Taking me back to the early days

Nearly all of my recent posts have focused on summer or the upcoming school year. So, I'm going to switch gears. It's been over 17 years since I became a mom and my youngest was born six years ago. It's been a while since I was in a hospital room recovering from childbirth.

I have a part time job photographing new babies and their families in the postpartum unit at a nearby hospital. I spend my time there connecting with new moms and cooing over their adorable little ones as I snap their first shots. I've been there done that. Five times I've been in the hospital with my newborn. In fact, I've worked at three different hospitals as a photographer and I'm now at the one where I delivered all of my boys. It's fun. I remember a lot of the staff members. The rooms are familiar. Although it's been many years since I was there as a patient, it kind of all comes back to you.

I remember the frequent wake-ups to check vitals. The agonizing up and down from the bed after my c-section. The aching to be with my little ones, especially #1 (who was in Neo-natal for 10 days) and #2 (who was in special care under billirubin lights unable to be held.) I recall that deflated feeling in my gut when my boys were circumcised. I remember walking the nursery to retrieve my other little guys, trying to get the hang of nursing and chatting with my roommates (at the time there were double rooms - not privates like they have now.) I remember enjoying the candlelight lobster dinner with my husband that they offered new parents on the terrace. I remember feeling so unsure of what I was doing the first time around and how heart wrenching it was to head home and have to leave my baby behind.

It's also interesting to see how things change. They used to recommend sleeping on the side. No more. Now they tell you to not even use blankets. There's no more baby powder use. Pacifier use is reserved for the bottle feeding babies. Rooming in is the norm, whereas they used to require baby to be in the nursery if you wanted to nap or rest. Now baby stays in the room with you, even if you can't keep your eyes awake. It's a given that dad stays in the room with mom these days, but when I was there, there wasn't any space for a cot or pull-out bed for a guest to stay in the room with you - there was barely room for a chair at the end of your bed.

It's a nice walk down memory lane to a time in my life that I cherish.

Being around babies again

Well, after eight years of being a work-from-home/stay-at-home mom after leaving my full-time job to raise my family, I'm now back in the working world. When I started seeking out a part-time job recently, I thought about my work experience and what kind of job I might enjoy. I didn't want to go into it knowing it would be a place I'd dread going every day.

I worked at a couple fast food places back in high school, but have no desire to go into food service -- just don't feel like dealing with the occasional crabby customer I'd encounter and I'd probably put on 50 pounds being surrounded by food all day. I also remember that is was really hard work and really low pay, which is easier to tolerate when you're a high school student.

During and after high school I was an administrative assistant. I loved it. The office environment suited me well. I liked working with people, paperwork and computers. I sent out some resumes, but decent paying part-time office jobs don't come along that often. I also knew I'd continue writing and wondered if it would be too much to sit at a computer at home and do the same at work.

I've always wanted to work a retail job, if only for the holiday season. I consider myself a people person - friendly, helpful and like to help find information or problem solve. A bonus would be that if I worked at one of my favorite places, I'd get a heads up on the sales and probably a nice discount. I considered it, but the places I seeked out required long weekend and evening hours.

One day I was searching online and found a job posting that was intriguing. I always thought it would be neat to somehow be involved in weddings or with new babies -- somehow able to share a life changing day with someone. I've also always liked the hospital environment and especially the nursery, which is full of caring people on a floor that usually results in a happy ending to a hospital stay. I think I have the compassion for nursing, but maybe not the stomach. Besides, my kids are still young and I wouldn't want to jump into going back to school for nursing and then likely onto a midnight shift as the lowest person on the totem pole working all the weekends and holidays. I knew I wanted something part-time for now. Anyway, I spotted a job for a newborn photographer in a hospital. It sounded like a great fit. It was part-time and allowed to be around babies and use the photography experience I've gained over my years of freelancing.

I'm still pretty new to it all, but so far I'm having a great time. How can you not be happy being around newborn babies? I get to go to work everyday and see a new miracle that has just entered the world. Even though it's quite difficult to catch a smile on the face of a 1-day-old, I'm around smiling parents, grandparents and staff each time I go to work. A smile can go a long way.