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Are you planning to be an at-home mom?
When I had my firstborn I had an emergency c-section. Everything took longer as far as adjusting, plus I was young (20) and single and well, it just kind of sucked.
Second time around I was married and my husband took 2 or 3 weeks off work after the baby was born to help me out. Mostly to help with my older child and household stuff.
I think you should try and give yourself a good six weeks to know what to expect, to get nursing "down" if you're planning on nursing, etc.
Mostly I didn't need as much help with the baby as I did with household stuff, laundry, and so forth. If it is all possible I would HIGHLY recommend putting aside money for someone to come clean up once or twice a week for the first month or so.
do you have family that can plan to come be with you some when the baby is first born? This can be awesome if it's the right person.
Another helpful thing: if you have friends wanting to know what to get you for baby gifts but you don't "need" help with buying the usual baby stuff, suggest they throw you a "food shower". This is where they all make a casserole or other one-dish meal and put it in freezer safe containers.. ideally something that can go from freezer to oven. If they all prepare a dish or two, you only have to heat up the oven for dinner and put the meal in for however long it takes to cook. It just helps to not worry about dinner and meal prep in the early weeks.
Sorry, I am going on way beyond your original question, I think! Just remember what kinds of help I wanted/needed back in the baby days and what was or wasn't an issue for me.
Thank you msinterpret- that is really helpful. I do plan on staying home for an extended period of time and most probably one of our mothers will be able to come here for a few weeks. I am mostly concerned about how my hubby will be able to study and keep up with a newborn in the house. But it sounds like about two-ish months to adjust?
I always heard that the first 6 weeks are the most difficult and after 3 months you are back to "normal." Personally, we were doing great after one month, and now at two months I feel like we have it down. A lot of it will probably also depend on what kind of baby you have, but if you have other help, I think two months is a good amount of time to adjust.
I asked Mr. DG when he felt like he was re-established in a new normal routine and he said it took a full 6 weeks for him. In med school I advise 4th year. My saying for 4th year is that it's payback for the previous 3 years of hell. Just before match would be best, that way your honey doesn't have a newborn going into internship :)
Thanks Spring and DG, I really appreciate the input and it's good to have some non biased opinions. I don't know if we'll be able to wait until 4th year, but we'll definitely keep it in mind. :-)
@rugulach: If you want to do it earlier rather than later, might I suggest toward the end of first year? You are right about not wanting a newborn infant during second year boards... but first year was so intense and such a blur that your honey might not want to go through your pregnancy and delivery during that time. I know for me it would have been really hard even as the non-pregnant parent.
I know you need to balance your needs and the needs of med school and find a time that works for both-- but it can be a challenge!
@DG those are really good points...he is halfway through first year though, (started in the winter) so that might be a little tough :P . This is a career change for him, so we knew coming into it that since we're not getting any younger, somehow we would have to make it work. I know it will be a challenge but it is an exciting time to be "building our life" in so many facets.
Good luck to you! It's a fun ride, and I'm so glad you're not letting the study of medicine get in the way of other life goals!
Oddly enough, I had an easier time with my son, than my daughter (son was first and a c-section -and NOT a planned c-section). Of course, my daughter was 4-5 weeks premature and in the NICU for a week... with breathing problems even after she got home.... which is why it took so long...
anywhos, it usually takes a week or two depending on if you have a natural birth or c-section, and how your body reacts. Some people heal faster, some have a higher tolerance to pain.
Give yourself 6 weeks to adjust and to get back into full swing. It will probably take you only a few weeks to get back into a new, normal lifestyle (new since you now have a baby to care for, lol). But don't rush it.
oh, and I was a single mom for both kids (even if I WAS living with my parents, they really weren't much help... and my son REFUSED to let my mom take care of him as an infant, hehehehehe)
girls at my school and the wives of some of the men had babies: during first year, in between first and second year, during second year, inbetween second and third year (would NOT recommend - your husband will be studying for boards), and in fourth year at various times.
I think all in all we had like 10 med school babies! I just wanted to say that it can DEFINITELY be done, and the only times I think it would be really, really tough would be during Step 1 studying and probably 3rd year (the schedule is fairly rigorous).
Good luck! I wish I had had a baby in med school! Having our first in residency will be hard! :)
Thanks ladies! I love how supportive everyone is on WB. It's really good to know that we're not the only ones crazy enough to start a family during med school. :)
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Hi Ladies, I'm hoping some of you can help me out. DH and I are in the midst of discussing when we want to start to TTC. The thing is that he is in medical school so every semester will be difficult with a newborn. I know that right after the birth is takes time to get back in the swing of things and we would like to do our best to time things so that he's not taking the boards during the "adjustment period". So my question is:
How long did it take after you had your child to get back into a daily routine?