Two Steps Back Equals 3 Years Back

In a perfect world, Sam and I would living on the hill in Lebanon, TN and working on getting pregnant. I would be working for some random company with a good insurance plan. Sam would be working as a physician's assistant (PA) somewhere close by, have great hours, and come home every evening where we could work on the whole pregnancy thing. Of all those dreams listed, the only one that is current reality is the good insurance. We live in Decatur, GA. Pregnancy right now would be a bad thing because Sam is still in school and working one night job and one weekend job. In looking at the steps needed to be taken for the PA track, our dream has been pushed to five years from now. If everything works out. Sam is currently in school to get his academic prerequisites for PA schools. He has two more semesters of that and he needs to take his GRE. Easy enough right? PA school is only 27 months long, he should be done in under 4 years, right? Wrong. Most PA schools require either 1000 or 2000 hours of direct human patient care in order to be considered for acceptance. Sam has 10 years of direct patient care experience...but in animals. It doesn't matter that Sam can place a catheter in a tiny dog's veins, veins smaller than a human child. It doesn't matter that Sam can carefully pick up an injured dog that weighs as much as me. It doesn't matter that Sam can perform his job gracefully while being covered in feces, urine, or vomit. He can calmly and quickly handle a patient that's natural reaction to pain and fear is to try and tear up the person caring for it. Sam can explain to the human caregiver what is going on. He can comfort a person who has just lost a loved one, a family member, an irreplaceable being. I've watched as Sam stoically held forceps in the same position for over 30 minutes while a Vet performed surgery. Because these animals aren't human, none of this experience carries weight. So what Sam will have to do after he is finished with the prereqs is to continue along a different path. He'll need to get certified in something else; like a surgical tech, or a patient care tech, or an LPN. All of these certifications take at least a year. Then, Sam has get hired on and work for longer than 6 months before applying to PA programs. Then we pray he gets accepted. Once he does get accepted, it's a 27-month long program. Afterwards, we need to try and sell the house, build our house on the hill, and get pregnant ASAP. Because at that point, I'll at least be 32. Yes, many women all of the world get pregnant just fine at 32. But, I would prefer to get all my fertility needs out of the way by 32, not need them at 32 and then again at 34. Ok, my whiny rant is officially over. I needed to get that written out and out of my thoughts. We just need to push forward and pray that my 32-year old eggs are still fresh and my uterus hasn't put up a closed for business sign.