Hello friends! Today is the start of an absolutely gorgeous weekend. OK, not weather-wise, but spirit-wise. My past few weekends have been completely destroyed by schoolwork, but I'm happy to say my awful class ended Thursday and I have the next two weekends free! The awesomeness started last night when I met up with a few of my classmates for dinner and drinks to celebrate the end of class. It was like, as my friend Katie said, a "four-way blind date." None of us (aside from Katie and I) had ever met each other before in person, but know each other from online message boards and Skype chats. I'm happy to say that my classmates are awesome, and I'm saying that from the only sober perspective at the table. :) Even though the university is based locally, most people in our program live elsewhere, so unfortunately we only got to meet a small part of our cohort.
Guys, I am really struggling with how to handle school after my next class is over. It ends in mid-July, and after that, I'm not sure what to do. If I take a semester off, I'll return to the program with a completely different group of students in my classes, which won't be the end of the world -- but I'd really like to graduate with the people I've been working with for almost a year. Then again, since I won't be working for a few months, can I handle staying in school along with giving birth and taking care of a newborn? If not, things are only going to get more challenging once I go back to work.
When I found out I was pregnant, I was bound and determined to keep going all the way through. But now, reality is setting in, and I'm worried. I am 100% certain I'll finish this degree, but the idea of doing it all with a new baby is overwhelming. Brad is completely supportive of whatever I decide, but regardless, I can't dump everything on him just because I'm in school. He's been great for the past few months about doing all the laundry, the grocery shopping, cleaning the bathrooms, etc. when I don't have time, but having a newborn around is going to be a whole different story.
I'm not looking for answers here - just venting a little before I go off to enjoy the weekend!
PS - I added one of those cheesy ticker thingies to the side of my page. But it made me realize that are less than 100 days to go until we meet our little guy. Holy crap!
2 comments:
That is a really tough question. Does your class end before your due date? When does your next semester start?
I have a friend who delivered about a month before the end of the semester. I can give her your contact information if you would like to talk to someone who stayed in school.
Her situation is a little different though. She is doing undergrad and her baby is still in NICU. No worries. She knew WELL in advance that there was a complication and that she would have to be induced early. So, talking to her wouldn't cause as much stress as my birth story would! lol
My next class starts in late July (we're not on traditional semesters), and my due date is in early August. Ideally, I think maternity leave would be a great time to focus on school, BUT I'm really worried about that two- to three-week period before, during and after birth. The last thing I want to do when I'm in the hospital is have to worry about getting a paper done.
I think the obvious answer here is to take the end of the summer off and start again in the fall. I'm just sad that the rest of my classmates will leave me behind and I'll have to get to know a whole new group of people. But, maybe sometime in the future I can double up on classes to catch back up? Who knows.
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