Guest Blog from the DQ 2.0: Reflections on the Year of the Twizzles

There are no words to truly reflect what it felt like to learn that we were having twins.  The Pizz was just a little shy of 11 months old at the time.  Mike was in the corner of the room whispering expletives.  I was shocked speechless – virtually nothing would come out of my mouth.  I came home that night and cried… and maybe not tears of joy.

Unlike the constant new and mostly delightful experiences of a firstborn, the Twizz were a different story.   The Pizz was born near-term, with no complications and went home at 2 days.  The Twizz jeopardized my health and led to a medical delivery via c-section; they were born at 35 weeks, and though almost 6 pounds each, they both had their issues in the first days of life and spent 10 rocky days in the NICU.  The Pizz latched on in the first hours and we shared the joys of breastfeeding for 6 months; the Twizz never latched on well and instead tortured me with an industrial-grade breastpump for 4 months.  The Pizz slept at 9 weeks; Mike and I were still sleeping in the twin bed in the nursery 2.0 – together with both babies most nights – at this marker.  June 8, at almost 4 months of age, they both slept all night long for the first time.

At four months of age, I went back to work.  I have little to no memory of this time.  I was still sleeping in short bursts – 1-3 hours at a time.  We were getting up at 4 am religiously to feed them.  I did 4, sometimes 5, hours of childcare before going in for my 10-12 hour shifts.  We drank pots of coffee and ate whenever we could.  I shed serious weight, and so did Mike.  [I joked that my postpartum weight loss formula was (N + 1 cups of coffee qAM) + (N - 1 meals qDay) + (100 trips down the hall to plug N) + aerobic housekeeping, where N = # of children produced in 18 months.]

Time slowly crept by and things got easier.  They held their bottles.  They sat up well.  They started on solids and took reliable naps (okay, well Court does.)  They can play together for quite some time.  We are still waiting for some milestones – Court doesn't seem inclined to crawl – but it really is getting easier.  One day at a time.  The anxiety levels when you have three children is just triple – the second you sit back and think that things are going smoothly, something pops up in the least expected child.  The Pizz one day has another otitis; Mila starts cutting another tooth; Court may need more aggressive interventions to get him locomoting. 

And it really has been amazing watching the Pizz's interactions with them – she pours love and attention on them and can hardly wait for them to be her playmates in everything she does.  It's almost becoming impossible to get her out of the house in the mornings to go to day care without them.  Luckily they will be going with her soon.  Some days are becoming outright fun!

This morning, Mike sends me this text: "Sometimes I am amazed with the Pizz and the fact that she's ours.  Same with the Twizzles.  Mila was super cute this morning, just hours after vomiting her guts up."

  Yep, that pretty much sums up my feelings too.