Balancing school, family/life

[augurey]

I'm almost halfway through my second semester. It's definitely become more difficult and know that with the start of my next two classes in March will be even more difficult.

It's not the difficulty of classes that I'm worried about (well, not entirely - nervous maybe, but not worried). It's about getting overwhelmed and trying to find balance and keeping focused.

My husband and I learned at the beginning of January that our birth control apparently failed in December and we're expecting our second child now at the beginning of September. Literally the middle of my program. We didn't even realize our birth control failed until I got a positive test (and only tested because a few things seemed off so I tested even though I expected a negative result).

My school has been amazing and supportive of the pregnancy. The director was actually excited about it (even though I felt so irresponsible even though it wasn't out of carelessness). We have a great deal of support from both of our families.

Everything in our lives have suddenly seemed to get so complicated, overwhelming, and with just so many obstacles falling in front of us every time we turn around. We've never had so much fall on our shoulders at one time (not even necessarily the unexpected pregnancy - or school or our daughter - but everything else bad that can happen that has been happening).

I feel like there's so much weight on my shoulders right now. I feel like I doubt my abilities to do it all (though I'm still trying my absolute hardest and still doing very well in school regardless of everything going on. I'm honestly not even sure I could've done better without everything going on). I've read about so many people on here going through pregnancy while in school, or single parents working and going to school.

I guess my question is, how do you balance it all? Did you ever feel like it was impossible to get through it even though it felt like everything was crashing down on you? How did you handle the feelings of being overwhelmed?

I am determined to get through this and continue to do well in school regardless of the obstacles in front of me. I just don't know if anyone can offer any suggestions on what they do during those hard days. I try to remind myself how much it'll be worth it once I get through the program. I sometimes try to say that this is life preparing me for a difficult road ahead. Maybe working as a nurse will be comparable. I don't know. I keep trying to tell myself that this is breaking me down so that I can be built up stronger.

I'm determined. I'm just hoping for some words of encouragement from anyone who has had struggles outside of nursing school while in nursing school and just pushed on, got through it, and got it done.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Everyone has the same number of hours in a day. If 'they' did it, you can too.

The key is prioritization. You're going to have to let go of non-essential stuff. This can be very difficult for students who have set very high standards for themselves. Trust me, no one is going to be traumatized if you don't mop the floor on a weekly basis. Be accepting and open minded when your hubs is loading the dishwasher, sorting laundry, putting dinner on the table, dressing the kids, etc.

You've got this. We're here cheering you on!