What a difference a day makes!

Chris has been out of town for business this week and returns tonight.  Normally, our routine is pretty easy.  The kids go to daycare during the day, I pick them up and feed them alone when we get home, and then they go to bed around 7pm.  Chris and I wake them up at 10 pm for their last feeding and he does the middle of the night feeding alone (usually around 2 am) while I do the first feeding of the morning (anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30 am).  We tag teamed Monday morning, and I got a hand from Margie on Monday evening.  That night I did 10 pm, the middle of the night and morning alone.  While the middle of the night stuff was routine, it did a number on my sleep schedule!  I was very tired on Tuesday, but managed to get to work 30 minutes late, and through the day unscathed.  I consumed ungodly amounts of coffee throughout the day and worried about possibly overodosing on caffeine.  Tuesday night came around, and it was horrible.  Elliott woke up early for the mid night feeding around 12:45 am.  I tried the pacifier, but it only bought me about an hour or less.  He woke up unconsolable at 1:30 am, so I fed them and went back to bed.  The monitor started going off again around 4ish and didn't let up for quite some time.  I was able to get to 5 ish in the morning and decided it had been long enough, and fed them.  I ended up sleeping in and got up 30 minutes later than usual.  That killed me! I ended up juggling coffee, lunch, Veronica, getting babies dressed and diapered, controlling crying, etc and decided to feed them again at 7 am to not throw off the feeding schedule at daycare.  I was 45 minutes late for work and SUPER tired.  

Yesterday I got desperate and read some books I have on babies and decided to try a new approach.  I found that feeding them more before bed and more often, and putting them to sleep earlier helps.  Also, it was advised to get rid of the night light and make it as dark as possible.  Quite possibly the most shocking was the revelation that running the swing that Elliott sleeps in (to aid in keeping his spit up to a minimum and to get him to fall sleep) actually keeps him from sleeping deeply.  Apparently we have the angle right, but he would sleep better if the swing was off.  I tried it all, and I slept from 10 pm - 2:30 am, and from 3 am until 6 am!  I only had to get up twice, once to move Elliott to the crib at 12:45 am (he was screaming and only stopped when I moved him) and again at 5 am to put Milo's pacifier in his mouth. So from 6:00 until 7 I took care of my stuff (coffee, lunch, Veronica, ect) and fed the babies together from 7 until 7:20 am.  I was able to get everything done and got to work only 20 minutes late but I stayed at daycare to chat with the teacher.  GOD I cannot wait to see Chris again!