A day in the life of a twin mommy

Midnight: Alarm goes off; wake up to pump (daddy is with babies downstairs).  Chug some water and eat a handful of trail mix.  Read Glamour magazine while pumping.

12:20 am: Go back to sleep.

3:00 am:  Alarm goes off; supposed to wake up to relieve daddy of baby duties, but turn off alarm in dream.

3:20 am:  Wake up to baby's cries downstairs.  Get up quickly, muttering an expletive about sleeping through alarm.  Go downstairs, refill water, prepare to nurse Felix.  Daddy wakes Asher to join in the nursing fun.

3:45 am: Babies have fallen asleep.  Get up, change both babies' diapers.  This wakes them; nurse again.  Check email and facebook on iPod Touch.

4:10 am: Swaddle and lay down both babies in Pack N' Play.

4:15 am: Chug more water; fall asleep on couch.

6:45 am: Asher wakes up.  Nurse him until he falls back asleep.

7:00 am:  Felix wakes up.  Nurse him until he falls back asleep.

7:10 am:  Felix wakes up again.  Change his diaper.  Wake Asher, change his diaper.  Nurse both babies.  Burp.

7:45 am: Lay a sleeping Felix down.  Asher begins screaming for unknown reason.  Cuddle him.

8:00 am:  Daddy comes downstairs, ready to leave for school.  Kiss husband goodbye, jealous that he gets to leave the house.

8:01 am: Try to lay Asher down, begins screaming again.  Swaddle him tightly, cuddle again.

8:05 am: Asher is finally fast asleep - lay him down.  Chug water, lie on couch, fall asleep.

9:50 am: Phone rings, ignore it and hope it doesn't wake the babies.  It doesn't.

10:08 am: Felix wakes up.  Change his diaper.  Wake Asher, change his diaper.  Nurse both babies.  Check email and facebook on iPod Touch.  Burp.  Asher spits up all over me, but somehow misses his own outfit.  Lay both babies down; run upstairs to change into new clothes (also pajamas).

10:40 am: Felix is still hungry; nurse again.  Burp.

10:50 am: Lay Felix next to his brother.  Asher spits up.  Change his outfit.  Let dogs outside.  Make a bowl of cereal.  Let dogs in.  Inhale bowl of cereal while a baby begins to cry.

11:00 am: Put babies in vibrating seats.  Put on annoying baby classical music CD.

11:02 am: Gather diapers, go in laundry room, put on gloves and hold breath - put diapers in the washing machine.  Felix begins crying.  Quickly gather trash and bring outside and put into bin.  Felix has fallen asleep.  Asher is now crying.  Take him out of seat, lay him down to look around.  Asher stops crying.

11:15 am:  Put dishes in dishwasher, start dishwasher.

11:20 am:  Felix is awake again.  No one is crying.  Decide it is safe to make my morning coffee.  Both babies begin to cry.

11:25 am: Bring coffee into livingroom, set on end table to get cold.  Gather both babies and nurse them.  Drink lukewarm coffee and check email while nursing.  Both babies fall asleep.

12:03 pm: Felix stirs and spits up on me.  Luckily he is wearing a bib, so he does not need his outfit changed.

12:15 pm:  Lay both babies in Pack N' Play.  Swaddle tightly.  Put away nursing pillow.

12:17 pm: Reheat coffee in microwave.  Chug water.

12:20 pm: Sit down, watch TiVo, sip coffee. Ah.

12:30 pm: Asher wakes up.  Nurse him until he falls back asleep.

12:40 pm: Lay him back down.  Go upstairs and brush teeth, wash face, and fix hair.

12:45 pm: Uncle Chris comes over on his lunch break to help with babies.  Since they are sleeping, he helps mommy by providing adult conversation instead :)

12:46 pm:  Asher stirs again.  Re-swaddle.  Back to sleep.

1:00 pm:  Put diapers into dryer.

1:10 pm:  Make peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.

1:35 pm: Chris leaves to go back to work.  Look at "to do" list.  Decide not to do any of it. Watch TV/check email instead.

2:25 pm: Asher begins to stir.  Grab diapers from dryer.

2:30 pm: Asher cries. Loudly. Change his diaper.  Still crying.  Lay him down to wait while I wake Felix and change him.  Need to change Felix's outfit because his diaper leaked.  Manage to get him clean and dry without him crying.  Asher still crying.

2:40 pm: Nurse both babies.  Burp.

3:15 pm:  Aunt Alysa comes over after work to take a walk.  Asher is crying. Felix also begins crying. Contemplate not going on walk, but decide mommy really needs to get out of the house.

3:30 pm: Put babies in Ergo carriers (I carry Asher, Alysa carries Felix), hook leash on Gracie, and hit the road.  Meet another mom of twins on the walk - her babies look huge next to mine (they are 5 1/2 months old)!  Babies sleep during the whole walk.

4:30 pm:  Return from walk.  Nurse babies.

4:50 pm: Say goodbye to Alysa.  Change diapers.

5:00 pm: Turn on NPR on the stereo.  Fold diapers while babies listen to the day's news.

5:10 pm: Felix begins to cry; nurse him.  Play Sudoku on iPod Touch.  Burp.

5:25 pm: Read 2 Dr. Seuss baby books to babies.  Make it through 2 of them before they begin to fuss.

5:30 pm:  Put babies in activity gym.

5:31 pm: Asher cries.  Take him out, cuddle him.

5:40 pm: Felix cries.  Take him out.  Put both babies in their vibrating seats.  Unload dishwasher while there is peace.

5:45 pm: Asher cries. Pick up and cuddle.

5:46 pm: Felix cries. Cannot pick him up since I'm already holding Asher.

5:55 pm:  Nurse both babies.  Catch up on phone calls.  Burp both babies, put them down.

6:15 pm: Asher cries.  He quiets with a pacifier and cuddling.

6:30 pm: Daddy comes home.  He changes diapers, warms up bottles, reheats dinner, makes brownies, and feeds the dogs.  Felix begins to cry.

6:45 pm: Put babies in their seats and feed them bottles.  Burp.  Allow vibrating seats to do their magic.

7:10 pm: Organic beef stew and french bread for dinner.  Time for a beer.  Babies blessedly sleep throughout dinner.  Mommy and daddy both eat a hot meal.  Together.

8:10 pm: Mommy starts getting ready for bed.  Babies start fussing.  Mommy and daddy have almost nightly conversation about how much easier it would be to have one baby.

8:30 pm: Shower.

8:45 pm: Pump.  Read Glamour magazine while pumping.

9:00 pm: Go to sleep.

11:10 pm: Wake up from nightly dream that babies are in bed with me and I may smother them.  Realize they are downstairs, and go back to sleep.

12:00 am: Alarm goes off; wake up to pump (daddy is with babies downstairs).  Chug some water and eat a handful of trail mix.  Read Glamour magazine while pumping.

But...it's all worth it for this...

Words to Live By

I have found a lot of books helpful in preparing for having twins, but one in particular was both informative and humorous - and when you're sleep deprived and stuck at home every day, humor is necessary!  This book is "Ready or Not...Here We Come!" by Elizabeth Lyons.  In the chapter on 0-3 months, the author lays out "Mantras for Keeping Your Sanity."  I find these extremely helpful to remember each and every day.  And since I cannot form my own thoughts lately, I decided to share them with you all :)

1.  I will sleep again.

2. I will keep my sense of humor.

3.  I will be flexible.

4.  Nothing magical happens at the six-week mark. (This is true - we have passed this mark and nothing drastic has changed!)

5.  It matters not if I shower each day or put on clothes.  After all, I've been dreaming of a day I could spend in pajamas from dawn until, well, the next dawn.

6.  We would not have been given these babies if we could not do this.

7.  Breathe. Smile. Love.

8.  Sweet Jesus, if you're there, help!

There you go.  If you see me in the next few weeks, and I look a little frazzled or crazed (or both), feel free to repeat these mantras to me.  And now, some gratuitous baby pictures.

I am working on some postings which include a day in the life of me and the babies (very exciting, as you will see) and also a profile of each baby - they are individuals already and we definitely want to foster that.  But, I will need a bit more sleep and/or time in the day.  As it is, I am typing this while both babies are occupied in their vibrating chairs (by occupied, I of course mean napping).  But, I do intend on keeping up this blog, so bear with me!

Sleep...how I miss you!

I just wanted to post these pictures - sleep is a hot commodity around our house lately, and when it comes it is so sweet...

But, most often this seems to be how the babies feel...

Halloween 2009

Sorry this is a week late!  Life has become both extremely busy and extremely monotonous at the same time, so it is rare to find moments to blog.  But, I know I will appreciate looking back on this site in the years to come, and I know so many of you look forward to seeing updates, so here I am!  Chugging coffee and typing as fast as I can before the babies wake up again!

Asher and Felix reached the crucial 4-week mark last Friday - babies before 4 weeks old who contract a fever are subject to a full sepsis workup, including a spinal tap, and so our doctor advised us to keep them away from people as much as possible until 4 weeks.  Luckily, Halloween fell the day after week 4!  During the day, our friends Kristen, Ron, and their 7 month old adorable boy Aidan were in town from SC and staying with our other friend Jennie.  The whole crew trekked out to our house to visit and meet the babies.  It was so neat to see Aidan crawling around and playing with toys - it showed Eric and I what we have to look forward to in a few short months!  As everyone does, our friends commented on how tiny the babies were - even though they seem so huge to us since they started out so small at birth!  But, it makes sense that they would seem small since Aidan was almost 9 pounds when he was born!  It was a great time hanging out, catching up, and talking baby.  We look forward to visiting them in SC when the babies are a bit older!  We forgot to get a picture of the babies with Aidan, but we did snap some pictures of the babies in their Halloween onesies (Felix in orange, Asher in black).

And of their first "tummy time" session!  They did awesome - Felix has great neck strength already, and Asher is quickly catching up!

The fun didn't stop there!  Our good friends, Chris and Alysa, throw a Halloween costume party every year, and we were so happy to be able to finally bring the babies out into the world - and in cute costumes too!  They had a blast (meaning of course that they slept virtually the whole time), and mom and dad were happy (although exhausted) to be out of the house and surrounded by good friends.  We were a "safari" family, with dad as a tribal warrior, mom as a tourist, Felix as a giraffe, and Asher as a tiger.

It was a great day all around, and we look forward to many more to come!