Back to Work

Today was my first day back at work after a 2 month maternity leave. I was really nervous about having to go back. Since I left, our team has merged with a new team and moved to a new office building. I only know a few people at this new building and my best friend Karen is still at the old building. All those things made it really hard to go back.

I knew where to find my desk. I had been there once before and I remembered the steps. But I don't know where anything else is. Hard to believe, but I'm fairly directionally challenged. I rehearsed the directions to my desk in my head over and over all morning just to make sure I could get there okay.

This new building is really confusing to me. It has two buildings - Building 1 and Building 2 - that are interconnected by a breezeway. I honestly do not know which building I work in. Like I said, I just memorized the directions to my desk and any mention of Building 1 or Building 2 is just confusing to me. Show me where to go and I'll be fine. But don't tell me.

I am sure that in time this building will become as familiar as the other building, but in the meantime it's difficult.

Also difficult was getting out the door with a baby this morning. I ended up leaving the house about 30 minutes after I had planned. Everything just takes longer than I think it should and there are a lot of things that have to be done at the last minute.

As I was getting ready to head out the door, I realized just how many bags I needed for a day of work. This picture below contains all the bags that I have to take with me every morning.

Bag List, according to Emily - my "pumper bag", my laptop case, Noah's bag, Noah's bottles, my purse (which I could not find because I haven't been using it the last couple months, but finally I did).


Mike and I have worked out a schedule for our new "normal." In the mornings, Mike will take Emily to his brother and sister-in-law's house to catch a ride to school. I will take Noah to his mom and dad's house.

If I work from home, Mike will pick up Emily from his parents house and I will cook supper. If I work from the office, I will pick up Emily and Noah and Mike will cook supper. How long do you think that will last?

Next week will be the real test of our new schedule. I'm definitely going to have to work on my morning routine. I may have to shift my showers to the evenings. I tested that out earlier this week, but I don't know if I could do it every day. I really don't want to have to get up at like 4am to make this work.

So that's how my first day back to work went. I know it will get better from here. I like my job very much and I am excited to see what changes will be coming my way with the new organization. I think the changes will be good for me and my career once I get settled back in to the routine.

Noah's first day at Nanny and Poppa's house went well. He ate about every 2 hours, which is not all that uncommon for him. He goes back to the doctor next week and I am anxious to see how much he weighs now. That boy eats a lot! Every time he wakes up, he expects to eat something. He slept on the bed a couple times so that was good too. It won't take him long to settle into the new routine.