any moms in nursing school?

[luckygreen713]

Hi! This is my first post in this forum, as I've been a SAHM since my oldest dc was born almost 4 years ago. But now, I'd really like to go back to school. Before DD1 was born I was going to school for nursing but didn't get very far, and then I gave it up when I found out I was pregnant. I'm going to go to my local community college this week to get info on financial aid and whatnot so I can get back in to nursing. Hopefully I will start classes this summer, or this fall at the latest. My DH is supportive of my decision, but we are both pretty nervous about what this will mean for our family. Of course, in the long run it will be worth it for me to have a stable career that I love, but the next few years will be tough. My daughters will be 2 and 4 years old when I start classes, and they are used to having me home all the time. My husband or my mom will be with them while I'm in school. DD1 will be starting preschool this fall, so she'll be there for 3 hours, Monday thru Friday. Money will be very tight, as I will have to give up my babysitting job (I'm currently babysitting 4 days a week for a friend's child). My DH already has a second, part-time job in addition to his main job. I know that nursing school is pretty demanding. I was always a good student, but I'm pretty nervous about it now that I have children. Does anyone else have experience with this? Any advice? Thanks in advance!

[purplevega]

I am a nursing student with 2 young boys. I start when my youngest was 6 months old. During your prereqs you should be fine keeping your babysitting job as those classes are not that hard or demanding. I took most of my pre reqs online and just took labs on campus when DH was home from work. Now that I am a full time nursing student I have a babysitter that comes 3 days a week. I am taking PM clinicals so that my DH can be with the kiddos, I also taking theory online. Next semester my oldest will start kindy and my youngest will start preschool and I will take all morning classes and clinicals....I miss family dinner.

Good luck and study hard. It can be done. You can be a great mom and a great student.

Kim