How realistic is this?

SmilingBluEyes · May 30, 2003

You can do it. graduated w/a woman who had her 7th in school. it is not easy of course, but you can do it if you set your mind to it.

susanmary · May 30, 2003

You will have just completed the Fall of 2003 eight months' pregnant, have two kids, the holidays, etc. Your baby may have a mind of his/her own and come a week or so late ... will you be physically/mentally prepared for the challenges of nursing school at that time ... with the entire semester to complete? In my opinion, I'd absolutely take the spring semester off and start again in the Fall of 2004. Nursing school will always be there. The chance to be home with your babies will not ... they grow so fast. Enjoy this time and take the break without guilt. Sue

P.S. Congratulations!

nursenoelle · May 30, 2003

You can do it . Nurses are the most tenacious lot on the planet. Good luck and congats.

Anagray, BSN · May 30, 2003

I am in similar situation. I have a 4 year old, I'm going to school PT, working, and doing all the housework ( husband "lives" at work). We decided to wait with baby # 2 until i'm done with school, but I got pg. I have a high-risk pg, still have a whole month of June to go to school all day 4 times a week ( fitting into those little school desks with 50+ lb gain will be interesting and very amusing for my classmates, I'm sure lol ).

My due date is is August 8, clinicals start August 26. On top of everything, I can deliver any time between now and my due date and there is a possibility it will be a C-secion. Talk about stress!

I truly sympathize with you - It's not going to be easy to do all this, but if you are determined, it will happen. I just pray that your baby and my baby are going to be one of those angels, who are always happy and sleep through the night at 3 months of age.

My son was the prototype for the movie "Exorsist" - he screamed all day long, he had projectile vomiting and didn't sleep until he was about 9 months of age. By the time he was out of the baby stage, MY head was spinnig, like i was possesed. lol

Anyway, sorry to ramble on, I think you will do just fine. Some of my schoolmates have given birth in the middle of the semester and passed. I hope you can get some help from other sources - sleep is so important to critical thinking.

Best wishes and congrats on your pregnancy.

L&D.RN · May 30, 2003

LOL, that reminds me of a determined student in my class when I went to school. She was cutting it close, and was contracting like mad during her finals, but she finished her finals, delivered that night, and was back for the following semester. I gave her credit just for making it to class and clinicals because I was a lazy pregnant woman myself.

You can do it, but I also agree that it wouldn't hurt to take a semester off. Just don't do what I did, and take 5 years off before completing!

Browneyedgirl · May 30, 2003

babynurse---will you physically be ready to return to school? will you be emotionally ready? I could be wrong but I believe I've read physical exhaustion contributes to post partum depression.

If you continue in school immediately after giving birth, I wish you the best. Although, I do believe the very best thing to do for yourself, your family, your education, and your precious, darling child would be to take a semester off.

Best wishes whatever you choose.

Scarlette · May 30, 2003

One of my nursing instructors told my class a story that one of her students had her baby on a Friday after class and was back to school the following Monday. :eek:

Everyone is different. You have to decide what is right for you.

Congratulations and best wishes!

babynursewannab · May 30, 2003

Thanks everyone. It appears the advice varies as much as my own mind! :chuckle

I know I wouldn't take 5 years off...but I know it sure would be tempting if I stopped and took a break. Part of me knows the absolute best thing would be to take the semester off, but my poor husbands paycheck will be stretched to the ultimate limit with our new house and we bought it strictly on the knowledge that as of 1/05 I would be contributing big time. So, the thought of not finishing on time is terrifying to me. I hate how money rules.

One of my options is to bring lil' jr. to class with me periodically. I even have had professors tell me to do that. Shocked me. Have any of you done that?

Thanks again!

powmol · Jun 3, 2003

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck to you! I was in the same boat, and Yes---I did it. It was hard, but it was worth it!

HazeK · Jun 7, 2003

you can do it, if family & friends supportive!

AHarri66, BSN, RN · Jun 9, 2003

I had my last son 2 1/2 months before graduation. At my school, we had lab as well as clinical, and if we attended all the labs, we could "bank" a clinical day off on top of the two clinical "absences" we were allowed. (We had clinical on Tues and Thurs.) Sooo...I went to clinical on Thurs, went into labor in the wee hours of Saturday, delivered later that morning. I took my "banked" time, which would have put me back to school 1 1/2 weeks after delivery, but as luck would have it, my time ran right into Spring Break. (Thank Goodness!) I got an extra week off.

I was back to school, with son in tow, 13 days after delivery to take a mid-term!

I used to take him with me to lectures, and left him with a neighbor on clinical days. My classmates would often take turns holding him so I could take notes, or would copy theirs for me if I had to leave the room. Sometimes one of them would leave with him, instead! My classmates and my instructors were very supportive, which made a rough time a lot easier. Heck, my son is even in our class photo! Everyone figured that he graduated too.

Again, it was rough...I had a few late and make-up assignments, and I wasn't always up on the reading, but it is possible. As one of my instructors said, "What better time to have a baby but when you're surrounded by a bunch of nurses!" LOL! It's true!