Time Crunch

Being a mom isn't easy.
Being a good mom is even harder.
But being a good working mom sometimes feels impossible.

Right now, I'm working long hours in the neonatal intensive care unit. I'm learning new things every day and trying to make a difference in some very tiny babies' lives, but this means a lot of time away from home. I work 6am-8pm most weekdays, plus Friday 24-hour calls every other weekend alternating with Sunday 7am-8pm shifts. I do get the "gift" of an early night once a week and get home around 5pm. Here is the insane breakdown of how my days look:

5am-6am - shower, get dressed, make lunches, leave home
6:30am-7:45pm - NICU
8:15pm-9:00pm - bug playtime
9:00pm-9:30pm - bug bedtime routine
9:30pm-10:30pm - relax time with hubby
10:30 pm- pass out in exhaustion

That's right. I have roughly ONE HOUR each night with my bug. I also have what amounts to ZERO time to prepare meals or clean during the week. It would be so easy (and, I think, understandable) if I were to just admit that this schedule has me beat. Then I could let the laundry pile up, stock the fridge with frozen meals, and lay comatose on the floor while the bug pulls my hair and piles blocks on my stomach. But that's not good enough for me. And it's certainly not good enough for my hubby and my bug who deserves so much more. To try and avoid the pitfalls of a schedule like this, I've set some goals for myself.

We're going to plan a silly fun activity to do together as a family on my one free night each week, fill our Saturdays with quality time, and I'm going to plan, organize, and prep all of our meals each weekend during naptime so that we can eat fresh, local, healthy food as often as possible.

I've had these goals in mind since the NICU started, but haven't had a chance to post them. I'll chime in each week with what we did and how the meal planning went...