Grammas, Great-Grammas, and a Night Nurse, Oh my!

Jonathan and I agree that our grandmothers are the best ever. I think, though, Ben and Jack may have us beat - they have not only our wonderful grandmothers to love them, but their own as well - GiGi & Honey. Pictured below: Great G'mas Lainey, Millie, Carolyn, & Barbara

Prior to their arrival, Susie made several dinners for me & J since I was on "modified" bed rest. Their Honey came home with us the first night, too, to help with the night feedings.  Our first week home, their GiGi came to stay with us to help out. While that first week in the hospital was amazing, coming home the second week was a big adjustment into motherhood. My mom brought all kinds of meals and did a fantastic job of taking care of not just my baby boys, but me as well. Their being here also let J get some sleep at night, for which I think he was grateful. :)

I will admit that I had a touch of the baby blues the first week or so home. It was overwhelming; when you have a child, your whole world changes, and I didn't fully realize what that would feel like until it happened. They became my entire focus, which is hugely different from only having yourself and your spouse to think about. Plus, there's the never-ending cycle of feeding every three hours, around the clock, with a single four-hour stretch at night - no sleep made me feel so drained those first couple of weeks.

Anyway, I was so dreading my wonderful mom leaving - she didn't even have to do or say anything - just her presence made me feel comforted and capable. Thank goodness we had scheduled the boys' photo shoot for the Saturday morning that mom left, so I had a distraction to keep me from losing it! Also, my mom is brilliant, and had suggested my amazing sister Erin come stay with me for a couple of weeks after she left. Erin's time with us is deserving of her own blog post, so more on her later. Is this the second prelude to Erin? See how amazingly important she is? ;)

My husband is also brilliant and suggested a night nurse. I was totally resistant at first - I had never heard of night nurses! But when it was brought up in our classes, was all over my twin mom forums, and mentioned by our pediatrician, I felt maybe I should give it more thought. Jonathan more or less convinced me, and I am so, so happy he did. Kim came by on our first night home (she started with us after my mom left) to show us how to swaddle and get the boys to sleep in one crib with wedges, etc. I think I cried as soon as I saw her - she made me feel so relieved! Night Nurse Kim was awesome with our boys and gave us a little breather in the evenings.I was still getting up through the night to pump, but she fed the babies so I could go right back to bed. Finally some real rest! Since she stayed up all night with them, she also sleep trained them and let me tell you how worth it that was. By the time she left (just under two months) the babies were sleeping at least 8 hours, with the dreamfeed. We were so lucky to have her expertise.

Night Nurse Kim

Ben & Jack are two very blessed little boys to have so many people to love them, their grammas (and great-grammas) especially. From their first day of life, when their Honey & GiGi met and held them, to their first week home, when they helped feed and take care of them, to now, when they get to love on them during visits or (much-appreciated) babysitting gigs. :)