Part 1 of 3: Students and babies; When the test comes back Positive
Queasy stomach, tight desks, swollen feet, slow legs and one big belly are just a few of the inconveniences of being a pregnant student.
It’s spring, and that means many female Utah State University students are pregnant.
Ashley Crookston, a senior majoring in physics, is due May 31 – three weeks after she graduates.
Ideally, she would have waited until she didn’t have so much going on, she said, but if she had to do it while going to school – she couldn’t have planned it better.
This is Ashley’s first baby, and she said she is ready for it to come, but she would like to get through school first.
Before Ashley found out she was pregnant, she said she started getting ornery, mean and getting up three times in the night to go to the bathroom.
She finally realized what was going on and went to get a blood test that came back positive.
Ashley’s pregnancy was not planned and she said she took it really hard at first. At the age of 21, she said it changed a lot of her plans for the future.
“I always pictured myself as a career woman,” Ashley said. “Now I want to be a stay-at-home mom.”
Nate Crookston, Ashley’s husband, said the biggest change for him was his mindset and a huge change in plans.
“Since it wasn’t planned it’s an adjustment,” Nate said.
A lot of students who get pregnant haven’t planned it. Deborah Ascione, who teaches marriage, family and parenting classes as a principal lecturer in the FCHD department, said with unplanned pregnancies there are often issues with insurance, the husband having to take on more jobs and having to pay for a two-bedroom apartment instead of one.
The father is usually experiencing stress during the pregnancy, which Ascione said the is likely in trying to be a good provider and a good parent. Women usually don’t worry about the financial problems as much because she will be worried about her health, her baby’s health and where to put the crib, she said.
“Many women have strong convictions about not working while having children,” Ascione said. “So the men have to find more income.”
There were different issues for the Crookstons, though. Ashley said she had to quit the water polo team, quit her job teaching swimming lessons so she wouldn’t be kicked and had to quit playing sports all together.
Because Ashley is sleeping a lot more, Nate, a senior majoring in electrical engineering, said he has had to take a lot more responsibilities on and find things to occupy himself. He said he does more cleaning now.
Ashley said she is ready for it now, though.
“The thought of staying at home all day is daunting, but it will be good,” she said. “I’m scared that I’ll go crazy, or that I’ll raise an ax murderer.”
Passing on bad habits was another one of Ashley’s concerns. She and Nate will have to stop lying and drinking out of the milk carton, she said, noting, “There’s been a lot of self-reflection.”
A student carrying a baby for nine months can prove to be fairly difficult.
One experience Ashley said was particularly embarrassing was when she threw up on a girl on the bus. She was stuck on a crowded bus and started feeling sick and couldn’t get off.
She said she has had to make a mad dash out of class a few times as well.
Morning sickness can be a real struggle for pregnant women. A student’s schedule could make that even more difficult, Ascione said. If the woman has a 7:30 a.m. class, getting there could be hard to do if she is sick.
The biggest challenge for Ashley is the fatigue, she said. She would be studying for a test and fall asleep, and sometimes she couldn’t make it through school without falling asleep.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable for school to suffer – [pregnant women] get tired easily,” Ascione said. “They may not be able to stay up as long to study for a test and there are more demands from family.”
Another challenge for Ashley is walking up the hill to school. She said she walks because the doctor told her to get exercise, but it’s hard to get up the hill.
Physical health is an important thing for pregnant women to think about. Ascione said women are usually very conscientious about it at first. She said they shouldn’t change their healthy habits as the pregnancy goes on, though.
“You need to maintain your stamina,” Ascione said. “And not just because you have to get from Old Main to Fine Arts. That’s what’s going to get you through childbirth and those demanding situations.”
Even walking presented an obstacle for Ashley, especially in the winter, she sid. Being pregnant throws off awoman’s balance, so in the winter, Ashley said she had a constant fear of falling on the ice.
Fitting into desks can be difficult with a larger belly. Ashley said in certain classes, the desks were a tight fit.
“I don’t fit anywhere,” Ashley said. “In the ESLC, my belly is right snug up against the desk, but in most classes, they just have tables and chairs.”
“I think I’m huge,” Ashley said. “I look down in the morning and say ‘Aww, where did my feet go?'”
And often when a woman can see her feet, they’re swollen. Swollen feet are common for a pregnant woman, but for a student sitting in class, it’s a little harder to deal with.
“There aren’t very convenient places to put your feet up in classes,” Ashley said. “I’m sure people think I’m crazy.”
She’s a bit slower now that she is pregnant, so Ashley said she takes the entire hour between two of her classes – one in the ESLC and the next in Fine Arts – to “waddle across campus.”
Pregnant women are bigger and more awkward, so that makes it very difficult to get around, Ascione said, so they have to allow more time to get to class.
Other strange things start happening during pregnancy as well.
Ashley was expecting to be hot all winter, but she said she was cold, and now she is hot. She said she gets “crazy hot flashes” and she usually gets them in computer labs.
Nate said the pregnancy hasn’t been near as traumatic for him as it has been for Ashley.
“It’s not a challenge for me like it is for her,” Nate said. “I did gain sympathy weight, though.”
He said it was annoying that he couldn’t lift her as well anymore.
Aside from the physical problems, the future will usually be a cause for anxiety for the couple.
If the woman will still be going to school after the baby is born, there is the issue of working out schedules or daycare – and it has to be affordable, Ascione said.
This is where a close relative can be helpful, but if there isn’t one close, and daycare is not an option – that could be what pushes the woman out of school, Ascione said. Finishing her degree may be something that is postponed for a long time.
Students often go to school and pay for it with loans, Ascione said, but with a baby coming, the amount of those loans may not be adequate.
Students may find themselves asking their parents for support.
“With a bigger apartment, a baby and a second job – they still may not be able to afford a babysitter,” Ascione said.
Especially for young married students, the solid foundation of the marriage is going to be tested after the baby comes, Ascione said.
The couple will have to improve communication and problem solving.
“I have admiration for students who pull it off,” Ascione said. “But I also have a concern for students in which an unplanned pregnancy becomes a stressor.”
“The energy employed while being pregnant is like another full time job,” Ashley said. “It never goes away, you don’t sleep as well and you have to plan all of your meals.”
She said she has to plan around it, but that it is doable.
-hollyadams@cc.usu.edu