Exhaustion

These last two days have been horribly exhausting. Its like just when you think you've got a good routine down, they rebel and it all goes down the drain.

Wednesday was a VERY hard day. The boys were awake most of the day wanting to be held and if they slept it was only for about 45 minutes max and only while in arms. We had no time to do much else other than hold a baby and it showed! Our house looked like a tornado went through it, we barely found time to eat, and we were all super tired!

The boys started off pretty ready to go to bed after bathtime, so I laid with the big guy and nursed him until he fell asleep while my wife fed the little guy. Usually I'll take this time to rest for an hour or two before I have to get up to pump, but the little guy was having a meltdown with my wife so I got up to try and comfort him. BAD IDEA!

As soon as the big guy realized I was no longer there, he woke up. My wife tried to comfort him while I was tending to the little guy, but he wanted "the boob" and nothing else was going to satisfy him. Needless to say he was NOT happy.

So, while I'm tending to the little one, who has calmed down by now, the big guy has a major MELTDOWN. So my wife brought him back and I tried to nurse them both at the same time, since its what they both want. BAD IDEA!

They didn't like being put side by side to nurse and each took turns screaming their little heads off. So much so, that they wouldn't even latch on. By this time, we were both exhausted, the babies were screaming, and there seemed to be no end in sight.

Since the little guy wears his monitor at night, we were able to see his heartrate, and it was through the roof, NOT GOOD. So I quickly nursed the big guy until he settled down while my wife tried to calm the little guy. As soon as the big guy was calm, we switched. He woke up again but this time she was able to rock him back to sleep. So now, I'm back with the little guy. He is AWAKE and more fussy than I've seen him in a long time. After 3 HOURS of comforting him (at this point he didn't even want to nurse) he finally fell asleep. Instead of getting up to pump, it was time for the big guy to eat, so we switched babies AGAIN, and I nursed the big guy back to sleep and my wife laid very carefully next to the little guy to try and get some sleep. The little guy skipped this feed all together since he had just fallen asleep and we were NOT going to wake him up.

So now, its 3AM, I'm exhausted and I have to pump. So I wake up my wife to switch babies AGAIN so I could pump and she could lay with the big guy. Of course once I'm all hooked up and ready to go the little guy wakes up and is hungry (since he skipped his last feed) and ready to eat. So I disconnect, and get up to change him. In my sleep deprived state, I manage to leave his diaper open while I throw away the dirty one and he pees all over himself, his jammie, and the changing table. GREAT! As I'm about to cry I look over at him and he's all smiles! So of course I have to laugh. I give him some kisses and then clean him up, get him a new jammie and resume his feeding.

Its 4:01AM now, and I'm pumping with the little guy asleep on my shoulder. I'm hoping I can put him down when I'm done without waking him and I can get at least 2 hours of sleep before the big guy wakes up ready to eat again. *sigh* as soon as I lay down he is ready to eat AGAIN. This time I just turned over and nursed him while laying down. Finally I got some sleep.

Thursday felt like one big hangover. We were all so tired all we did was hang out in bed and nap. The boys took a 4 hour nap and we both joined them. I was starving but too tired to get up and eat, BIG mistake. By the time I was ready to eat, the babies were awake and it was bathtime, feeding time, and bedtime. When they finally fell asleep (which was later than usual because of the long nap) I had a massive headache. It was so bad I was nauseous. Of course my wife is telling me to go eat something but there is no way I could without getting sick. So I had a small fruit cup and a protein shake, and waited it out. It just kept getting worse. So finally when the babies were OUT I jumped in the shower (its like 11pm at this point). After a long hot shower I finally feel better.

Today we are back on track. Babies are happy, eating and napping. Hopefully tonight we can resume our 8pm bedtime and mommies can get a break. Its been a while since our days/nights/mornings have been this crazy, I don't miss this part of our newborn days!