Time is free, but it's priceless

When I was a medical student, I frequently lamented about how little free time I had. (Medical professionals like to complain/brag about how hard they work.)

I now realize exactly how much free time I actually had.

Yes, I had rotations where I worked long hours, but whenever I left the hospital I was completely on my own schedule. I could nap if I was exhausted, I could go to the gym on the way home, I could watch 45 minutes of television if I just wanted to relax.

Now that I have a baby, time has a completely different meaning. Time is a precious commodity that I just can’t get enough of.  Even when I was home with the baby full time I barely had enough time to keep up with the necessities. Babies demand 100% of your time. ALL the time. Having a baby means you’re on baby’s clock. ALL the time. There really is no “spare time” anymore.

One thing that having a baby taught me is time management. I was always an efficient, time-conscious person, but now I am a time efficient machine. I can do laundry, cook, make phone calls, pick-up toys, answer emails, and pay bills in a single 45 minute nap. My study habits are amazing, just because I know it’s now or never; there’s no more “I’ll do it later.” I rarely procrastinate.

One thing that bothers me now is wasting time, especially if I’m away from home. There has been a lot of down time during our orientation – a downright excessive amount. We could have cut out 4 hours of down time yesterday. It kills me! I understand that I have a lot to learn while I’m a resident, and that means I have to be away from my family. I am (mostly) okay with that; now is the time for me to learn how to be a competent physician. I don’t want to sit around though. Making hours of small talk with people I barely recognize is even more painful now - I would much rather be with my husband & son.  My time is just too valuable to me now.

I frequently worry about how I am going to cram a lot of living in a little bit of time over the next few years. But now is not the time for worry; it’s time for bed. My husband always reminds me that time for sleep is important too.

Pre-Orientation Orientation

It is time to finally post an introduction. Sorry to the 36 visitors that I've had before this first post.

I am starting this blog as I am going through a major transition in my life. I have spent the last eight months at home, raising my son. (He was born 10/10/10 - my husband and I like to think we hit the baby jackpot.) Before I was a stay-at-home mom, I was a medical student. Long story short, I took a year off between medical school and residency to take care of my son full time while my husband continued to work.

It has been the most challenging and rewarding year of my life. More of that story will be told later.

 I start my medical residency in pediatrics days from now. My husband, an attorney, just left his job to become a stay-at-home dad while I complete my medical training. Why? It simply is what works best for our family. Well, we hope it is what will work best for our family.

We started the transition into our new lifestyle this week. I had what I like to call "pre-orientation orientation" at work. I spent half of the week at work, training in pediatric resuscitation. Of course, I started my triumphant return into medicine with a bang. When it was my turn to be code leader, the [fake] patient died. What a start back after 13 months off!

My husband and my son seemed to have a great start this week. My son was his normal, happy self with his dad. That was a huge relief. My husband went above and beyond his instructions to "stay alive until I get home" and had a good time with our kiddo. That was also a relief. I struggled a bit more as 1. I have spent the past 8 months reading "Quack, Quack!" and not studying medicine, and 2. I whole-heartedly missed being with my son.

That brings me to the point of this blog. I hope to use it as a tool to help me balance the many aspects of my life. The next few years will be overwhelming difficult, but they also will be overwhelmingly rich. I am blessed to have the two best jobs in the world - taking care of my child, and taking care of your children. I hope you'll stick around as I try figure out how to best take care of my child, your children, and myself! (And maybe my husband too.)