Grad school with a newborn?

[d_slp_2021]

Hello friends,

I was wondering if anyone has been/is in the same boat as me and is willing to share their experiences.

I applied to graduate programs in Speech-Language Pathology last fall/winter. Shortly after submitting my applications, I got the surprising news that I'm pregnant. My husband and I were (and are) absolutely thrilled! Long story short, he was recently diagnosed with leukemia in 2019 and his doctors were pretty adamant that we would be unlikely to have children for quite a while. We weren't trying to conceive, so baby was a HUGE surprise. Nonetheless, we are grateful and very, very excited (for obvious reasons). Anyways, I received a few acceptances and have been placed on a few waitlists for Fall 2021, all of which begin around late August. 

Ideally, I would like to defer my start term to next Fall (2022). I'm just in a bit of a pickle since the schools I'm waitlisted at are my top choices. I'll be contacting programs in a few weeks for definitive answers, but still wanted to hear from fellow students.

Has anyone, especially those in SLP programs, been granted deferrals for similar reasons?

Has anyone (in general) been granted a deferral AFTER being admitted from a waitlist?

I'd also love to hear from any mamas out there! 

Did any of you begin grad school with a newborn? What was/has it been like?

There is always the option to matriculate. However, I'm due July 28th. Given that most programs begin very shortly after, I just want to make sure I'm in the best physical and mental state to begin a program. If I have to matriculate, I'd opt for the local university that I got into to avoid moving issues. We do have family here, but all of them work full-time and/or are in school full-time, so I don't expect getting a ton of help during the week with babe (which is when we'd actually need it). 

[PsyDuck90]

I'm not personally in this situation, but I've known people to have newborns during their graduate studies (masters and doctorate). It's difficult, but not impossible. Having family support is definitely a major plus.