First Week Back At Work

Well, I survived my first week back at work.  Actually, it was only a 3-day week since I didn't start back until Wednesday.  But it was a LONG 3 days!  I started getting sick on Tuesday (of course that would happen after having 12 weeks off) and that just made things that much more difficult. 

Getting used to our new routine has been the hardest.  I get up at 5:30 each morning and try to get myself all ready and then wake her up to get her ready for school.  However, she's still a bit inconsistent with her sleeping and so my plan doesn't always work out the way I hope it would. In fact, Wednesday she decided to wake up at 6:00 and didn't want to go back to sleep.  That threw a kink into my plan and so Shawn actually ended up taking her to daycare instead of me.   Thursday and Friday worked out much better when she slept until I woke her at 6:30. 

Each day feels so long.  Not only am I having to get up early to get us both ready, but I feel like after we put her to bed each night, I spend at least 30 minutes doing things to get us ready for the next day.  It just feels like an endless cycle.  Needless to say between not feeling well and getting used to our new schedule, I was worn out by 8:00 or 9:00 each night and usually would end up in bed shortly after Emily went to sleep.  I'm sure it will get better in time.

Emily made it through her first full week at daycare.  She seemed to do pretty well.  Starting Wednesday though (her first long day), she was just exhausted by the time she got home.  On Friday, I discovered why.  When I went to drop her off, one of her teachers told me that Emily is such an alert baby and loves to stay awake and watch everything going on.  She continued to tell me that Emily is going to be a wild one when she gets a little older.  Great, just what I want to hear!

So I'm glad both me and Emily made it through my first week back at work.  I won't lie, getting out and having adult conversation during the day is a nice break.  However, Emily is constantly on my mind.  I so look forward to the end of each workday when I get to go home to see her.  I struggle with the idea of knowing that she spends such long days at daycare.  I know at this time though, this is the best situation for us as a family.  So as a working mom, I will continue to focus on making the most of the time I do have to spend with her.