calling all studying/working Mums...

Hey Highlander.  My DH, Busymum's DH and Lilfatty's DH are all SAHDs.

Although my DH now works fulltime too he looks after Michaela for 6 hours every day from 6:45am (when I leave for work).

LittleBug wrote: I can't stop thinking about how little I will get to see her and how many "firsts" and stuff that I will miss since she will be in daycare so much.

 

I went through the same thing when I went back to work.  Amazingly though Michaela saved heaps of her firsts for when I was at home.  She was 5mo and had already started talking and commando crawling by the time I went to work but she didn't crawl properly until one day a couple of months later when I'd pulled a sickie to go Christmas shopping.  She took her first steps when I was at home too.

 

Whether you're there to see the firsts or not though what you need to remember is she will only be in daycare for a while whereas you will be her mummy forever and she's in daycare for a good reason, you're studying to get a good job so your family can have a great life.  In a sense you're making a huge sacrifice for the good of your family and that's an awesome thing to do. 

Thanks Mrs Mojo, that made me feel heaps better

lady_asset, it will be a tough slog at times but I'm sure that if things go well, then you will be able to cope. Is there any way you could take a year off and then go back to your law degree? Going right back to full time study just a few months after birth might be a challenge, but you sound like you are up for it. Are you planning to BF?

Oh and a little reminder... book your child in for the creche now, if he/she isn't already! I tried to book Chloe in to the uni creche about 5 months before we needed to go back and they were booked up until halfway through 2009. Apparently you need to book them in as soon as they are born. So u better get onto it if u haven't already!

Good luck with the rest of the pregnancy, I had to stop studying but in the long run, what's a year longer to finish your degree, really. I just had to try and be more flexible than I used to be prepared for. All the best, it's a hard time trying to make these decisions and a hard time trying to go fulltime with the exhaustion of pregnancy and kids!! Although hopefully most of your 3rd trimester will be in the uni break?

Do they expect you to be able to get into the creche within a few months of enrolling or going on the waiting list? If not then you might be best to try find other creches close by and ask them as well, just as a backup. Ring them and find out if you should be able to get in straight away, they should be able to give you an idea.

I couldn't stand the thought of taking a year off either, I just had ONE semester left to finish my 5 year biomedicine degree and then doing postgrad study. I was going to go back when she was a month and a half old but by that stage I was still barely out of my pajamas during the day, LOL, let alone organising her and making it out of the house. It didn't help that I wasn't getting more than 2 hours of sleep at a time, and Chloe was having feeding issues anyway so it was taking us around an hour and a half to two hours to breastfeed her. Which would not have worked for me back at uni when she needed feeding every three hours anyway (that's only an hours break!).

Sorry that's probably not what you want to hear but it might be different for you, you could be one of the lucky ones that manages to get heaps of sleep during the night and feeding could click really well for you both. If you are BF then a creche really close by would be ideal.

I'm so glad that for this semester of study, Chloe is bottlefed. I would NOT get time to pump at course, not even for half an hour (or have anywhere decent to do it) and Chloe's creche isn't close to uni. So that is one thing that is definitely a little easier for us.

All the best lady_aset, I hope it goes really well for you *fingers crossed* and that you get to finish your degree and find a good job quick-smart!! It's hard being a career driven woman and having a family huh Hope that the rest of your pregnancy goes really well too, so that you can get your degree done!

DJ - thanks for that :-) I think it is the creche at the Kelburn campus that books out fast, so hopefully I'll be able to get into the law school one without a problem.

I still have two to three years left after this one, as I will also be doing honours next year for my BA (but this will be spread over two years)...

I am specialising in international and public law. My dream job would be working for MFAT as a Foreign Policy Officer, and then finally a career diplomat

Yes, I know my study schedule is full on, but I strive on doing things all the time... I once managed to do 6 papers in a semester for a year, but I really had to twist the arm of the faculty to do so... Luckily I got really good grades!!!!

If you are wondering why I have been studying for so long, well I have been doing a wide variety of majors and papers, before settling on a major.