Going Home

So, true story - coming home from the hospital was a scarier than I thought it would be.  Simple little things, like how to get baby into the carseat and buckle if safely and driving on the road felt like large tasks at that point along the road to recovery.

While I was in the hospital, I got an email from Virginia Tech inquiring about a piece for a conducting etude book.  I talked it over and decided to participate in the project as a good first post-natal excursion back into composing.   So I signed the contract for a piece that would be due in December of 2022.  

Once we got home, we were very happy to be there and not have to move around too much while we found and settled into our new routine as a family.  In hindsight, I remember this time as being a smooth transition but I also remember struggling with feedings and lack of sleep as being very real struggles.  Even now, 6 months later - I sleep 4 hours maximum in a single stretch at night.

So those were the main challenges - sleep and food.  Thankfully, my mom was there to help us and she helped cook and clean the house so we could focus on learning more about what the baby needed. 

In all honestly, recovery took quite awhile and thats ok.  When I got home, I made the mistake of focusing on the baby so much so that my pain meds got away from me and I really struggled for a few days.  Once we realized the issue we were able to fix it but yes the learning curve on parenthood is very steep and immersive!    That '4th Trimester' was all about food! (still is! lol) 

6 weeks after delivery I turned 40 and the semester started.  I chose to go back to work and not take maternity leave. (more on that in the next post)