Law School Baby

Tim and I started talking about starting our family, and when would be a “good time” in our lives, when we were living in Guyana. I never thought I wanted kids until I had the chance to work in the health center and was surrounded by babies, mamas and pregnant women every day. I got to see first hand the joy and pride that being a parent brought to my clients. Tim has always wanted children and so when I told him I thought I was ready to have kids of our own he was excited. The only question we had then was when? When we joined the Peace Crops, the plan was always for me to go to law school right after. I had taken then LSAT before going overseas in preparation and was applying to schools when we began having the baby talk.

We began to discuss whether we should plan to wait until after I was finished with school or try to start our family while I was in law school. On the one hand, waiting would mean I would be working and bringing in income when there was another Tibbs to take care of. On the other hand, if we waited I would be over thirty and Tim would be thirty-four when we had our first child. This would certainly not be unheard of, but we like the idea of getting a Tibbs clan started a little earlier in life. Plus, in all likelihood, we wouldn’t have tried to get pregnant immediately after I was out of law school since I would like to work and build some credibility in my first real lawyer job before we had to ask for maternity leave.

Were we crazy to think that we could handle the pressures of law school and our first baby? Well, like with most decisions in our lives, we decided to do some research before we made a big decision. I spent some time online, googling around to see if I could find any advice. Were there any other women who had had babies in law school and, if so, what were their experiences and advice? After a little time online, I found a group of attorney mama bloggers who shared their stories about having their babies in law school. It was great to learn from these women that, with discipline, sacrifice and teamwork, it is doable.

So, with the inspiration of women who had come before, we decided to go for it. We may be crazy, but a law school baby is in the works. I only have one more year of law school to go and the timing works out so that I will be able to finish my fall semester before the baby comes. If the baby comes on time, I will have 5 weeks at home with Tim and the baby during Christmas break. Then, in mid-January, I’ll go back to school to finish my third year and graduate on time. I am taking summer school presently so that my spring semester will be light. I will only be taking 3 evening classes a week, which means I will be able to be home with the baby during the daytime. Then, when I have to go to class in the evening, Tim will be home to take over baby duty.

Although I am confident that Tim and I have a good plan I still sometimes wonder if this is a “good time” for us to have a baby. We aren’t homeowners and we still have student loan debt. But then again, is there ever a time that we will feel ready emotionally and financially? I doubt it. And it is encouraging to know that we are not in this alone. We will have the support of my mom, who is planning on moving up to Sacramento, and our family and friends, who are all so excited for baby Bibbs. I know this law school baby will be raised not only by us, but by our village of teachers, lawyers, nurses, young professionals and old parenting pros. So maybe we aren’t so crazy after all… 

As a bonus, here is a picture of me at 16 weeks. Even though Toast wanted in the picture, the Bibbs bump is still pretty visible!