I’ll admit, I’ve been terrified about Patrick’s residency starting. If you’l recall, I wrote this post a while back about the pros and cons of residency, which was just a way for me to mask my terror for a while. I’ve cried more than a few tears in the past 3 weeks thinking about what it might be like to take care of our family while Patrick goes to work each day for at least 12 hours…6 days a week.
Well, I’ve been pleasantly surprised! Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have Patrick home than not, any day of the week, but him leaving each morning super early has allowed us to get on a more regular schedule which is making me feel relatively sane. I’ve also been forcing coercing the kids to sleep for 9 hours between feeds, and that’s been really helpful also. I’m figuring out some routines and what works and what doesn’t in terms of feeding and napping the kids (can you “nap” something?), and I think it’s starting to work. In between diapers and naps I’ve actually been able to accomplish quite a lot this week:
- The kids and I went to Target
- With the help of my brother and sister-in-law, we got the jogging stroller up and running
- Walked to the coffee shop (twice)
- Bathed the kids by myself
- Showered every day!!
- Picked up dog poo
- Threw the ball for one Stella Dog
- Took one Chloe Dog on a walk
- Went for a run (with the kids)
- Played a soccer game
- Watched the USA v. Germany World Cup Game
- Went to the eye doctor for the kids
- Purchased donuts and delivered them to our old buddies in the NICU
- Pulled some weeds
- Killed a giant black widow spider
- Picked apricots
- Made fresh apricot sorbet (recipe to come)
- Made dinner each night
- Fed the kids by myself a few times
- Took one 10 minute nap!
I’m feeling pretty good about my little list up there…I wonder how long I can keep this up!
On a side note, a few weeks ago, another mom of multiples posted on her Facebook page how well her kids were doing and that they eat, sleep, and poop without any struggle and that her life is pretty much perfect. I told another friend about this and how it made me feel like we’re doing it all wrong. She assured me that we were not and suggested that this other mom was probably actually having lots of issues and just wanted people to think that everything with her and her babies was perfect.
We all have our ups and downs, I’m just glad that our first week being home “alone” (I say “alone” because our families have been lots of help) has been quite bearable, and maybe even a little enjoyable. Here’s some photo evidence:
Yum, fresh apricots
Tiny twins in their jammies ready for a run with momma…looking a bit skeptical.
The kids have also accomplished quite a lot:
- Drooling
- Peeing
- Pooping
- Eating
- Both kids rolled from their back to their front for the first time!!
- Growling
- Farting
- Napping
- Screeching
Yay! You go, mama! It can be super hard to be a mom of multiples sometimes, but you will survive and (hopefully) thrive! My hubby’s in residency, too. 🙂
Thanks for the vote of confidence Jilly! It’s nice to know there are other people out there in the same boat!
Wait. You forgot that the babies are smiling. Laughing and being cute. And you, little mama, are amazing.
Your post made me cry. I am so happy for you but also feel like those things I will never get to do. My twins are not even close to sleeping through the night. I feel like such a failure. My husband has been back to work now for a while and I yet to cook dinner or go shopping. Naps are a joke in my house. I am truly happy for you though. I understand how hard this is and you are doing great! I need to take some tips from you, supermom.
You’ll get there Sofia! And..what I didn’t say was that my twins are still only eating an average of 5 oz. per bottle, the eye doc told me they’re both on their way to being nearsighted and that they both have astigmatism, they cry for about 30 minutes before each nap, my mom and mother in law are the only reason I’m wearing clean underwear, Rylan flails his feet so much that he cut the back of his leg and I didn’t notice until I saw the blood all over his little bouncy chair, and Neala threw up so bad it came out of her nose at least twice this week. So…it’s not all good, but it makes things a little easier if I try to focus on the good, and keep doing the things that are working and just stop whatever’s not working! Hang in there momma!
I definitely need to be more positive. Thanks.
The stroller picture made me laugh out loud, such little skeptics!
Yay!! Love this!! And as far as residency goes, remember, you now have another “family” to ask for support. I’ll run with you anyday…