2012 February | I'm An Okie

I had a reader ask me yesterday how I am handling being pregnant and being a full-time Nursing Student.

I can answer that in one easy sentence: it’s hard, but what ya gonna do? You make it work.

I am really thankful that I am in an Accelerated Program. I graduated with my first Bachelors in 2007 and am now pursuing my Bachelors of Science in Nursing. Instead of two years of dedicated Nursing courses, my program is crammed into 14 months.

That means I have more clinical hours, more classes, and more tests crammed into a much shorter time period. That means I’m a little more tired then perhaps the “traditional program” and I never feel like I am able to learn the material like I want to. It sucks sometimes.

However, I’m so thankful that I did choose the shorter program because that means that I am ALMOST done.

I am done July 31st. I’m due July 19th. The program and my instructors are happy to work with me if any accommodations need to be made. The summer semester consists of 180 Clinical Hours (which I hope will be spent in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) . I know that’ll be tough when I am 8-9 months pregnant, but it is what it is.

I’ve changed the way I look at school. I’m much more conscious of my time because I can’t afford to stay up late and wake up early like I was in previous semesters. It means I get my shit done when it’s needed. I’m always in bed at 10:30 and I do my best to make my time count when I am awake. My body (and the baby) need as much rest as possible–especially on clinical days where I am working and on my feet. No more late night cramming for me!

Another thing that has changed is I have to be careful when in the hospital taking care of patients. Contact rooms, different diagnosis, etc have to be avoided now to keep us healthy.

It’s not ideal and I wouldn’t’ recommend getting pregnant while in school. It’s not the best option, but sometimes you have to just go with the flow and deal with what life gives you. In the words of Nike, just do it and try not to complain too much in the process.

I think that it’s preparing me for days ahead. I know that motherhood will be 100 times more difficult then what I am experiencing now.

And in the meantime, I’m enjoying my time learning and spending time with friends. It’s the last time I’ll be “in college” and I love the afternoons spent studying and laughing with the friends I’ve made in the program.

Like lunches out.

I didn’t have preplanning on Monday this week, so no scrubs for me.

Kirby surprised us with this to share at the end of the meal…

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Thank goodness for Kaiser’s and good friends.

Life doesn’t end or stop just because you’re in school. And it certainly doesn’t end because you’re pregnant.

We all just do the best we can each day with the situations we are given. My situation is no different.

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Hello hello.

I’m still alive, but just never blog. I decided that I need to start and TRY because my life is exciting and I have a lot going on these days. I’d like to have some sort of record to remember this time in my life.

I’m sitting in class waiting for it to start, but I had a few minutes and wanted to do a quick pregnancy update. I’d love to update more of my life, but I have no time at the moment.

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This picture was taken at 14 weeks. I’m 18 weeks now—and honestly, I don’t think I look that much different.

My pregnant life feels much like my normal life. I study, spend time working at the hospital, and then spend the rest of time spending time with friends while I can.

I’m not craving anything specific, although sweets are of no interest to me these days. I’d much rather have pizza and Mexican over a cupcake or cookie any day.

I’ve gained about 6-7 lbs depending on the day and still fit in a few of my regular jeans. No maternity stuff for me yet. I’d like to hold off on buying maternity stuff for as long as I can. I’m hoping that I can get buy wearing tights and big sweaters and when it gets warmer I can get by with comfy dresses and cute skirts that I already own or can buy cheaply at places like Old Navy, etc. We’ll see though.

I’ve been decent about workouts. I usually try to do Crossfit twice a week and then walk when I can. I get a lot of activity two days a week at the hospital—so that’s helpful in terms of staying active.

I haven’t bought much in terms of baby, but I do have my first big item. I was lucky enough to have a friend give me her old Chicco travel system (stroller, car set) that she used on her little girls. I love the idea of using “used” items for the baby–especially considering these items are in use for so little time. Maybe that’s me being thrifty or cheap, but I really appreciated her thoughtfulness with giving the gift.

Eddie seems a little confused as to why we have this. Poor guy. I try to fill him on what’s going on, but he just looks at me with blank stares.

Lastly, my anatomy scan ultrasound is scheduled for March 16th. I’ll be 23 weeks at the time and I am so excited for Chad to finally be able to see the baby in action. After a lot of thought, we’ve decided not to find out the sex. I had always thought that I’d want that surprise of not knowing before I got pregnant. Then, after being pregnant, I felt urges to know. It’d be nice to know if a little boy or girl is growing inside me. However, it’s one of life great surprises and we’d like to do it the old fashioned way. I’m sure I’ll blog more about this later.

On that note, I’ve got some class to pay attention to now. I wanted to give a quick update on how things were going–I’ll be back soon.

Hope all is well with everyone.

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