Night Shifts

I have found that there are a lot of pros and cons to working overnight shifts with a little one at home. Pros include being home during the day to see the things she learns, to spend time with her over breakfast and supper and to work while she sleeps. All in all, I miss less of her baby years. Cons include working overnight, missing our time together when I put her to bed (which right now I could probably put onto the pros list being she fights bedtime like a champ) and here is the biggie... sleep deprivation. Yes, I get to spend all this quality time with my baby girl during the day but how much of this time with her is actually "quality time"? I'm awake all day, work all night, sleep 3 hours and repeat this 3 days in a row. I really start to wear out. After that first day I find that I just can't be as relaxed/excited/playful as I would like to be with her. I find myself thankful she can amuse herself and than later I'm sad that she's having to play by herself. Obviously her learning how to amuse herself is a very good thing. I just wish I had more energy to spend time bonding with her while I work my 3 overnight shifts. On the otherhand, I'd probably feel just as guilty (if not more-so) having to put her in day care 3 days a week for twelve hours at a time. How do you decide which is the lesser evil???? On a happier note I traded my schedule this week so I will have Monday-Thursday off to catch up on energy and all those bedtimes I missed this weekend.