Brian is Licensed!

More good Brian news (it's his year!): Yesterday my hubby received notice that he passed his exam to become a licensed counselor. It's just a matter of time before the paperwork goes through and it's official!

Pregnancy Update (38 wks)

Had another doctor's appointment this morning. I'm 1 cm dialated and about 70% effaced, so things are moving in the right direction! My belly measured 39 cm and the baby's heartbeat was 146. By feeling my belly the doctor thought the little bean was about 7 - 7.5 lbs. I think he has dropped in the last day or so, which is a nice relief from the pain I was having in my ribs!

2 More Weeks!

As of yesterday we are 2 weeks away from our due date!

We spent the weekend getting things wrapped up. We pretty much finished off our registry with the necessities and I spent yesterday cleaning house and getting the last of the Christmas gifts wrapped, cards signed and thank-you notes done. It's going to feel GREAT having all those things go out in the mail this week. I think we're just about ready for the little bean's arrival (can you believe it?)!

Pregnancy Update (37 wks)

Had another doctor's appointment this morning. I haven't had any contractions so they didn't check me (for dilation, effacement, etc.), but they will next time. My belly measured 39 cm, baby's heartbeat was 139. Blood pressure looked fantastic, so that's an improvement from my last appointment. Swelling has gone down some, too. He's still head down and in a great position. By feeling my belly the doctor guessed he was pushing 7 lbs and was long. We shall see!

3 More Weeks!

Here's a photo of me in the little bean's nursery, taken yesterday (when I was exactly 37 weeks pregnant).

My friend Heather, who was due exactly 2 weeks before me (December 10th), called me Friday morning to tell me she had her baby. That's when reality hit that we are not far behind!! Since we had a bad snowstorm that day here in Chicago and neither I nor my boss wanted me to have my baby in a snowbank, I stayed home and did Christmas cards and thank-you notes. Then this weekend we worked on getting my hospital bags together. Thanks to Heather for the kick in the pants to get some things done!

Brian is ABD!

Congratulations to my hubby, who is no longer considered a doctoral student. He is now officially "ABD," meaning "All But Dissertation." He defended his specialty comps (the last step in his course work) today and passed. Woo hoo! This means he can start looking for teaching positions and start working on his dissertation. What a milestone after 5 years of hard work. There is light at the end of the tunnel.... He's almost done! He is shooting for a May 2008 graduation, but that is a short time frame compared to how long it takes most people to write a dissertation, so that is a very aggressive goal. Hopefully his time home with the little bean will make it easier to get it done that quickly (we're hoping the little guy is a good napper)!

To learn more about Brian's program and what he has gone through (and what's to come), click here. Information about the comps he just passed is under "Examinations."

Next semester he will be teaching a class at Argosy (2 weekends), 2 at Concordia (1 night/week... 2 back-to-back sessions) and one at NIU (1 night/week)... all Master's level courses. He is very excited and this will be great experience for him, too.

Everyone be sure to congratulate Brian on his phenomenal accomplishments. He doesn't check the comments on this site much (if at all!), but you can email him at bdub77@comcast.net!
I'm just so proud....

Pregnancy Update (37 wks)

Click here for nursery photos!

We were very generously showered last Thursday (11/30). My office threw me a surprise shower over lunch, and Brian's office threw us a shower that same day (which his dad drove up from St. Louis for)!