Thinking of having a baby while in LPN school

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I start LPN school on August 20. My husband and I have a 15 month old, and we would really like to keep our kids about 2-3 years apart. Our plan is to try for a summer 2013 baby since I will have the entire summer off school, then finish up in the fall. We are going to be very careful about timing, as to not to be due during a semester. Our daughter already goes to my sister-in-law's home daycare, and she said she would be more than happy to watch any future kids also.

Any thoughts on being pregnant while in school?

If you want another baby, why even ask the opinion of people you don't know? In the end, YOU have to deal with whatever happens. Do what you feel is best. I personally would wait. I understand how you feel though. I have a 16 month old. Ideally, i'd have another so they won't be too far apart, but I have to worry about making a better life for the child I have now.

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This is going to be long, I'm notorious for that :p

Don't let anything stop you!! I was in a 12 month LPN program starting April 2011, every 12 weeks we got a 1 wk break! First semester was ok but then second semester I was going out to the bar a lot with my friends and found out 2 weeks before the quarter ended I needed to bring my grade up 6% or I would fail.... I buckled down and somehow did it!!!!! 2 weeks before I found out I was failing I found out I was pregnant! I was so stressed smoking a pack a day and drinking red bulls every day now I had to just stop omg the first month adjusting to the surprise pregnancy again was Hell I had nothing to calm me down now or keep me focused when I used to use cigarettes and caffeine to cope! I also had a 2 yr old at home and my boyfriend relapsed so was back on drugs and broke which he was supposed to be my financial support during school!!!! Just so u know how bad it was I was using restaurant gift cards from my bday and Xmas for lunch bc I had no money now (all my unemployment income went to bills and school).

My due date was 2 weeks after school ended but I ended up delivering 8 weeks early (maybe from stress but i had a Hx of preterm labor too) so my baby had to stay in the NICU for 5 weeks. I went to clinicals the day after I got out of the hospital and only missed one day of class which was the day I delivered! My uterus had been contracting for 12 weeks but I would've went to school that day anyways but I woke up at 5am which was weird and I had a lot of energy and was bleeding so I just had that feeling I was going to deliver. Then I ended up doing my five 8-hr days of preceptorship the week my baby came home bc I didn't think he was coming home yet! I was like on auto pilot I just kept counting down til I graduated even 1st quarter and kept focusing on that next test. II pumped every day during every break in my car and visited my baby at the NICU every day after school with my 3yr old and still had better grades than 80% of my classmates!!!

How? I have no clue! I was in the 30% of people to pass the HESI too! Both my children were unplanned but this was the best surprise ever, he is 5 months old and now my 3 yr old has a little brother he can't wait to play with! And it didn't affect anything, i still graduated and no one would've even thought i was pregnant!

Don't ever let anyone discourage you, you can accomplish anything that is thrown at you trust me! Support helps a ton but I didn't have much support at all so it's not needed! Only 1 friend came with me to the NICU and my dad didn't even come see him. After I found out my baby wasn't coming home with me nursing school seemed like a breeze. I still had over a month left but no nursing test was harder than leaving my baby at the hospital and going home. I'm only 22 and I feel like everything happens for a reason. God's not going to give me something I can't handle and with that attitude I just keep pushing through. Yeah it was hard but I didn't let having another baby get in the way, if anything he was even more motivation for me to do well and graduate!

If you want another baby you should just get pregnant and go with the flow. I'm only saying this because you have another child and I know how happy my son is to have a little brother and they are three years apart. I wanted my son to have a younger sibling too 2-3yrs apart but i never planned it while I was in school bc i doubted myself that I could take that on in addition to school. I'm so glad it happened bc I underestimated myself and after all I've been through there is no excuse for 35% of my class to get held back while I graduated!

My story is a bit extreme but no matter what was thrown at me (bf of 4yrs cheated on me, surprise pregnancy, close fail 2nd quarter, bf relapsed, dad DUI, preterm labor, NICU baby) I never let ANYTHING get in the way of graduating!! If you have that same attitude you have nothing to worry about :)

Wow! You are strong for going through all of that. I'm glad your baby is okay. I would really like to have a baby sooner rather than waiting, but I just don't know.

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If you want another baby, why even ask the opinion of people you don't know? In the end, YOU have to deal with whatever happens. Do what you feel is best. I personally would wait. I understand how you feel though. I have a 16 month old. Ideally, i'd have another so they won't be too far apart, but I have to worry about making a better life for the child I have now.

That's one of the reasons for waiting, so I can have a stable job so we can move to a better house with better school zones. I don't want us to struggle any more than we have to already because I am not working while in school.

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Hi! I am just getting ready to start my 3rd semester of nursing school. I am in an accelerated ADN program and I have a 5 month old. I had my baby 2 months before school let out for the summer. I also have a 2yo. It was an unplanned pregnancy and I almost sat out for the year but I just really didnt want to. So I went against what everyone said and did it. I got through it because I wanted to. Also, I was lucky I had a pretty easy pregnancy again, I have some help from my mom and in laws, and I didnt have to work. If I didnt have any help I couldn't have done it. Also, I was only allowed to take barely 2 weeks off, which i knew but that was hard. I obviously got no sympathy from any instructor which I didnt expect at all. I knew what I was getting in to. Basically, I knew and thought about what could happen and the consequences and I decided to take the chance. Also, will your program let you try again if you fail or something happens? Ours lets you try again 1 time so I thought about that too. There was another girl a year ahead of me who had her baby during christmas break and she did fine. Yes, its making something thats already super hard, harder but im sure you know that already. It is doable though. Im glad I went through with it because now I only have this year left instead of 2. Sit down and really think about it and make sure you will have the help when needed too. Ultimately, it's your decision Good luck!

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I became pregnant the last 5 mths of LPN school. It was very hard. I was extremely sleepy and hungry all of the time. It was hard to schedule my dr appts because we didn't get out of class/clinicals til 3 and I went to school 5 days a week plus worked weekends. I finished and passed the boards. You can do it, but I would suggest not being pregnant the entire time and after you do your psych rotation. My fear was getting kicked, pushed down or having to lift a pt that was heavy. I wasn't showing til my last month in the program. I was also afraid that once I finished, that no one would hire me due to my growing belly. In my case I was hired on at a facility (not a nursing home) a month after I passed my boards. Everything seems to be falling in place. Hopefully you have an understanding and helpful husband. Good luck.

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Every single pregnant gal I was in school with wound up finishing at LEAST a semester behind the rest of us. It just got to be too much.

Good luck whatever you decide to do!

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You seem to have your mind made up. Go for it!!But I wouldn't do it. Just seems like a bunch of added discomfort and extra possibility for things to go wrong. We are going to wait until I finish school to try. That said, some women have done it and would do it again. Some women have done it, and flunked out. To each his own.

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.

It doesn't help when your family and friends are all having or have babies. My daughter is already 15 months, time flies! It seems just like yesterday when she was born.

Oh, that is the worst! My littlest one is 15 months, too, born in April :). In fact, the only reason he exists is because everyone I knew got pregnant in 2010 and it blew my baby fever off the scale :). I also should've graduated NS in May of this year. Now I'm STARTING this year.

I wish I had some awesome trick for ya to do it all and have it all right now, but I don't ;/

I do know that your desire to have a baby will also be balanced out by moments when you're exhausted and stressed and you're grateful you only have one kid. And then when it's finally time, you'll just be happy in the moment, not worrying about all the time that's passed. :)

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It seems that I am okay with waiting if that's the best thing, but my husband is still not so sure haha. He's almost 5 years older than me and really wants another child (so it's not just women lol). I explained to him that we'd be able to have another child once a got a nursing job, he understands but we might end up having one before I start working. This would mean I'd only be pregnant my last semester of school, which to me isn't that bad.

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.
It seems that I am okay with waiting if that's the best thing, but my husband is still not so sure haha. He's almost 5 years older than me and really wants another child (so it's not just women lol). I explained to him that we'd be able to have another child once a got a nursing job, he understands but we might end up having one before I start working. This would mean I'd only be pregnant my last semester of school, which to me isn't that bad.

I'm thinking I'd rather be pregnant at the end of school than at the beginning of a new job. If something DOES happen, the worst thing that would happen would be you'd maybe take an extra semester to graduate. Being a new grad, you'd have all the new grad stress plus being on your feet all the time, PLUS getting to tell your employer you'll be going on maternity leave right away, and you wouldn't have any paid time off accrued. Obviously nothing is perfect and the real awesomeness is having a new, tiny baby, but btwn getting pregnant right after getting a new job and last semester of school, I think I'd pick school.

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I'm thinking I'd rather be pregnant at the end of school than at the beginning of a new job. If something DOES happen, the worst thing that would happen would be you'd maybe take an extra semester to graduate. Being a new grad, you'd have all the new grad stress plus being on your feet all the time, PLUS getting to tell your employer you'll be going on maternity leave right away, and you wouldn't have any paid time off accrued. Obviously nothing is perfect and the real awesomeness is having a new, tiny baby, but btwn getting pregnant right after getting a new job and last semester of school, I think I'd pick school.

That's what I was thinking. Plus, we are planning on moving in 2014 and I think it would be easier to move with a baby and a toddler than with me being all big and pregnant lol. We would have to wait til I'm in a job for a few months before getting pregnant if we wait, that way I will be in the job for a year before taking maternity leave.

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Specializes in peds.

Mallorgy:

I want to digest what i am going to write here carefully.I am due to have my baby in two weeks and no,i am already an lpn;i want to continue with lpn to bsn online.I had to take 15 credits worth test between May and July,i passed but failed med-surg twice.You said you have AS right?I have bachelor of science in biology with honors and masters in public health with a gpa of 3.9 with a 4years old and 1years old.It is hard and it is a stupid idea to think of going to school while pregnant;i will never do it again.I fought my husband everyday for petty **** and marriage was on a rock.You have to scarify somewhere and it looks like not getting pregnant for now will be it.My lpn to bsn program wanted me to start this fall 2012 and i said no!I said no because i know it is going to be hard with a new born and dealing with school:this program is online but still,i want to be more than prepare.I am too tired to explain further but you can either wait till you finish second semester not first of your lpn program then sit your husband down with your grades and let him be the judge of getting pregnant or you can either way till school is finish,secure a job and have your kids back to back without worrying about money,moving and all the good things of life.Associate degree that you got and my listed accomplishment is nothing compare to nursing school.I forgot to tell you i was not able to finish medical school because i had my now 6years old then and it is somet

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