Bet ya didn’t know about that one didja? 😉 From the moment you see the positive pregnancy test your life begins to move in 12 week chunks. The first 12 you just want to survive the morning sickies and pray to not miscarry. The second 12 you start to feel good, not too huge, extra energy. The fun part of pregnancy. The third you’re just ready for it to be over!
But the fourth is the one I’m in now. I kinda skipped out on a big chunk of the third trimester, but we’re all caught up now and I’m home with my 7 week old “newborns.” 😉
I consider it the fourth trimester because life is not exactly back to “normal” after the conclusion of the third trimester. It is in fact in a HUGE upheaval. From sleep deprivation, sibling rivalry, and baby blues, the fourth 12 weeks is a major adjustment time. I don’t consider our stint in the hospital as part of this time, so we are only a week(ish) into this fourth trimester, and it’s a challenge, times 2… or 5. 😉
My biggest goal during this time is to get the babies on a good sleep routine. If no one is getting any sleep it super-duper compounds any other problems and issues that may arise through the day. Last week (our first home) I was just kind of coasting, and getting up 2x a night. The thing is feeding a baby 2x’s a night isn’t THAT big of a deal, but feeding 2 babies is a whole different story. It takes me a good hour to get through the whole ordeal with both of them, and inevitably someone will not want to go right back to sleep like they should and there ya go.
I’ve used “The Baby Whisperer” EASY routine on all my kids but Qade. He was a champ of a sleeper/eater all on his own, so I wasn’t driven to find alternate solutions. I really like this method however, and hope that it works well with the twins. Today was the first day that I’ve seriously implemented it. They have to eat every 3 hours even if they aren’t done sleeping. 🙂 The point is it’s training them how to sleep, and especially how to get themselves to sleep. Also to feed them enough during the day that they are able to sleep longer at night.
So far they’ve been doing pretty well with the naps today. I’m interested to see what tonight will look like though I’m not expecting any miracles on the first day! Still, since we’re starting early I anticipate that the girls will be on a good routine within a week or two. Hope so! I can do the once a night thing okay, it’s when it starts to be 2x or more that I start having issues myself. 😉
And then by the end of the fourth trimester we’ll all have pretty much adjusted to our new family. The kids will have accepted the fact that the twins are here to stay, and they’ll be aware of their needs and routines. We’ll all be sleeping more! The twins will be growing big enough to tank up and sleep through the night!! And it’ll all be “back” to normal. 😉 Or something….