Oh Baby, Baby.. Baby in D-school

[yorkiepoo]

I am just wondering what all of you female pre-dents or dental students think about having babies during dental school. Would it be possible to have a baby in d-school or during a residency program?

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[Kniles5]

I am just wondering what all of you female pre-dents or dental students think about having babies during dental school. Would it be possible to have a baby in d-school or during a residency program?

Okay, while I was at my interview at VCU, my interviewer started asking me about my husband and plans for having a family. I told him that would not even be discussed until after D-school, if at all.
He said that they have a senior who was having her second baby IN SCHOOL!!! I told him she was a better woman than me. I still wonder if that was a trap... for me to say, "Oh yeah, I plan to pop one out every nine and a half months!!"

 

[Kniles5]

are you pregnant?

 

[WhoooaaaBUNDY]

wow, maybe it's just VCU then ... the student I assisted in clinic during my interview was 7 or 8 months pregnant. She said it was manageable, especially in yr 3 and 4.

 

[FlossY]

I am not a dentist or a dental student yet but i have been told and read on SDN many times that the 3rd and 4th yr. of dental school is more like having a 9-5 job....so having a baby during those 2 years is doable!

 

[DIRTIE]

I am just wondering what all of you female pre-dents or dental students think about having babies during dental school. Would it be possible to have a baby in d-school or during a residency program?

One of the girls in my class had a baby last semester, first semester of dental school, she used the Thanksgiving break to give herself a week to recover, wow what a trooper. She manages, I really think you do what you have to. So yes it is possible, but I am sure it is very hard with a lot of sacrifice involved and family help too.

 

[Trookie]

I still wonder if that was a trap... for me to say, "Oh yeah, I plan to pop one out every nine and a half months!!"

Trap or not, he was telling the truth. I've seen a few pregnant women around our school. Students, residents, and faculty. Probably not that big of a deal, but I definitely wouldn't want to go through it during second year.

 

[DrJeff]

Anything is doable with the right amount of help. A big factor is often child care since its really tough to get a spouse/significant other whose work schedule is completely opposite of yours to allow for complete parental child care 24/7.

Even in a residency it can be done. My brother's wife is currently a 2nd year OB/GYN resident (think roughly 90-100 hours/week with 2 overnights/week + plus my brother's job has him traveling to plant sites around the country 2 to 4 times a month) and they have twins that are almost a year old now. Lots of work, 2 close by sets of grandparents, and a nanny. Lts of time, lots of effort, lots of $$ spent on childcare.

BTW, with my kids ( a 2 year old and a 3 month old), childcare runs a little over $25,000 a year And thats for an in house daytime babysitter for 35-40 hours a week + 3 days a week of preschool.

 

[cuneatus2]

Anything is doable with the right amount of help. A big factor is often child care since its really tough to get a spouse/significant other whose work schedule is completely opposite of yours to allow for complete parental child care 24/7.

Even in a residency it can be done. My brother's wife is currently a 2nd year OB/GYN resident (think roughly 90-100 hours/week with 2 overnights/week + plus my brother's job has him traveling to plant sites around the country 2 to 4 times a month) and they have twins that are almost a year old now. Lots of work, 2 close by sets of grandparents, and a nanny. Lts of time, lots of effort, lots of $$ spent on childcare.

BTW, with my kids ( a 2 year old and a 3 month old), childcare runs a little over $25,000 a year And thats for an in house daytime babysitter for 35-40 hours a week + 3 days a week of preschool.

Your sister-in-law sounds amazing. How does she feel about her residency program violating the 80-hour per week AMA mandated policy for residents?

 

[rjarvis]

wow, i can't believe that an interviewer asked if you were going to have children during dental school. I spoke with someone on a medical school admissions commitee about that question, and he said that he was definately not aloud to ask women anything about the subject. But anyway I am starting dental school next year and my wife and i are probably going to start trying my fourth year. But i guess its different if she was in school.

 

[DrJeff]

Your sister-in-law sounds amazing. How does she feel about her residency program violating the 80-hour per week AMA mandated policy for residents?

She does 80 hours on the clock, and then when you throw in all the extra research/lit review time and travel time to and from daycare and to/from their house to to hospital suddenly your at 100 hours or so. remeber with the AMA's 80 hours a week, that when you're working, and the extra time for lit review etc. is typically above and beyond.

 

[wigglytooth]

So how does one go about taking the leave of absence to have the child, especially if you're in private practice? What do you do about your patients? Do you refer them to a partner or another dentist in the meantime? I'm thinking no, but what else is there to do? Do female dentists/dental students usually have c-sections so they can know for sure when they need to take off?

 

[Kniles5]

wow, i can't believe that an interviewer asked if you were going to have children during dental school. I spoke with someone on a medical school admissions commitee about that question, and he said that he was definately not aloud to ask women anything about the subject. But anyway I am starting dental school next year and my wife and i are probably going to start trying my fourth year. But i guess its different if she was in school.

well, he actually told me that he wasn't supposed to ask. But, the conversation just went that way naturally. I told him I didn't mind answering. I have nothing to hide.

 

[rocknightmare]

Trap or not, he was telling the truth. I've seen a few pregnant women around our school. Students, residents, and faculty. Probably not that big of a deal, but I definitely wouldn't want to go through it during second year.

how can you ?? you never are at school!@?#?!@ just kiddin.

yea the person who he speaking about is a 4th year.. she had her second baby in december of last year. and now she is finishing up 4th year.. but i do think she took a year off in between..

there is also another senior who is 5-6 months pregnant..

we had two faculty who were pregnant and gave birth in december.. and another resident who gave birth in february i believe.

most of the people i mentioned had their baby around mid december, when we were on break. and i know two of them were induced... -- so the moral is if you are having a baby plan to have it around december so you can induce and come back to school by the time january 2nd hits ..

 

[dentalhunny]

how can you ?? you never are at school!@?#?!@ just kiddin.

yea the person who he speaking about is a 4th year.. she had her second baby in december of last year. and now she is finishing up 4th year.. but i do think she took a year off in between..

there is also another senior who is 5-6 months pregnant..

we had two faculty who were pregnant and gave birth in december.. and another resident who gave birth in february i believe.

most of the people i mentioned had their baby around mid december, when we were on break. and i know two of them were induced... -- so the moral is if you are having a baby plan to have it around december so you can induce and come back to school by the time january 2nd hits ..

How long is Christmas break @ vCU?

 

[ItsGavinC]

We've had a couple D2s at our school (or maybe just one?) have babies. I think they've faired pretty well, but don't know much about their situations.

 

[Trookie]

how can you ?? you never are at school!@?#?!@ just kiddin.

Haha. You got me.

VCU's winter break was about one month long this year.

 

[I'mFillingFine]

There was an excellent thread of a similar topic going around the Pre-Dental forum:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=267010


May help circulate ideas on the topic and offer additional insight.

(And not just saying "excellent" because I posted in it! )

Good luck with any decision you make.

 

[DrJeff]

So how does one go about taking the leave of absence to have the child, especially if you're in private practice? What do you do about your patients? Do you refer them to a partner or another dentist in the meantime? I'm thinking no, but what else is there to do? Do female dentists/dental students usually have c-sections so they can know for sure when they need to take off?

In the case of my wife, both with both of our kids, she took a 6 week maternity leave from her practice (group practice), so the senior partner in her ortho practice did a little extra work for a few weeks and also only kept their offices open 4 days a week instead of the 5 they do when my wife is seeing patients. Both times she scheduled patients upto 3 days before her due date and had natural deliveries each time.

I have another good friend(female dentist) who is a solo practitioner, and for each of her 3 kids (and counting), she's literally worked up until the due date, had the baby(naturally each time), and then was back seeing patients between 10 days and 2 weeks later She had arranged emergency coverage from another local dentist, and had told each and every patient scheduled in and around her due date that they may be getting a short notice cancellation do to the baby's arrival (my receptionist did the same thing for my patients in and around my wife's due date(s)), and 98% of patients then called to cancel their appointments are 11)% understanding, and frankly those 2% who are mad about the cancellation are those types of people who "aren't happy unless their mad".

 

[rocknightmare]

"aren't happy unless their mad".

lol

i think i know a few of those people..

 

[rocknightmare]

ooooh snap i hit 900 posts with that one

 

[v&andy_yankee]

to the OP:

is it doable? heck yeah. advisable? heck no.

i'm a first year and we started school with 1 lady with a 3 month old child (her first), another lady about 6 months pregnant (she had that baby right after our first exam block), and with 2 guys having their wives expecting first babies (both were born in january). from talking to the female classmates, it is doable, but it's HARD. those poor souls only get 4 hours of sleep a night (and not a continuous stretch either, mind you) and they still have to keep up too. dental school is enough of a job as it is, and having/taking care of a baby is also a job--i can't imagine combing the two.

 

[esclavo]

I went to Minnesota 1999-2003. When my class started there was 7 kids between the 86 students. When we graduated 4 years later there was 35!We had 8 girls in my class who had kids and 4 of them had two during the four years. All graduated on time and 3 of them were in the top 10 students. I'm sure it was a huge sacrifice but they must have weighed the risks/benefits and let the dice roll where they may. The nice thing about dentistry is that it does let you have a life outside of your profession...even during some of the education. I think it would be possible if you had a strong support network (family) that could help.

 

[DrJeff]

to the OP:

is it doable? heck yeah. advisable? heck no.

i'm a first year and we started school with 1 lady with a 3 month old child (her first), another lady about 6 months pregnant (she had that baby right after our first exam block), and with 2 guys having their wives expecting first babies (both were born in january). from talking to the female classmates, it is doable, but it's HARD. those poor souls only get 4 hours of sleep a night (and not a continuous stretch either, mind you) and they still have to keep up too. dental school is enough of a job as it is, and having/taking care of a baby is also a job--i can't imagine combing the two.

That sleep issue is HUGE! For those of you that don't have kids, here is (now as of 2 weeks ago WAS) the sleep schedule for me and my wife after the birth of my 2nd child this past December 29th.

My wife had 6 weeks maternity leave, and between her mother, my mother, the fulltime baby sitter we employ and my 2 year old going to daycare 3 days a week, she essentially wasn't alone with both of our kids at any one moment. I'd work a full day, pick up the 2 year old from daycare, bring her home, then typically as soon as I'd get home(roughly 6PM), I'd be making dinner and tending to my 2 year old as my wife would be feeding the newborn - he was a very light/short sleeper who would wake up and need to be fed every 1.5 - 2 hours. Basically my wife was unable to get more than a series of catnaps throughout the day and had to devote roughly 95% of her available time to the newborn. After making dinner/cleaning up, I'd get the 2 year old bathed and to bed (roughly an hour project), and then along about 8:30-9PM I'd go and take over for my wife with bottle feedings of the 2 year old until about 2:30-3 AM so she could get 5 or so hours of uninterupted sleep. I'd doze on and off during the feedings and then get to sleep non stop from roughly 3 to 6AM and start the next day all over again. If I wasn't working that day you can substitute chasing a 2 year old around the house/yard all day inplace of go to work

Within the last 2 - 3 weeks the newborn has actually started sleeping from roughly 7PM to midnight, when I feed him a bottle, and then from Midnight until sometime between 5 and 6AM, so sleep has been a little more plentifull the last few weeks

The thing that really is mind boggling to me is that based on discussions with friends/patients, my newborn is sleeping longer/earlier than many kids do

Is it doable and incredibly rewarding, yes, is it mentally draining/physically tough (sleep deprivation), yes. Do I think that having the financial resources at my disposal to get extra help has made things easier for my wife and I, yes. One other thing that I can say without any reservation at all, don't try and do what my wfe and I are currently doing, which is have a newborn on top of a 2 year old and be doing a HUGE renovation/addition to your house (basically 20% of the square footage of my house is useable right now, its been that way for 2 months and will be that way for another 6 to 8 weeks if everything goes smoothly Both my wife and I will admit that doing the house renovation ontop of the kids wasn't the brighest sequencing idea we've ever had!