Night Floatin'

We're nine months into residency, and possibly the best part of it is how comfortable I feel about stopping by the hospital to give Will a meal, or just visit him. It isn't too frequently that we stop by to visit him during a shift, but tonight, the SICU was relatively low-key. We took Will dinner and I successfully handled two girls by myself. (It was our first outing just the three of us!)

Boo-yay! Baby in the ergo, baby in the stroller. This is us leaving the hospital - I wore Laura against my chest, and then tied my maternity coat around both of us (could not zip... and apparently look like the inverted humpback of St. Luke's). Grace wore pink, pink and more pink, and we sang "The Wheels on the Stroller" all the way home.

It's nice to have the break-up of routine, sometimes. It's cold outside and we don't have to take Will food, but that's part of building our little family. I always imagined I'd love Will the most on our wedding day - the day we made our vows as husband and wife. But last night, he took Laura in the middle of the night so I could keep sleeping. Tonight, he works night shift and I have her. 

Families take care of each other. When Laura cries, Grace crawls to her and sits next to her and tries to stuff the wubbanub back in her mouth. Our human experiences could be solo - we could eat apart, sleep apart, play and read and work apart. Humans, however, crave interaction and community with other humans. To need others is not a weakness; to accept love as freely as we give it is quite a gift too. Will's shifts tend to feel longer for me than him - he's got to do rounds, he has patients to see, a trauma comes in, someone needs something.

Life at home is slower. I can't grade with the girls (or very efficiently, at least) because they want my attention, and frankly, I want theirs. I love them, and I want to play with them too. They are only little for so long.

In the same vein, residency is only so long. I'll be glad when it's over, and I'm grateful it's now. I know we'll look back fondly on the day we needed only a singleton stroller or the ability to walk from home to the hospital, if only to drop off dinner in exchange for a hug and kisses all around.

Okay: Laura just fell asleep for the umpteenth time, and I'm going to end this post soon so I can dive beneath the covers before she wakes up again... the delicate dance of newborn sleep patterns!

**UPDATE: Apparently his night got way more busy after we left - no sleep till he got home 20+ hours later! Prayers for all involved in the many, many car accidents.