I was about to say the same--I'm planning on lugging my 29-pounder around until the day I deliver! What else is a mom to do?

Re: anatomy lab. I double gloved and wore an N-95 mask (although formalin probably even gets through that anyway). I casually backed off when we were doing deep dissections, especially the ones where we were digging around in fat or other juicy things. And I skipped a lot of anatomy lab, too.

If you haven't already, get your flu and H1N1 shot (non-nasal spray kind) post haste! I read about this only after I had been pregnant twice, and wish I had learned more sooner!

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/301/3/324

"The finding that exposure to influenza during pregnancy may be an etiologic factor for schizophrenia may lead to new understanding of the pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention of this devastating condition. For example, vaccinating women of childbearing age against influenza might help prevent some forms of schizophrenia."

Great advice guys!

I am fortunate that I already got both flu (i'm a huge pro-vaccine advocate) in the fall, so I'm covered! Yay!

My bookbag has huge things like Purvis, Blumefield, Moore Anatomy, First Aid, my laptop, Robbins Big, and some small ones like High Yield, Clinical Neur Ridic Simple etc. I'm a little worried, because it all weighs a little more than what you guys have described. Plus, I have to trek it up two flights of stairs. I may just go ahead and roll bag it, because I'm a paranoid freak already.

And I'm definitely going to wear a mask and double glove in lab! I think I'm going to tell my anatomy prof I'm pregnant, so he understands and can also advise me per anything he thinks (or understands why I'm not as gung ho into digging as everyone else).

Also, I am supposed to do work with an HIV doc this summer in the clinic and do case reports. Please tell me I can still do this with the exception that I avoid patients with CMV. And I will wear a mask and not touch any patients. I'll be a silent observer with my mask and gloves on.

Thank you for all your support! I am so excited! I am already sick of peeing every five minutes, but the baby TOTALLY makes up for that!

Hmmm. Working with the HIV doc in the summer is the only thing you've mentioned that I did worry a bit about when pregnant. Here's my initial thoughts - avoid eg being around the total mystery patients (you know, the "we'd better do an LP and send it for every screen, because we've got no idea but we think it's bad..." patients) and be REALLY into universal precautions - plus, your OB will do a screen when you go in initially for whether you're already immune to things like parvo and CMV, and then you can tailor how careful you are some in response to that.

I actually turned out to be CMV negative, and did nearly my entire set of core third year rotations while pregnant despite that (including all my core peds and IM) - I just told everyone exactly what I was worried about and asked them to help me avoid patients with any at all risk of such illnesses.

You'll have the TORCH infections DOWN by the end of this year, I can tell =)!

Oh man, I'd ditch the books before the backpack! But then again, I never had the time to read from that many books in one school day. If I needed to, I used the ones on reserve at the library or the online versions via elsevier or accessmedicine.

Yeah, unfortunately, during our group, we use all the books, and are constantly switching back and forth between them since we don't get slides - we just do like 1500 pages of reading every block, and our tests comes from that. Gotta lug them.

On the upside, my summer is still intact. I won't be able to see the CMV+ patients, but I will be able to do rounds, clinic and the high-risk HIV+ OB clinic with the doc wearing protective gear of course. He wants me to be tested for CMV and toxoplasmosis, which I already intended on doing anyway. Plus, I get to be a part of this research project, as well as a few case reports, so I am still happy with my summer. Thank goodness!

PS - lugging the bookbag was really harder than I thought today. Is that weird for such an early pregnancy? It didn't just didn't "feel right." I really do think I'm going to have to switch to a rolling bag. I'm still going to try to not broadcast the pregnancy til I'm at least 9 weeks or 10 weeks, though. We'll see if I can hide it from my small med school sorority!

My guess is that the backpack not feeling right was more psychological/related to increased bodily self-awareness, rather than an actual physical effect of early pregnancy. Not to say that it's not completely valid! You can justify switching to a roller bag by saying that the backpack was killing your back and you decided not to put up with it anymore. You may get teased some, but who really cares?

For later in pregnancy, I got a back support pillow (I bought one on Amazon rather than dish out the dough for something expensive) and was very happy with it. Most of them have a strap on the back for securing them to chairs. I didn't find the strap very useful for that purpose, but if you have a roller bag you can put the strap around the bag handle and carry it around with you that way. If you switch to a roller bag AND carry the back pillow now though, you are definitely going to get raised eyebrows. My back didn't hurt any more than usual until sometime in the second trimester, so hopefully it won't be a problem for you.

One other thing - I know it's tempting to tell people but if I were you I would make a really genuine effort to keep this from your classmates until at least the end of the first trimester. One reason is just that the first trimester is the most unstable. Not that you should worry, but it would be truly awful if something happened and you had to tell EVERYONE. A more relevant reason though is that, if your med school is anything like mine or the other ones I've heard about, news travels very very fast and secrets are impossible to keep. You definitely don't want the administration hearing about your pregnancy from your classmates! Just my two cents

Thank you - great advice. The back support pillow was something I was going to use in the fall during MS2. I'm just a planner.

I am really going to try to keep it a secret. By telling the HIV doc, because I had to, plus telling a trip coordinator that I had to pull out of a mission trip, plus by telling the pathology prof I trust in order to properly handle lab the way she thinks I should....honestly, I just don't expect a miracle. My school is literally like a sorority. I don't want anything bad to happen either! My sister never had morning sickness in her pregnancy, and we seem to be similar in that respect (random, huh - as in, we compared birth control reactions and had the same ones), so I'm hoping I just get the heartburn she got too, which will help in hiding it.

You guys are the best! I probably come off as a control freak/OCD crazy person!

This is kind of turning into a diary of sorts, but I hit five weeks yesterday. It is so exciting! I can't wait til I get to hear the heartbeat on April 27! I find myself worrying that the baby is not ok, because I haven't seen the heart beat yet, but I know it is just my own worry. I'm sure everything is fine- this is just another version of the waiting game. I've also discovered this awesome sparkling water, La Croix, that has no sodium, no caffeine and no artificial sweeteners. I don't think my class has caught on yet, because it looks like a soda, and I drink it all the time (like I used to with sodas). I plan to tell them right after my next test, which is right after the heartbeat confirmation around the 9 week mark. I'm so excited to meet my baby already. I have a gut feeling it is a girl.

Keep us posted! So excited for you!! I remember that wait...how are you going to hear the HB?

So excited for you, and hope all goes well in the coming weeks.

I was in school almost until delivery and lifted a heavy backpack the entire time. Not sure if that was the smartest idea but it made a great counter-weight to the bump in front.