British Bun in the Oven

[Fandango 1,439]

HB, thats good to hear everything is perfect. Annoying having to go in so much I'm sure...

Gemmie, I am a medical student who just finish my 3rd year. Luckily I wasn't sick and had no complications so I didn't have to miss anything while pregnant. My 4th year isn't too intense, though I do have to start studying for boards tomorrow... My inlaws live in town and my husband has a flexible schedule, so he's going to be home with her most of the time. A lot of my friends from school have also offered to watch her and since they are all either doctors or will be in a year, I'm ok with them watching her too I think a lot of it is having a thought-out plan and discussing it with your school's faculty/administrators to see what they are willing to let you do. Also don't just look to the first year or so, make sure you have thought out plans for the whole time you will be in school and any post--grad work you will have to do. For me in medical school, it was totally do-able. There were a total of 4 girls in my class who had babies this year and at least one of the guys wives had a baby. I think at our graduation there will be around 20-30 kids under 4 for a class of 150 or so people. Lots of people do it!

Hope you enjoy the pics

omG, I so did! So precious!!!

and wtg on the med school while pregnant thing....you have my deepest respect!

Edited August 1, 2010 by Happy Bunny

[Gemmie 142]

CUTE pics!

Thanks for the replies girls, I've decided to apply to one or two grad schools and see how I feel if they accept me around April. Chances are though, if we're in a place of stability at that time, we'll stay in MA and start trying, and return to the idea of grad school when the baby's older.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Thanks for the congrats. We are all doing well, 6 weeks old now! She is still about 9 lbs but looks HUGE to me now We just got through a growth spurt and she packed on the oz's... Another UK/US couple I met on here just had a little girl as well. Lot's of VJ UK babies!

Wow Lisa, sounds like you are having a rough go of it right now! I got anemic as well and it was SO tough to keep dragging myself through my day. The NST's are kinda cool. I got into a car accident when I was 26 weeks and had to have one. It's fun to sit there and listen to the heart beat.

Joyce, is the nausea getting any better? I'd be about ready to die if I had it that long... Glad the cord is looking good!

Congrats, Holly! (Is that right?) Thanks for asking about the nausea. It's still there, but manageable--at this point, it's more like hypersensitivity to smells and food aversions, and the nausea only gets bad if I haven't eaten for a while. But I'm on the home stretch--29 weeks!--so I think I can hack it.

Gemmie, re: grad school & having a kid, I can't speak from experience, but know it can be done. In fact, a good friend of mine, Alyson, just got her PhD in astronomy two weeks ago--a week after her son turned 1. As you suggested, a lot of it has to do with the program you're in an how they deal with leaves of absence. I think the 8 weeks you're referring to is the maximum amount of time you can take off and still hold onto your stipend & benefits if you're a TA/GA--that seems to be a common scheme with grad programs, but there's more flexibility if you don't have those considerations. When Alyson had her baby, she was at the research stage of her PhD (i.e., she wasn't enrolled in any classes), and as long as she was making progress, and paying tuition, of course, she was considered an active student/candidate.

Like Lisa, my pregnancy hasn't exactly been a walk in the park--I haven't had the complications Lisa's had, but I did have major fatigue, many bad migrainey-type headaches, and near-constant, sometimes debilitating nausea--which makes me imagine that being a pregnant student would be a nightmare, but you never know how you'll be. I think most people have it easier than this and can function during most of pregnancy. Personally, I'd go for it--grad school that is--and if you get pregnant during your time in the program, deal with it at that point. It's definitely doable, especially if you have lots of support.

[TracyTN 237]

Hi ladies! Sorry I've been so remiss at checking in - but as you can imagine, it's a little crazy around here! LOL Emily was a month old last Tuesday, and has her month dr appt in about an hour. She is a good baby really - fussy only if she is hungry and/or has a poop brewing. Heh. She was 8 lbs at her last appt so will be curious to hear what she is now. We're taking her by my office after the appt today so she can meet my work family.

Chas' mom arrives tomorrow night for a 2 week visit. I am so glad she will get to meet and spend time w/ her first grandchild. But having your MIL in your house for 2 weeks could get challenging. LOL Am hoping for the best. I go for my 6 week dr. appt on Friday to see if I'm medically cleared. If so, then my parental leave starts which is 8 weeks. I'm guessing mid October for my return to work.

Lisa and Empress - thanks for your updates! Been wondering how you've been doing. Sorry about the GD, Lisa! That sucks!!! But you're getting good care so you and Nick will be just fine. Love the name btw!!

[Fandango 1,439]

Hi ladies! Sorry I've been so remiss at checking in - but as you can imagine, it's a little crazy around here! LOL Emily was a month old last Tuesday, and has her month dr appt in about an hour. She is a good baby really - fussy only if she is hungry and/or has a poop brewing. Heh. She was 8 lbs at her last appt so will be curious to hear what she is now. We're taking her by my office after the appt today so she can meet my work family.

Chas' mom arrives tomorrow night for a 2 week visit. I am so glad she will get to meet and spend time w/ her first grandchild. But having your MIL in your house for 2 weeks could get challenging. LOL Am hoping for the best. I go for my 6 week dr. appt on Friday to see if I'm medically cleared. If so, then my parental leave starts which is 8 weeks. I'm guessing mid October for my return to work.

Lisa and Empress - thanks for your updates! Been wondering how you've been doing. Sorry about the GD, Lisa! That sucks!!! But you're getting good care so you and Nick will be just fine. Love the name btw!!

w00t!!! I am really glad to hear everything is going so well. LOVE the vids & pictures you posted, I've watched/looked at every single one btw. Em is just gorgeousgorgeousgorgeous!

Your MIL here for 2 weeks is deffo going to be challenging, heh. I have the opposite problem....mine can only stay the weekend at first. I think the happiest of mediums would be 1 week for both of them.

Thanks for the good thoughts and the GD is under control and doing well so far. NSTs are great and it's fun to go hear his HB once a week. I'm hoping soon they give me another sonogram, but I'm not sure if it's even called for? Did you have one late in the pregnancy for high risk? Maybe the added high risk of the GD will call for it so I can see my little man!

I'm an only child, and the youngest in my family of all the grandkids. And I never babysat or did anything around children. My friend's daughter just gave birth and we went to go see her in the hosp. (You probs saw the pics on FB if you had the time.) Anyhoo, it's the first time I held a baby in who even knows how long. It was kinda surreal! But my arm began to hurt after 5 mins, hahahah. The baby was only 7 lbs and I was like 'omG, my arm just fell asleep'.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Tracy, how's the MIL's visit going?

Lisa, only about a month left, you lucky thing! I'll have the NST in a few weeks, I think. It sounds pretty cool. I have a growth ultrasound on Aug. 20 to make sure Limita is growing despite my aged uterus (I believe the official reason is "advanced maternal age"). I'm a little nervous, as I am before most tests, but I'm looking forward to seeing her. I wonder how much different the images will look from the 18-week ones. She's moving around a lot and seems to favor the bladder area.

[Justine+David 218]

Although we just got married, I can't wait for babies

We're going to wait to save up my sick leave time so that I can take 12 weeks of paid time off, which will take another 2 years or so. It works out well because David is hoping to enter graduate school for his teaching degree, which will take a year. Hoping to time it so that I have the kid in the springtime so that we can have 3 months + David's summer 3 months off from teaching school. Then we'll probably move back to the Seattle area, where my family is.

Graduate school...have mixed feelings on that. I would really like to spend the first year of each kid's (hoping to have 2) life with uninterrupted time, i.e. not having to compete for time like school. I will probably still work full-time, but since my job is 12 hour shifts, it's only 3 days a week. I would hate to have to feel like I had to choose between studying long enough to get good grades in grad school vs spending time with the kids. I would feel a deep sense of responsibility to do well in school too, since I would be studying to be a nurse practitioner. Would be bad if I didn't do my best to learn how to take care of future patients appropriately.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

An old friend from work just announced via Facebook update that her dad has passed on. He'd been quite ill and on a ventilator, and for the last couple of weeks, it was one of those "just a matter of time" situations. Her update says, "My brother just called. My dad passed away peacefully this evening. RIP, Daddy." (She's from the South.) Just underneath the update it says, Jeffrey McNamara likes this. Jeff is her husband.

I know this is sad, but I laugh every time I look at it. All I can think of is her husband saying something like, "Thank Christ the old coot's dead."

I thought I'd post this in the knocked-up thread because I've noticed that not only do I now get weepy at stuff that never would have affected me, but my ability to keep from laughing at things that are only marginally funny is now nonexistent.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I think I would laugh at that too, and I'm not pregnant

[*julez* 124]

Jaysus, that's weirdly hilarious!

[Ricky+Vanessa 43]

I too laughed at that.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Normally I probably just would have snickered. I guess the difference is that now I laugh continually until I close the page. And then I open it again to see if it's still funny, which it is. And then feel a little guilty.

[Fandango 1,439]

lolz

Send it in to lamebook.com Love that site!

[*julez* 124]

Wow, Lisa, your due date is fast approaching!! You must be so excited!

[Gemmie 142]

Normally I probably just would have snickered. I guess the difference is that now I laugh continually until I close the page. And then I open it again to see if it's still funny, which it is. And then feel a little guilty.

I can just picture you laughing like a mad woman whenever you re-open the page.