a reality check

I just finished telling Lisa and her mom that this is more in line of what I thought having twin infants would be like. It is exhausting. I thought it was difficult before, now it's really kicking in.

What's so different? Everything. I think (I don't know if it's the popular feeling in the house) that it stems from a change in the way we are feeding them. We have decided what would be best for the girls and for Lisa in the long run is to have them take their feedings by breast. After a 3 hour meeting with a nursing consultant, we found out that we've been actually introduced some bad habits.

It is now our goal to do a 180 and fix those habits. Easy, right? Yeah.

How do you teach infant twins a new way to eat? Why didn't we have this information when we were at the NICU instead of finding out on our own a month later?

It's hard not to go into the details but basically we've been over feeding them. The new goal is to feed less more often. That means nearly 24 hours of feeding, holding, consoling, repeat. The first 24 hours have been...well, just that...24 hours. It's hard for me to talk because I took off for a couple hours to help my friend build his deck so I haven't had to be here nonstop but since I've been home, they've both been awake nearly the whole time.

We've talked about whether or not it could be colic or just them adjusting to their new diet. How can we tell? Honestly Alyssa is doing better than Katy (at least the last 4 hours or so) and we're lucky she's doing as well as she is because if both babies were doing what Katy is doing then we'd be in a real mess.

It is putting more stress on Lisa right now. Saving you the details, it has been very difficult. We've read the books and know what we're up against, but it doesn't help curb the feeling of helplessness. She is now required to have herself at their beckoning more often. It takes me out of the equation a little bit...all I can do is change diapers and hand her babies. Not quite as fun.

BUT..........all of this is in their best interest and eventually will save Lisa's sanity. What I've secretly referred to as an "experiment" is a change in the way we operate that will eventually lead to a happier family. It is not easy now. This is definitely the most stress this family has faced so far.

Keep us in your prayers.

I'm sorry for the lack of updates lately. I have thought about it often but have had very little extra time lately. We do have some pictures and another video but just haven't had time to download them. When I started writing this, both babies were being held and Katy was getting upset. In the last 10 minutes, she's cried most of the time and is now feeding again. Alyssa is still asleep.

I go back to work on Monday...ready or not.