Zoë says, "Hear me roar!"

Zoë has been in daycare for almost a month now. Lisa and I have to say it has been going quite well. She gets all the socialization an infant needs as well as enough visual stimulation to at least put her out each evening at 8:30pm. So far, Lisa and I have been able to coordinate our schedules so that at least one of us will pick her up or drop her off. Next month when I'm in the NICU again and Lisa is on her call month is when our wits will be tested.
Another thing has lately put a slight dent into our daily routine - Zoë is starting to exhibit possible signs of teething, and she certainly has no shame in expressing her discontent. She will in fact go into intervals of screaming fits where nothing can console her except for the constant rocking motion of mom or dad holding her. This has seriously affected Lisa and me since we work long hours and every minute of sleep counts. As an example, I'm in the general care nursery now in charge of all the healthy newborns that are born daily at the University of Chicago. On weekends, I'm the only resident which means I have been getting up at 2am to start my prerounds on the floor at 3am. Last night, Zoë didn't sleep until 11pm. I got about 2-3 hours of solid sleep before going to work. Furthermore, Lisa and I have little time to ourselves to finish our work at home since we have to spend most of our energy trying to appease Zoë. Dictations, papers, presentations and readings occur in short bursts when one of us is able to put Zoë to sleep (mostly because she's so exhausted from screaming and crying). Today, I took Zoë out for a 45 minute walk in the area so Lisa could get her dictations done. I also don't have time to come home to take a nap after being at the nursery. Fatigue therefore has begun to accumulate in both of us. I'm exhausted just typing this (and pending if Zoë sleeps, I'm going to sleep real well tonight).
We both agree that parenting is the easiest and most enjoyable part of our lives. It would be completely easy if only one of us worked or both of us were unemployed (and honestly, we really don't know what all the hype about the challenges of parenting, etc. are coming from). Medical residency is the hardest thing both of us have ever done. It's physically, emotionally, mentally and intellectually grueling. Doing both parenting and residency is exponentially harder. On top of all this, having both spouses in the field has set the difficulty bar at a whole new level. Vacation is going to feel so sweet.
In order to end this entry on a high note, I'm including all the fun/happy photos of Zoë that we've taken in the last few weeks. Besides the unhappy moments she had with her possible teething issues, she has had A LOT of smiley and giggle times. I do plan on including an entry of unhappy Zoë pictures in the future because they're quite cute too . . . in retrospect.