At Least It Isn't Colic, Right?

The past couple of days, Ezra and Elliott have been incredibly fussy. It's not just at night now--it's all day long. Eliminating supplemental formula fixed everything for a few days, but now their fussiness is back with a vengeance. They constantly need to be held in order to calm down and cannot sleep for more than an hour or two at a time. We are still combatting thrush, so I can only assume their stomachs are upset because of that.

When I went to the doctor on Monday, I somewhat forcefully asked for a prescription of Nystatin. This is the medicine that is usually recommended for treating thrush and is safe for both the babies and me. For some reason, I was initially prescribed a medicine that cannot be ingested by the boys, which means it was a pain to use. More importantly, though, because Ezra and Elliott were not treated directly for thrush, we can constantly pass the infection back and forth. Not fun. Hopefully, this new medicine will do the trick.

The discomfort Ezra and Elliott are experiencing is different than anything Eliza ever had; Eliza was in constant pain. She screamed for hours rather than moving around with gas and softly crying. Being held and bounced did nothing for Eliza, but it does wonders for Ezra and Elliott. Additionally, the boys were wonderful sleepers in the beginning, while Eliza never slept a decent stretch of time once she came from the hospital.

So, I have hope. Things are going to get better, right?

The sleep deprivation is out of control, so the number of hours spent awake can only decrease at this point. Looking back at earlier posts, I can almost laugh as I think, "Wait. I was tired then? And I was sleeping 6 hours!?" Recently, Nathan and I are down to 2-4 hours a day/night. After sleeping two hours on Sunday night and four hours on Monday, I had vertigo so badly this morning that I couldn't open my eyes, I couldn't stand up, and I threw up when I finally got out of bed. Thankfully, my husband again sacrificed his own sleep and sent me back to bed this morning when my shift was supposed to start. And again, my amazing mother-in-law saves the day. She scheduled a play date for Eliza, watched the children so Nathan and I could both rest, and made sure we had lunch and dinner.

I have waves of feeling overwhelmed and completely hopeless, but somehow, Nathan and I have been able to remain optimistic (overall). We lived through colic and nothing can hold a candle to that. We make jokes about the situation and try to keep things in perspective, as we remind ourselves that this phase will eventually pass. We're just glad Ezra and Elliott can be soothed most of the time and that they aren't in great pain.

More and more, we see it was a blessing in disguise to have a first child who thoroughly prepared us for twins and sleeplessness. Ezra and Elliott haven't got anything on Eliza!