Pregnant and in Nursing School....

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I am currently about 20 weeks pregnant. My husband and I found out we were expecting the last month of my spring semester! It was a complete surprise. I am due to have a "C-Section" the last week of this coming fall semester. My finals would be the week before the last week of school, so technically I could make it through. That is if I don't go into labor early. I really don't want to take the semester off because I will definately have to take the spring off to stay home with the new baby. Has anyone gone through a semester during their last trimester? My school says I need a note from my OB saying I can attend clinical without restriction, including lifiting! I will not lose my spot if I take time off, but it will set me back and I hate to dely this any longer. Also, for the record I am in a very competitive program and the department is notorious for being extremely strict. In other words I will not get any slack from these women. Help! I need some good advice....

i had a classmate who got married in the summer and although she and her man had been together for years with successful birth control, she said on their honeymoon they got a little drunk and a little careless one night and there you are. she had her baby during spring break and that kid was our class mascot. i had another classmate who had a section on friday and was back in class on monday...and when i had my babies lady partslly later i understood the advantage to being able to sit in a lecture without perineal pain :D.

having started grad school with a breastfeeding 6-week-old i found that my biggest challenge was that my brains seemed to be coming out my nipples (when postpartum in the hospital, i, a longtime cardiac surg icu nurse, couldn't explain to the student caring for me whether atropine made your heart go faster or slower....eeesh).

i did not stop breastfeeding, but i did make adjustments in my study habits and paid particular attention to things when i felt like letting them slide. my brain returned by the time she was about 8 weeks old, when breastfeeding was on total autopilot and made life sooooo much easier than bottles and all that crap. {payback being what it is, that baby had one herself while finishing her phd and breastfed her for 2+ years, and has just had another starting her tenure track faculty job (physics) (also breastfeeding him). }

do what you have to do and as much as possible of what you can do, remember that women all over the world do a lot more after childbirth than mere nursing (insert sarcasm icon here), and enjoy the time. it seems like it's interminable sometimes, but in the infinite scheme of things it goes really fast.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

No, you won't get any slack, because this happens ALL the time!! (I don't understand it personally) I know of an RN student who had her second baby a month before graduation, with a toddler at home. She got thru school, but failed boards the first time. She just didn't have time to study! But that was ok because she took it a few months later and passed!! (Then went on to have a third baby.) Is there a campus daycare? Most will take babies after they turn 6 weeks old. Check into that.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
Just because something can be done, doesn't mean it should be done. I wouldn't risk returning. Nursing school will still be around after you have your baby. It's okay to wait for things. While you're waiting to return, you could be enjoying your baby and refreshing what you've learned so far in nursing school.

We all make choices in life, whether we want to admit them or not. There are Active choices and Passive choices. Those of you who choose to go to nursing school in your younger childbearing years (which is very admirable) understand the risks and should be prepared for them. RN school is, at most, three years out of your life. We who have all been there know how tough and competitive school is!! Thats one reason you see many first time moms in their 40's; they chose to get their education and careers going first. Make your active choices BEFOREHAND; looking back, even though I didn't have a baby during school, I could have doubled up on BC or not had sex for six months after my decision to go to nursing school!!:lol2:

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I think we need not be so judgmental of an individual's right to reproduce. I waited all throughout PhD graduate school and until marriage. Now, I am stuck with a PhD degree I do not/cannot use and acceptance letters to nursing schools. My age continues to climb. We do not have the luxury of waiting. Since I have never been pregnant, I do not know how long it will take us to conceive. If my nursing school degree program gets decelerated because of pregnancy or a new born, so be it.

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It will be easier with that little guy IN than OUT! Believe me! You will be tired but it's worse when they are out!!! Good luck! You can do this!

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I never said a woman shouldn't have a child. I am just saying we all have to make choices in our lives. Why we as human beings TRY to complicate things is beyond me. Life is hard enough! I don't believe that women's lib blarney that says we can have it all! No we can't. We have to choose one or the other sometimes, for our sanity as well as the other's around us. If you are willing to put the nursing program on the back burner to have a child, great! Best of luck on whatever you choose.

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So, will Jeff State let you take a semester off during nursing school if you are pregnant (and you still have your spot when you come back)?

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Not currently pregnant, I don't think:) School is a little over a year and a half, so I was just wondering, just INCASE it were to happen.

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