I wrote this last night but forgot to publish it until today...
Today was my actual first day alone and it started off so well. Both babies were sleeping at the same time when I got up (Ilan did the last morning feeding before going to work) and I thought, wow, I think I am on track for another great day!
So what do I do? Go ahead and MESS IT UP by putting both babies on my chest.
Oh, sure, this seemed like a great idea at the time. How cute! I am alone with both of my babies! I can have them sleep on my chest at the same time!
It was wonderful for a whole hour. Then I got hungry and had to pee. It was then that I realized the folly of my ways:
I would have to wake up both babies at the same time in order to do those things, and I had no backup.
Crap.
Well, that is what I did. And then the rest of the day I was paying for it. Immediately after I woke them up they were both, apparently, STARVING, and screaming about it. So I fed them. And then they were uncomfortable with gas. So I burped them. And then they didn’t like their placement, and wanted to be rocked or swing or vibrated. So I did those things. I dared at some point to go to the bathroom, and while I was in there Eitan started screaming bloody murder, so hard that his face turned purple and he stopped breathing. HOW DARE YOU ABANDON ME!
This was the rest of my day. There were some cute times. They each got to go in the activity gym and work out. They each did sleep, though of course not at the same time – except for a tiny stretch in the afternoon, and I was like SWEET! I am going to take a nap! And then as soon as I lay down, they started fussing. OF COURSE.
Then the feeding frenzy that is double cluster feedings happened, starting at around 5pm each baby was eating every 45min – hour until 9pm. I’ve been doing pretty well with my milk supply but I just can’t keep up to the demand of the evening feeding frenzy, so then they start getting frustrated at the boob and start screaming, which makes putting together bottles of formula all the more complicated as nobody wants to be put down. (Can you hold two babies and make a bottle at the same time? Where is my third hand??) Meanwhile, Ilan came home from work and we were trying to eat dinner, but we only got to scarf things in between feedings because the screaming was just so intense.
Finally, they calmed down. But only because they were both lying on someone (me or Ilan).
Cute, right?
But this isn’t how we can spend the night. Not to mention it is bath night and both babies stank. And I thought, well, baths always soothe the savage beast.
So again, both babies had to be woken up to do that. Luckily I could move Noa onto Ilan so he could keep her quiet while I took Eitan, thus able to keep both babies satisfied even after waking them from their sweet slumber.
But, uh, bath time was not fun. We have had baths three times a week since the umbilical cords fell off and they have always been these wonderful soothing experiences. I put the baby in the tub and immediately he/she is quiet and relaxed, and it’s this wonderful time, followed by me giving him/her an infant massage and moisturizing. Then they are all snuggly and relaxed and ready for bed.
NOT SO THIS TIME!
Screaming through bath time, screaming through toweling off, screaming through infant massage, screaming through moisturizing.
Ahh!!
It wasn’t until I was in the middle of clothing Noa (second bather) that I realized I had left something out of bath time. I usually sing while I give them a bath. I sing “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from Mary Poppins (I have no idea why this song, I just started singing it the first time I gave them a bath and now it is the bath time song). So Noa is screaming and I am putting on her jammies. And then I start quietly singing the bath time song and she immediately relaxes.
I finished putting on her jammies and then snuggle with her a minute while still singing, and she is just so relaxed.
I put her over my shoulder and she holds on to me. The most relaxed and calm she has been all day. Like actually calm, not calm like I am about to rev up again I just need a break kind of calm.
It was a sweet moment. :)
Then I swaddled her and she started screaming again. But whatevs. Take what you can get, right? Time for me to nap until they wake up for the first night feeding.
No comments:
Post a Comment