decisions, decisions…

the baby is coming in April. i am praying he is late. how crazy would that be if i’m sitting in my final and my water breaks? but i feel like he’s going to come right on time. in the testing center or not. so i better get my act together.

which brings me to this decision.

{would it be too much to take spring classes right after?}

you see, the government is offering more money for students in the spring/summer. score. this is nice seeing as how we were contemplating using some of our own {possibly non-existent} money to pay for independent study classes.

400 dollars a pop? no thanks.

so why not use this opportunity to get a class or two out of the way with free money? plus a little extra when me and adam won’t be working. plus it will be an easier schedule to collaborate with adam and watching the baby. plus lowering my class load for fall/winter so i can be home more and adam can be in school full-time.

lots of pluses.

minuses. i just had a baby and will be gone two hours a day.

{manageable?}

you tell me. let’s weigh in. i need advice/personal testimonials.

9 comments:

SJ said...

I went back to class two and a half weeks after I had my baby. I had him in the middle of the semester as you'll recall. But, I was fine! The only problem was finding private places to nurse the baby since lazy/rude female students are always sleeping on the couches in the bathrooms on campus. And, sometimes I was tired from the baby waking me up at night.

The Smith Family said...

I suppose it all depends on the exhaustion factor and how your little one is in giving you good stretches of sleep. Sleep is something I get kinda crazy-grumpy about when I'm not getting it. I had to go back to school a few days after having baby #1 to take a couple finals (which was REALLY evil of my teachers btw), and then my parents came out for my graduation a week after the baby. I will never forget how tired and sore I felt walking at that graduation, but felt obligated because I knew my parents wanted me to walk. UGH. But gone for only 2 hours a day? Might not be too bad, I suppose it depends on how much homework they give you too. AND as long as you nap when the baby does during the day/night. That's the only way to survive in my opinion!!:) Good luck girl with the decisions!

Amber Marie said...

i agree with melissa. i'm the same way with sleep. i didn't go back to class after having camilla and i can't imagine having too at that time... my hormones got all weird (at least that is the story i'm sticking too!) after having her and i was barely able to function as a human being, let alone a student! each girl is different on how they feel in those weeks and months after giving birth. there can be a lot of exhaustion and your body is weird and your hormones can go wacky. then again, you may have a relatively peaceful, sleepy baby and bounce back to feeling normal within a few days or weeks. like i said, everybody has a different experience.

maybe sign up for the class and then if you realize it isn't going to work then be ready to pull out for your own good- and the baby's :)

Amber Marie said...

and just because other girls say they went back to class or work right after giving birth, doesn't mean you HAVE too or SHOULD. again, everybody is different and you can't compare stories or experiences because of that. listen to how you feel and the needs of the baby.

Rhiannon said...

I think it's ambitious of you to want to go to school right away after the baby is born. But I think that you need to rest and make sure you stay healthy. You are pushing out another person and to over work yourself that soon, that might lead to not feeling good latter. But if you want to sign up for the classes and see how you feel after having the baby and if you don't feel up to it then drop the classes. When you work a real job they give you 6 to 12 weeks off for a reason. Though Adam would be there to help he won't be much help if you are nursing and not pumping. Mike wasn't a whole lot of help the first few months with Jers. Just because it's the mom's job to do most of the work. Yes they can get up in the night and calm the baby but they still can't feed it and then add pressure of school with no sleep? I don't know sis. seems like a lot of stress when you should be recovering and getting a routine with your baby. If it was your second kid and you knew how your body would handle everything I would say hands down do it but I would have to say it's not a good idea. This is just my opinion of course so take it for what it is worth.

Millie said...

I have to say that I think I'm sane because I don't have to go any where on a daily basis. I get enough sleep because I sleep when the baby sleeps. It totally exhausts me to even just go to the doctor. I'm sure you could do it, but I agree with the others, you really will need time to recover. I felt like I had been hit by a truck afterward. I had pulled every muscle in my body and it hurt to sit for a long time. And I had a textbook, great delivery. I'm sure you'll choose what will work best, but if it was me, I wouldn't be able to do it.

Anonymous said...

You're gonna have him early. Camden was 2 weeks early, and you're a lot smaller than me. I don't think your body is going to be able to carry that baby past its due date. But that's just my opinion.

Unknown said...

go for it.

leean robinson said...

I remember right after I had Amber my mom came to spend a week with us. She arrived when Amber was about 4 days old. I felt pretty good and so we went shopping for awhile each day and then I wanted my mom to be with us when we blessed Amber so because I was feeling so good we blessed her the second Sunday after I had her! That Sunday night I was exhausted and ended up getting very, very ill that night and collapsing in the hallway trying to get to the bathroom. Thank goodness my mom was still there and put me in the shower and helped clean me up. Moral to this story - sometimes you feel like you are bouncing back and take on too much and end up ill or with an infection. With the subsequent births I always bounced back pretty good but I made myself take it easy and rest the best I could for the first month. Its hard to take care of a newborn if the mother goes down. But I agree, that if want to sign up and then see how it goes and drop the classes if you need to. Love ya, Mom