Hi! I just joined mommd a while back and this is my first post! :-)

Ok, I know there are lots of people asking the same question, when to have a baby?, so I don't mean to be repetitive. But I had a specific question and didn't know if I should just post it on an already established preg thread....

Anyway, I am a 3rd year medical student. My non-medical husband and I are seriously thinking of getting pregnant in the next few months which would put me having a baby in Sept or so, about 3 months into my 4th year. It sounds like 4th year is the best time to have a baby vs residency, and I am not willing to wait until after residency. So, my question/concern:

my rotation schedule unfortunately ended up being heavy at the end (you know it's all luck of the draw), so I'll be in 12 weeks of surgery for ~ month 5-8. Is that do-able? I know surgery is more physically demanding. This would be my first baby so I don't know? Anyone else been in that situation? Should I wait and have the baby later in 4th year?

Other than my rotation concern and a little apprehension about step 2 with a baby at home, we're completely ready! So, any advice?

Thanks!!!

If you're ready, don't wait! You never know what will happen. Assuming you get pregnant right away, you could be able to work up until the day you deliver without any problem, or you could be on bedrest the whole time. Who knows? Just do it and if things don't go according to plan, roll with the punches. Most likely everything will be fine.

Personally, I'd much rather be 5-8 months pregnant during my surgery rotation than 0-3 months. With a big fat belly, you get a lot more sympathy. Even (most) surgeons would go out of their way to give you breaks or let you sit down. On the other hand, no one cares about the lean girl who pukes her guts out. And... try to take Step 2 right at the end of 3rd year (before baby comes) if at all possible.

Good luck!

I would rather do my surgical rotation 5-8 months pregnant than with a child at home! I was not pregnant during surgery but was about 22-25 weeks pregnant during one of my NICU months during residency. I did get more tired while rounding and had trouble standing up for long periods of time. I brought a chair around with me so I could sit during rounds. Glad I got it done before baby came!

You're worried about the wrong thing. Being pregnant during surgery ... as BE says, either it will work fine, or it won't ... but as a medical student, you have complete flexibility to rearrange life as you need to. I did my general medicine sub-i from weeks 36-39 taking overnight call Q4. It wasn't ideal, but it was just fine. I was tired, sure, but *shrug* whatever.

My advice is to spend some serious time worrying about your life in residency with a baby. My son was 15 months when I started internship and I'm four months into internship now. I'm completely miserable, brutally exhausted and a guilt-ridden, absent and negligent mother. Compared to this, pregancy as a clinical medical student was a freaking cakewalk.

I agree with Emily in part. Having as much time with your baby can minimize the feelings of guilt. That being said, not all residencies are take-over-your-life consuming. There are many family friendly programs out there. I would not dream of being pregnant during 3rd year. It would suck to have fatigue and pregnesia compromise your performance. Third year is the critical year for evaluations and honors.

I can say from a different perspective - I started internship with a 15-month and 5 year old and get to see each of them extensively. Housing is provided for us (whole family) and I'm a 4 minute walk from our house. I'm not exhausted (yet) and have no guilt.

There are many different types of residencies. Competitive academics are just that and tend to be grueling and very family unfriendly. Community-based programs or lesser-competitive regions of the country tend to have more benefits, better hours, and much more flexibility for family. I am thankful every day that I didn't listen to my ego and rank the academic programs first.

But to your question - what EVERYONE told me is to defer pregnancy until 4th year or very late in 3rd year. You never know what kind of pregnancy you will have or how it will affect you. Third year evaluations are critical and 95% of attendings aren't sympathetic to pregnant students.

I agree with all of the above. What rotations would you have in months 2-4? I would worry about these most! Surgery months 5-8 should be fine so long as you don't get put on bedrest, but that will screw up your plans no matter when you become pregnant, so I don't think it should be a deciding factor. First trimester fatigue and/or nausea can be brutal.

Thanks for your input guys!!! I really appreciate it.

As far as my other rotations, I would be doing family medicine and peds during month 2-4, then surgery 5-7. Then 4th year would start, take step 2. I am interested in peds so maybe that's something I should consider as far as first trimester symptoms. I do need to look good on my peds rotation for sure! I just don't want to wait too far into 4th year and have to interview with a big belly? :-)

I worry about those issues Emily. From what I gather from forums though, it's going to be hard whether I have a baby now, residency, or when I am trying to establish a practice. At least during my 4th year I get 3 months of vacation to spend with my baby. Unfortunately, it seems that's just how it is? Do you wish you had waited till you were completely finished with residency and in practice?

If you do surgery, try to pick one with short surgeries (general surg, etc.) I was on cardiothoracic....and every surgery was 8+ hours. I think I would have died if I had been 7 mos pregnant. Otherwise, your plan doesn't sound too bad. You're right, there's no good time.

I agree with you that at least 3 mos + a lighter 4th year schedule is probably the best you can hope for in terms of time with a newborn (unless you take a year off, which is not a bad idea, either). I'd hate to have a newborn during residency (personally, but then again, I haven't entered that circle of h&!! yet).

I was in a very similar situation as you. I got pregnant 3 months into 3rd year, was 5-7 months pregnant during surgery, and delivered my last day of 3rd year. I was on general surgery too, and with another student who really liked surgery (I didn't) so my rotation was prtty slack as far as surgery goes (only scrubbed for maybe two 1-2 hour procedures each day--from what I hear that's a LOT lighter than most surgery rotaions)...I was fine on the rotation, although the scrubs hide your belly a lot so even at 7 months I just looked fat, not pregnant, and most people didn't know! I requested not to be on any of the procedures with X-ray exposure, so just keep that in the back of your mind. I just took step II with my 5 month old baby--being pregnant was way easier than studying with the baby, but I had a very easy pregnancy. I'm also matching in peds so PM me if you have any specific questions!

8-13 weeks pregnant during 5 weeks of surg/onc MS3 was less than ideal for me, but I did it. It is a finite amount of time, after all. And zofran helped a lot (as did the kind OR nurses who tried to help me out during those 12 hour whipples). I delivered on the last day of a rotation and had 5 weeks off. The baby was 8 months old when I started intern year, which I think was about perfect.

I think 4th year is a great time to have a baby. And pregnant 4rd year isn't too bad except for that 1 rotation. I did ICU 8 months pregnant and matched at that program for residency!

Good luck, it will all happen exactly as it should. There's never a "perfect" time, and you'll find your way when the time comes.