Pregnant during final year of uni. Am I crazy?

[ivyrayne]

I am just starting my final year of my BA degree, and I am four months pregnant with my first baby. I am due in March, and my degree will technically finish in May, so the first two months of my daughter’s life will also be the final two months of my studies. I am fairly young (in my early 20s) and very very energetic considering I’m pregnant. I’m working very hard on my degree whilst also working a few days a week, so I think I can get as much uni work as I can done before she is born. Has anybody else done this and still been able to complete their degree on time? I’m preparing myself that it’ll be extremely hard, and I’ll be exhausted and stressed for a while, but I’m also very determined to get this degree done and graduate in July with my little girl by my side. I have a loving partner and plenty of friends nearby to help out. Looking for positive reinforcements that I’m not absolutely insane!!
Thanks!

I'm sure you will manage, you are a lot younger than me, I found myself 40, a single parent of two, and pregnant during my final year of uni. Its hard but you can do it. Try to keep on top of the work as best you can and best of luck to you!
(I had to have extensions as the pregnancy for me was yuck but I still got through it).
What are you studying?

Thank you so much! Well done you for managing to do that. I am studying Event Management, looking to go into wedding planning in the future. It’s a 4 year degree with a placement year in between, I’m too stubborn to let an unexpected pregnancy stop me from finishing it! Xx

My friend had hers near the end of her BA and went on to do her masters with a newborn. Madness but I applaud her. I had my first shortly after finishing an OU year.

Oh it is definitely madness, and it definitely wasn’t planned to be this way! But I’m glad to hear other women have managed it.

You'll be sitting finals with a newborn? Or will you not have traditional finals? There's no way on earth I could have done that!

@ivyrayne I went to uni with a child and had another whilst doing degree. Looking back on it I must have been mad. I was under 25 as well.

@OdeToBarney No finals for me! Just essays etc. And a silly graded mock interview that our school insists on doing in May! I have my dissertation, but it’s due in January and I’m working on it currently.

@Stomacharmeleon how did you manage? Well done to you for doing that.

OP I've not been in this situation but having supported students (degree apprentices) at work it's definitely doable if all goes well. The only thing I'd advise you to do, if not done so already is to give the university a heads up. Your student services department, academic advisor for example.
Have a back-up plan in case anything goes wrong. A couple of people were ill in the final few months/had preemies but it was all planned for so they were able to resume smoothly and their babies went on to thrive.

Congratulations on your pregnancy. Your baby is lucky to have a dedicated, hardworking mother.

@ArborealArdour that means a lot, thank you! I have told uni and they are being very supportive. Thankfully my pregnancy has been fairly easy (minus the first trimester, but that was over the summer) so I’m hoping that it continues that way. I haven’t considered a backup plan, I’m not sure if I can defer my final term if things go differently. I’ll look into this! X

I was pregnant in my first year as a mature student. I took 4mths off for maternity (2 modules worth) but at the time and looking back, she slept so much those first few months I could have easily carried on with it or just delayed one modules worth. I did enjoy taking the break though

mine was all essay and report based too

Check what accommodations they may make for you, for example I’ve had students ‘on mat leave’ that have done their mock interviews online instead of in person, obviously they’ve been given essay extensions, sometimes they’ll get access to essay Qs early so they can get ahead of their work before the baby gets there and other little things like that, that help you manage it a bit easier
if it were me I’d aim to have everything done, at least a first draft, by the time your daughter is arriving
good luck! I think it’s totally doable, just hard work!

@HerRoyalNotness thank you for sharing! I think it was a smart idea to take time off, but I’m glad to know that it seems doable without time off. Technically I need to take a few weeks off uni, but I know that I’ll still work on my assignments during that time so I can get everything done x

@Walnuthhwip thank you so much for the advice. I’ll speak to my tutors and see what they can do. Luckily I’m a hard worker, so I don’t mind putting the effort in to get everything done on time. I’m glad that there’s support out there for women in my position xx

@ivyrayne I just sort of did. I had my son as soon as I left school, took a year out and then went with him. The halls I stayed in used to turn a blind eye to him being there and we had a little room and lots of aunts and uncles.

He went to a nursery attached to the uni and I had very proactive grandparents who helped when needed.

@Stomacharmeleon Wow!! That’s amazing, I bet your baby had an amazing time in halls!! It’s so nice being surrounded by students who adore your baby, I can’t wait for that. I’m not in halls, I’m in a rented house with my partner, but halls sounds very fun to me xx

I did my law Finals one week after a C-section . I was in my hospital bed surrounded by ridiculous law textbooks. I remember having leaky boobs in one of my 4 hr exams.
It‘s doable.

My daughter was born in the May of my final year. I took my exams in September instead. Could that be an option?

@MaggieBsBoat Wow that’s amazing. Hats off to you for doing that! That gives me a stroke of confidence xx

@RaininSummer Thankfully I have no exams, just essays etc which I can do from home. And my girl is due in March so I’ll still have some time before the work is due. Well done to you for doing that! Pregnancy is hard at uni xx

Thank you Ivyrayne. Best of luck.

I was having flashbacks to my law finals and sweating a bit when thinking about adding my colicky, reflux, allergy newborn into the mix 😅 but no finals makes a difference. Best of luck with it all, you'll be able to proudly tell DC all about it when they're older 😊

It all depends on your baby. I had two very good, sleepy babies. I could have studied around the, instead I watched a shitload of TV and completed Tomb Raider. Basically, you have time when they're born. Is the dad a student too? Could he take more paternity leave?

I fell pregnant in the summer hols before I started my final year of my BSc, baby was born in March so sounding pretty similar to you !
I had finals in the May time which was pretty rough as I was breastfeeding and my (ex) partner was about as useful as a chocolate teapot BUT I got through it.
Sciatica was a literal pain in the ass and I was in lectures right up until the day before I had baby (she was 2wks early). In fact, I was getting dressed and ready to go in when my waters broke!
This was 20 years ago when there was zero support from the uni, I'm confident that things would've changed by now
Looking back on it now I often wonder how I managed but you just deal with it don't you!
Plus I have the most awesome graduation photos of me in my cap and gown holding onto baby, my post pregnancy moon face still round and glowing. Cute!

@DustyRhodesYell that’s good to hear, thank you! My partner has graduated (his course was 3 instead of 4) so he’ll be working full time. He can definitely help, and I have a lot of friends in my area who are very willing to help x