Mama Guest Post: On babies, puke and graduate school

By Jasmine Banks Brown

Garrett, my husband, and I were married in June during our sophomore years. We never anticipated children because of medical issues I had from the past. We got married and a couple months later found ourselves pregnant and super duper pregnant with our first son, Isaiah.

When you are a “go getter,” like I am, you say to yourself, “Self! Pregnancy, shmegnancy! WE are gonna keep going with our goals, you know, like this pregnancy thing ain’t no thang.” Ohhh mercy! Was I wrong! Turns out, in my experience, pregnancy can put some serious brakes on all pre-pregnancy goals. Somehow I made it through that extremely fatigued and vomit filled first trimester and moved on to tackle undergraduate work. This brings me to my story…

One evening I was up late attempting to finish an eight-page paper. Motherhood and my normal bad student habits led me to procrastinate until the night it was due, of course. Isaiah was almost six months old and still projectile vomiting. Isaiah had colic and acid reflux and we spent a large amount of his infancy sleep deprived and/or covered in puke. I was glamorous, really. My husband, Garrett, worked from 4 in the evening till 2 in the morning (all while being a student) and so the baby and I had evenings to ourselves.

I furiously typed out my paragraph on therapeutic interviewing and prayed Isaiah would stay asleep long enough for me to manage a somewhat coherent paper. He heard my prayer and quickly countered it with his typical blood curdling screaming which dispatched me from my frenzied academia. Thirty minutes later his need for sleep hadn’t returned. He was still in my arms and refused to be put down. I decided my best course of action was to hold Isaiah while typing my paper.

I made it through two or three paragraphs before Isaiah began to struggle and fuss. I repositioned him, bounced a little, and reminded him in my “sing song” voice (you know the one) that, “Mommy is trying hard to finish this paper… please help by being sweet…” About the time I finished my sentence, Isaiah struggled a bit and then projectile vomited all over the key board. I cleaned him and the keyboard and placed him in the rocker. He seemed well enough content and I was able to return to task at hand. I composed myself and began, again, on my paper. As I began to type I noticed that the “T” key wasn’t working, I am sure from the unholy amount of vomit it just experienced. My sentences looked a little funny…

I believe _hat _herapue_tic in_erviewing is bes_ prac_iced wi_h pa_ience and a willingness _o accep_ people as _hey are.

I threw in the hat. I was done for the night! Puked on, sleep deprived, and unable to finish my paper, I went to bed imagining the email I would send to my professor the next day: “Hi, Dr. Cater, turns out my son puked on my keyboard while I was working on it and I need an extension.” Thank goodness the next morning the keyboard was working. Motherhood has its unique challenges, ESPECIALLY when you are a student!

About the blogger: Jasmine is a stay at home mother of two, with a third on the way. Her four year old, Isaiah is a bit of a despot and loose cannon. Known to attempt to pan handle money from total strangers, he has never met a person he wouldn’t talk to. Outgoing and creative, he keeps Jasmine’s life very interesting. The newest addition is an effervescent ray of sunshine. Jasmine and Garrett (Jasmine’s husband) wonder if Addison is actually made of glitter and unicorn tears, as she is almost indefinitely happy and upbeat.  Jasmine and Garrett are expecting their third child, Tobias, in July. Jasmine is currently in graduate school pursuing her Masters in Family and Marriage Therapy. Read Jasmine’s antics as she attempts to express the joys, challenges, and utter annoyances that come along with being a Graduate Mommy. For more on Jasmine, Check out http://thebrokins.com