOUGH and why add even more stressors onto yourself while you're trying to get adjusted to being a nurse. Every single nurse I know said the first year was really rough, and a lot of times they would leave crying etc. I can't imagine being pregnant or having a new baby on top of that!

I understand the age thing, I think about that too for myself. However I also know I have spent the last 3 years dedicated to school and working my butt off, and I want to give my first year of nursing the same attention and dedication. I also don't want my first pregnancy to be stress filled because I was a brand new nurse and have no clue what I'm doing!

Good luck!

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Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.

All depends on your comfort level. Plenty of 1st year nurses I know got pregnant and are doing fine. They just adjusted their planning accordingly- got stuff like the nursery and shopping done early, lined up their daycare and family support, and other odds and ends.

FWIW, I was told not to do any major life stuff either in my first year out, and I totally disregarded that. I got engaged, bought a house, moved and am getting married in a few weeks. Sure, sometimes it was stressful, but it's been worth it.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

I personally would wait. We actually put off having kids closer together because of school and such. I'm now 34 and just graduated, and we're debating whether or not to have more kids, because we don't want to be 60 at a high school graduation (hubby is 38). We also have other things we enjoy doing that were really difficult with a young child, and now that our son is almost 6, we can do more of them, and include him.

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