Every 3-4 hours. Two babies. Two diapers. Breastfeeding followed by bottle feeding.
With two people and two sets of hands, this is a relatively easy undertaking which takes about an hour (sometimes longer).
With one person, it's a formidable task. I am just one person.
This is what it looked like today.
10:55 - Retrieve crying Lela from crib 1/2 hour before feeding time. Attempt to soothe.
11:00 - Nurse Lela after determining she must be hungry.
11:05 - Mom and Lela fall asleep.
11:15 - Return Lela to crib thinking she'll be happy while I feed Cate.
11:20 - Prepare bottles.
11:30 - Wake Cate and change diaper.
11:40 - Nurse Cate.
11:45 - Lela begins to cry in nursery.
11:50 - Finish nursing Cate, retrieve Lela (crying) and place in bouncy seat, begin to bottle feed Cate.
11:55 - Interrupt bottle feed to place Lela and seat on bed so I can attempt to calm while feeding.
11:57 - Interrupt bottle feed to retrieve bottle for Lela who is, not surprisingly, still crying. Further attempts to soothe Lela.
11:58 - Call John on his cell phone and hold up the phone to Lela who is wailing. Tell John we need to rethink this feeding thing and let Lela wail goodbye. Hang up.
12:00 - Begin bottle feeding Lela while also bottle feeding Cate.
12:02 - Cate finishes bottle, needs to be burped.
12:03 - Prop bottle for Lela. The experts say not to do this, but they aren't here to help and I couldn't hear them over the crying so I did it anyway.
12:06 - Cate still hasn't burped, Lela finishes bottle.
12:07 - Lela, still in bouncy, spits up. A lot. She cries. Loud. Prop Cate in lap, retrieve Lela from bouncy.
12:08 - Attempt tandem burping.
12:10 - Cate burps.
One satisfied customer.
12:12 - Lela burps. Another satisfied customer.
12:20 - Mixed success in my attempt to give the girls some tummy time. More crying.
12:35 - Asleep at last.
2:00 - Realize I forgot to change Lela's diaper.
2:30 - Start over.
Lessons learned.
1. The current schedule/feeding routine is not sustainable. Change schedule or add more hands.
2. Lela decides she wants something and goes about getting it. Now. In a game of survival of the fittest, she'd win. Hands down.
I love reading about your new life and your adorable little babes! I'm impressed by your sense of humor too : ) Linn
ReplyDeleteI'm most impressed at your ability to be overwhelmed by the process and not realize that maybe, just maybe, it'd be a little less hectic if you weren't TAKING PICTURES of the whole thing. Yeah. I said it. That just happened.
ReplyDeleteTo be alone in the occasional absurdity of it all is overwhelming. To share it with others (in story and pictures), and to laugh, is what keeps me from crying in these moments. Evidently, Ken would prefer I keep the camera on the shelf and cry. Thanks, Ken. :)
ReplyDeleteAwwww. That's exactly what I didn't mean. But I was called mean...your friend's are very protective. They never heard the end of that "sticks and stones" rhyme, I guess :) Miss you, and thanks for sharing your life with us.
ReplyDelete