Hi Jardins
It is a very difficult time trying to write-up whilst in early pregnancy, I too found my brain was a little pre-occupied for serious studying! However, there are always more mundane things that can be completed during this inactive brain period which means you are still plodding along with it rather than putting it on the shelf for a while. It is a pain to lose a supervisor at a critical time are there no other supervisors that can have some input for you? I would think that the September deadline may be harder to acheive in your current position with some very challenging changes in circumstance, have you thought about a small extension? This may take the pressure off you at the moment and your brain may start to function again once the pressure has been removed. You are so near to your goal but as usual there are always other hurdles that came up just as you are reaching the finishing line. Don't despair as I am sure it will all work out and you will have acheived your PhD. Goodluck!

I'm very glad to have found this thread. I have just ended my fourth year pt of thesis writing. I was supposed to be submitting end of September BUT a) my husband started a new job 3 hrs away from home so was away all week, which meant I could not swan off to Paris (I live in France) to the library when I had my two DC to take care of, and b) I fell pregnant beginning May. I'm relatively philosophical about it all but one thing I have noticed is how all my creativity and writing ability go out of the window during the first months of pregnancy. I have been absolutely passionate about my thesis (baroque aesthetics in France) up until my pregnancy. I am sure my drive will return but I don't know how I will manage once the baby is born. I am doing my Phd with London uni, French Dept and researching in France. My next problem is that my supervisor will be on leave during the second part of the following academic year. I feel a little high and dry as I find it hard to imagine how I will complete this year without her!

Now who's being childish?

Hi everyone, how refreshing to hear other women in the same situation. I am 4 years into a six year PhD (part-time) where I have completed the practical phase rather promptly prior to DD arriving 8 months ago. The write-up phase is slow as DD gave me four months off with baby-brain! I am now trying to get going again and am snatching monday afternoons with her in nursery and naptimes during the rest of the week. Some weekends I manage to get dear hubby to amuse her while I work! However, I am now expecting (rather shockingly) twins in December and am really worried that I will never finish this thesis. Writing a thesis seems like feeling your way around a maze in the dark! Is this how you all felt? I so want to complete this as I have spent so long doing it so far but with three babies, is it possible? Or am I mad?!

Hello everyone. I am 1 1/2 years through a PhD and am pregnant with twins. Nice to hear that PhDs and children are not incompatible!

Thanks JJF. Yes, it is a PITA. Although, to be totally truthful, it is quite nice to think that now I don't have to push myself for a hwile! I can just be as pregnant and stupid as I want.

I finsihed mine just before dd was born and had the viva afterwards. Course, baby brain meant I could barely remember anything and kept being astonished by the panel

Hi traymca,

Well you are almost me! I am 35 and finished a PhD in psychology about 6 months ago (am now a post-doc) and had both my DC during that time (now 3 and 18 months). I was lucky in that I got 6 months maternity pay for both DC but I found it to be a really positive experience and I actually think it is a great time to have a baby as you are so flexible with your time.

I personally didn't manage to do much work when they were sleeping, perhaps more because it was so hard to switch between mothering and academic research - it still takes me a while to switch now after I have had a day with the DC and then I am back in work. But as growingup says, there's no reason why you can;t do this is you are very motivated and your baby sleeps well.

Presumably you are at least entitled to SMP and 6 months off? I would reccommend taking this if you can afford it, getting any work you can done during this time, and then getting childcare after that so that you have a number of hours that you can completely dedicate to your PhD and get it finished on time.

Good luck!

<<waves to growingup>> really sorry to hear your funding has dried up Hope you find a way around it somehow. I found it tough making up the fees for part-time study after I left employment (who'd paid my fees as part of staff development), and ended up taking on extra work- consultancy that I could do from home in the eves- to pay for the fees, but in doing so lost precious time on the PhD.

Hat off to you juggling finishing your second degree with a newborn, and for keeping up with your studies with such limited childcare. I think you are right- it is quite possible you can get a good couple of hours or more work done daily with a newborn- I've been known to at least read papers while b'feeding etc., but it is hard to predict how much work you can get done. Both my DCs were pretty unsettled babies, for various reasons which couldn't have been predicted, and my plans of getting much PhD work done in the early months had to be shelved. Luckily being part-time allowed me to have greater flexibility than full-time PhD students sometimes get.

traymca- I agree with you on being distracted when working from home, even if the DCs are at the minders! But like you my office at work is pretty quiet, and a PhD is such a solitary exercise it can get quite tough. I have to admit this past year to distracting myself on the internet a little too much when "working"! I now no longer have internet at home so try to focus on working in eves once the tidying up is all done without distractions, but it is a pretty lonely existence and can't wait to have a bit of a life again! (hmm, with 3 DCs under 5?!)

Hope you have a supportive supervisor and I'm sure so long as you can still muster plenty of enthusiasm for your subject you'll be fine!

I too am annoyed at having to work on the PhD this summer (again) and losing out on holiday time with the DCs...but for me I swear this is the last time!!

PS Baby was born in January, exams were in June - I only had about eight weeks of childcare before them, and even then it was only 3 hrs a day.