Yes, we ALL made it through the delivery of the twins. Truman and Amelia arrived on Wednesday (Nov. 21), and I'm happy to say that they and I all made it through the whole wonderful yet excruciating event alive and well. James has done a nice job of keeping everyone up-to-date and served as the family photojournalist during this time. I'm glad he did because I was in no condition to do it.
It has now been 2 weeks since the delivery (actually 3 now that I am actually posting), and I am just starting to move around with little or no pain. The first week postpartum was fairyly painful, but I am happy we were able to avoid a c-section. The "baby blues" hit me hard the first week after delivery. I know after Jameson was born I had a couple of short-lived breakdowns, but I think I got it a bit worse this time. Everything seemed to set me off. I am slowly regaining my sanity and wondering if I will ever regain some semblance of my former self. I am sure anyone who's ever had a baby can understand where I'm coming from, but I will paint a mental picture for those of you who have not.
Imagine feeling one day a complete sense of fullness in your abdomen where even trivial tasks seem impossible (putting on your socks & shoes, sitting up in bed, finding your lap). Then imagine waking up the next day feeling as if you have been hollowed out from the inside out. When you get up, you're afraid that your organs might just flop right out of your body. You have to get out of bed slowly because it takes a moment for your stretched abdominals muscles and ligaments to re-engage. Your once full, tight abdomen feels like a soft, squishy, unfamiliar pouch.
My beautiful babies are more than worth the temporary discomforts of labor and the drastic physical and hormonal changes my body has undergone. Yet any mother will tell you that it's a lot to go through at once, so it's no wonder new moms get the "baby blues".
Having waited so long to finish this post, it has now been more than 3 weeks since the twins were born, and I am beginning to feel more like myself. The "baby blues" are gone, and the exhaustion of this first 12 weeks has set in. Thank God for my mother. She has been so helpful with relieving some of the pressure of childcare by coming over and helping just about everyday.
My aunt Josefina from Mexico also came into town to help for a couple of weeks. She too was a godsend. Between her and my mom, they caught up all our laundry and helped clean up the house. I definitely felt less stressed than I remember feeling shortly after JJ was born.
I think we are settling into some type of a schedule, so hopefully we can get at least two 4 hour blocks of sleep in each night. It's funny how sleep becomes a major priority shortly after you have a baby. It' s WAY harder when you already have another little one because you can't "sleep when the babies sleep" as everyone will tell you. I know this period will end before I know it, and then I will wonder what happened to my little babies.
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