Sweet, Sweet Slumber

I feel like I can never get enough sleep pictures. Maybe that's because sleep is so darn important, yet so elusive in our home.

Where to even begin in our sleep story? Maybe way back in the NICU, when they slept all the time and were on a wonderful sleep schedule for the beginning of their life. Wait! They were amazing sleepers for the first six months of their lives...I even got complemented on it. What happened?

It started with Seth's darn ear infections when they were six months old. He'd wake up crying, and because they were sharing a room, we'd rush in to make sure he didn't wake up Sam. Yep, right then and there we trained our kids that if they cried, we'd come. My number one advice to twin parents: just pull the plug, don't be nostalgic, and split them into different rooms. At least parents, who were like us and wouldn't let them just play/cry/work it out.

Fast forward to this May, when the boys are 2 years old. (Of, course between 6 months and 2 years we had many more ups and downs of sleep, but I won't re-traumatize myself by relating them all to you). We take their binkies away....leading the boys to chat endlessly every night and not fall asleep until 10 or 11. To add to the frustration and overtiredness: Seth begins to have sleep terrors (at one point, 21 out of 26 night of screaming bloody murder, inconsolable, for at least 20-45 minutes). Truthfully, Ben and I were going crazy. We were exhausted and frustrated! Our doctor even recommended us to the sleep disorder clinic at OHSU for help (of course, OHSU didn't have any openings until months later....great help!).

So, isn't this supposed to be a happy story? It is. Really. In the middle of July, we had finally had it and made the choice we wish we would have made literally years ago: we split them up. The day we did it, I was a bit sad, I'll admit. But when we were all sleeping blissfully weeks later, I had no sorrow. How did splitting them up help so much? First of all: they were able to fall asleep much faster! Sam has always been the better sleeper, and he no longer had Seth bugging him for hours on end to keep him up. Seth could then read himself to sleep, which seems to help him fall asleep faster. It even helped with the night terrors, because we could then just let Seth cry and instead of adding to the problem by picking him up (I know, counter-intuitive, but apparently the solution to sleep terrors). Seth's terrors went from being 45 minutes, to 15, to 5, to rare. He maybe has a small one once a week now. Other key factors in helping with sleep: music and an hour long wind down time before bed.

Last week I looked at Ben and said, "I feel normal again." I don't know how many times we've caught ourselves laughing, like really belly laughing, and said, "We're laughing again." Extreme sounding, I know. But when you're in the midst of sleep deprivation, life seems to stop and go in horrible slow motion. I'm now thinking again, doing crafts, catching up on projects, smiling and laughing tons. Most mornings I get up an hour before the kids wake-up to have devotions and enjoy coffee in peace. Most nap times I now use to do something I enjoy like scrapbooking (instead of desperately trying to nap to catch up on sleep). We're no longer house-bond because we're worried that the boys will scream all night at someone else's house. We'll go off schedule periodically because we know that we'll catch up on sleep again soon. These may sound like basic things, but for us, they are miracles.

Things aren't perfect. Seth still really struggles with falling asleep (10:40 last night). We're not entirely sure why, but decided that didn't merit a visit to the sleep disorder clinic and cancelled his appointment. Sleep is always going to be an issue in our household; let's be honest, both Ben and I are horrible sleepers. But, that's ok. After all we've been through, I know we'll make it. And, sleep pictures are still among the most precious things in the world.

Sam loves his animals

Sam

Seth: falls asleep playing with is hair

Sam and his always present puppets

Seth