Past Posts

May 24, 2010

Project Twin Preparation! How our family is getting ready for the chaos that begins in October.

This morning I woke feeling stoked.  Totally mentally prepared to be a mother of FOUR.  Ben even said, as I calmly dealt with Lewis sticking his fingers in the peanut butter and Art's strong desire for... something... that I was "on FIRE!"  And I was.  I was the super breakfast-making, kid-soothing, playdate-planning mom.  I didn't even feel nauseas!  Until I drank some orange juice with my breakfast.  That was an unfortunate decision.

Anyhoo, we are readying the house for the impending challenges.  I have revamped our laundry system by making a central hamper in our linen closet where previously there were drawers.  I've stored every bed's sheets under their respective beds (in  lidded boxes, of course) so there will be no searching for the correct set.  We have the minivan. That's working out great.  Lewis is out of the crib and comfortable in his lower bunk under Art, so that's good, too.  We have added shelving to storage closets so their contents are more accessible.  I will soon index much of what is in those closets so we will not have to waste time looking for things.  I am leaving Lewis diaper free for long stretches of time in my determined efforts to have him potty trained by twin-arrival.  So far so good.  He can hold it until a potty is present, or until he laughs or cries really hard.  Whichever comes first.  And I have weaned him off being carried so as not to be lifting any more "heavy objects" as I continue to grow.

Mentally I am preparing as well.  I practically meditate on the physical and emotional challenges of raising twin infants.  The sleeplessness, the monotony, the desperate attempt to stay loving and attentive to my two older children, at least for small parts of the day.  The other night I was up several times before morning to go to the bathroom or shake out my Restless Legs (a very annoying and unfortunate pregnancy symptom of mine) and I reminded myself of the plain reality that sleep will probably come in 30 to 90 minute intervals for a long time.  That's infant raising.  But it IS temporary.  But with two, even if they eat simultaneously and wake, or are woken, simultaneously they still require twice the diaper changes, twice the burping time and twice the soothing to sleep time.  There goes the two hours of sleep I used to grab with Art or Lewis when they were new.  

Well, things could definitely be different.  You really never know.  Both of these new babies could be marathon sleepers from an early age.  Maybe one of them will be that elusive baby that needs to be WOKEN to eat enough during the day!!  (I've never met one, but I hear there are such newborns.)  But just to be safe I am tearing my house apart and trying to put it back together in a new and almost-run-itself efficient way so those precious minute of sleep are not lost to trying to find the stain stick.

1 comment:

reanbean said...

Hey Jess,

I remembered a FB post where you mentioned this blog and finally got around to checking it out for myself. This post totally cracks me up and makes me wish that you still lived just around the corner so we could be crazy twin moms together!

I'm sending champion sleeping vibes your way so you won't be a complete walking zombie that first year. My guys were those have-to-be-woken-to-eat, super sleepy babies (and they were born at 38 weeks, 6 lbs. each), so I can confirm that it really is possible. Of course, they were slow gainers and had to have night feedings until the were 9 months, but thankfully, they've continued to be great sleepers.

I've loved looking through the photos here of you and your family. Makes me forget that those days back in NH were so long ago. I hope your pregnancy continues to go well, and please do let me know if I can be helpful in any way.

Take care,
Renae