Trill, I know how it feels to lose your dog. It has been a month now since I lost my girl and sometimes I still expect to turn around and see her/have her come running to the door when I get home. It is hard to adjust.
Yay for summer semester being over - and double yay for recycled test questions! My psych papers tend to use up to 30% recycled multichoice, so by the time you have done a few old papers you can answer them automatically.
Not sure about the birth this time. DH admitted that he was being a twat and that it wouldn't have done W any long term harm if my mum had looked after him for a couple of hours. He regrets not being there for A's birth now so I think he will be a bit more open to child-minding options this time. He wants his mother to come up, but she would have to be there for at least a two week window to catch the event and I am terribly not keen on that. At least my mum would politely leave a couple of hours later.