One Week

Kate




Max

We came home on Friday, October 9th around 8pm. Phil & I unloaded the kids from the back of the truck, gently took them out of their car seats and placed them together in their crib, lying side by side for the first time. We grinned stupidly at each other as we beheld the wonder of our children.

Fast forward a mere two hours later when we are feeding them, Phil with Kate and me with Max. Our boy coughs and then proceeds to stop breathing, his face growing pale and his lips turning blue. Phil hurriedly puts Kate down and takes Max while I run for the phone to call 911. Max finally coughs again after some coaxing from dad and starts breathing. A few minutes later our nursery is filled with 2 policeman, 4 firemen and 2 ambulance drivers. Nothing like a boost of confidence for the new and naive parents! They check Max out and we bid them farewell and settle in for a shaky (on our part) first night home. Not much sleep was had.

I am happy to report it has been uphill from there! We have been home for one week. Time has stopped and yet has never moved faster at the same time. Personally I have not left the house since Monday and that was just for 2 hours to take the kids to the doctor. Shame.

Life has been wonderfully exhausting. Taking care of newborn (still 4 weeks til their due date) twins is all encompassing. Phil has been home this week and bless him for it. He has taken on his new role with nary a complaint and is such a help. We take shifts during the night; Phil takes the early shift from 7pm-1am while I sleep and then we switch. This works well and you are always glad when your solo time ends and you can crawl into the bed in our room for a few hours of undisturbed shut-eye.

A sample of my shift:
1:00AM-rise to pump
1:30ish- prepare the babies' bottles and wake Phil.
2:00AM-feed two starving children simultaneously thanks to our second pair of arms aka the boppy pillow. This includes keeping Kate awake so she actually takes a full feed (less than 2 ounces), burping a very gassy Max at least 3 times, changing Kate's diaper mid-feed to wake Sleeping Beauty, change Max, bundling both babes up again like little burritos, resume feeding Kate with one hand and Max the other, final burps and toots, kisses and prop both back in the boppy together.
3:15ish AM- pump again. :)
3:45AM- place both babes in the crib and fall into the twin bed and try to fall asleep listening to baby sighs, moans and groans and Max's toots, surprisingly loud for a little man!
4:00AM- hopefully I am asleep.
5:00AM- wake & repeat...

I have come to the harsh realization that I can no longer do it all and if I try to on my low tank of sleep I get grumpy and invariably fall short of my housekeeping/mothering goals. Where I could once tackle the entire house cleaning duties, make dinner, shower, run errands, relax, etc. now takes me the course of a week, and even then I fall short. I have no less than 5 loads of laundry waiting to be folded at the moment but at least they are clean. (Folding is my goal before I retire this evening, no promises).

I know this period is short and soon we will have a nice routine that involves more sleep for everyone and that a clean house doesn't matter so much at this point, though it certainly makes me feel better. I am the lucky mother to two beautiful children. I get to nibble on soft floppy baby ears and breathe in the sweet smell of their skin, rub my cheek on their downy hair and feel the warmth of a little body nestled in the crook of my neck. I wouldn't trade that for anything.