To have another baby or finish nursing program??

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2014

I do not have children, nor do I want them.

However, depending on your age, you might want to have your second child while you are completing prerequisites because you will want the child to be a toddler during nursing school instead of a newborn with a myriad of needs.

Three of my classmates were pregnant during nursing school. Two of them were healthy females in their 20s who returned to school within a few days of giving birth. However, one classmate's newborn died a few weeks after he was born.

The third classmate was in her late 30s/early 40s and a heavy smoker who consumed nothing but chips and diet cola during the pregnancy. The baby was five pounds at birth, and this particular classmate never returned to school after the birth.

My opinion is that having the baby now would present less logistical challenges than dealing with a pregnancy or newborn in nursing school. I would also conceive strategically so you give birth during a school break. You might get lucky and deliver in December during winter break if you conceive in March. Of course, you can conceive now and have a newborn in August during summer break. Or you could conceive in June/July and potentially give birth during spring break of the next year.

Good luck to you.

TLizS · Nov 25, 2014

This is what I think.....

If you are waiting for perfect timing....you will never have another...if you decide to wait there's prereqs....there's nursing school......there is getting a job and getting established....now 4-6 years have passed.

If I were still working on prereqs we would be having another now....I was too close to finished with prereqs and applying to the program...so we opted to wait....my youngest is 5 now and it will probably be 3 more years before we try....and the thought of waiting for 3 more years kills me....my husband desperately wants another (maybe worse than I do) and he hates the idea of waiting too (although we both understand why we are doing it....I don't want to miss out on our last babies newborn stage because I am preoccupied with school....along with the stress of having a baby during nursing school)

so I say if you are still working on prereqs do it now....or else you will be waiting for a very long time for another good time

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Nov 25, 2014

I know how you feel. I was applying to programs when I found out I was pregnant (surprise baby!). I don't know how old you are. I'm 26 & I do want another (my son is 5 months old).

I got accepted to a program but had to reject the acceptance because my pregnancy was high risk due to my epilepsy, I ended up going into labor early & put on bed rest. So now I'm waiting until my son is older to apply again, which means I'll have to redo my sciences before I can reapply to programs.

You have to think about what is best for you & your family. Good luck!