The First Month

Well today marks the twinnie's one month birthday. I can assure you, its been quite the wild ride! Life with twins has been a massive adjustment. Our living room has become a war zone, full of diapers, clothes and every other item necessary to take care of little ones. In the first couple of transition weeks, I basically decided to live on our couch while recovering from the delivery. Everything was close and it allowed big D the chance to get better sleep since he was back at work, so it worked out well. Looking back on those unrecognizable early days, all I remember is falling asleep and then immediately waking up because I would hear a squeak from the pack n play. Little D's stint in the NICU for breathing issues had me on heightened alert.

Leaving the hospital was a challenge in itself. Since I was so weak, I had to be wheel chaired out in true fashion. Not to mention that the kiddos were so small that they didn't fit into their car seat. While I love my Peg Peregos, if I would've known that a newborn car seat could potentially be too big for a premie babe, I would've bought the Chicco KeyFit. After multiple attempts in the car seat challenge, they both finally passed and we were allowed to load them up. After we crossed that hurdle and got home the pediatricians called and wanted us to come back the next day for their first wellness visit. SERIOUSLY??? It was a production just trying to get home. Now we have to load up and do it all over again less than 24 hours later? UGH! At the appointment we found out D-Man was jaundiced and ordered on a bili-bed for photo therapy. While his levels weren't high enough to warrant a bed by full term baby standards, because he was premie and had lost so much weight, they felt it was a necessary measure. So...bili-bed here we come. It really wasn't too bad, except that he was strapped into what looked like a tanning bed. I'm sure it was worse on my mental well being than it was for him. Either way, 2 days later, we went back for another appt and we were in the clear for jaundice (hooray). No more bed and lots of snuggle time with mom!

In the first couple of weeks our sweeties decided it would be fun to become nocturnal and confuse night time with play time. Yup, sleeping like rocks all day and up all night long. By the time one would get settled down and other would wake up. And that's how the days went. They're still not on any sort of recognizable routine, but at least they're sleeping more than 30 minutes at a time at night. Now, don't get me wrong, I still don't get much sleep, but at least its getting better.

Regardless of sleep deprivation and overall exhaustion I wouldn't change a single thing. They're so darn cute! Miss A grunts and squawks in her sleep. She sounds like an angry goose and its hilarious. Her brother squeaks and sputters, but has one darn cute smirk when he smiles (even if its from gas).

One really interesting thing I've noticed about this whole experience is that you quickly lose all sense of time. Its already been a month and its gone by in the blink of an eye. Days and weeks just seem to slip by. I already find myself dreading the day I have to drop them off at daycare and go back to work.

Another really interesting thing I've noticed is the recovery period of this whole ordeal. No one ever really mentions the rough road you have to plow once you're home. You're already miserable and trying to heal, but you really can't because you've got little bundles of joy to take care of. Now, add to it how long it actually takes you to recover and BAM the first month has come and gone and you're still not feeling like yourself.

Another interesting tidbit I've come across is breastfeeding. I don't know what the instructors in the classes were smoking because its not easy and its NOT painless. Thank goodness I'm pretty much a 100% pumper, because I don't think I could handle any extra pain. When is something going to be painless in this whole process? You'd think after having to give birth, god would cut you some slack, but no.

So, after a month here's the stats:

Hours of sleep per day: 5
Bottles per day: 16 to 20
Diapers per day: 30
Formula per day: 1 pre-mixed bottle
Total weight to lose to get to pre-preggo weight: 5 lbs

High Drama - even while sleeping

Happy to have Tummy Time!

2 arms & 2 babes...

Snugglers