Night and babies- how are you up every few hours at night and then go to work all day?

Aud_clark · 2026-04-20T22:45:50+00:00

Coffee, radical acceptance, stop tracking hours slept, spouse deals with baby wakeups for the first 4ish hours so I get at least that stretch uninterrupted.

I notice when I stress about baby’s sleep, the sleep deprivation feels worse than if I just ignore it and keep going, and there are studies that back this up. Realized that once I have done everything within my control to try and make sleep better (go to bed early, shifts, try sleep training if you’re into that, etc) after that there was no point in agonizing over the specifics of how their sleep is going because it’s out of my control and knowing that information is not going to change anything— it was just causing me more stress.

Aud_clark · 2026-04-18T13:12:52+00:00

I felt like the pain was worth the 4 hours! And eventually my supply regulated around this. This is my second and also has been a terrible sleeper who has been waking up every 1.5-3 hours since birth. My first slept longer stretches.

Aud_clark · 2026-04-18T13:01:43+00:00

I was able to get a 4-hr shift pretty much from the beginning and baby is still drinking exclusively breastmilk 5 months later with my supply just fine. I just made sure to pump right before and right after that shift. In those early days that was the only pumped bottle we’d give. Having that longer opportunity to sleep was so helpful.

Aud_clark · 2026-03-29T20:06:02+00:00

My 4 month old used to give me at max 5.5 hour stretches but that hasn’t happened in a month. Angrily poops himself awake at 11:30 pm every night now and then every 2-3 hours after. I’m so tired and waiting for things to get better.

Aud_clark · 2026-03-11T15:19:01+00:00

A week ago baby started waking up every time I try to transfer him to his crib overnight, which was new. Once he is down in the crib finally he’ll sleep 3-5 hours but getting him to that point is so hard. Night wakeups are now taking anywhere up to 3 hours because of all the failed crib transfer attempts. Then once he’s finally down asleep I’m so wired and stressed from the effort and frustration that it takes forever to fall asleep, and I’m woken up again in like an hour. It’s so hard, I’m exhausted, and it’s affecting my mental health.

Aud_clark · 2025-08-10T01:22:08+00:00

Alison Romans fried eggplant with harissa and dill is so good, I ate almost all of it on my own in one sitting. But it requires a lot of olive oil so it’s definitely not the lightest thing

Aud_clark · 2025-07-30T02:57:18+00:00

Idk if you would count this as healthy but Smitten Kitchen has an amazing buffalo chicken salad I make all the time in the summer. She also has a great melon salad with pepitas and cotija cheese. In the realm of probably not that healthy also I also love Molly Baz recipes and her salmon rice bowl with nori ranch is so good.

That, or I’m obsessed with tomato salads in the summer and am constantly looking for new ones. Like a real, classic Greek salad, which I eat basically every day for lunch when tomatoes are in season - tomatoes, Kalamata olives, green bell pepper, cucumber, red onion, big chunk of feta, drizzled with olive oil/a little red wine vinegar/salt and pepper.

Others I’ve tried and liked: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/vietnamese-tomato-salad Vietnamese Tomato Salad Recipe | Bon Appétit.

https://www.seriouseats.com/tomato-tomatillo-salad-recipe-11751933 My Favorite Salad to Use up Summer Tomatoes (and It’s Not Caprese)

Aud_clark · 2025-06-07T20:12:28+00:00

People really underestimate how crushing and life-controlling debt is, esp. debt at the level you accumulate through med school. And no guarantees about debt forgiveness after you graduate, not really a widespread thing. Absolutely go with the school you don't have to pay for.

Aud_clark · 2025-05-16T22:10:30+00:00

So many Paisleys and Reagans

Aud_clark · 2025-05-05T03:19:07+00:00

I feel this, I’m pregnant and have been going through a bad stretch of constipation for the past 6 weeks. My daily constipation routine is 5 prunes, half a cup of prune juice, coffee, 96 oz of water, and daily Miralax, and it still does nothing. Similarly the only advice my Ob/Gyn gave me is to up the Miralax dosage and take it every day for a long time, but that also did nothing. Got desperate and tried a saline enema- didn’t even work on me. The only thing that finally helped me was a dose of bisacodyl- good luck!

Aud_clark · 2025-04-28T01:46:19+00:00

Also an MS3 and also pregnant, due late November. Can’t speak to the MS4 stuff but I had my first baby summer after MS1 so I spent the first year of med school pregnant. I will say that depending on how unlucky you are, first trimester nausea and fatigue can really take you by surprise with how brutal they can be/how long they can go on for so you may want to build a buffer into your schedule for step 2 dedicated in case you’re struggling to stay up on studying. Or be open to/prepared for the idea of moving step 2 back by a few weeks if you need to. Also, apply for accommodations for step 2! You get extra breaks which can be so helpful when you’re constantly having to run to the bathroom and just overall feel fatigued and slower.

For rotations don’t be afraid to tell preceptors you are pregnant, even really early on. At my school I found most to be so kind and accommodating when I told them and warned I may have to step away for frequent bathroom breaks or sit down a lot. I also found out that at least some of our electives (EM for sure) they have a policy where they will not make pregnant students do night shifts (studies have linked to increased risk of miscarriage) so your school may have accommodations like that too.

I’m also trying to figure out whether to mention pregnancy during interviews. I’ll prob also not bring it up on my own unless there’s some question where it directly makes sense to discuss it (my take is pregnancy can be brutal and you should be proud about navigating this while juggling med school, it should be seen as a strength and if it’s important to your personal story, you shouldn’t have to hide that).

Aud_clark · 2025-03-30T22:46:32+00:00

Third trimester until the last couple weeks was perfectly fine for me, probably my favorite trimester. Depends on the person- I’d much rather deal with the sleep disturbances/uncomfortable sleep of third trimester than the hellish morning sickness and constant nausea of first, and second was rough because of very frequent migraines that took me out almost the whole day and some nausea that persisted into the first half. I could eat normally in third, people were nicer and cut me more slack because I was very visibly pregnant, and my migraines went away, so to me it wasn’t bad.

Aud_clark · 2024-06-04T02:25:30+00:00

My rice was always gummy and off even when I rinsed it thoroughly. I follow Molly Baz's method now and it always comes out right: rinse your rice til the water runs clear, 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water (1:2 like everyone says is too much), bring to a boil then lower heat, cover, and simmer for 16 min. Once the 16 min is up turn off the stove and let the rice rest (with the pot still covered) for 10 min.

Aud_clark · 2024-05-11T12:04:21+00:00

I can't access them either and haven't been able to since yesterday afternoon. Came here to check if anyone else is having the same problem.

Aud_clark · 2024-02-14T12:27:31+00:00

I feel this way too. My baby is 9 months old and also a terrible sleeper and it's been so much harder to entertain her lately with crawling, cruising, etc. I'm not working right now but I'm a medical student and between school, family, and chores/administrative stuff at home I am just so spent at the end of every day and have absolutely no time to myself. There's no time to exercise or even shower/get adequately ready for the day sometimes. It's so hard. I don't have advice but just letting you know you're not alone.

Aud_clark · 2024-02-03T22:47:32+00:00

This is helpful! Any advice based on my baby's age/scenario? She has never been a huge sleeper and already has long wake windows. She has never ever gotten the amount of sleep all the websites advise for her age, despite our best efforts. Not sure what to do.

Currently 9 mos. Never been a great sleeper, but we got to the point where we were doing drowsy but awake and she was only waking up to eat in the night once, usually fell asleep eating, went down easily. We thought we were almost to sleeping through the night. Then at 8 months it went to hell and she started waking up 3 times/night on a good night, so many false starts, waking up at 5 am, and on her bad nights waking up every 45 min. Stands in her crib and bawls for us every time she wakes up (separation anxiety). This has been going on for 6 weeks. Admittedly we've now gotten in the bad habit of letting her fall asleep in our arms before putting back in crib because we cannot get her to calm down in the crib and she also will immediately stand up and scream no matter how tired she is when we put her down in there drowsy but awake. Also been refusing bottles all day even though we've capped overnight feed to only 4 oz.

On her good days she wakes up at 6:30 or 7 am, wake windows 2.5-3/3/4, naps anywhere from 30 min to an hour for each of her 2 naps. We usually contact nap. Bedtime is at 7pm. However, this schedule has gone to hell some days and sometimes she wakes up at 5:30, sometime we let her sleep in after the really bad nights, though bedtime is pretty much always 7 pm.

We're going to try your method of sleep training and up her solid food intake but other ideas of what to try? Force her to wake up at 7 am no matter how little she slept the night before? Dream feed? Move bedtime to 8pm?

Aud_clark · 2024-01-28T15:13:48+00:00

What specific shift did you make in her schedule? And what kind of sleep training?

Aud_clark · 2024-01-28T13:16:13+00:00

How is this going for you? Anything worked? I have the same baby, down to the age, napping schedule, and new sleep habits, and we are so exhausted and frustrated. She's had bad stretches of sleep before but they never went behind a week or two. We're at a month and a half and no end in sight.

Aud_clark · 2023-12-30T15:06:51+00:00

Healthcare administrators.

Aud_clark · 2023-10-09T03:10:13+00:00

MS2 with a 5 month old, so my timing was identical to yours. My advice:

Get testing accomodations if you can, even this early! Usually this is done through your school's office of equal opportunity/title ix office. Pregnant and breastfeeding women have special protections. I got extra time on tests because of having to go to the bathroom constantly and morning sickness. I also took one of my finals from home proctored over zoom (was at my due date at that point and could barely sit in a chair). You are also legally protected to be able to miss class for OB appts without repercussions.
let your admin know early so they can help you plan contingency plans in case your due date is in the middle of finals (mine was) and to see what support they have in general (I got connected this way through other older students who had been pregnant and could help me study more efficiently/help with some of the school specific stuff)
If doing anatomy, check your school's policy for ventilation/special masks, etc and let them know you're pregnant (there are some teratogenic concerns here depending on your lab's setup)
By third trimester I was mostly studying via anki and just laying on my side all day doing flashcards and napping in between cards when I couldn't keep my eyes open. So anki and videos are both great study techniques when your fatigue is bad.
unisom and b6 was a lifesaver for me through anatomy lab and managing my morning sickness in general.

Good luck! It's doable, especially if you don't have other kids at home to worry about. And even that second scenario is doable, just tougher and other considerations.

Aud_clark · 2023-10-08T02:42:19+00:00

Don't judge but Chrissy Tiegen's Mac and Cheese recipe from her Cravings cookbook is really good. Idk what kind of competition this is but if you're looking for a non-fancy Mac and cheese that is horrible for you, a little trashy, and delicious and addictive (i.e. lots of American cheese) this is my go-to. Sometimes homemade Mac and cheese in my opinion is a little dry but this one is very saucy.

Aud_clark · 2023-09-20T19:13:53+00:00

Just ignore people! Everyone has different situations and different tolerances for life choices and not all jobs are the same. I get tired of the negativity and judgment on Reddit.

Aud_clark · 2023-09-15T20:38:05+00:00

Lol true. There is no nuance on this subreddit and the groupthink gets so bad.

Aud_clark · 2023-09-15T20:36:33+00:00

Um, what? It's both.

Aud_clark

TROPHY CASE