Thursday, February 18, 2010

How many shoes can I wear...

when I only have 2 feet (or hats when I only have 1 head)? I must say recently I've felt pulled in so many different directions to fulfill so many different roles and I realize I have to start prioritizing what's important to me. This post is going to be a rambling so just a pre-warning.

Who am I? I'm a
Wife.
Mother.
Anesthesiologist.
Sister.
Daughter.
Granddaughter.
Niece.
Aunt.
Friend.
Employee.
Crafter.
Photographer.
Adventurer.
Leader.

I could probably come up with dozens more roles and positions but these give a good picture as to why sometimes I think I never truly have a handle on life as my to-do list grows exponentially by the day. Do I tackle too much? Of course! Do I try to do too much? I'm thinking so. Do I need to find a better balance in my life so I can fulfill my roles as completely as possible? I'm working on that.

Prioritizing and organizing my life (now, my home, that's a different story) have been current projects of mine. I want to maximize the time I spend with my family while still fulfilling my duties such as studying or paying bills.

It doesn't help things when I leave for work at 5:15 in the morning and don't return home until 6:00 or 7:00 in the evening.

Do I ever wish I was in a 9-5 world? Yes, but do I love what I do...that's a resounding yes.

This weekend will be tough because I'm on call from 7am-7pm Saturday and Sunday so I will barely see Brooklyn awake which just tears my heart apart...sometimes, I feel like I'm missing out on so much of her life and of my life in general. It's tough. It's even tougher starting back to work on this rotation and really, I feel like I watch the clock all day long until the room is over and I can hopefully go home.

Brooklyn has also been having a bit of a regression lately...she's spacing out her poops and last week went on Wednesday night but not again until Saturday morning and then starting Saturday night, she has been up every few hours at night for a comfort feed of maybe an ounce or two before going back to sleep. It's been frustrating to say the least. She finally pooped last night which I think helped her sleep cycle regulate a bit better as she was only up like 2 or 3 times to pop the pacifier in and eat.

Erik comes back tonight after being gone this week. Mom is out at the house. I swear she must be a light sleep because she's already with B and a bottle before I even hear her crying. It must be that I'm trying to maximize my REM sleep for the little time that I do get to sleep, I'm in a deep sleep.

So, I continue to play the waiting game on my room since my case was cancelled....

Now, trying to figure out my life and what direction I want to take with it....this is another story!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

We finally have...

Poop....
This girl was on a poop strike from Saturday morning until tonight! She was uncomfortable yesterday and had a ton of gas and was struggling to try to get the gas out. I got her some Prune-apple juice and pear juice at Giant Eagle and slowly gave her a bit of juice. We had her in the Bumbo while we got dinner ready and all of a sudden, B's face turned red and she looked like she was straining. Of course, the mother in me ran to get the video camera because Old Faithful was getting ready to explode and sure enough, within a minute, we heard the rumbling explosion and then it repeated itself.

Any mother knows that this is something you do not mess with...do not pass go...do not collect $200...just go straight to the bathroom and have a bath ready. By the time I lifted her from the Bumbo, my hand could already feel the wetness seeping out and I carried her like a fragile egg with her head and shoulders cradled in one arm and her legs in another. I had help in me stripping her down and running the water and wow...this was intense and greenish tinted and everywhere...

She got her bath and then was a happy little camper. She was starting to get tired so I gave her her bath and then went to pump for my last session but apparently she needed to go down immediately after her bath because I think she got a little too tired and was really fussy trying to go to sleep (she would sleep in my arms but the moment I would put her down, she would wake up and be this bright eyed and cheery little baby). M took her while I tried to get some studying done and get to sleep.

Otherwise, I can't believe it's Ash Wednesday already...man, time has just flown by and Easter will be here before we know it. I did get out "relatively" early from the OR today and had some interesting lessons on the heart and oxygen saturations. When I got home, B was out and about shopping and I was able to pump in peace and quiet (since I forgot my pump parts at home, I was quite uncomfortable by this time since it had been nearly 12 hours).