Week 5 @ home ~ Establishing a routine... not as easy as you would think!

So this week we decided it was time to establish a nightly routine for the boys so that they would get some sense of normalcy at night and this in turn might make it easier to put them down.  The first thing we decided to do was to put them in their cribs during their daytime nap so that they would know that their crib was their sleeping place and not the couch, swing, arms, etc... Although I miss having them sleep in my arms and staring at their amazing little faces, I knew I would be doing them a dis-service if I kept doing this as it would make it harder and harder for them to sleep in their cribs and eventually bed.  Weirdly, it was Zachary who took to his crib the best!  He was always the most fussy one to get to bed but he's been loving his crib, so a plus there!  Jacob is not liking it so much and he's taking a bit more time getting used to this new daytime sleep routine, but he's getting there.  Samuel is my "I don't want to miss a thing" boy so it takes him a while to fall asleep as he just lays there and looks around but eventually drifts off into dreamland.  
In the evenings, after their 6 pm feeding and one of the boys has had his bath, we put them around us and Gab plays/sings them a few songs and then I read them a book.  At first, I'd read them a book out in the living room, but I've started going into their rooms once they are in their cribs because I figure eventually I'll be reading them a book in their bedrooms when they can actually appreciate the fact that I'm reading!  Right now, only my ever awake Samuel seems to appreciate what we're doing but eventually, it'll become something they love, I'm sure.  We are trying to develop their sense of rhythm and their love of books early on in their lives :)  

We had been noticing that their most fussy times in their cribs was after their 10pm feeding, which was the first time they had been in their cribs all day.  Now, if they have a fussy time, it's after the 6pm feeding time and at least then, we're awake and we can deal with it better than at midnight every night.  This seems to be working as the babies are starting to really appreciate their cribs.  We found this to work for our boys because they were used to being left alone in their NICU cribs and left to fall asleep on their own without having to be soothed to sleep.  This, of course, wouldn't work for every baby, and don't think that I say our way is the best way.  Like I said in last week's blog, I haven't come across the magical book that knows what's best for every single baby so I took what I've read and what I know of my boys and I'm applying it.  We have also started, after speaking to a nurse who had worked as a baby nurse for 35 years, to let them cry it out, just a small amount, never more than 10 minutes and never if they're really crying way too loudly.  This has also been working for us, for now.  We may find out in a few weeks time, probably after my mom leaves and I'm left alone at night, that this is just not going to work for them anymore.  Luckily, this is working for all three boys!  Jacob is having a harder time with it than the other two but he's slowly getting there.  
We've had a few disruptions to our nightly routine, or things that have thrown the boys off schedule so we haven't had a flawless week... On Thursday, they had their 2 month immunization shots, three shots in the leg, per boy.  It was the first time I saw them cry so hard they actually had tears coming out of their eyes... I cried with them, of course, and I had to go through it three times... so sad!  This threw them off for the next few days and today, we put them through a 5 hour photo session.  Newborn photo shoots are normally done within 10 days of a baby's birth but since they were premature, we wanted to wait until after their due date.... Well like it or not, the babies still had two months of living under their belts and weren't as easily manipulated as an actual newborn.  They were so upset by the end of it all... To top it all off, they didn't eat when they were meant to, they didn't get their normal formula, because in our haste, we forgot their bottles and had to stop at a drug store to get them formula and of course, they didn't have the one we needed so we bought a different kind.  

I don't think they'll ever have a flawless, super on schedule week but this week was pretty crazy and it's not over!  The week coming has another round of shots and another eye exam, speculum included... January was really overwhelming for my boys... Since coming home they've had 5 shots each, have visited 3 different doctors, have been visited by a public health nurse every week and have had to get used to being humans!  My poor little babies... I'm quite glad the month of February is coming and they don't have much going on in their lives until the end of the month.  I'm also glad my mother was here during all this time when I don't think I could have handled all those appointments by myself.  As I write this, my mother is feeding a very sad and unsettled Jacob... we don't even know if he's truly hungry or if he's just confused about the day.  All we know is that he just needs some love.  The other two are still dead asleep after this tough day.  He's also been farting, so he's probably not liking the formula we gave him today... Although it was the same they had in the hospital, they've been used to a different one at home and it's probably upset their stomach... shame on us... we'll just have to plan better next time and not be in such a haste!  I swear I forget to pack something different in that diaper bag every time we leave the house!  I swear one day I'll forget a baby! haha...  

As far as funny things that have happened this week... I hit my nose pretty bad when bringing the car seat handle back, I forgot to move my face out of the way!  It came back so quick that it almost knocked me out...my nose still hurt three days later!  My mother has had trouble with milk bottles... twice she's poured milk in a bottle without a bottom and just yesterday she was trying to hurry and put the top on wrong on one of the bottle and when she went to put the bottle in Jacob's mouth, the top fell away and all the milk went on my son, the blanket, the pillow and the couch they were on... my poor little man almost got drowned in milk!!  Gab still wakes up thinking he's got a baby in his arms when I wake him up at night and gets almost angry with me when I ask him repeatedly to get a baby as he thinks he already has one... Just last night, he had a pillow in his arms and was rubbing its "back"... haha... I always catch him rocking or rubbing something random.  The other day, he heard a baby cry and started rocking the laptop that was on his lap and yesterday, he was rubbing his lip for some reason... As for me, I often find myself swaying back and forth even when I don't have a baby in my arms.  

I went to my book club meeting this week and as amazing as it was seeing some of my best girlfriends, I felt guilty the whole time I was there...  I laughed and had a really good time but I had this invisible string that kept me tied to the boys and as much as I was glad I got out, I was having a hard time being present.  I know I'm going to have to go out by myself for my sanity but it'll take me a long time before I actually start craving time away I think.  

This week is going to be tough for me, and tears are coming to my eyes as I think of it... my mother has become like a third parent to my boys and I've come so used to having her here that having to say goodbye won't just be hard emotionally because she's my mother, but because she's become a constant in my boys' lives and we'll all miss her.  Nevertheless, she needs to get away because one, I need to figure out how to do this on my own and two, she needs to get back to her own life and take a break from this crazy life.  She adores the boys and I know she's feeling  bitter-sweet about leaving us, but I know it'll do her good.  My sister, bless her heart, was meant to go to Florida with my mother but had a change of heart and will give up her Florida vacation to come help me out a few times a week instead.  I've had people offer to help me and I think it's amazing that there are so many people willing to lend a hand, but I don't think I could have "strangers" in my house.  I'd feel like I'd have to entertain them and I think I'd feel uncomfortable in my own house... I don't even know if that makes sense to anyone else but me... 

Anyways, here are some pics of the week:

Looking a little bigger than their one month pic (the day they got home)

They still look so tiny in their cribs!!! 

Jacob, like his brothers, love sleeping face in my chest! 

Our first family pic... we all look so tired I know...
They're getting harder and harder to hold all three at once... this never happens! 

Zachary looking fabulous 

Live, love, laugh my friends... life is too short... xx