Cardiologist Mom / Maternity Leave

Ava was born on August 10, after a very good and uneventful pregnancy, after years of trying to make her, without success, and getting just plain lucky.

And here she is at 8 days:

And here.  Look at that smile, oh my gosh!

This is my first day back at work at 16 days.  Baby came to the office while I saw patients over a couple of hours.

Why back at work so soon?  Because, it's my practice.  It's hard to step back, and not lose patients.

I did take a full two weeks off.  I had carefully planned over the months of my pregnancy to schedule the majority of follow ups in October and November so that this time wouldn't be so busy.  Also, I was fortunate to have Dr. Alice Perlowski fill in at the office a couple of days, to see patients who had urgent issues and needed to be cared for.

I'm back in the office on a part time basis, for now just the mornings.  Baby is at home with our nanny while I'm at work at this point, she has a bottle of breast milk while I'm gone.  I feed her right before I leave, and right as I get back home from work.

While I love having my own practice, and I don't regret for one second going solo nearly two years ago, this would be one big down side.  I don't have the luxury of being able to take two or three months off completely.  

That said, I've done my best with the situation, to strike a balance between feeding and raising my baby, and keeping my business going.