We don’t have any family here. Although they have visited and helped us cook meals and do chores, they are not around for day-to-day help. So, we feel that we depend on each other and on our friends even more. We have loads of good friends in town that have cooked us meals, held Rachel, and supported us. Perhaps my biggest supporters in town in my world as a new mom are Sarah and Cathy.
Sarah and Cathy are two triathlete mommies in town. Sarah and Scott had Brooklyn at the end of July; Cathy and Christ had Amy at the very end of August. Us mommies hung out loads during our pregnancies and have enjoyed the first few months of having infants together. Sarah and Cathy have been great 'Mommy mentors' to me in person, and I have several other helpful friends who are moms online and on the phone.
We go to BabyTalk class together every Monday. We have pretended to do yoga together, which usually means we do a few poses between feeding and changing our girls and then drink tea and eat cookies. We walk, hike, swim, and do weights together in whatever capacity our babies will allow. Sarah and I recently went snowshoeing together. It’s these times together that we can laugh and play and celebrate being mothers and being fortunate enough to have these amazing times together with our children.
When Sarah is too busy with the other 18,000 things she does or now that Cathy has returned to work, I fill my days without them. My friends Tobi, Tamsyn, and Tricia are also pregnant and I can talk about being a mom with them! Jason works split shifts most days so we have a great scenario of time together in the middle of the day. Often we go to Nickel Plate and go skiing. Other days we have appointments and errands to run together. Sometimes I go skiing, running, walking, errand running, or shopping just with Rachel. Other days Rachel is fussy and I feel stuck with her in the house.
Since I’ve spent the good part of the last 7 years focused on being a therapist, it’s very strange to be at home not working. It’s a huge adjustment. There are wonderful things about it, but I do miss working and the stimulation and productivity of work. It’s nice to see patients and make money in a day and look back and feel like I did something useful. I’m still wrapping my head around the notion that taking care of Rachel all day is the productive thing I’m doing right now… and I can’t feel guilty or lazy if I didn’t get to much else.
Rachel is so darn cute and such a fantastic baby that being a parent has been a fantastic blessing and journey for both Jason and I. Of course there are some challenges, but each day is filled with tender and magical moments and things that crack us up and keep us falling more and more in love with our little girl.
