Trimesters and semesters

Today starts week 28 and the third trimester. I can't barely believe it. I guess we better get busy with the nursery! It's hard to settle into the reality of it. We have a follow-up u/s on Wednesday because the 20-week one showed that the placenta was a little low. I can't wait to catch another glimpse of the critter.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the grieving co-author situation. I decided to email her (least ambush-y). I just wrote that I got the email from the editor, and I asked her what she "would like to have happen." Kept it simple.

She called me almost immediately. One of her chapters is just about done, and she works on the other a little every day. She thinks she can get them done by the end of December. She wasn't put off by my inquiry at all, and she seems to share my eagerness to have this thing done. So, hey! It's the best response I could hope for.

We talked for over an hour. She is absolutely dreading the return to campus next semester because she doesn't want to deal with the I-heard-what-happened-and-I'm-so-sorrys or the mutually horrifying how-is-the-babys. She's had two of the latter so far, both off campus. But even the former lays her out for hours.

I don't know how she's going to do it. I turn it over in my mind as if it were a puzzle I could actually solve.

On my end I'm eagerly anticipating the end of this semester. It's so close I can taste it! But there is a crap-ton of work to do between now and then.