Many college students were recently laboring over final exams and projects. Most college students were not also in actual labor, ready to give birth to a baby.
Yet, that is exactly where Nayzia Thomas found herself. Thomas is a college sophomore at Johnson County Community College.
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She is a psychology major. The semester’s final exam was on dissociative identity disorder.
Though the assignment wasn’t due until Dec. 15, Thomas wasn’t going to wait until the last minute to complete it. After all, she was 39 weeks pregnant.
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It would be much easier to check the final off her to-do list before the baby arrived. But then Thomas went into labor right around the start of finals on Dec. 11, at week 39.
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But labor wasn’t going to stop the dedicated student from finishing her final. As the pregnant mom sat in the hospital bed wearing a gown, she pulled out her laptop to finish her college final.
Thomas told Yahoo Lifestyle, “School is so important to me…[I thought] ‘before all this gets crazy let me hurry up and finish this final.'”
She posted a photo that her mom took of her while she was in labor ready to both birth a baby and complete the final. The dedication shown in the photo of a young mom inspired many people.
my mom took this pic & it’s the perfect explanation of my life. yes i’m about to have a baby, but final SZN ain’t over yet ?? pic.twitter.com/7LyrDBE9iN
— nayzia’ (@naydxll) December 12, 2017
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The tweet has been liked over 133,000 times with over 28,000 retweets. Thomas worked three jobs in the summer while also attending classes at the beginning of her pregnancy.
She knew others might make assumptions about how pregnancy would stop her from achieving her goals.
“That’s why my mom took that picture. It shows [I] follow through,” she shared with Yahoo Lifestyle.
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On Dec. 12, her son Anthony Johnson was born. Even though this incredible mother finished her final and birthed a baby, the experience was not free of complications.
There was a “Code Red.” Thomas went into shock and then became unconscious after losing a significant amount of blood.
She later wrote on Facebook, “I don’t remember much, but I do remember seeing angels in my room about an hour before delivery.
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“I thought it was the medication, but now goes to show God knows my pure heart & he knew I’d give my life in order to make sure my son is healthy & happy.”
Congratulations, Nayzia Thomas, on the birth of your son! We wish you the best as you grow into your new role as mother pursuing her education.
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