OMG Totally exausted

Well I got home with my boys last Monday and other than trying to recover from my section things were going pretty well. Then last Thursday I started feeling very faint and short of breath, I noticed that my heart rate was very low. It would come and go but by Saturday night I had to have DH take me to the emergency room. I had my mom come over to watch the boys. By the time I got to the hospital my heart rate was in the low 30s. They ended up admitting me ( I was also retaining sooo much fluid,practically none of it had drained since my c/s) I was absolutely devastated. I couldn't imagine being away from my little ones. I was there for 3 days and I had family watiching the boys so DH could be at the hospital. They finally let me go after giving me diuretics I peed out almost 2 gallons of fluid. I had congestive heart failure due to all the excess fluid around my heart. Now I am at home and my boys are on a totally different schedule I don't know how to get things turned around, they will not sleep at night!! I feel like any rest I got in the hospital is gone. Sorry about the rant but advice about how to get them turned around. I have to get them sleeping at night and not during the day. What do I do?

 

I don't have suggestions for you, but I wanted to wish you well!

So sorry you were in the hospital :hug99:

 

Oh wow ! I am so sorry this happened to you. Do they know why it happened? As far as them sleeping at night, right now you are in survival mode. With them only being 1 wk. old there is really no way to get them on a "schedule" for sleeping, IMO. Try to hang in there. Sleep during the day when they sleep, you need your rest. Everything else can wait!!! It will get better soon, I promise. Sending :hug99: your way.

Carrie

 

I'm sorry you are having such a rough time.

I would start by feeding every 3 hours, and don't let them sleep anymore than 2 at a time during the day. Then hopefully they will get their day and nights straightened out. For the rest their is not much you can do.

Hang in there!!!!

 

Oh wow, I am sorry you went through that. That must have been so hard. I know when I got readmitted it was so hard to be away from the kiddies! I agree with PP, try feeding them every 3 hours. We went as far as to even wake the babies every 3 hours to feed them when they were as young as your babies. I know a lot of people disagree with waking sleeping babies, but it worked wonders for us.
Good luck!

 

What an experience! I am glad you are back at home and doing better. :hug99:

There isn't really much you can do for them sleep wise right now. They are still so young. They pretty much make the calls right now, LOL

Around 3 months, mine began being up more during the day and doing better at night. At 4 months, they were sleeping through the night, and more awake during the day. But they did still sleep a lot during the day.

 

OMGosh! Ericka, how scary! So glad that you are ok! As far as the babies go, I completely agree with feeding every 3 hours during the day...that would be a good start. Nights...do anything that works. If they sleep in their swing or bouncy well...let them! The first 3 months with twins is all about survival and getting as much sleep as you possibly can! :hug99:

 

Oh wow...I'm so sorry! What a horrible experience! I don't really have any advice to turn your littles ones' schedule around - we did the feed every three hours thing and let them sleep all the time.

 

Ericka,
I am so glad that you are better. I agree w/ pp, at this age, there isn't much you can do IMO.

 

:hug99: So sorry you had to go through that. Hopefully everything will settle down soon!

 

Oh my! :hug99: I hope everything gets better. I am so sorry you had to go back to the hospital. :hug99:

 

You poor thing! That sounds just awful. Did the docs say why it happened? A complication of the c-section? Yikes. Glad you're home and doing better. I can imagine it was a nightmare to be feeling horrible and having to leave the boys....

My kiddo had her days/nights mixed up for about a week, and then it got better -- I think they all do this for awhile -- I know it stinks!

 

Wow, I hope you're feeling better. Poor you!
I've had quite a bit of success with sleeping, even though one of my babies is/was pretty colicky. Feeding has been another story, but sleeping I can give a few tips on!
-Teach your children the difference between day and night as soon as you can. During the day, they should sleep where the action is. I set up a pack and play in the dining room. They slept there with the lights on and all the noise of the household going on around them. During the evening, keep the lights low. At night, have them sleep in the dark, swaddled tightly (tight swaddling works wonders for my boys, especially my fussy baby). Use a white noise machine to remind them of the kind of loud, rushing sounds they heard in the womb.
-Use this as your pattern for the day: 1. EAT 2. ACTIVITY 3. SLEEP. This is essential if you want your children to be able to sleep without having to eat first. For tiny babies the "activity" is as simple as a diaper change. At night, just let them sleep as much as they can. If they have to sleep in a swing beside their crib, fine - it's not forever (it just feels like forever!).
-Newborns tend to sleep a lot (unless they're starving like mine were - oops, took me a while to figure that out - nursing didn't go so well) but soon they'll be awake more. Try not to let your baby be "up" for any more than one to two hours at a time, depending on their age. My babies are 11 weeks old and I put them down for a nap after 90 minutes of wakefulness during the day. This really regulates their sleep cycle and they sleep better at night as a result. Sleep begets sleep! An overtired baby gets poor quality sleep (or can't get to sleep) and is even more tired as a result.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents worth. It has worked well for me. My babies go down at about 7 p.m., eat once at around midnight and once around 4 a.m. and then they're up at about 7 a.m. for the day. Sometimes they only wake once during the night (on really lucky nights!). Now I'm working on daytime naps IN THEIR OWN CRIBS - one baby is having an easier time than the other, but we're managing. I never thought I'd make it this far!

Good luck. Don't worry - it'll all work out.

 

:hug99: to you. First and foremost, just get better. You can not be the great mom if you are sick. Secondly, I would try to have family help out until you are recuperated even if the schedule is off for now. They are so young that with time they will get their days and night straight.

 

Wow. I hope things straighten out for you and you feel better soon. Sleep when you can! Good luck.

Erica.

 

Yikes! How scary! It is SO hard to care for little ones when you physically are not well. I'm so glad you got things straightened out. As for the babies sleeping patterns....I'm still trying to figure that one out, and my babies are a month old. We have good nights and bad nights, but it seems to slowly be getting better. Hope you're feeling better!

Reyna

 

QUOTE(Ericka B @ May 22 2007, 04:59 PM) [snapback]264537[/snapback]
Well I got home with my boys last Monday and other than trying to recover from my section things were going pretty well. Then last Thursday I started feeling very faint and short of breath, I noticed that my heart rate was very low. It would come and go but by Saturday night I had to have DH take me to the emergency room. I had my mom come over to watch the boys. By the time I got to the hospital my heart rate was in the low 30s. They ended up admitting me ( I was also retaining sooo much fluid,practically none of it had drained since my c/s) I was absolutely devastated. I couldn't imagine being away from my little ones. I was there for 3 days and I had family watiching the boys so DH could be at the hospital. They finally let me go after giving me diuretics I peed out almost 2 gallons of fluid. I had congestive heart failure due to all the excess fluid around my heart. Now I am at home and my boys are on a totally different schedule I don't know how to get things turned around, they will not sleep at night!! I feel like any rest I got in the hospital is gone. Sorry about the rant but advice about how to get them turned around. I have to get them sleeping at night and not during the day. What do I do?


SO scary, isn't it? I had the same issue on my 3rd day postpartum. Thankfully I was still in the hospital. I thought I was dying (seriously). It felt like I couldn't get a deep breath. I had an emergency CAT-scan and echocardiogram. I had pulmonary edema - fluid in the lungs from everything I retained plus fluids during the birth. My heart just couldn't keep up anymore. They re-catheterized me and loaded me up with diuretics and 2 units of blood. It took me over a month to fully recover. I was under a cardiologist's care for 6 months. My blood pressure was still high, my heart was enlarged and my lungs were retaining fluid. UGH - horrid memories for the first month the babies were here.

It doesn't sound like it'll be hard to get back on track. It was just a few days. The best thing that I did at night was NOT to talk to them and keep things super duper dark. This is hard, but not giving them any real stimulation at night helps them to understand that nighttime is quiet time. In the day, be all happy and giggly when you talk to them. Open the blinds and let them know that daylight is awake/happy/alert time. Get them back on that 2-3 hour feeding schedule TOGETHER.

Hugs to you and I hope you recover quickly.