And it's only Wednesday ...

Oh my ... and they say it gets better at three months. Well, they were three months 36 hours ago and [SHOUT] I'm waiting ...

This week I am run ragged. When they are both "going" at the same time (aka the twin chorus) - it is enough to send you running for the hills. I don't know what is going on this week but they are on completely separate schedules and when they are both demanding attention at the same time (ie screaming frantically), it is all I can do to keep my head. I read in my twin survival guide "to surrender to the chaos" ... I repeat that to myself over and over when these moments arrive. Yesterday, Liam was frantic, for no particular reason and then Maeve had a complete "blowout" - she got her dress, the boppy pillow, the nursing pillow, the changing pad and Ciara was still waiting for her lunch, promised to her hours ago and I, unshowered as usual was hanging on by a thread. It is these moments that are the real test. The minutes seem like hours. May I add that our night nurse (ex night nurse ... sniff, sniff), Esther, who has worked with lots of babies over the years said that Liam was the loudest child she had ever come across. Like I need to have a child with that award! If I had a BP monitor attached to me, it would be off the scale I reckon. On a more positive note, the days are interjected by smiles and chuckles, which are occurring more and more. They are also noticing each other a lot more, which is adorably cute. Ciara continues to be great with them and patient for the most part. We are learning the true meaning of BE FLEXIBLE since we have absolutely zero schedule - Maeve likes to sleep late, eat infrequently and slowly but then nurse in the evening for hours. Liam likes to get up early, play hard, nap short and eat frantically and often. How can they both be so different?? How can a schedule ever suit them both, myself and Ciara. Something will have to give and I have no doubt it will be my shower, my sleep and my meals!!

REPEAT ...

SURRENDER TO THE CHAOS. IT WILL NOT LAST FOREVER. SURRENDER TO THE CHAOS. IT WILL NOT LAST FOREVER. SURRENDER TO THE CHAOS. IT WILL NOT LAST FOREVER. SURRENDER TO THE CHAOS. IT WILL NOT LAST FOREVER.

THREE MONTHS OLD!

Goodbye Esther - we will miss you!

Last night was the final night that we had our night nurse, Esther. We will miss her so much, not just for the sleep she provided us with but her good humour and funny stories, which she shared every night. Having her was supposed to be an opportunity to get to bed early, but we kept finding ourselves staying up late to chit chat. She will be back to visit ourselves, Liam and Maeve in July so we have that to look forward to. Goodbye Esther and thanks!!

Esther and Liam, while Maeve
patiently waits for her turn!

Todays achievement ... all three looking at the camera in the same photo!

Yikes!

Today I discovered peanut butter smattered across a shirt looks exactly like Liam and Maeve's breastfed nappy contents. It was alarming. If there is one person that I can save from this moment of panic, then my openess and honesty in this post was worth it!

;)

Emerging from chaos!

Well, today is June 4th and Liam and Maeve are 11 weeks and 2 days. The blog ceased to exist after the last post since life became completely chaotic. Liam decided to develop colic, reflux or some such thing, (which should be against the law if they are a twin) and was pretty much up 24/7 and screamed for the most part. This went on until about week 7, then slowly got a little easier thanks to a helpful pediatrician (a twin Mum herself) who put him on reflux medicine. Thank God for modern medicine, it saved our sanity and Liam's poor voice box. Thankfully, during the rough time my Mum stayed with us and she kept us from calling 1800-PLEASE-ADOPT-OUR-LIAM. I managed to nurse both babies through this and honestly, I will never know how I survived. I continue to nurse them through the day and they take bottles at night. After week 6 (once my Mum left), Alice (Skip's Mum) thought we could do with some help and very nicely sent us a true Florence Nightingale - Esther the night nurse - from Ghana. She was and continues to be a Godsend and comes 5 nights a week from 11pm-7am. Under her guidance and "gentle" nudging, as of this week, both babies are sleeping through the night - about 11.30pm through to 7.30pm. The tears of joy shed over this could rival the Nile. We will miss her next week, not just because she gives us our sleep but she is truly a baby whisperer and has the most laid back and positive spirit - a requirement for feisty Liam. I should mention Maeve at this point - she is almost as laid back as Esther - we are still waiting for her to cause trouble, so far she has been a gem. [NOTE: Liam, if this blog is still around when you can read, we did continue to love you through this phase!]



Well, I will leave you with the most recent photo of our three and hopefully they will continue to somewhat behave so we can have a few moments here and there to update this site.

Some May photos

May 5 - Esther arrives! Same room, same time and sleeping ... it's a miracle!

I found Ciara fast asleep like this when I went to check on her. She was snoring too and nothing would wake her!

Some March/April photos

Sisters

Liam (aka Jack-Jack)

"Hey, I know you!"

After a long, hard battle...