Tender Mercies

Life right now is full of adjustments, smiles, laughs, and tears.

I am adjusting to having 3 kids. I am adjusting to having twins. 

At times it is difficult and overwhelming, and I cry and wonder how I will make it through the day.

Other times, I just sit and laugh at my silly 2 year old, and smile at my adorable babies and feel so incredibly happy. 

I feel such an indescribable amount of love for my kids. I know it is a feeling only a mom can ever know. 

I feel so blessed to have them. Even when it is hard, I simply would never ever trade it for anything else. 

The last 2 weeks has been the hardest...Devry's first two weeks away. My first two weeks as a single mom of 3 kids. But we made it! In large part to the wonderful, kind, generous friends and family who have helped us out in so many ways! 

I also have felt incredibly blessed lately. I have had such amazing feelings that we are doing what is best for our family. I need to be home with these kiddos, and right now the only way that is possible is with Devry working away. So we do what we have to! I know we are being looked after. 

I have come to realize I have amazing babies!! Payton was such a good newborn. Slept through the night from day one, content, happy, and sweet. I knew I was spoiled getting such a wonderful baby. I also knew that chances of it happening again were slim. When I found out I was having twins, I just knew that even if one was like Payton, there was no way they both would be. I prepared myself to be up multiple times a night for months and months..especially after they came early, and I figured feeding them would be much more work then it actually was!

The first few weeks, they woke up every 3 hours to eat. They were on the same schedule, and woke up at the same time...and if they didn't, I woke up the other one to keep them on the same schedule. I was grateful it was only every 3 hours, and that they ate pretty quickly so I was only up with them for 40 minutes or so. I also was grateful that from working nights, I have become VERY good at functioning well on very little sleep, or broken up sleep. So I did great! I would be tired in the mornings, but once I got up and going I was fine. I never really napped, and still felt great!

Then the last 2 weeks, their feedings have gotten a little bit farther apart each night. I have done all of the things I did with Payton that seemed to work helping him sleep great at night...I really try to separate day and night. At night I swaddle them, lay them down in the pack n play, and keep the lights out. During the day I don't do any of these things. They sleep in bouncers during the day, and I don't ever try to keep things silent or dark. They have a bit of a "fussy" time between 7-10 pm....They take a little more work during this time, but boy do they sleep great after fussing a bit for 3 hours. At first they had one 4 hour stretch between feedings...then gradually it has increased. The last 3 nights they have gone 6-7 hours between one feeding, then around 4 between the next. Typically I have fed them at 10, they wake up between 4 and 5, then sleep again till 8 or 9. We have gotten faster during feeding time. They eat in 15 minutes, then I burp and change them, and we are usually back to bed within 30 minutes.  I really can't believe that at 5 weeks old they are both sleeping the same 6-7 hour stretch!!

During the day, they eat every 3 hours, and are so content. Both of them are happy, sweet, GOOD babies.  It has been such an incredible tender mercy to have such amazing babies!! I knew having twins would be hard, especially with Devry gone. I am so grateful they have been so good. It has made everything so much easier.  Like I said, I know we are being looked after, and blessed with these two sweet, content, adorable little boys!!