I always thought babies had the perfect
little baby feet. My daughter has perfect little baby feet. It has taken a
while to write this because everything becomes so much busier when a baby needs
absolutely every minute of your time and my baby is no exception. We had our
daughter back in June and she’s perfect with perfect little baby toes.
When I first came to St. Croix, I joked
that I had retired from the law and I was now a beach bum, hence the name of
this blog. Since those first few months on the island, three years have passed,
I fell in love, I got married (to the person I fell in love with), I got back into law (licensed and all the fun stuff) and I became a mother (the father is that guy I fell in love with and married earlier in this story). I didn’t plan for any of it and it all worked
out. We also moved into a bigger place after having the baby and that has been
a challenge. We’re finally unpacked and ready to enjoy our time together.
Pregnancy was not easy for me at all. I was
sick almost every day of it except the last two weeks. I also now know the
location of every store’s island bathroom. My daughter was a few days late and
she did not want to come out so I had her via c-section which was not the plan.
I should have remembered that everything that happened after I moved to St.
Croix was not really planned so why would that go according to my plan?
As soon as I saw her, all the sick mornings
were worth it. She had the perfect everything. I wanted to exclusively
breastfeed her but that didn’t go according to plan either. So we are mostly
formula feeding now and I couldn’t have a happier baby. She smiles and makes
the cutest baby sounds. Our dog (she's adopted) is enamored with our daughter (her little
sister as we jokingly call her) and gently licks her and gives her the space
that a baby needs.
And in the midst of a pregnancy (that did
coincidently happen during a hurricane although it was definitely planned), I
became an attorney again. Being an attorney on an island is a little different
than being one in the states but there are a lot of similarities. There are
still deadlines but I get to meet them in flip flops on most days, and the
weather is always summer which I love.
My priorities have changed though. I prioritize my daughter and my family. They are the
most important to me. My work is also important but if my daughter needs
something or if it’s between watching her smile or reviewing a pleading on a
Friday night, I’m watching her smile instead.
We still have challenges on the island
(like no Starbucks or dunkin donuts) but everything is
just a little bit better and we smile just a little bit more because she’s in
this world.
