Let me preface this by stating that this night is going decently, and the most recent feeding, the one that just ended, actually went very smoothly. The previous 48 hours, however, have been... challenging.
The boys have worked out an excellent routine, where by they can maximize the time they can keep us up, while actually eating well and resting well enough to keep gaining weight. Simply, after a meal one falls asleep (usually Ben) while another spend 30-40 minutes demanding to be help upright (usually Zev) while quietly vomiting on the shoulder of the person holding him. Then they they switch. After the 40 minute each, they would actually maybe sleep for 30 minutes, and then start the wake up process, where one wakes up and gets just noisy enough to demand attention. Once soothed and sleeping, his brother would take over. This shorter cycle would last for 20-30 minutes, at which time they are due for a feeding anyway - this is when they would both fall asleep deeply, and be righteously indignant when they are woken up and offered food.
The specialization stems from the ever more refined gastronomical tastes. Zev has stated clearly that if he is offered breast at the start of a meal, he refuses the bottle after (he does just fine if offered bottle right away). Benjamin, on the other hand, is so frustrated (and frustrating) at the breast, that he receives both mom's milk and formula from bottle only. Zev also has developed a noticeably more gassy and sensitive stomach, which helps him a lot in the routine outlined above. About two weeks ago, while replacing Zev's poopy diaper for the second time in 7 minutes, I said: "Are you serious? You pooped again?" To which Alla coolly replied: "Thank you, daddy, for your digestive system." Ouch. True, so double ouch.
Well, the routine you've described is what is expected when you have twins... It took them six weeks to implement it, so consider those six weeks a generous gift from your sons.
ReplyDeleteGrandma L.