Afternoon all! Not too productive last night as hubby tempted me with two episodes of 'silent witness'. How could I refuse lol. Managed to remove another 200 words and read/reworded ch 3 and 4 discussions.

Mad morning getting baby boys inscisions re-stitched so that was a bad morning for work (down) . This afternoon, with one baby napping and just two playing I hope to start checking through my paper copy of the draft thesis for inconsistencies with headings, indents etc. Then will address these on the laptop this evening - no distractions!!!

Star-shaped - sounds like a bad morning for you, I hope the meeting with your supervisors goes well. Sounds like you are progressing well.

Sneaks - wow what a cleaning regime! I used do that to avoid my studies, now I am too busy and have a house that needs a good clean lol. I did wash the kitchen floor this morning before our appointment though. Bathroom got a good wash when I bathed the three babies this morning too :$

I would also agree with previous comments but would add that you may be delayed by other factors, ie university paperwork, supervisors commitment to you etc. These will affect your study duration despite your best efforts to complete in two years. I would have a time goal but be flexible about the submission date.

My advice would be to get this done before the baby arrives. In my experience small tasks worked well with my 'baby brain'. Set realistic smaller goals and the acheivement should spur you on. I found that once the baby arrived I was a zombie through sleep deprivation for 12 weeks until they started sleeping through the night. I took three to four months out of studying due to this. It is then harder to come back to the project after a few months away from it. I have to work evenings now as I am looking after babies during the day.

So my advice is to 1. speak to your supervisor regarding your progress and possibility of an extension in your circumstances. 2. See your dr/midwife to check on your iron levels if you are feeling tired and make sure you are eating/drinking well. 3. Get motivated to do as much as you can before the baby arrives.

Realistically, you are so close to finishing your PhD so please don't give this up!

Hi Ady, yep baby battered, bruised and now with incision infection, arghhh! V clingy during the day so no hope of working but am valuing the child free time. An emotional rollercoaster that leaves me little motivation for my thesis!

Sacrificed a small tree by receiving a printed copy of my thesis today. I have some editing and figure inclusions but it gives me a paper copy for formatting inconsistencies (or a new door stop and a years supply of toddler drawing paper :-x ). Submission seems more real now :-)

Ady - what is your friends secret, I dream of minor corrections. I totally understand your panic about writing it up. Seems like an insurmountable task but you will do it. As you can see my task are getting bigger too lol.

Sneaks - don't you love the universities 'happy new year and pay up or else' correspondance. I am theoretically due one soon but had a 6 months intermission so shouldn't pay til Sept 2011, sure they will forget! Will submit by then I hope!

Hi all, finally need to get serious and motivated! Parents have gone home now my twin baby has had his operation. Babies happy and packed off to childminder. Quiet and peaceful house, yeah!

My thesis editing is getting tedious.
Job 1. Having lost 6300 words, have just 700 left to lose.
Job 2. Ch3 Graphs to finish annotating.
Job 3. Ch 4, 5 and 6 graphs to annotate and add in.
Job 4. Add reference list
Job 5. Compile list of abbreviations.

That should keep me going for about a month lol. Will make a start today :-)

I think your first aim is to contact your supervisor and have a discussion about your options. They surely must be aware of your progress but in any case make your meeting with them open and honest, ie are there mitigating circumstances such as illness that may be taken into account for an extension? Your supervisor should be reading your thesis as you write-up so hopefully will be aware of the work needed for completion. I would think that it is not ideal to submit a draft of the thesis as this could lead to a MPhil or major corrections. Get in touch with the university tomorrow about this as it is urgent! Good luck

That is looming pretty quick! I am looking forward to the high energy viewing as a preview of what I have to come lol. I am hoping to submit in April and am taking it easy currently. I may look back on that statement and kick myself!!

Good luck with it all

Well done Jojo, either way you have passed! I think a well earned rest with a celebratory drink this evening is in order. Hopefully your external is going to be specific in his extra requirements so you can get the corrections done asap. Once done the award is all yours :-)

It sounds like the start date has been changed and therefore they have to readvertise the position again for a designated period of time to fulfill legal requirements. They will have to conduct short-listing and interviews taking into consideration new and existing applicants to make the process fair/equal. As long as you have formally expressed your interest for the new advert then you can only wait...........hard I know.

Haha Ady, that is a great way of putting it! Nice to know I am not the only nutty PhDer with multiples. Looks like we will be completing about the same time too. I am looking forward to being able to say that my greatest achievement is accomplishing my PhD with three babies under 13 months, arghh! Just got to pass my viva then :-)

In an ideal world women would be able to determine their babydays with full appreciation of their careers/studies. In the real world pregnancies may not be planned or may be planned due to maternal age related concerns or other such reasons. Some women cannot and would not terminate a baby for a PhD yet will aim to acheive both. It is not an easy route and not managable for all women. It is a learning curve in time management and juggling that can enhance a womens CV showing that she is determined and able to manage an intense workload. I admire all women who can deal with this challenging time and respect them for not giving up on something that they obviously long for.

Hi Hiccup, this is not unrealistic but you will need to be very organised. As Bilbo has said make the most of your study time with focused work and 'to do' lists to help you acheive this. I was starting year 4 (PT) when I had my daughter and in year 5 (PT) when I had the twins (oops lol). I am now just coming up to the end of my 6 years with submission date looming for May 2011. Fortunately most of my lab work was completed by the time my eldest was born and I went back while pregnant with the twins for a few days of intensive lab work for completion of the data. For both of the births I had 3 or 4 months off due to sleep deprivation etc. I was given a intermission period for the twins which puts my completion date to Oct 2011 but I plan to keep to the original date of May 2011.

So I think for you three days a week will be a great start and if you are organised you will acheive lots. I put my three into childcare for one afternoon a week for a peaceful house and it is amazing how productive I can be. Otherwise I use evenings once they are all in bed (after 7pm) and can get a couple of hours in before my bedtime, this is with a very understanding hubby who sits alone on the sofa lol.

It has not been easy though. When the twins came along I did have concerns whether I could write a huge thesis with three babies under 13 months. I was overwhelmed by the enormity of the write-up and needed to step back and review the situation. I had come too far to give up so I decided to continue. I had to break things down to very small chunks so that things were acheivable which in turn increased my motivation. During the day with the babies my mind would be going over the thesis and new questions would pop into my head while changing nappies etc! Have a pad and pen handy to write these thoughts down so that you can act on them later. Equally I have drawn up diagrams, chapter headings during the day in rough to perfect later. It is emotional warfare trying to keep the two areas seperate but if you try and concentrate on the PhD with babies around you will be disturbed, so best wait til bedtime! Now I have a thesis written and am now editing, formatting and adding figures etc. So I have not passed my PhD yet and that hopefully will be realised in a few months.

Good luck and if you need some moral support in this lonely PhD world you can always pm me

Jojo, good luck in the last prep. Don't do too much today as what is not remembered now is not worth remembering. You know your thesis and examiners work inside and out so you will do just fine. I have enjoyed reading your thread as you have put so much work and info into this. I am sure you will do really well and I will await your viva posting!

Make sure you take everything you think you will need as this gives confidence. Dress smartly but comfortably! Just remember that your examiners will most likely have walked this journey too so will know how you are feeling.

Thank you Dr Jeckyll, I think your point is very valid about flicking through to the appendices to see the graphs, much easier in the text. Blue also has a good idea with the key graphs in the text and the remainder in the appendices as the number of them is too large.

For ch 3, I think I may have key graphs in the text but the remainder in the appendices (in order for ease). That way I can add the graphs for ch 4, 5 and 6 in the text. Therefore some consistency is acheived across the chapters. I also have tables in all chapters so added to 60 graphs is an illustration overload in ch 2!

I am finding the graph annotation, numbering and insertion a tedious job and just want to get it right first time. I don't relish having to go back and redo this part. I am getting so near to finalising the thesis but still lots to do......ok relaxing now :-)

Hi All
I have got another 25 graphs to annotate, number up and insert into the thesis. My aim is to get as many done as I can before taking the family out for New Year tonight!

Some of the last formatting and editing is great to see the final thesis take shape but very tedious aswell. So keen to get it finished but correct at the same time - what a compromise lol.