On hindsight, it was quite a blessing that lil' Ipin didn't come home at the same time as his brother Upin. It meant that hubby and I had some time to get used to having 1 baby around at home, and the routine of night-time feeds before having to tackle 2 demanding lil babies.
Now, I had grand plans to tandem breastfeed the 2 of them, i.e. feed them at the same time. But, as usual, I forgot to consider the curve balls life throws at you. Not only did Ipin come back later than Upin, being smaller he didn't suckle as well, and had challenges latching on. Tandem feeding was almost impossible because I had to spend extra time fussing over Ipin. So, I had to flush down the toilet bowl my wonderful idea of saving time by tandem feeding.
It didn't help either that my breastmilk is taking forever to make its grand appearance. Definitely insufficient supply for 2 babies. So i've had to supplement with formula. This means that feeds take doubly long.
Hence, the programme, considering that cup-feeding each twin took an hour was as such:
1st hour: Feed 1 Twin
2nd hour: Feed the other Twin
3rd hour: Sterilise stuff, express breastmilk if nec, take a short 20 min/half hour nap.
Then REPEAT CYCLE, all day AND night long.
Lil Upin enjoying his sleep...if only mummy could sleep like that too!
All in all, I was lucky if i had 2-3 hours of sleep a day.
Yes, yes, although I have no confinement nanny helping me, I am staying with my mom. BUT she doesn't help with nightfeeds. In fact, I try not to tap on her help for ANY feeds, trying to do it all by myself. I think its important for me to learn how to not depend on others to help with the twins. Of course, the hubby is excluded from the 'others' category!
Lil Ipin, not quite happy, that his nap was disturbed for a bath!
But i do depend on my mom to help me bathe the twins in the morning, and wipe them down in the evenings. I could do it myself, but I think having a extra long shower in the morning and in the evenings helps me cope better the rest of the day.
I'm not discounting how difficult it is to take care of 1 baby, but me tackling 2 babies got me thinking that 1 baby can't be all that bad! =P
Now, did I start feeling that I hadn't sent out an eviction notice to the twins quite so early. No no no! I was happier being sleep deprived because of the activity, rather than sleep deprived due to the inactivity of my labourious pregnancy. LOL.
