What A Funny Time

The other night, I was awoken from my slumber by my husband jerking awake to immediately reach up toward  the ceiling fan. I pulled him back down before he put his hand in a blade's path and told him to sleep (at least I think I said that, who knows, it was 2 am). When I reminded him about the incident in the morning, Sean admitted that his sleep-mind had thought one of the boys was caught on the fan and was spinning around wildly. He had to save him! Always a concerned father.

This reminds me of all the funny sleep experiences we'd had from the early days of parenthood. At least once a night (more like three or four), Sean would start sleepily searching our comforters, convinced that a baby was buried in there. Or he'd pop out of bed to fix their swaddle because he just knew the blankets must be smothering them. I had similar kooky wake-ups but I usually wasn't so, you know, physically active.

Soooo, I thought it would be fun to review some of the goofy oddities that came with our early babyhood experience.

Phantom Crying
No matter where I was or where the boys were, I could swear I heard a baby crying. But I'd go check and nope, not a cry. Running water was the worst culprit, every time I showered, I thought they were wailing. Curse those overly tuned ears.

Caveman
I don't know if I was utterly ignorant, but I really didn't have any idea quite the degree of labor/delivery recovery that a woman's body goes through. For the first couple weeks, I walked with a clear hunch and oh oh oh so slow. And I never wore anything socially acceptable except when absolutely necessary. So, yes, it took a long long time for me to feel comfortable again.

Breakfast?
I found it really difficult to make time to eat, in the early days. I think I was just really nervous about leaving them alone on the bed (where we spent most of our time). And I couldn't, very easily, hold two bitty babies at once while eating a meal. Breakfast seemed to be the hardest to fit in. My solution? Eat breakfast in the middle of the night. We'd do our feeding in the super early morning (I don't remember, 4 am ish?) and after I laid them back down to sleep, I'd have my own feeding. It totally made sense to me then. Not so much now.

Separation Anxiety
We're talking my own separation anxiety here. When other people were holding my babies, I had no idea what to do with myself. Really, I'd feel utterly lost. It was even worse leaving the house without them. My very first time was a couple weeks in, when I went for a haircut (my bangs were driving me nuts!). I was so nervous to be gone from them and I had planned it out so carefully to fit between feedings. Well, the secretary somehow didn't really check me in and I was waiting for about an hour before they realized their mistake and got me my haircut. I should have asked what the delay was earlier than that but I knew if I tried I would have completely crumpled into a teary mess. I drove pretty fast on the way back from that appointment. And it was a terrible haircut, to boot.

Isolation
We three spent pretty much the entire first two months in my bedroom. Their crib was in there, I had my special nursing station (aka Pillow Mountain) set up there, and the bed was such an easy place to set the babies down. Plus, easy impromptu naps! Really, I think this is primarily because there were two babies. It really is hard to transport two and figure out where to put them, what to do with them, etc. It was just easier to stay put. That's why I cannot fathom having twins when you already have other kids. I have no clue how you can care for another child while managing twins. It's a good thing we had them first. And it's a good thing this next baby is just one:

(Surprise!) Due September 15.

Happy happy happy happy happy happy happy!