Maternity leave ends, Sara returns to work, Oren starts childcare

September 28th marked my return to work after 12 weeks of recuperating from child birth and caring for our little man. I'm so glad that we had the time together to bond and get to know each other! I'm not going to lie though, it was challenging for a new mom (with zero experience with an infant). It took 6 weeks to gain some confidence, 10 weeks to really start enjoying him , and then all of a sudden it was over.

Oren and I took many walks in the neighborhood (thank goodness he was a summer baby), did LOTS of his laundry, and tried to venture out as much as possible. Taking care of a newborn was a full time job, so not once was dinner ready when Todd got home from work! I had the disillusion that I'd have all this time to work on projects, answer emails, etc.... not the case...some days it was noon before I showered. But during the past 3 months, he's genuinely started to smile a lot, now talks a lot, and has grown substantially! We call him "our happy baby". He has slept through the night twice, but typically wakes up around 2 or 3 a.m. Luckily, after eating he does fall fast asleep again.

So now we've started his next phase of infanthood. And we're fortunate enough to have a strong support system and flexible employers. Mondays, Oren is cared for by either Sara's mom or Todd's mom (yes, they drive from Pittsburgh and Dayton, respectively). Tuesday through Thursday, Oren is in daycare. And I work four 10-hour days in order to have Fridays with him. I wake up at 5 a.m. in order to be at work by 7 a.m. and end my day at 5:30 p.m. It is a long day, but worth it.