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Pregnancy and Optometry School
- Thread starter IcanSEEanOD
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I believe you can freeze eggs the same way you can freeze sperm. Science is amazing.
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Do you really want kids now, or are you just feeling pressure from the outside? If you want kids now, have them. But, IMHO, feeling like you're supposed to just because of your age or whatever isn't the best reason. Also, 30 isn't so old these days. LOTS and LOTS of women are having children in their 30s...maybe just not where you live now?
I have a good friend who had a 6 month old when starting school. She got along great. I don't know how I could balance it because it is a lot of work just being a student plus finding time for my husband, but she has been a great mom and her academic performance has been great.
Not all parents in optometry school do as well. Often grades are lower because they have different priorities. This doesn't mean bad grades per se, but you have a lot more on your plate and sometimes just being a mom or dad will feel more important than getting an A or even a B. If you are super competitive about grades, this is something to consider.
Also, understand that there will be times when it breaks your heart because they will want your attention and you will have to study instead.
One girl in the class ahead of me got pregnant and had her baby early in the fall of her 3rd year. I'm not sure how she handled it...I don't know her that well. But she was able to cut out for a couple of weeks. It was probably better at that time because the course load hadn't piled up too much yet and at that point we only have clinic once a week so it's less to make up.
Another girl in my class had a baby just last spring. She missed two weeks of school (total of 3 weeks off with spring break). It was difficult timing because she missed more clinic, and she may have to make up a week or two after graduation (she'll walk with us). But I don't think she really cares because she and her husband really wanted a child.
At any rate, it's all your decision, of course. Professors kind of have to be accommodating...they can't kick you out of school for having a baby. But you will have to take care of all the same responsibilities...making up tests when you return, making up clinic time, etc.
Good luck!! 🙂
I think there will be about 5 prego girls waddling across the stage at our graduation. 😛
I have a good friend who had a 6 month old when starting school. She got along great. I don't know how I could balance it because it is a lot of work just being a student plus finding time for my husband, but she has been a great mom and her academic performance has been great.
Not all parents in optometry school do as well. Often grades are lower because they have different priorities. This doesn't mean bad grades per se, but you have a lot more on your plate and sometimes just being a mom or dad will feel more important than getting an A or even a B. If you are super competitive about grades, this is something to consider.
Also, understand that there will be times when it breaks your heart because they will want your attention and you will have to study instead.
One girl in the class ahead of me got pregnant and had her baby early in the fall of her 3rd year. I'm not sure how she handled it...I don't know her that well. But she was able to cut out for a couple of weeks. It was probably better at that time because the course load hadn't piled up too much yet and at that point we only have clinic once a week so it's less to make up.
Another girl in my class had a baby just last spring. She missed two weeks of school (total of 3 weeks off with spring break). It was difficult timing because she missed more clinic, and she may have to make up a week or two after graduation (she'll walk with us). But I don't think she really cares because she and her husband really wanted a child.
At any rate, it's all your decision, of course. Professors kind of have to be accommodating...they can't kick you out of school for having a baby. But you will have to take care of all the same responsibilities...making up tests when you return, making up clinic time, etc.
Good luck!! 🙂
I think there will be about 5 prego girls waddling across the stage at our graduation. 😛
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I'm more of a reader than a poster, but I will share my experience. I am starting optometry school in 2 months. I have a 12 month old son and am married. I'm 27 years old. I will be 31 when I graduate. We knew it was time to start a family, and having our son has been the greatest experience of our life thus far. Right now I'm taking my very last undergrad prereq, Biochem. It is the absolute hardest course I've taken in my life & it's giving me a preview of what life will be like come August.
Granted, I didn't take the traditional optometry path. I changed careers 2 years ago & have spent the last 2 years in community college (except for Biochem, I'm at a 4-year school now). I had no math or science in my bachelors degree and took all the optometry prereqs, while pregnant, held down a few part time jobs and kept a 4.0. I took the OAT 6 days before giving birth. Optometry school will be hard, but I wouldn't be going into this unless I believed I could do it. I don't have the option to not work and be at home with my son. So my thoughts were, since I have to have a career, it might as well be one I ENJOY. It's worth the extra time and effort to re-establish myself and have a position that I do not dread. For example, I have spent the last 2 days away from my home, studying for an exam at the library and at my husband's office to have peace & quiet (don't have much of that at home with a toddler). I miss my son like crazy, but I know that this short-term sacrifice will have long term gains.
I have heard lots about folks just like me, changing careers, balancing kids/family, but in my entering class, I seem to be the only one with a child so far! I can't tell anyone what they should do, but I am only here to say that so far, it can be done. It just takes a ton of work and serious prioritizing. 🙂
Granted, I didn't take the traditional optometry path. I changed careers 2 years ago & have spent the last 2 years in community college (except for Biochem, I'm at a 4-year school now). I had no math or science in my bachelors degree and took all the optometry prereqs, while pregnant, held down a few part time jobs and kept a 4.0. I took the OAT 6 days before giving birth. Optometry school will be hard, but I wouldn't be going into this unless I believed I could do it. I don't have the option to not work and be at home with my son. So my thoughts were, since I have to have a career, it might as well be one I ENJOY. It's worth the extra time and effort to re-establish myself and have a position that I do not dread. For example, I have spent the last 2 days away from my home, studying for an exam at the library and at my husband's office to have peace & quiet (don't have much of that at home with a toddler). I miss my son like crazy, but I know that this short-term sacrifice will have long term gains.
I have heard lots about folks just like me, changing careers, balancing kids/family, but in my entering class, I seem to be the only one with a child so far! I can't tell anyone what they should do, but I am only here to say that so far, it can be done. It just takes a ton of work and serious prioritizing. 🙂
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Having a baby in OD school is do-able as long as you have a lot of help (family nearby, a nanny, husband who can take care of the baby, etc.), but it's still a lot of work. Fourth year during your clinical rotations is the best time to have a baby because you don't have any work to take home with you, and if you need to take some time off you're only set back by a quarter rather than an entire year as you would be during the classroom years. Still, though, if you have a choice, your life would be much simpler if you waited until graduation.
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Third year in my class was when there was something in the water. SIX girls in our class got pregnant third year. Some had to graduate late, some made up work over the summer, but most had to shift their schedules in some way to make up time. If you miss clinic you're going to be making it up over summer or christmas holidays.
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I have a similar but more complicated situation. I'm 24 years old, and for the last 6 years I have been planning to complete optometry school before starting my family, which I was fine with. However, this year shortly after being accepted to optometry school, I was diagnosed with endometriosis. My doctor tells me I shouldn't wait 4 years to become pregnant, because my fertility may not last that long! At school my husband and I will be hundreds of miles away from our families, with no one to help. Daycare centers won't accept infants until they are at least 6 weeks old, and I don't know if optometry schools offer any maternity leave to students. All that I know to do is just try to plan a pregnancy so I could give birth during summer break, but I know these things don't always go according to our plans.. Any advice from women who have been in a similar situation would be helpful!
Wow a similar discussion is going on right now in the pharmacy forum:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=8170535#post8170535
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=8170535#post8170535
