I'm thinking about trying to get pregnant and start nursing school? Yes or No?

NurseTab · Feb 11, 2005

I am almost in the same boat...except I am 33, not 25. My biological clock is a bit louder.

We have been trying for a year. My original plan was to have the baby by now and start school Fall '05. I am now hoping to start the RN program in Spring '05 - and I am not knocked up yet.

I am not sure what I am going to do if I do get pregnant. This thread has given me a lot to think about. Luckily, the program to which I am applying admits students 3-times per year and a student can drop out for a quarter if needed. That is what I am banking on if I am fortunate enough to get pregnant.

We are at the point where we should be looking into fertility issues, but now I am thinking we'll want to wait until after school is over.

This thread has been extreemely helpful. Thanks to everyone for their input!

RENAISSANCE RN · Feb 11, 2005

NearlyRN · Feb 11, 2005

I gave birth exactly half way through my program. Being a mom is hard!!! Being in nursing school is hard!!! One or the other will suffer. I took a semester off after the birth, and finished just fine. However, there were really times that I didn't give my son all the attention he needed/deserved. I would try to go into my bedroom and study while my husband watched the little guy...he would stand outside the door and call for me (he was about 1 yr old by then). I felt guilty, but also stressed that I had to study/write a paper/whatever. Of course, my son didn't get it...he just wanted his mama.

On the other hand, it seems that nowadays there is no "convenient" time to have a baby. There will always be something (a new job, a move, promotion) that makes having a baby difficult.

But knowing what I do now, I would probably wait till I was done with school.

rebeccainlv · Feb 11, 2005

I too have been thinking about getting pregnant while in an accelerated second degree nursing program. My husband (a CRNA) and I have been trying since Sept 2004. Invariably he will have to help out a great deal. I am almost 31 years old. While I want to put getting pregnant on hold while I am in school I do fear fertility problems as I am getting older and have yet to conceive in the last 5-6 months of trying. I do feel that it is easier to attend school with a newborn who sleeps much of the day than with a toddler who requires undivided attention. I do not yet know if I have been accepted into nursing school and I hate to put things on hold any longer. If I waited until I was done with nursing school (provided I am accepted this summer) I will be 32 when I conceive IF we were able to conceive immediatley upon graduation. We want more than one child which means being almost 35 when the second is conceived. HELP!!!
I should add that if it takes us the one year from our start of "trying" to get pregnant (Sept/Oct 2004) then I would be done or nearly done with nursing school when it is time to deliver.

Off the subject slightly, but I was 25 when I finally got pregnant after trying for more than 1 year. I ended up doing fertility treatments for 5 months before I conceived. It wasn't bad at all. My fiancee (not my daughter's father) is 35 and I'm 32...he wants a child of his own. I told him I wont' go past 35 so we'll try when I done with school next May. I've already told him I"ll have to do fertility treatments. It's not too big of a deal if you are healthy, under 35, and don't have any fertility function problems. I just don't ovulate for whatever reason even though everything is physically ok. Clomid worked like a charm.

maria456 · Feb 11, 2005

So glad I found this thread :)

I'm 34 going on 35 this year and contemplating some BIG decisions.... going back to school for nursing and starting a family. :uhoh3: Anyway, dunno what to do. I think I may delay nursing school til fall06 and try for baby #1 asap. And then, try for baby #2 after I finish school.

Any advice?...always good to hear other people's thoughts. Thanks!

rebeccainlv · Feb 11, 2005

So glad I found this thread :)
I'm 34 going on 35 this year and contemplating some BIG decisions.... going back to school for nursing and starting a family. Anyway, dunno what to do. I think I may delay nursing school til fall06 and try for baby #1 asap. And then, try for baby #2 after I finish school.
Any advice?...always good to hear other people's thoughts. Thanks!

Kids are great...but they take up ALL of your time and money. My daughter is 6 and used to me going to school since I went 4 nights per week for about 1 year, 2 nights per week for another year, then full time during the day for a year. Now I"m in a full time BSN program so I'm gone all day everyday plus a 12 hour clinical shift on Saturday. Not to mention the fact that I read/study every night of the week and still cook meals, go grocery shopping, take her to gymnastics classes and go to the gym myself. And that's with a kid that is able to entertain herself, etc while I'm busy with school work.

The best way to do nursing school is if you don't work and can focus on school 100%. Some of my classmates worked during the first semester but most cut back their hours or quit after they found out how much time school takes up. Most of us are living on student loans.

A baby should be a priority either way. Either have a baby or do nursing school. Doing both at the same time is going to be the hardest things you have ever done. School alone is going to be very hard. There's so much to do and so little time to get it done. Add in a baby and a load of laundry every day. And pumping milk at school or clinical. And all the household chores that you normally do. And the extra mega-expenses of a baby. It will be no less than overwhelming. I wuld do one thing at a time. They are both very time consuming, overwhelming and life changing.

You dont' want to miss out on the joys of pregnancy because you were too busy studying. You could have a baby and then go back to school when the baby is a year old or so. The first year is incredible and you wont' want to miss out on it or be too tired to enjoy it. Just my opinion. I wish I had finished my BSN before I had my daughter. Life is so much more complicated post-kids.

Betty_SPN_KS, LPN · Feb 11, 2005

I would say don't try to do both. If it happens, it happens, but don't try both on purpose. You can find yourself very stressed and sleep-deprived during nursing school. New parents can also be very sleep-deprived. Either one can be overwhelming at times. I can't imagine doing both at the same time. I've had 8 babies and went to nursing school when my youngest was 5.

BlaqButterflyy · Feb 11, 2005

I've been married for almost two years now and am starting to get the baby fever! I just appiled to the nursing program for the fall of 2005. For all the mother's out there, how hard is it to get through nursing school and have a child? My husband really wants to start trying now but I'm really nervous about how I'll be able to manage a newborn and nursing. Please let me know your stories and experiences!

Hello there. I am not a mother, and I just graduated form nursing school in December 2004. Want some advice about having children and being in nursing school at the same time?........NO!!!!!!!!!! It was hard enough for me and my classmates to be students, and to be a new mom to a newborn child who needs all of your time and attention......I am not saying it is not possible, (all respect to my fellow nursing students who are also parents), but it is a challenge. 2 of my friends had to drop out of school to be mommies. I am sure it is possible, but my advice is to hold off on the kids. You can always have them when you graduate. Good luck on your decision. :)

nurse_wannabe · Feb 11, 2005

i am pregnant in nursing school now, due right before graduation. reasonable accomadations? the only reasonable accomodation they want to make for me is letting me stay and not kicking me out. i am perfectly healthy and pregnant. i was pregnant all last semester, and will be for 90% of this one. i have yet to miss or be late to a single class or clinical. i get good grades. i am also supposed to have a note from my dr saying i have no physical restrictions on what i can and cannot do in clinicals. i had one that said "no heavy lifting" and that was nixed and i was forced to get another one. so if you go to my school....dont get pregnant.

Wow, they sound tough! I have to say that my instructors have been great at not expecting me to lift anything/anyone by myself and not assigning me patients with RSV or anything else that might harm the baby. And I didn't even need a doctor's note.... :chuckle

I've been doing pretty good lately. The shortness of breath has improved (for now). I had to leave clinicals early the other day because my bellly was hurting. I am having some major round ligament pain, and the longer I stand, the worse it hurts. I have ordered a maternity belt, so maybe that will help!

nurse_wannabe · Feb 11, 2005

So glad I found this thread :)
I'm 34 going on 35 this year and contemplating some BIG decisions.... going back to school for nursing and starting a family. Anyway, dunno what to do. I think I may delay nursing school til fall06 and try for baby #1 asap. And then, try for baby #2 after I finish school.
Any advice?...always good to hear other people's thoughts. Thanks!

Hi, Maria! In your case, I would say start that family! It sounds to me like you have put a lot of thought into it and I agree with your plan. Remember, you can go to nursing school at any age! I have classmates in their late 50's and they are doing just fine. In fact, they are doing better than some of the youngsters because they don't have young children at home and can devote more time to studying.

You should start your family now while you can... especially since you want 2 children.

Whatever you decide, best of luck to you!

Heath82371 · Feb 11, 2005

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 11, 2005

After reading this post I have decided that if I am not currently pregnant then I will not actively pursue becoming pregnant initially while in school and at least that way I can be done with nursing school by the time the baby is born (I have applied to a one year accelerated program). My hubby is a new CRNA so it is probably better this way. I will be only 32 when I graduate in the summer of 2006.

Oh wow, new CRNA....you are definately doing the right thing. Either put off school or pregnancy. He can't fill in the "mommy gaps" for you in school, and believe me, there will be times you wont' either. I think you are wise.