2 months preggo and starting to apply...HELP

Junebugfairy · May 11, 2010

i can tell you that in my specific program we had two young ladies in your position, but one of them gave birth 7 days early. she was unable to perform at a final clinical assignment, and was then unable to take the semester final exam.

if you cannot finish a semester, even due to health or pregnancy issues, you are not guaranteed leniency, and it seems in my school you will not receive it.

at my school you cannot just pick up where you left off, because the classes are sequential, so you would have to wait until later.. oh, and you would have to reapply.

you have to do what is right for you, but if you cannot finish your first term, you may end up repeating it the next year, and you may have to apply and hope to gain entrance all over again.

NursingStudent2012 · May 11, 2010

Is it for certain that if you apply you will get in next semester? If not, than I would leave it up to God. If you get in, than I'd take it as a sign that you should continue. If not, than it isn't the right time. If you do not believe in God, than consider this: if you take a 'break', there is a higher chance that you will not return. Many women find it hard to return to school after having a child because of their priorities at home. Yes there is a chance that you may miss clinicals, but there is also a chance that you may not. You can always reapply if your first attempt is unsuccessful....if this happens, than you would have had a 'review' of what your classes are like, so it would actually be easier the 2nd time around.

Also, most likely you will have your child before your 2nd semester begins. It may not be much of a break, but at least you won't be having him/her in the MIDDLE of the semester. The choice is yours and you have to weigh out the pros and cons for your decisions. However, if it was me, I'd have to give it a try. If I don't give it a try, I will always wonder WHAT IF. I'm not sure about your financial situation, but if you have the money remember...you can always reapply IF you decide at the moment to drop out. Good luck with your decision and I hope everything works out for the best!

allnurses Guide · May 11, 2010

That is a tough, tough question to be honest. A couple of things to consider as you weigh out your options....

Nursing school is HARD and clinicals are a serious amount of time on your feet. You will be heavily pregnant at the end of your first semester. Since this is your first pregnancy, you don't have any frame of reference for whether you tend toward pregnancy induced hypertension, swollen ankles or any other complications. How is your health and stamina in general outside of pregnancy? Would you say you are relatively fit? Any chronic health problems like diabetes, hypertension, obesity? None of that guarantees a complication-free pregnancy if you are in great health, but it at least points to likelihoods for you. If you have any chronic health problems or aren't in the best shape, I'd probably advise you to wait.

Another issue you have no frame of reference for is how you will feel about your newborn after the wee one comes into the world. For a lot of new moms it is hard to let someone else care for their baby at 6 weeks to 3 months of age, the average times of maternity leave. Supposing you go to your due date, or over it as first time pregnancies tend to do, you will be looking at putting your baby into childcare anywhere from one to three weeks after being born. That can be pretty emotionally tough, and tough on your body if you are going to breastfeed as well as tough on your postpartum healing process, to be up and around as much as nursing school will demand. Combine studying with the needs of the baby and honestly it just sounds exhausting and unlikely to be successful.

I wish you the best of luck. Others have done it, but most do not recommend it. However, only YOU can figure out what is right for YOUR family. Undoubtedly you have a lot of thinking to do. :hug:

wife&mommyRN · May 11, 2010

There was a woman in my program that was pregnant and had the baby right before finals and this was an ABSN program. She was very successful, but I am assuming she had a strong support system especially since she had a baby @ home. After the baby she even breastfeeds and pumps her milk in between classes :) I cannot tell you what you should do because this is a tough decision and truthfully you won't know what it will be like until you experience it and that goes for both pregnancy and nursing school. I know there is a sense of urgency for everyone to enter immediately into the program, but if it were me I would wait until next fall and that comes from me being a mother and just finishing a nursing program. Nursing is tough and you get absolutely no special treatment being prego, some instructors may even target you asking for all types of clearances from your doctor to validate you can continue on with clinicals. Be very careful with this decision bc this is your 1st baby, I would enjoy that time and by next year the baby will be old enough where you will feel comfortable going to school everyday. Remember every pregnancy is unpredictable, you may feel fine right now, but next month you may not be able to get out of bed. Something to think about. best of Luck and God Bless u and you little one :)

knittingmonster · May 11, 2010

I personally would wait to enter. There are women in my class who have done it, but I have no idea how. We had one drop because she ended up with a c/s and the recovery was harder than she expected. Everything may go perfectly with your pregnancy, L&D and postpartum period--and I hope it does--but there is no predicting what will happen with it. It will be a lot tougher to get through the program if you can't go continuously.

If you do go ahead and start this fall, line up a very good support team. It will be crucial to your success.

Good luck!

brittany_micah · May 11, 2010

i agree, that is a really hard decision. i had my son a few weeks after school started. we started the 3rd week in august and he was born sept 19th. two weeks early because they found a dvt in my left leg. i remember having my homework in the hospital bed the next day trying to stay caught up. i was only taking my pre-reqs and it was really tough!! i also had a 4 year old at the time, 5 now, my husband had to go back to work 3 days after my son was born and with all of the doctor appointments with having a newborn and getting my blood checked daily proved to be one heck of a trying time. i also had a c/s which was a lot longer recovery than my first born. it's not impossible, but i can't imagine taking my actual nursing classes and doing that. all of my classes were online so i was able to pick when i had to study, test, etc. good luck whatever you decide. if you are religious, i would pray about it and ask for guidance. there's no way i could have made it through all of that without god. :redbeathe

CrunchyMama, ASN, RN · May 11, 2010

I'm with the majority here....I would wait. Nursing school is really hard and stressful and then to have a baby in between semesters. I personally wouldn't want to leave my baby while going off to school, especially with breastfeeding and whatnot, I could never pump worth a crap, lol. So anyway...it is a tough decision but having gone through 2 semesters now, I know it would be very hard to be pregnant too. But it's totally up to you obviously. Good luck with your decision. :)

Heavenly4505 · May 11, 2010

There's a girl in my LPN program who had a baby towards the end of our second term and was just fine. It was her second pregnancy though. She went into labor on a Tuesday, missed Wednesday and Thursday night lectures, and returned for clinicals on Monday. She said it was hard, but she did it. I, personally, remember how sick I felt during my pregnancies (especially the first one), and I don't know if I could do what she did. She also breastfeeds and pumps between classes/clinicals. If you think you can handle, go for it. You wouldn't be the first woman to give birth during a nursing program. I think I would wait, however, because I know my tolerance level. I don't think I could do it, but if you can, then good luck!

Anne36, LPN · May 11, 2010

Do you have a plan for daycare? You should check and see where you can place an infant under 6 weeks old and how much it will cost. Lay out all your options and talk it out with your husband. Will he wake up at night and take turns with the baby? If you plan to breastfeed I will tell you that it is physically draining. You need to get plenty or sleep and eat well balanced meals.

CrunchyMama, ASN, RN · May 11, 2010

do you have a plan for daycare? you should check and see where you can place an infant under 6 weeks old and how much it will cost. lay out all your options and talk it out with your husband. will he wake up at night and take turns with the baby? if you plan to breastfeed i will tell you that it is physically draining. you need to get plenty or sleep and eat well balanced meals.

i don't want you to scare the poor girl, lol. from my experience, it was much more physically and mentally draining watching and helping my 1st suffer from constipation and acid reflux due to not breastfeeding. the sympathy and sadness i felt everytime he tried to push his formula poop out or watching his reaction when acid would come up and burn his throat or all the clothes he ruined because of the excessive amount of puke. not fun! nursed my 2nd for 20 months and yes it was rough in the beginning but blissful with no complications when compared to the 1st child feeding frenzy.

Bobbkat · May 11, 2010

I started my first semester 4 months pregnant. I had hyperemesis and pretty much LIVED off from Zofran, but never missed a day all semester. I had a number of times that I over did it, however, and spent the night in the hospital getting IV fluids and my puking under control. My daughter was due Jan 31st, but was stubborn and refused to be born. Finally she was born on Feb 11, in the middle of semester 2. I only took two classes that semester, since I knew I would be busy with the baby, and NO clinicals, since I didn't know if I'd be able to handle them. I only missed one class the entire semester, and that was the day that my daughter was born. I had a c-section, complications from birth kept my daughter and I in the hospital for 7 days. I returned to class the day after I was released from the hospital. 4 weeks after giving birth, I had another surgery. Luckily, this one fell on a Saturday, and I was released from the hospital sunday evening, so it didn't make me miss any class. It was a rough semester, to say the least, but I maintained a good GPA. I pumped while at school, because breastfeeding was important to me. In fact, I ended up pumping while at school and clinical the following semester too.

I guess the moral of the story is that it's doable, but of course you probably already figured that. It is no cake-walk though. When I was pregnant my first semester, I had a few days that I was vomiting so often and violently during clinical that I though I would die. But I couldn't die, because then I would get reamed out by my faculty for patient abandonment. I had to make it through the day, take my zofran, pray for it to work, and wait until the evening to drag myself to the hospital if I couldn't get my vomiting under control. That sucked.

When I had my daughter, though I wasn't taking clinicals, I still had some heavy duty classes, like pharm, to deal with. I had to do pretty much the entire semester on percocet because of the surgeries. Unfortuanatly, 'I'm sorry, but I was to gone on percocet to properly memorize and learn these medication' didn't fly with my faculty, so I had to dig in and just get it done. That sucked too.

On the upside, I had a great support system behind me, and most of the faculty was extremely supportive of me. I graduated with a 3.5 GPA, passed my boards the first time, and have an awesome 2 year old to show for it : ) Really though, if I had not have been able to delay a semester of clinicals, there would have been no way I could have handled it. My school was flexible enough that we didn't have to reapply if we missed a semester, we just jumped back in were we left off with the next class.

Good luck with you decision, I know from personal experience that it's a hard one to make.