Family of 5

It’s been a while since I last wrote. I’ve been meaning to update here for so, so long, but I’ve been just slightly busy birthing, recovering from c-section, and now taking care of my twins (and preschooler)! The girls are now 10.5 weeks old, and over the last few months I’ve learned so much about managing life with twins:

– it takes a village. Actually, more like a small, or medium-sized country!
– the day goes like this: feed, wash bottles, try to get babies to fall and stay asleep, repeat x5
– getting babies to fall and stay asleep is the most infuriating thing of all – like a game of whack-a-mole: get one down, the other pops up, crying; get that baby down, her twin pops up, crying, and so on for the entire duration of their 2-hour “nap”
– even though I was told how important it is that babies eat and sleep at the same time, the only predictable thing my twins do simultaneously is poop!
– two small babies require an entire house worth of “stuff”
– I actually own something called “Dining for Two” – a two-seat contraption with bottle holders – that I absolutely could NOT tandem bottle feed without (thank you, Mom!)
– despite every inclination I couldn’t do so, I have become a pro at tandem nursing (nothing makes me feel like more of a super hero mom than this!)
– just because I can lift/carry both babies at the same time, does not mean I should
– wine just makes everything better
– if multitasking were an Olympic sport, I would surely win!
– someone will always be crying (oftentimes, it’s me!)
– thoughts are occupied by imagining how much easier life would be if I had a third arm
– most importantly, I can’t meet everyone’s needs all the time, and so all I can do is love my family fiercely, do the best I can, and be “good enough”

Truly, the past two months have been life-changing in SO many ways. I can honestly say, I love our life, and I love this beautiful family we have created. It’s ridiculously challenging, but extremely worth it. When I look at my husband and our girls, I feel so blessed. 10 years ago I could never have imagined my life where it is today, and even with all the ups and downs, I wouldn’t change one thing. The hurdles have been necessary–it has been through overcoming them that I have grown and learned so much, and come to appreciate the goodness that permeates my world.

H. is an amazing big sister, constantly whispering in her sisters ears how much she loves them. G. is our little peanut. She’s teeny tiny, and, from what I can tell, super sensitive and sweet. M. is tenacious! She makes her needs known–loudly!–and I can already see her one day standing up for both her sisters and being a real trailblazer in life. And something incredibly cool about her is that she looks JUST like my dad. In fact, after she was born I kept saying, “She is so familiar to me; she looks like someone I know…” I couldn’t place it, and then one day our nanny said, “M. looks a lot like your dad!” And that was it. My dad! That’s why she was so familiar to me! But of course, these are my predictions now–my girls will become whoever they are meant to be, and I will watch with genuine curiosity, acceptance and excitement.

Other little tidbits about the girls: they are great snugglers, love to eat, make great eye contact and give sweet smiles, are not into napping (and definitely don’t think it’s cool to nap at the same time), prefer being held or rocked in a bassinet over laying flat in their cribs, are very excited by everything around them, and, along with big ‘sis, are the cutest little lovebugs around!

I can’t wait to see what this first year as a family of 5 brings!