Hello, I am a brand new nursing student. Just completed my first semester! Yay!
I am a Air Force wife and a mommy of a 3 1/2 year old and 10 month old. Life was a little crazy, but not insane. My family is very patient with me! I am very blessed.
Anyway, we are looking to get out of the military right after I graduate. With this being said, we decided to try and have one more baby in between semesters, next summer. This is due to the fact that we will never again have FREE health insurance. We have always wanted 3 children. We thought we might as well take this opportunity.
Have any of you been pregnant during nursing school and given birth during or in between semesters? I know every semester is only going to get more difficult. I am probably out of my mind for thinking this might be possible. ?
Let me know your thoughts and experiences. Thanks!
I know it can be done because I did it. Took my first 2 semesters of school while pregnant, took a break until my semester I needed came back around and went back. Do I think you should do it? NO WAY. Pre-nursing classes and real nursing classes are 2 different animals. I did fine while I was pregnant and I'm doing well now but it is so much harder. Not only is studying and going to school harder but getting back into the swing of things was harder as well. Do what you want but if you can wait you really should.
We had a girl that got pregnant the at the end of our first year and delivered on Christmas break. It worked out perfectly for her.
It is your choice and how you feel about nursing school being possibly interrupted or leaving a new born baby to go to school. The girl had to leave her 2 week old baby to come to class and clinicals for very long hours because our last semester was horribly busy and stressful. Will you be okay having to sit out a semester or year (our classes are only offered once a year) if complications occur, or if you deliver in the middle of a semester? In my school there are no exceptions for being pregnant.
In my opinion nursing school did get progressively worse; it was hard the whole first year but when the second year started it literally felt like it was a nightmare. It got so much more harder than words could describe.
There is no right or wrong answer, it is your life and your decision because no one has to live with it but you and your family.
I am 20 weeks pregnant now. Just finished my first year of an ADN program. I'm off for summer but start back in August when I will be 33 weeks pregnant. My due date is 10.15.2013. I drive 1.5 hours one way to school. It was ok at the end of last semester. Just exhausted and sick a lot. I'm not sure how it will be going back near the end of pregnancy and how it will be after my C-section. I also have a 2.5 year old son who has ASD. It's do-able!
That is a tough choice that only you can make! I have 8 kids, all during per reqs. I had to keep quitting because of day care issues or we moved for hubby's job. Now my babies are 3 and the rest are in school full time. It's do able! It wouldn't have been 3 years ago though. I had two sets of twins back to back- that's a full time job! Lol. You just never know what will happen. Good luck with your choice! I'm just glad I'm done having kids so I don't have that dilemma. There's a few ladies in my class who are mid thirties with no kids debating on when to start! It's tough, school is generally very inflexible.
Depending on your program, working the hospital might be a problem while you are pregnant. One of my classmates HATED her clicincal experience becuase they restricted which patients she could work with (C-Diff, Flu etc) and they wouldn't let her lift. She had to make up some of her clinical hours in order to meet the state requirements. Towards the end of the semester she also was sidelined becuase she was put on bedrest and she had to miss a bunch of classes. It hurt her GPA, and she went against medical advice to leave her bed to come to school to take finals. It put her under so much stress.
I understand why you are trying to do it, and the only one that can decide what is best for you is you and your family. Just think about all the scenarios (what if I go in to premature labor, what if I am put on bedrest). Good luck!
In my program we had 5 girls become pregnant. One of them actually went into labor during clinicals and stayed until clinical was over. She had her baby that night. Lucky for her it was a Friday. She was back in class Monday and didn't miss a day. I guess its doable, but I wouldn't chance it all pregnancies are different. There will be plenty of time agter nursing school.
I'm pretty sure you can always find someone whos been there, done that, and succeeded. Those who didn't succeed are a little harder to find, since they're probably not hanging out here. :)
With the right combination of aptitude, hard work, and support it can be done, for sure. I could probably be pregnant, work a full time job, start fostering animals, write a novel, and still pass nursing school if I REALLY wanted to (and had no need to eat or sleep.) But doing everything isn't the same thing as doing everything WELL.i wouldn't be able to care for myself properly (or my fetus), my work would suffer, my animals would be locked in kennels all day and most of the night, my novel would suck, and I'd probably walk the pass/fail line constantly in school
I wouldn't choose to have less to give to school or les to give to my newborn. I had 3 kids before I even considered nursing, and they're already getting the shaft from me on this journey - I wouldn't choose to bring someone else into the equation.
I got pregnant during my last semester (not planned). I had miserable morning sickness, and i really don't think I would have made it through if it had happened during first semester. By last semester they knew me well enough that taking care of myself wasn't the issue it would have been.
It also made getting a job after graduation that much more difficult - I didn't get a job until well after the baby was born.
We had a woman who had a baby during first semester. She ended up dropping and starting over. Another woman joined our class in 3rd semester after taking a year off after having a baby.
So, from my personal experience, I wouldn't recommend it, though it isn't necessarily impossible. On the other hand, I worked with a woman who also got pregnant during her 4th semester, and loved it that way. so it works for some.
Remember that, while you have free health insurance now, you will presumably have health insurance again in the future. If that is the driving force for having a baby now, weigh in the possible associated costs now (eg. childcare, the cost of potentially having to repeat a semester, the loss of income if you are delayed in getting a job or haven't been there long enough to get paid maternity leave, etc.), and see if it still makes sense.
I don't have any kids so I can't advise based on my experience, but I think why make your life more stressful when you don't have to? You can have your cake, just eat it a little later! :)
I'm almost 23 weeks pregnant, and will be starting nursing school in August. I'm due early October, and am hoping things work out. It's my first baby though, so my husband and I don't have any other kids to take care of. I'm planning on getting a nanny for the 3 long days I'm in class, but I think it's doable.
There are several other threads on AN that are on this subject, and many, many people have had children even in the middle of a semester and it worked out. I'm sure it's much more stressful, but if you're really set on it, and you have childcare, I don't see why you should have to delay your dreams. :)
I was 8 weeks pregnant when I graduated LPN school so while it did not effect my program, it certainly made finding a job 10x harder. I applied everywhere but by the time I passed my nclex I was showing. No one will hire a pregnant newbie. I didn't land a job till he was almost 9 months old. Just something to think about! I wouldn't change it but its made things more difficult.
SibrinaM
1 Post
I know it can be done because I did it. Took my first 2 semesters of school while pregnant, took a break until my semester I needed came back around and went back. Do I think you should do it? NO WAY. Pre-nursing classes and real nursing classes are 2 different animals. I did fine while I was pregnant and I'm doing well now but it is so much harder. Not only is studying and going to school harder but getting back into the swing of things was harder as well. Do what you want but if you can wait you really should.