My Irish Twins. One year later.
A year ago I was miserable.
I was spending my days chasing after a very busy 11.5 month old who had just started walking everywhere, and I was also just about 39 weeks pregnant. I was counting down the days until another little blue bundle of joy would join our family. Impatiently.
Irish Twins.
I read these things all the time from twin moms saying "no your two babies close together are nothing like having twins, but nice try."
I laugh. Partly because it's not a competition, partly because it's not easy. At all.
With twins you go through the pregnancy once, then you deal with two infants.
When you have two babies under one, you are dealing with the pregnancy ailments at the same time as caring for an infant. In our case here, Declan had reflux and colic as an infant. He was still spending most of his time, day and night, crying as the line showed up on the pregnancy test.
I gained nearly 100 pounds between the two of them. When I found out I was pregnant with Leland, I was still 30 pounds up from pre-Declan. The day I went to the hospital to have Leland I weighed an alarming 243 pounds. My *normal* weight being 145-150 pounds. My body went haywire having them so close. I'm still fighting daily to get it off.
I feel like I haven't slept in two years since Declan was born. Not only was I getting up with the baby multiple times each night, I was getting up multiple times each night to vomit. With Leland it was not morning sickness, it was middle of the night sickness.
Not to even mention my other three sons.
So no, I didn't have twins, but it sure was hard.
Getting Leland here was the hardest part. Once he joined us, I was utterly amazed.
Irish twins are quite remarkable. At least mine are.
Declan and Leland have shared a tight bond since before Leland arrived. I watched in awe while my pregnancy progressed and Declan and my tummy were inseparable. Declan would curl up around my belly, laying his hands right across his brother and fall asleep for naps. While he slept Leland would kick him. They were not in my womb together, but they were bonding from the beginning. Declan was always touching my belly and there is just simply no way he was old enough to understand anyone explaining there was a baby in there; yet he somehow knew.
I've seen close brother bonds before. Their older brothers are 21 months (Avery and Payton) and 17 months apart (Payton and Rylan), and while they have always been close, this closeness that my little boys have is more instinctual than I've experienced before.
After Leland was here, my little bitty Declan turned into a little helper. He became a big brother 6 days before his first birthday. By 13 months old I watched in amazement as he would put his baby brother down for naps. He was tired himself, but he wouldn't go to his crib until Leland had his binky, a blanket, and he could rock him to sleep in his little baby rocker. My heart swelled watching them.
There were days early on when they both would cry and cry and CRY until I would pick them up and hold them together in my lap. I could feel them both instantly relax as they were close to each other and then they would both fall into a peaceful sleep. The "not going anywhere for awhile" snickers commercials always came to mind when that happened.
Leland remained in our bedroom in a bassinet an unprecedented 7 months. We could not get him to sleep through the night despite our best efforts. Then one day a thought occurred to me. I went down to the nursery and I rearranged all the furniture. I put the two cribs right next to each other. Leland slept through the night for the first time that night in the nursery in his crib. All along he just wanted to be with Declan. They find a comfort in each other's closeness.
They amaze me every single day.
When Declan cries, Leland goes straight to him and starts laughing.
When Leland cries, Declan swoops in saying "baby baby baby okay" and handing him binky and toys while rubbing his head.
I can't imagine how we would have handled them both coming at once, Declan was enough on his own with his constant screaming, but they were always meant to be together.
Next week we celebrate Leland's first birthday. This is the first birthday I am the most proud to reach. I LOVE first birthdays and always make a huge deal, but this is a different level altogether. Not only is Leland turning 1 next week, Declan turns 2 the following week, and we will have officially survived the first year with our Irish twins. .
It was far easier than I anticipated, yet my hands have been so full.
I look back at the first year of them together and I can't remember what Declan was like without him. I can't remember what it was like when I was able to sleep, I can't remember what life used to be like. This is what life is supposed to be. We were so blessed that these sweet little boys came to be a part of our beautiful family.
These days life is amazing. Every morning when they wake up I can hear them talking and giggling with each other on the baby monitor. When I open their door and say "good morning babies!" I am greeted with laughter. Declan jumps up and down in his bed, while Leland throws himself down in his and crawls circles laughing. They are the best of friends and I am so glad that they have each other. I watch their older boys and the close bond that they've always shared, and I am overjoyed to bring up a younger set of brothers in the same way. I love my life.
I was spending my days chasing after a very busy 11.5 month old who had just started walking everywhere, and I was also just about 39 weeks pregnant. I was counting down the days until another little blue bundle of joy would join our family. Impatiently.
Irish Twins.
I read these things all the time from twin moms saying "no your two babies close together are nothing like having twins, but nice try."
I laugh. Partly because it's not a competition, partly because it's not easy. At all.
With twins you go through the pregnancy once, then you deal with two infants.
When you have two babies under one, you are dealing with the pregnancy ailments at the same time as caring for an infant. In our case here, Declan had reflux and colic as an infant. He was still spending most of his time, day and night, crying as the line showed up on the pregnancy test.
I gained nearly 100 pounds between the two of them. When I found out I was pregnant with Leland, I was still 30 pounds up from pre-Declan. The day I went to the hospital to have Leland I weighed an alarming 243 pounds. My *normal* weight being 145-150 pounds. My body went haywire having them so close. I'm still fighting daily to get it off.
I feel like I haven't slept in two years since Declan was born. Not only was I getting up with the baby multiple times each night, I was getting up multiple times each night to vomit. With Leland it was not morning sickness, it was middle of the night sickness.
Not to even mention my other three sons.
So no, I didn't have twins, but it sure was hard.
Getting Leland here was the hardest part. Once he joined us, I was utterly amazed.
Irish twins are quite remarkable. At least mine are.
Declan and Leland have shared a tight bond since before Leland arrived. I watched in awe while my pregnancy progressed and Declan and my tummy were inseparable. Declan would curl up around my belly, laying his hands right across his brother and fall asleep for naps. While he slept Leland would kick him. They were not in my womb together, but they were bonding from the beginning. Declan was always touching my belly and there is just simply no way he was old enough to understand anyone explaining there was a baby in there; yet he somehow knew.
I've seen close brother bonds before. Their older brothers are 21 months (Avery and Payton) and 17 months apart (Payton and Rylan), and while they have always been close, this closeness that my little boys have is more instinctual than I've experienced before.
After Leland was here, my little bitty Declan turned into a little helper. He became a big brother 6 days before his first birthday. By 13 months old I watched in amazement as he would put his baby brother down for naps. He was tired himself, but he wouldn't go to his crib until Leland had his binky, a blanket, and he could rock him to sleep in his little baby rocker. My heart swelled watching them.
There were days early on when they both would cry and cry and CRY until I would pick them up and hold them together in my lap. I could feel them both instantly relax as they were close to each other and then they would both fall into a peaceful sleep. The "not going anywhere for awhile" snickers commercials always came to mind when that happened.
Leland remained in our bedroom in a bassinet an unprecedented 7 months. We could not get him to sleep through the night despite our best efforts. Then one day a thought occurred to me. I went down to the nursery and I rearranged all the furniture. I put the two cribs right next to each other. Leland slept through the night for the first time that night in the nursery in his crib. All along he just wanted to be with Declan. They find a comfort in each other's closeness.
They amaze me every single day.
When Declan cries, Leland goes straight to him and starts laughing.
When Leland cries, Declan swoops in saying "baby baby baby okay" and handing him binky and toys while rubbing his head.
I can't imagine how we would have handled them both coming at once, Declan was enough on his own with his constant screaming, but they were always meant to be together.
Next week we celebrate Leland's first birthday. This is the first birthday I am the most proud to reach. I LOVE first birthdays and always make a huge deal, but this is a different level altogether. Not only is Leland turning 1 next week, Declan turns 2 the following week, and we will have officially survived the first year with our Irish twins. .
It was far easier than I anticipated, yet my hands have been so full.
I look back at the first year of them together and I can't remember what Declan was like without him. I can't remember what it was like when I was able to sleep, I can't remember what life used to be like. This is what life is supposed to be. We were so blessed that these sweet little boys came to be a part of our beautiful family.
These days life is amazing. Every morning when they wake up I can hear them talking and giggling with each other on the baby monitor. When I open their door and say "good morning babies!" I am greeted with laughter. Declan jumps up and down in his bed, while Leland throws himself down in his and crawls circles laughing. They are the best of friends and I am so glad that they have each other. I watch their older boys and the close bond that they've always shared, and I am overjoyed to bring up a younger set of brothers in the same way. I love my life.
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