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!

Two Weeks Old!!!

We have a 2 week old....Yikes! Time is flying by and we can see her changing already. She definitely has more periods of quiet alertness or quiet wondering where she's just looking around and taking everything in. Fortunately, she's still that squishy little newborn that fits all folded up into our forearms.

Last night, we had some good sleep from around 11pm to 3am to nurse then we had some difficulty in getting her to go back to sleep. Mom helped out in getting her to lay down and finally around 5, she had to get a BM bottle. She fussed a bit more after and I guess mom took her to the couch to sleep a bit. I got up at 8 and she ate then. I didn't know where time went b/c I'm finally getting around to a shower around 10. The one thing I've realized is how hard it is to get everyone up, fed, changed, clothed and ready in the morning.

We did a photo shoot this morning/afternoon in the foyer and got some adorable photos in her tutu and laying on the lounger. However, it didn't come without a problem as of course, B decided to poop while diaperless on my white fuzzy photo prop blanket (however, a little oxyclean, dreft stain remover, and slight addition of bleach to the soak removed all traces of the stain). We interupted a bit for some feedings and cuddle time. Mom did leave around 1:30 to head home but we'll see her soon! It is getting dark so early anymore that it makes our photo shoots fairly limited to the morning as by 4pm the sun is already setting! I promise pix to shutterfly will be posted soon....

As for weight (see next paragraph), I'm about 22lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight but I see it slowly coming off...I gained about 40 pounds during the pregnancy...oh, about an ounce for each milkshake, cupcake, moment of weakness I had during the 279 days I was pregnant...now that I'm feeling better and not quite so sore, I'm eager to ease my way back into walking. Today, I put her all bundled up into the sling and we went for a walk with Crosby through the neighborhood to blowoff some stink. Erik mentioned "walk" to Crosby and she was like crazy, mad dog whining and running back and forth between the front window and the door to the garage wanting to go on her walk so we had to cave and go for a walk a bit earlier than I wanted (that was our first disruption to the photo shoot).

We ventured to Target in the evening to pick up some totes as one of those 4 loads of laundry was my summer and dress maternity clothes that I want to put away so I can regain some of my closet back (I'm still keeping my stretchy type fabric long sleeve shirts and pants b/c well, the shirts are easy with nice stretch for nursing so I don't stretch out my non-maternity long-sleeve shirts and my pants, well, let's just say have a nice elastic waist band as I'm not ready yet to face my pre-pregnancy pants).

We also picked up groceries at Giant Eagle and came home and made mushroom swiss burgers...they were so juicy and so yummy! 85% lean is the key to good hamburgers...less fat and too dry, more fat and not as healthy and way more grease. We then settled into the theater room for the night and watched Pirates 1 on BluRay while I finished prepping for my conference call tomorrow morning.

I had to make my decision last week about going to Houston b/c I had to book my airfare and after the bilirubin and nursing issues and the fact that I was sore, really sore, I decided it was in our best interest not to go....however, since Wednesday, I probably could have gone but I did what was best for our new family. So, tomorrow I have a conf call from 8-10 and 12-2 with my WPC cronies at the AMA meeting.

We have gotten a ton of cards and well wishes this week....everyone has been so kind and generous to us. We appreciate everything that has been done to welcome B into the world!