Degree and baby?

[Gaby]

Just wondering if anyone here studied for a degree (or similar qualification ^_^ ) while ttc / during pregnancy / raising a baby or young child? Just wondering if its doable ^^;

 

[Xena]

Yes it's doable.

I started my first year at uni doing BA Joint Honours French/TESOL in Sept 04.
In Jan 05 I found out I was pregnant.

I finished the year in June, but had to in for resit exams in August because I failed one of my modules.
Because I was so heavily pregnant I was able to sit my exam in the Special Circumstances room - they gave me an orthopoedic (sp?) chair and allowed me to take breaks and have short walks about if I was uncomfortable.

I had my baby in Sept 05, and took a year out of uni to be a mama.

Then after a year I felt ready to go back to uni, but because I was previously doing a joint honours language course, it would have involved me taking spending a year in France. This would have been impractical with a baby, so I decided to switch courses.

So in Sept 06 I started afresh from first year again doing BA Single Honours Classical Civilisation.
My mother babysits my daughter whilst I'm in classes. (You could always opt for a creche though - if you are a full time student and you use a creche or a registered childminder for your children, the government pays 80% of the cost of childcare.)

I am pregnant with baby number 2, so when I do my Summer exams again I will be sitting them in the Special Circ room with the nice comfy chair

This baby is due in July, so I'm going to take next year out again, and then return to second year Classics in Sept 08. By that time my eldest will be 3 and my youngest will be 1.

It's hard work, no doubt about it, but it's definitely doable

Good luck!

 

[Gaby]

thanks for posting hun ^_^ def sounds doable from what you've said

 

[Xena]

no problem good luck with whatever you decide to do

 

[eightball]

My friend got pregnant in her first term in her first year and uni. She finished the year, took a year off then went back. I'm sure she worked super hard and she got through it - and got a first!

 

[Gaby]

^_^ Wow, i had no idea so many ppl did it. I wasn't expecting many replies at all ^^; Thanks guys. Your replies are really helpful

 

[tracyM]

It's hard work but well worth it.

I got 'up the duff' in the middle of my A-levels, passed them when Dan was 6 months old and went straight onto uni to do a BSc Maths. I considered deferring for a year, but managed ok doing my A-levels and went for it.

The pre-school Dan went to was student union funded - I only had to pay 10% of the fees which worked out at £3.75 a session. I worked out which courses to do based around what times the lectures would be so I could group them together as much as possible (you could spend all week on campus, but very little of that time is actually in lectures so a lot of time is wasted).

I did feel I missed out on a lot of the social side of things, but that's because I didn't really fit in with the older students who had kids, or the younger ones who didn't. Maths isn't the sort of course where you get a lot of young parents

 

[Gaby]

The creche at the uni i'm thinking about works out to be £6k a year i think. eh, i could have worked it out wrong. But it was quite a bit. Their site does say you can get help from the government tho ^_^ They take babies from 6months. But i dont know how to find out what time the lectures would be Good idea though, thanks ^_^

And i honestly dont care about the social side, lol. that's actually what puts me off uni ^_^ I'm a very unsociable person offline, lol.

 

[Jen79]

I found out I was pg in march 06, halfway through my first year doing clinical physiology. I finished the year and have deferred my 2nd year so am due back in October to start again. I dont think I will be going back. Basically the NHS pay me and I do 3 days at work and 2 days at uni. I struggled with doing the coursework last year when I was working and pg so I am worried I will not be able to be 'all things' if you know what I mean. Because of my job I will be at work/uni 8.30 - 5pm mon to fri and then expected to do revision and coursework on top. I dont know if I should give it a go but how can I spend so much time on my career and still be a good mum? I am dreading telling work as I will lose my job completely!

 

[Tangerinedream]

my mate found out she was expecting when she began her 3rd (and final) year. her baby was due smack bang in the middle of exam week and arrived on the dot. she couldnt take her final 2 exams until august rather than may but the 2 she did manage to sit she got 87 and 92 % but she always was a brainiac lol she graduated the next summer as she also didnt manage to complete her dissertation until the next year either.

 

[Lyndsey]

I was 2 years into a 3 year degree when I got pregnant... I worked hard to get 2 modules out of the way before I had Logan and now I am on a year out. when I go back to work I will have 1 more module to do with 300 hrs of work before I can graduate... I think it is do-able if it is something that you want. You will make the time.... I think my biggest problem will be motivation and organisation! lol

 

[Gaby]

Thanks for the replies guys ^_^

Just found out my local uni doesnt do part time courses for computer science Thinking about doing something with the open university, but i'm sure i'd get distracted way too much studying at home Still completely unsure what to do.

 

[cloud9]

I did the first year of interior design course while I was ttc..I found out end of August I was pg so decided to defer.I am so glad I did because I have been so sick through the pregnancy I am sure I would of given up by now.
That said i think putting your life on hold while you TTC is a bad idea aswell.other stuff are a great distraction