Grad school and TTC?

Question

So I'm not in grad school yet but I will be following our wedding in May 2019. It's a year long program and I'm kind of wanting to TTC while I'm in the program. Is this a bad idea? I have to go to grad school because of the demands of my career and I just want to get it out of the way. I have PCOS and endometriosis so the earlier I try, the better. Have any of you done this or are doing this? How has it been for you and your bf/fiancé/husband/partner? Advice?

Answer

I am a full time teacher, in grad school and coach.. and pregnant!!! It is not easy!!! My homework gets done but it is a struggle with all the fatigue I am dealing with. I am 10 weeks away from graduation so I am pushing through. Now, my house is a disaster and laundry doesn't get done like it used to but there is quite a lot  going on right now. Honestly, I am thankful I will be done with my masters before my baby is born. I know it would be 10 times harder to do all this with a newborn. Anyway you can plan to start trying 9-12 months before you complete your masters? I totally understand the feeling of not wanting to wait. If you can balance it, more power to you!!! Anything is possible. Best of luck!!

Answer

It depends on the program and your work ethic/ organizational skills lol I was reading 400 pages a week and typing about 20 page papers weekly. I'm also a full time teacher. I wasn't pregnant and had no children then but it was exhausting for my husband and I both. There were some days I'd get home from work, eat something I made for in the crockpot, and lock myself in our office for the rest of the evening. I'm not trying to sound negative but I couldn't imagine having a newborn on top of it all. I married at 22 and was 26 at the time. I wanted a baby when we first got married and my husband finally agreed to it...in the middle of grad school. I told him I was waiting until I was done and we planned to ttc so baby would be due right after graduation. I ended up only doing two semesters to get all my professional hours but that had nothing to do with ttc...I didn't like the program.

Answer

I'm just finishing grad school in 3 weeks and recently got married and have been TTC! It is a lot of work, but I wanted to get school done before kids too. If you can handle a schedule you can do it.  Try to always stay on track and don't get behind.  It can be stressful at times but if you stay on time it reduces stress.  For me it keeps me doing something so my mind isn't always on ovulation. :-)

Answer

I think you can definitely do it.  I finished PA school last year and had a number of classmates conceive and have children.  Also, my husband said when he was in med school a number of his classmates had babies during med school and residency.  I think it isn't ideal but I also don't think there really is an ideal time.  I think you end up somehow finding the energy.

Answer

Thank you all! I'm thinking it'll take a year + due to my conditions (hopefully it doesn't) and if it does, I think we'll definitely start trying while I'm in my program. Like I said, it's only a year long and pregnancy is 9-10 months so we'll see!

Grad school and TTC?

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