The Question of the Week on the Multiples and More blog this week is "Does it get easier?" I have had a few people in the last week ask me this same question, so I thought I would take a stab at responding to it! First of all...the answer is YES, it does get easier. Exponentially easier! Wonderfully easier!! Unbelievably easier! If you had asked me this question during the first three months, I probably would have broken down into tears and said NO WAY...there is NO WAY it could ever get easier. When you first give birth to multiples (and maybe singleton babies...I have no experience with that), you are in a fog. At least I was...life seemed to move SO SLOOOWWWLLLYYYY. The days dragged on, everything seemed more difficult, everyone around you tries to help but nothing seems to feel like it is helping, and you think your life will ABSOLUTELY NEVER be the same (and not in a good, "yea I love being a Mom" kind of way). I can vividly remember thinking I would never be able to just sit down and enjoy an entire Redskins game again...I would see friends' posts on facebook about watching the game and I was SOOOO jealous! And I am not that big of a football fan...I just thought that sounded so luxurious and I was never going to do it again! I was in a time warp. I couldn't see past the stage we were in. All I could see was bottles, breast pump accessories, acid reflux meds, and diapers. I really couldn't see how or when my life would get easier. But...it did! Slowly...but it did! Around 3 months it got a little easier. Not much...but the fog started to clear a little. I could see that maybe..one day...my life wouldn't be THIS CRAZY DIFFICULT! I think my biggest turning point was when the girls could sit up on their own (so around 5-6 months). All of the sudden, they started seeming like real people. They had fun personalities. They could do SOMETHING without my help. They weren't 100% COMPLETELY dependent of me for EVERYTHING. This is also when their reflux and dairy allergy started to subside, so that may have had something to do with it too...but that is when the fog cleared! Don't get me wrong...there were lots of fun times during those first 6 months. I loved those babies with ALL my heart and I loved seeing them do things (just look back at my blog posts and you will see...), but at 6 months...I felt like a HUGE weight was taken off of my shoulders. And you know what...it gets easier all the time. Sure, there are hard things...daily...but they are SO FAR overshadowed by the great things. A young girl at church the other day asked me what the hardest part about having twins was, and ya know what...I didn't have an answer. I really couldn't think of one thing that was "harder" with twins than it would be with one baby at this point. I mean...yea, they work together to get into mischief, they cry at the same time sometimes, they wake up at different times in the middle of the night or set each other off...but I don't think that is any harder than what my sister deals with having two kids that are a year apart! In fact, at this age, I think in some ways, it is easier to have twins than just one! They play together, they keep each other occupied, they hug and kiss each other (and pull hair and bite...yea, it isn't all wonderful), and they have a built in best friend for life!!! So will it get easier? YES! I PROMISE! It will get easier! Just hang in there and try to enjoy the milestones without feeling COMPLETELY guilty for wondering when it will get easier!!
