Update from the doc

Just for those who have been keeping track, I did see the doctor this week and we got some feedback on those Braxton Hicks contractions. Unfortunately (for me), he said we were right to take it easy whenever I got so many and that I should be resting as much as possible... though, no official 'bed-rest' or anything (thank you!). He checked me out and said (hopefully this doesn't weird people out) that I wasn't dilated yet, but I was 25% effaced, which may just be normal for me. Furthermore, he mentioned that if I did happen to go into premature labor in the next week and a half (till about Jan 7th or so), that they would try to stop it, but if I began anytime after that they would just let it progress completely.

I am REALLY hoping that I can at least finish this intensive class of mine the week of Jan 7th-11th, because it would relieve me from taking a 3-hr evening class over an entire semester... and, since it's not offered as a semester class this spring, it would effect our loan-repayment scheduling!... so, as excited as it makes me to think that this baby could come into my arms earlier, I'm really hoping he waits a few more weeks. :) Meanwhile, Christian is doing his best to help me out and we're taking small trips to stores to get all our last-minute buying in place.

Oh, and I never really talked about this on the blog yet, but I have progressed significantly with my dissertation! yaa! On December 17th I went in front of my dissertation committee and defended the initial part of my dissertation (called my proposal), and passed! In this proposal (which has a literature review, rationale for study, and a statistical methods section) I describe what it is I am proposing to accomplish with my dissertation. During the defense, my committee asked me various questions about what I would be doing and made sure that I understood the statistics behind it (not the easiest part for me). They also suggest various additions or changes that will hopefully make it a better study. Now, the next step is for me to actually do the study, analyze it, write it up, and then defend that :) easier said than done- but I'll probably work on that in late spring and early summer, so that I might have a chance to defend the entire dissertation next fall (we'll see :). Oh, and in case you are wondering, my title (thus far) is "An Alternative Approach to Treating Anxiety: A Meta-Analytic Review of Art Therapy Treatment Outcomes"... really interesting sounding, huh? :) Basically, I'm going to look at all the well-designed studies that use art therapy to reduce anxiety symptoms and I'm going to figure out how effective this intervention is in achieving this goal.

I hope you are all doing well. Much Love!