When Dave and I found out we were having twins, we began researching how exactly you manage caring for twins, while still finding time for adequate amounts of sleep for yourselves here and there. The methods that made the most sense to us involved putting both twins on the same sleeping/waking/feeding schedule and keeping it that way. Sounds easy, right? Actually, it’s not hard. We met with our pediatrician a couple of months before the birth and discussed our scheduling ideas with her. She was very supportive and gave us some tips as well. Our schedule consists of a 3-hour feeding/sleeping cycle where we wake the twins up to eat every 3 hours round the clock. Our current schedule means feeding each of them at 5AM, 8AM, 11AM, 2PM, 5PM, 8PM, 11PM, and 2AM. After they eat, they have a diaper change, some awake time, and then back to sleep until the next feeding. All of the activities take an hour or so to complete, leaving 2 hours of time to clean up and prepare for the next cycle, as well as take care of personal activities such as sleeping, showering, eating, laundry, dishes, etc. One person can manage each cycle on their own, but it is much more efficient and more fun to have two people do each cycle together. This way each baby gets more personal attention and bonding time.  Following this schedule, our home is mostly peaceful and non-chaotic, and we are able to plan our days easily.

Once we had decided on a schedule that would work for us, we then purchased or were given almost all of the equipment we would need for support. We did remarkably well with selecting baby gear, considering that we had no idea what we were doing. We use almost everything we were given or bought. One area where we knew we were unprepared was feeding equipment. However, without knowing the birth status of the babies, we couldn’t really do anything about it. We were not sure if we would have tiny babies with feeding issues, so we could not buy a lot of feeding related items up front such as specific bottles or formula. We ended up buying a few bottles to get us by, while deciding to wait until after the birth to buy the rest.

Shortly after coming home from the hospital, Dave realized that we would need a system of bottles and a plan for washing them. He got to work doing research and calculations to determine what was needed in a 24 hour period to avoid spending all of our time washing, as washing cuts into our precious sleeping time. He figured out exactly what was needed, went and bought it, and set up a great system that is working wonderfully. We are very organized, methodical, and clean, while not spending a lot of time working on it.

My mom arrived on Tuesday evening of last week. She is staying with me for almost 3 weeks to get to know Audrey and Andrew and to help out with both the twins and the chores around the house. When she arrived on Tuesday night, I picked her up at the airport. Her flight was about 15 minutes late, so I sat in the baggage claim area of the airport and happily watched people coming and going around me. My mom soon arrived, we gathered her bags, and I spent the thirty-minute drive home telling her about our daily schedule. My mom is a person who very much enjoys a routine, so I knew she would fit right in to the system within a day or two. It has been so much fun watching her bond with her two new grandchildren. We have spent a lot of time together sitting in the nursery, each of us feeding an infant, and laughing over the multitude of sounds coming from both ends of them. This week we have been blessed with more alert babies who spend time checking out our faces after eating their many meals. My mom has been an incredibly helpful addition to the household while Dave is back at work this week.

As for Audrey and Andrew, they had another great week of growth and development. They went to the pediatrician on Wednesday and we learned that they are doing really well with their growth. Audrey had gained a pound in a week to tip the scales at 5 pounds, 13 ounces. Andrew was 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Both are happy, healthy, cute babies. Our doctor told me to keep right on doing whatever it is that we are doing at home because we are doing it exactly right. We got the ok from the pediatrician to begin taking them for walks in our new jogging stroller, which is a very exciting development indeed! We have been dying to use that new stroller for months!

Andrew managed to have both diaper rash and a growth spurt this week, which kept us all awake for most of the night on both Friday night and Saturday night as he took to exercising his right to high pitched shrieking to express his dissatisfaction with the situation at hand. We seem to have gotten it back under control, as we all managed a good 6 hours of sleep last night, with him sleeping peacefully in between feedings.

Also, for a quick update on Dave and me…Dave began his first school week of teaching this week after being off all summer. He will teach his physics classes all week and then will be on vacation for about 3 weeks to help out at home. As for me, I am doing really well. I’ve lost 40 pounds in the past 3 weeks and I feel great! I am very anxious to get the all clear to start exercising again. I absolutely cannot wait! I’ve begun taking short walks around the neighborhood with my dog on most days, which feels wonderful. I’m also managing to find small amounts of time during the day to drink coffee and read the newspaper, shower, read books, take naps, and enjoy snuggle time with my babies and pets. Time definitely has to be managed right now, but it is filled with so many enjoyable moments!

Here are some pictures of my mom with the twins, Andrew’s new alertness, Audrey’s freakishly long fingers, and Audrey sleeping peacefully.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9596360832/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9599188199/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9590800829/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedaveparticle/9599192969/