Soooo tired

I am a SAHM to the girls who have been home for about 2 weeks, and a 3 year old. Sleeping when the girls sleep just isn't an option because of my 3 year old, and he no longer naps. I go to sleep at 9pm and have my husband do the midnight feed, and then i get up for the rest of them. I still have to pump at 3am, so I don't get back to sleep till 5am. My husband goes back to work on monday. The girls still need to be woken up every 4 hours at night due to them being preemies and not being able to skip meals yet. (weight gain)

I'm sooo tired and want to have energy to play with my son.
How do/did you do it??
What did you eat, or do/did you survive on caffine?

I want to go for walks with the girls and my son, but we did this yesteday afternoon and I thought i was going to passout when we got home. (I think we walked half a mile at a slow pace).

Ideas would be great.

p.s. we don't have family close, so I'm pretty much on my own, and we can't afford a nanny or mother's helper.

 

QUOTE
How do/did you do it??
What did you eat, or do/did you survive on caffine?

I was in the same boat as you. I seriously lived on TS at the time because it would keep me awake. If I fell asleep while Emma was running around she would destroy everything. I got used to living off of 3 hours of interrupted sleep a night. I ate as healthy as I could because food that is good for you will give you more energy than caffeine or sugar. Try to eat a somewhat balanced diet, you deserve to feel good!

QUOTE
I want to go for walks with the girls and my son, but we did this yesteday afternoon and I thought i was going to passout when we got home. (I think we walked half a mile at a slow pace).

Has your doctor oked you for exercise??? If I did my math right your girls are about 6 weeks old. If you felt that badly afterwards then you way overdid it! Just please keep some things in mind... You are still healing from your delivery. It's hard on your body to heal with very little sleep. If you were on bedrest, or didn't keep up with a regular exercise regimen while pregnant then your muscle tone is probably shot. I don't know about you, but I laid around like a beached whale for 2-3 months. I had no muscle tone after the boys were born!

I suggest that you start little, like a 10 minute walk (5 minutes out, 5 minutes back) and work your way up from there. Your strength and stamina will return with time. :hug99: Seriously, don't kill yourself!

 

The girls are almost 8 weeks old. I have been cleared for exercise. I didn't feel like the over did it. I'd walk and stop for my son to catch up, and this continued for most of the walk. I was on limited activity since around 13 weeks. And at 20 weeks (or so) modified bedrest for another few weeks, and 6 weeks of strict bedrest, so it does make sense that I have to muscle tone or stamina.

Ahhh a balanced diet.. hmmmm I'll have to work on that one.

 

I, like you have a toddler as well so napping was not an option. I did and still do live on caffeine. I am not saying it's the way to do it by any means but I do. I tried to eat well, but those donut holes were so easy to pop and go--lol. But I did get some Balance Bars and started to eat those instead.

We fed the boys simultaneously so we did not do alternating feeds and I pumped. I swear I got by on one hour a night for a few nights and then 2 and then more. My body just got used to it. Hang in there you are at a tough age.

Good for you for getting out for a walk with 3 kids. I did the park with all 3 once really early on and then decided that its just too much.

Rachel

 

I also have 3yo and although she naps it was never when the babies were napping, and there was a awhile there when the twins were "tag teaming" me so it was non stop. I had to have my caffiene or I wouldn't make it, but I slowly sipped one soda or coffee all day instead of drinking a bunch. You might also want to keep taking your prenatal vitamin for awhile it can help until your body gets back to normal. take it easy you just had not one but two babies and need to rest as much as possible, easier said then done , eh.

Alyson

 

It is rough but it will get better! Any chance you can re-start the naps in your 3 y/o? I did with mine by promising "surprises" for staying in bed during the naptime. The surprise is usually a a TIVO'd cartoon, a cookie, some stickers, whatever I have on hand.

The other way to get a bit of sleep is for you to take naps in what I call "Sesame Street increments". If you have a calm and trusted 3y/o, you camp out in your bedroom and he watches Sesame Street while you snooze right next to him. If he gets off the bed, you'll wake up. If he talks, you'll wake up. You just gotta hope that the Elmo character doesn't yell HELP. You should've seen me scramble!

I know my advice smacks of bad mommy, but honestly you might be in survival mode for a while. My babies are 8 months old and I am still getting not enough sleep (4-5 hours of interrupted sleep/night). I am bf'ing and DH doesn't do any feedings.

Most twin moms I know say they don't have a lot of memories of the first year due to this sleep deprivation issue. I just thank my lucky stars that my oldest is only 3 and years from now won't remember how boring our lives are at this time. We used to do fun stuff and we'll do it again, but can't do it now. If you can get through your day without snapping at your 3 y/o, you've had an awesome day and should be VERY PROUD of yourself.

Hope I'm not depressing you too much.

 

i have started my daily coffee again.. i have too.. i am so tired lately that i fall asleep when DD is watching tv in the morning... she wakes me up though..

 

The beginning is all a blur to me now honestly! I had a non-napping 2.5 year old when the twins came, plus 2 more kids. It was hard! You will make it through! Just do what you can to survive at this point! :hug99: