Daydreamers

Last week, we found the most perfect minivan for our growing family. Because of supply and demand, minivans are bounteous in Utah and far less expensive than they are here in Washington. We spoke to the dealership which had the prized van, and Nathan planned to drive to Utah on Sunday morning. He would get the car and come home on Monday. Easy.

Well, our children had other plans.

With daylight savings and losing an hour, we tried to make sure Nathan went to bed extra early on Saturday night in order to get enough rest for his 12 hour drive to Utah. That didn't happen, though. Eliza came down with a cold and wouldn't go to sleep, and the boys continued to cry throughout the night and demand constant feeding. At 1 AM, we finally crawled into bed. I was worried about Nathan getting up and driving 800 miles, but we tried to stay positive.

At 3 AM, I was awakened by Nathan gently calling my name. I could see him holding a crying baby and he said, "Can you nurse him?" Apparently, I then started speaking in gibberish. I could hear myself talking, and I knew I wasn't forming intelligible words or sentences. Somehow, I stumbled out of bed and fed the babies. At 4 AM, I was up again. Ezra and Elliott were wide awake. Cheryl came to check on me around 6 AM, and I was somewhat delirious and also frustrated because the boys wouldn't nurse. I could not figure out what was going on, and decided to pump after realizing nursing would not work.

I quickly saw what the problem was. I had no milk. When I pumped, I got NOTHING. Usually, I express 12-15 ounces of milk. I maybe had 2 ounces, which wasn't even half of what one baby eats in a feeding. No wonder the boys were upset! Thankfully, we had some frozen milk, which we were able to use. 

An hour or so later, Nathan woke up and assessed the situation. Without hesitating, he made the executive decision to not go to Utah. Relief washed over me instantly (there will always be more minivans, right?). He sent me straight to bed and gave me strict instructions to rest and to not worry about pumping or nursing. He would use the frozen milk if Ezra and Elliott woke up. 

While I slept, Nathan got Eliza ready for church, washed all the bottles, and cleaned the house. He was able to accomplish so much because the boys slept for 4 hours straight! I woke up to pump and eat, and the babies woke up around the same time. Nathan fed them, and I went back to bed for three more hours. Ezra and Elliott went back to sleep, too, and slept for 6 hours!

They were asleep all day. From 9 AM to 10 PM, they slept constantly and only woke up to eat. They promptly went back to bed after all feedings. The bad part to this story: When Nathan went to bed at midnight, I was left on duty. The boys were awake until 8 AM.

Obviously, their days and nights are confused. And although this is frustrating, I feel relieved knowing that they can sleep for more than two hours at a time. This afternoon, we kept the babies awake until they couldn't stand it any longer. We plan on waking them during the day if they nap for longer than two hours or so. I couldn't come up with any other solution to breaking them from all of their daydreaming. I feel bad waking them up, but we need good night sleep in this house. 

Hopefully, we see results quickly! It makes me sad looking at these grumpy faces, but I hope they know it's for their own good.

(A sidenote: It is crazy how much sleep affects milk production. After resting on Sunday, my milk supply is back where it should be. I could see an increase after my first three hour nap. So, if you are nursing, do your body a favor and rest!)