A Never-ending Cycle

Needless to say, Jeni and I are extremely happy for the girls to be home. We were mentally prepared for the lack of sleep that we are suffering through currently. However, I don't think I anticipated how much this feels like we are on a never-ending cycle of feedings, diaper changes, napping, and starting over again on feedings...

We are living our lives in 3 1/2 - 4 hour segments currently. Since the girls eat just about every 4 hours, at about the 3 1/2 hour mark, we get reading for the next feeding which includes warming of milk bottles, changing a diaper (and sometimes an outfit) and picking a spot where they'll be fed... grabbing their boppy and spit up rags and checking the milk to make sure they are warm...

Then the challenge begins. The challenge is sometimes getting the girls to eat and eat well. Sydney starts off strong and eats like a champ but sometimes putters out. Olivia is a much slower eater so keeping her awake during the whole bottle is the goal. The more often we do this, the more we are learning their habits and what to do to get the best results. Unfortunately, these sessions take so long that it seems like by the time we finish, clean up, get the girls in their swing or bouncy seat, we have only an hour or so before we start over again...

This cycle is probably because we are trying to keep the girls at least 45 minutes apart on their eating times so it doesn't always have to be both of us taking one girl at each feed. With them staggered, one of us should be able to feed one and finish by the time the second girl should be starting... That's the plan anyway...

The overnights so far have been fine. We've worked out a routine that allows Jeni and I to get almost 6 hours of continuous sleep. During the overnight time, I let Jeni sleep straight through one of the feedings and feed both girls myself. Then Jeni gets up and takes over and I go to bed. She then covers the early AM feed while I sleep through it...

We are shifting the girl's schedules slightly to be on more convenient times. Currently we are on a 8 - 12 - 4 cycle. Basically 8 am - Noon - 4 pm - 8 pm - Midnight - 4 am are when the girls eat. However, we've decided that it would be better to do a 6am - 10am - 2pm - 6pm - 10pm - 2am cycle. This will allow me to be involved more when I go back to work. I can help with the 6am before I leave and be home in time to do the 6pm and help with the 10pm before bed. We'll see and we'll keep you updated.

Oh well. Baby crying so I gotta go.

Later all.

M