When I used to do a lot of cycling there was a common saying "it doesn't get any easier, you just get faster". I never felt like I was becoming a better cyclist because every ride was hard, but in retrospect I was doing some decent cycling.
I think twin babies might be similar. Every day is very hard still. Christmas was hard. I am pretty sure they cried for the first 8 weeks straight. However, the other day I made dinner while Andy was in work AND picked up Isaac from school. Making dinner was impossible before 8 weeks. Now, it's possible.
Dinner was chicken burgers (made with frozen chicken patties, yum!) and chips (from a packet of frozen chips) and broccoli (fresh! chopped! Put in oven at the same time as everything else!).
Sure, I ate dinner with a baby strapped to me asleep (because this is the only way I can figure out how to eat dinner without babies crying). And I managed to clean up after dinner while Andy put the big two to bed (with a baby strapped to him) and then we spent 90 minutes feeding and putting the babies to bed. And then I tried to go to bed (because it's 8pm and I fall asleep at 8).
Unfortunately even when going faster on a bike one is not immune to punctures or getting lost. And when getting faster with babies it sometimes goes the same way. They had their first set of vaccinations on Tuesday and last night was the worst night of sleep since the darkest night.
I won't bore with the details, but I only managed 90 minutes as my longest stretch of sleep. I did have 4 hours total, split over 4 different sleeps.
I am tired.
A baby is now awake from nap.
This post was supposed to have something positive at the end. It's sunny and we have a lot of cake in the house now. And, it's 9:20am, so I have less than 12 hours to bedtime!
Also Andy got me this advent calendar for Christmas. It’s a countdown to the worst time, which we both remember as 12 weeks. At 12 weeks the babies are not the worst, they are usually getting better, but the cumulative effect of 12 weeks of baby is the worst.
I’m enjoying one peanut butter cup a day untill then!
I see the positive ending - you're almost at the 12 week line!!! And until then you get a daily peanut butter cup!!!
ReplyDeleteWe had chicken burgers last night as well - it's a great dinner.
That's so much crying! And not sleeping! Oh Rachel...I wish I could pop by and rock the babies while you took a shower, nap, long walk around the park - ALL OF THE ABOVE.
ReplyDeleteSending hugs from afar. This too shall pass, but if having an infant is no joke, I'm not sure what caring for TWO simultaneously is.
And having cake in the house is a very happy thing indeed <3
Thank you Elisabeth! You are welcome anytime :-). Infants are no joke and the good thing is that (like much of life) I don't seem to be registering exactly how hard it is untill the hardness has gotten easier.
DeleteI don't get to comment on your blog as much as I would like to but I am loving your posts and your thoughts and will be able to comment again soon! x
The Advent calendar is genius. What a fantastic idea.
ReplyDeleteA night of 4 hours of sleep in at most 90 minute bursts is awful. Cake is good. Juggling pickup and dinner and twins is miraculous.
Love your cycling analogy. Sending sleep vibes to your babies.
Andy said I should also point out that the calendar is a countdown to my birthday... which just happens to be babies at 12 weeks. Either way, Cake is yay! Thank you for the sleep vibes :)
DeleteYou are so close!!
ReplyDeleteI feel like I finally can set Arden down without crying. Now I can do exciting things like clean up after dinner and fold laundry without a (almost 14 lb) baby strapped to me. Thankfully she's never been a big crier, but developing the skill of sitting near me and watching me do things had been a game changer.
Oh that's awesome! Nice one Arden! I do wish we had a more open plan house so I could do more moving around when the babies are happy, because they do still like me in the room with them and there's not really space for them to hang out with me in the kitchen or dining room. Also getting two babies up and down the stairs is hard, but they do love a change of scenery...
DeleteOh yeah, I try to avoid the stairs as much as possible. Today I moved a house plant to "change up Arden's view" instead of taking her somewhere else. 😅
DeleteOmg I have plants in the living room on a shelf and I will definitely be putting these on the floor for playtime now! Brilliant 😂
DeleteThat advent calendar is awesome. I do hope things get better and better after 12 weeks...
ReplyDelete