Starting a family during glide year?

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Hi all-

I am a 26 year old lady starting a post-bacc this fall. I've always dreamed of a career in medicine but lately I've been questioning my choice to go to Post-Bacc and Med School because I am concerned that spending my late 20s/early 30s in med school/residency/etc. could make having a family extremely difficult.

The gentleman in my life is extremely supportive and we've been talking a lot about how and where to fit motherhood into the plan. Anyone in a similar position or have advice on this?

Also, I am considering MD/PhD programs, I know that means more school but schedule-wise, more or less conducive to babies?

My thoughts are that my glide year might be my only chance to be a stay at home with a baby. I feel financially and emotionally ready, plus if I run into fertility issues I will know ahead of time for the next go at baby making.

I'm worried though about how the gentleman and I will cope with my first year of medical school/his demanding career/a new baby. I also worry a bit about the effect of medical school on a new-ish marriage and the additional strain that a baby might put on that?

Any advice would be greatly greatly greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

I would wait. Start medical school, develop a routine in terms of studying, classes, meshing your schedule with your mate's to allow for time together, etc. Your eggs won't dry up anytime soon. If your relationship holds up well under the rigors of medical school, you can reassess the desire for children during first or second year.

I went to medical school after having children but the hard work associated with infancy was behind me before I started and my husband assumed the role of full time primary caretaker, which meant I never had to worry about rushing home (away from a study group) to relieve the babysitter, etc. If your mate has a demanding career, the whole dynamic for you will be quite different.

Family is a huge investment of time and school eats a lot of that up. If you were 40 asking the same thing, I'd say the clock is almost out of ticks, but in your 20's you still have time to do both (just not at the same time if you can avoid it)

Originally Posted by Valvool

I would wait. Start medical school, develop a routine in terms of studying, classes, meshing your schedule with your mate's to allow for time together, etc. Your eggs won't dry up anytime soon. If your relationship holds up well under the rigors of medical school, you can reassess the desire for children during first or second year.

I went to medical school after having children but the hard work associated with infancy was behind me before I started and my husband assumed the role of full time primary caretaker, which meant I never had to worry about rushing home (away from a study group) to relieve the babysitter, etc. If your mate has a demanding career, the whole dynamic for you will be quite different.

Originally Posted by xxx2012

Family is a huge investment of time and school eats a lot of that up. If you were 40 asking the same thing, I'd say the clock is almost out of ticks, but in your 20's you still have time to do both (just not at the same time if you can avoid it)

I agree with both of these; I would do one or the other first. I think the kid thing is hard enough, and that sleepless infant stage is stressful even on an established relationship. It's that new relationship that I think would benefit from nurturing before jumping into everything at once.

If you mean that you'd want to become pregnant during your last year of classes, and then be a parent during the glide year... I don't think that sounds like such a bad idea. If you have the baby in May, s/he'll be around 15 months old when you start school. And if you find yourself totally wiped out or really not wanting to leave your baby to start school, you can defer. (I think the idea of still having a lot of time left to have a baby also applies to having a lot of time left to go to school/residency!) And if you find yourself feeling iffy about medicine in general after having the baby, you could even apply simultaneously to medical and PA schools.
Either choice (baby or not) sounds like it would be a good one. If the practical concerns are about equal on either side, just go with what feels right for you and your partner.

I'm a nontrad in the same position, and we have decided to wait until at least 3rd year. I'll be about 30 at this time, so no worries. We have decided to wait because medical school costs a lot of money, and even healthy babies cost a lot of money. On one salary, that could be unmanageable. Consider this: you can't predict how well your pregnancy will go, nor how healthy your baby will be. You might have a baby born with an illness, be colicky, etc. and you can't predict that. If you don't get accepted, how will you have time/energy to strengthen your application for the next cycle if you have a newborn? These contingencies may never apply to you, but better safe than sorry. You will be happy later that you had these years to spend having fun building your marriage, having the time to do what you want to do, and getting a kick-ass application ready

I think you're going to have kids when you're going to have kids... people plan all the time, but how often do you hear that people had kids unplanned? A LOT. I have 2 small kids and I'm applying this cycle. My wife would still be working (as of now) while I'm in med school so I'll still assume some caretaker role. IMO, having kids and being in school (granted, I can't say how it is to have small kids and be in med school) wasn't all that bad. It was harder come test time and my kids decided they didn't want to go to sleep til midnight haha, but it's so rewarding and motivating at the same time. That's how I've looked at it my whole UG, as motivation, and I think that made it a lot more easier.

It's really all how you approach the situation and look at it. It can be the most difficult thing to do, or it can be the complete opposite of that. And as for babies being colicky, it's all about the gut flora, baby! So that is 100% preventable. GL with your decisions though!