CRNA school and babies -- can you have both?

Biotechnology · Sep 19, 2007

JKW,
You obviuosly are not in CRNA school!

Thank you!!!

MB37 · Sep 21, 2007

Adona, thanks for your input. It is nice to hear about someone else who's struggling with the same issues. For me, it's not about two years - I still have a year left on my BSN, then I have to find a job, hopefully in an ICU, but if not get the med-surg experience first and transfer. Then I have to work in said ICU for two years, and apply to schools. The one in town is a 28-month program, but over two years of schooling seems normal and I will probably apply to more than one. I'm looking at a minimum of 5 more years until I could possible become a CRNA, and I'd rather have it be 7 or 10 and actually have children first. I agree with the gender thing also - many men continue with schooling after children, work 80 hours a week trying to make partner, do medical residencies, etc. and don't take any flak for it. I don't know why we should put our dreams on hold just because we're the ones who go through the pregnancy, especially if we have supportive mates. I do wish we had family around somewhere, but mine is in Minnesota and my husband's is in Kansas and Arkansas. We're in Florida, and will be either here or in Louisiana pretty much forever. I also thought school with somewhat younger kids would be easier than with older ones - it seems like when they're older they'll have so many more activities that you'll miss out on than if they're little. I don't know, but we'll work something out.

Biotechnology · Sep 21, 2007

MB37, How do you like living in FL? I am thinking of moving there for another master degree program........

MB37 · Sep 22, 2007

Honestly? I don't love it. However, I was rudely uprooted from a city I absolutely loved every thing about by Katrina, and moved here sight unseen when my husband was offered the transfer. It depends where you're coming from though. The positives include really cheap education - my BSN will cost less than 10 grand - proximity to beaches, nice weather 9 months out of the year, spring training baseball (I've been to 7 different parks so far), and USF football being ranked with tickets still free for students.

The biggest negative for me is the driving culture. We didn't own a car in New Orleans, and now we have two. There aren't even sidewalks everywhere if you want to walk a few blocks to grab a thing of milk, and public transportation is a joke. Plus, no one can drive. Your choices as far as lanes go in a 55mph zone are 47 and 87. If you drive 84, they pass you on the right. Traffic is awful, especially in the winter months when the snowbirds are down. They clog up all the main roads at all daylight hours.

Depending on where you're moving from, the weather might be a plus or a minus for you. We have the constant threat of hurricanes, with the resulting exorbitantly expensive property insurance. Last year we didn't have a winter - it was still hot at Christmas time. I grew up in Minnesota, and I hate cold weather with a passion, so that was perfect for me. Some people seem to want a little bit of a season change though.

Speaking of insurance, the cost of living is high here. Nursing pay in FL ranks just above Mississippi, yet everything costs about twice what it did in Louisiana. You can't buy a house for less than $200K, and that's for a "starter." Studio apartments are upwards of $600/month. We have no state income tax, so we pay in other ways. Sales tax is really high, which hurts those of us on the lower end of the pay scale who spend a larger portion of our income. Property taxes are ridiculous, and insurance companies drop people daily. The governor vetoed a tuition increase for the state universities, and they won't increase state-sponsored funding either. As a result, they have run out of paper on campus by mid-September, and some of my nursing classes are so full people have to sit on the floor. But it's cheap! I'd rather, again, be ranked above Mississippi in education (that's probably where you're from, and I don't mean to be insulting - they're just usually ranked towards the bottom in a lot of things. I've never been there, except to drive through a couple times).

Wow, this is long, sorry. I really don't love it here, although it gets a little better with time. My husband loves it. He really does. He doesn't mind driving, he loves sports, he thinks the weather is great, he makes a lot more than at his old job, and he doesn't go to school. He goes to all the USF games -I'm either working or home studying - and he likes to jump in the car and drive out by the gulf on weekends. Check out the Florida forum and do a little research, I'm not alone in my views. However, some people wouldn't leave this state for the world.

Biotechnology · Sep 23, 2007

Thanks MB37.... I liked reading your point of view about FL. Lots of people would say how great it was and not really mean what they were saying. Your post was very honest. Oh, just so you know, I am from Pennsylvania, no insulting taken here;)..... With that being said, I agree about the weather and about the high insurance rates. I heard that that was the case..... My long term plans are to move to NC when I am done with school..... I just need a little heat here and there.... you know what I mean.......

I hope, overtime, that you can find SOMETHING about the state that could make you happier. I know things must have been hard up rooting from LA....especially if you loved living there.....I know how important that is especially being a woman;). Your fighting to ward off the depression monsters:o. I don't like where I am living and I have lived here all my life!!! :lol2: Anyway, I really do appreciate your input and I DO hope you the best in you endevours......

MB37 · Sep 24, 2007

Thanks biotech!

I may have been in a crappy mood when I made that post, but it is all true. Honestly, I really do like my nursing school - great profs, classmates, etc., and I believe I'm getting a good education. Once I get to be making CRNA money, as part of a 2 income family, I won't be at the lower end of the pay scale anymore so we should be able to afford a nice home here. And maybe I'll get more used to the driving - I've only had my license for a year and a half (and I'm 28...)

Biotechnology · Sep 25, 2007

Thanks biotech!
I may have been in a crappy mood when I made that post, but it is all true. Honestly, I really do like my nursing school - great profs, classmates, etc., and I believe I'm getting a good education. Once I get to be making CRNA money, as part of a 2 income family, I won't be at the lower end of the pay scale anymore so we should be able to afford a nice home here. And maybe I'll get more used to the driving - I've only had my license for a year and a half (and I'm 28...)

Thats funny ...... and cute.....Your definitely not used to driving like a maniac yet...... thats ok... you will in due time....

dtrmnd2sccd · Sep 27, 2007

I have just gone back to school (at age 36!) with a 2 and 4 yr old--have a ways to go before I will be in a CNRA program, and I REALLY wish I had figured out sooner that this was my calling so that I could have gotten it done before having kids!! :smackingf

It is rough having two active preschoolers and having to tell them "mommy needs to study" (daddy is at work full-time and right now, family is not near-by but will be in another year). I have no choice--the girls are here and my calling is, well, calling! :) But if I did have the choice, I would CERTAINLY delay kids by 5 yrs if I were in my 20's in order to get where I wanted to be in my career. No question whatsoever in my mind, but that's just my :twocents: and your mileage may vary! :)

6xblessd · Sep 28, 2007

I'm not in CRNA school yet (I'm taking baby steps in that direction and just started in the ICU after 5 yrs of med/surg), so this advice is more my general commentary on schooling, babies, and balancing it all. I did get a 4 yr degree when I was fresh out of high school. It's a 4 yr degree that doesn't do squat for me and wasn't what I really wanted to do in the first place,but at that tender age, I really didn't have the guts to stand up to the forces swirling around me and say, "Hey! What I really want to be is a nurse!"---even though I had known it in my heart since I was a tiny preschooler :)

My husband and I married when I was 21 1/2 (he was 27). We knew we wanted a large family, and we started right away. I was 28 when we had our 4th, and that was also when I decided it was definitely time to return to school and get that nursing degree I had always wanted. So I did. I delivered my 5th baby in the middle of my first year of clinical, and I was back doing 8hr clinicals when she was 12 days old. We have no family members anywhere closer than 1000 miles, but a dear aunt of mine flew in for a few weeks, and my husband was able to wear the wee one in a Baby Bjorn and take her to class with him after my aunt was gone, and I was still in clinical. (he teaches for a private school---that's how he was able to get away with that! LOL) I was able to breastfeed my daughter (yes, I dragged that ole Medela pump-n-style with me to and from lectures and clinicals!!), and thankfully was done with that school year when she was 6wks old and had the summer to enjoy her infancy. I graduated nursing school the next year, started working, and had #6 three years after my 5th was born.

So I come at this from a slightly different perspective. I don't see any reason why women can't have their families first and their careers second, IF that's the way they want to do it. I know too many women who have waited too long only to find out their fertility wasn't quite what they expected once they finally have their careers in order enough to feel like they can start trying for a family. Not to mention how drastically the risk for birth defects increases as you get older.

I would NEVER try to tell another woman how she should plan her childbearing and career because I don't think there is one right way for everyone. Yes, there are some things that are harder when you have your children first and your career second. But there are some things that are easier, too.

Society is very hard on us women/mothers (and honestly, it's usually us women who are the hardest on each other! we are a huge part of our own problem, as much as I hate to say that!!). A man would NEVER have his parenting ability or character questioned for having gone back to school to further his education, no matter HOW old he was or how many children he had. In fact, I bet most people would admire him and give him more respect. Not us moms, though---we take some serious flak for going back to school and doing something to improve ourselves and support our families when we have young children. People question why we would even have had children in the first place if we were still going to have a career and continue to further ourselves. What the heck?! My mother was a single mom of 4 with a simple 2 yr degree who managed to return to school after her husband left and now has her doctorate. I personally grew up thinking that was admirable. I hope my daughters (and sons!) feel the same way about my continuing my education when they grow up.

Caveat: I KNOW that CRNA school is all-enveloping. I wouldn't recommend having a baby immediately before beginning such a daunting enterprise. You have no idea how your body is going to handle pregnancy or how you are going to feel once you have that baby (and having been around the pregnancy/postpartum/newborn block more than a few times myself, I can tell you that there is NOTHING that will prepare you for what a change it is going from being childless to having a family). CRNA school is expensive, and most people need to take out lots of $$ to live on while in school, too, and you'd hate to have to leave school in the middle and lose all that $$. I guess if I were you, and I really wanted a family, I would strongly consider putting off CRNA school for a few years. School will always be there, but your fertility might not be there (at least not in the way it is now, while you are young). This is something I've been thinking about lately because I had actually just read an article by Martha Stewart's daughter in some women's magazine about how she feels like the medical community totally duped her by telling her repeatedly "Oh, there's plenty of time later in your life to get pregnant" So she waited, and now she can't get pregnant, although she's spent like 75 grand every few months for quite a while now trying to. One of the biggest mottos I try to live my life by is this----HAVE NO REGRETS. And only you know what would make you have regrets; nobody can make that decision for you.

For me, I had my family first, and I have no regrets.

Just my rather lengthy .02

Lauren

rlrcih · Sep 28, 2007

Thanks Lauren!

I'm so determined right now that I feel like I could accomplish anything, but with 3 kids of my own, you have managed to inspire me so much more.

Lindsey

AdonaiLoveable · Sep 29, 2007

Thank you, Lauren (6xblessd) for bringing your perspective on being a parent (especially being a mother) and furthering your career to the table. Your words are quite insightful and inspiring. Deeply appreciated.

Adonai

p.s.

I too have loads of experience with a Medela PIS and if anybody needs tips on how to make nursing while being a nurse (or nursing student) work for you and your babe, I'm your go-to girl.

in2b8nsed8 · Apr 23, 2008

I have just gone back to school (at age 36!) with a 2 and 4 yr old--have a ways to go before I will be in a CNRA program, and I REALLY wish I had figured out sooner that this was my calling so that I could have gotten it done before having kids!! :smackingf
It is rough having two active preschoolers and having to tell them "mommy needs to study" (daddy is at work full-time and right now, family is not near-by but will be in another year). I have no choice--the girls are here and my calling is, well, calling! :) But if I did have the choice, I would CERTAINLY delay kids by 5 yrs if I were in my 20's in order to get where I wanted to be in my career. No question whatsoever in my mind, but that's just my and your mileage may vary! :)

I think there are many of us that are wishing that we would have figured out what we wanted to be when we were younger. I have a 3 yr old and a 7 yr old and they just don't get it when I tell them that I have to study. I understand what you are saying. I would definately have my kids after I was done with my education if I werestill in my 20's . I didn't know what I wanted to be when I was 20 something!