3 Months In

We survived the first 3 months.

And then some.







The delirium of waking in the middle of the night finally came to a close.

The babies fed every 3 hours for the first 11 weeks of their life.

Since it took me awhile to be able to tandem breastfeed without assistance, this meant that Chris or a family member was up with me every night, every 3 hours, for 11 weeks straight.

In between those hours, either Chris or I (usually me) would wake up completely convinced we had fallen asleep while feeding a baby and had squashed it.

We came up with a system whereby the panicked parent would ask the sleeping parent if there were any babies in the bed.

The sleeping parent (without even checking) would groggily reassure the other that all babies were in their cribs.

I don't know how to describe to you how terrifying it is to wake and not be able to figure out whether you're holding a pillow or a limp baby.
It's terrifying.

So...feeding, going mad that you're smushing a baby, the night sweats, recovering from surgery, awake all day...I think I was getting an average of 3-4 hours of sleep a night.

We were told when they were 8 lbs. they would sleep longer.
Nope.

Told at 7 weeks or so they'd sleep longer.
Nope.

Told at 10 weeks they'd at least drop one feeding.
Nope.

Going on an average of 5-6 hours of sleep a night for over two months made us both ready to sell the babies to gypsies.

Or just put them in the mailbox.

But they were already too big for the mailbox and we don't know any gypsies.

So we trudged on, and lo and behold, after almost 3 months of crying, waking, feeding, changing (lather, rinse, repeat) we finally broke new ground.

Both Master Benjamin and Master Colin can now make 12 hours without eating. They have to be resettled at about 4 am, but they don't have to eat.

But at the same time the boys starting sleeping through the night, they also decided that naps are for babies and gave them up cold turkey.

For a week straight anytime you would put them down for a nap they would sleep 30 minutes, then wake screaming and continue said screaming for as long as you'd let them.

This resulted in one very frazzled parental unit.

This last week they seem to have figured out that naps are not only necessary, but fun.

Most of the time when I go in to get them they are smiling and cooing and enjoying their crib.

There are many people to thank for getting us to this point:

1. Fisher Price for the swings.
2. My Plano Area Moms of Multiples mentor Colleen for the advice and support.
3. Our family and friends that have babysat, cooked meals, accompanied me to the doctor, gone grocery shopping, cleaned the house, done laundry, took our car in, bought preemie clothes, cheered me on and mowed the lawn.

4. Our church and Sunday School class for the food and love.

5. Our amazing photographer Janelle.

6. Our wonderful pediatrician Dr. McElroy and all his staff.

7. My caring perinatologist Dr. Weiss.

8. My wonderful OB Dr. Napier - who always made me feel like I was doing great even when I didn't feel great.

9. My incredible husband for being our rock

(I feel like I'm accepting an award or something. They give those out for new parents right?)

As we march on to month four, I still feel like I have more questions than answers:

Are they happy?

Do we have to bathe them every day?

Do we have to bathe them every other day?

Alright, do we have to bathe them more than twice a week?!

Is it okay that we think cereal is an acceptable adult dinner?

How do I get my friends to believe that a minivan is the best car I've ever owned?

And most importantly, how did we get chosen to be so blessed with these amazing little boys?