A United Front

There are many unique perks (and, uh, other not so much perks) that come with being a parent to twins. The most obvious is that we have TWO babies, as opposed to one. And anyone who's had ONE baby knows how much stinkin love you have for that child. It's simply A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. to have two. ALL difficulties of "twindom" dwindle in comparison to the coolness of birthing a set of best friends.

I questioned God on MORE than one occasion at His plan for us to have twins when we already had two in the first place. I don't believe there was a thankful bone in my body when I heard the news (and my early blog posts from those days show it). But the minute they came out I was overwhelmed (to say the LEAST) with gratitude that we were chosen to have TWO babies.

(Can you tell I'm still a bit shocked? Even 16 months later. I hope that feeling never goes away.)

I read no books about parenting twins (HELLLLOOO!! I had enough anxiety as it was!!) so I was banking on instinct and the fact that I had successfully (up to that point) parented two before. How difficult could it be to do it again - double time?

Piece of cake.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The minute The Dynamic Duo entered the world, instinct DID take over and without any words needed, Carter and I officially became Team Powerhouse.

Or at least that's what we like to call ourselves.

I should totally get jerseys.

Everything that happened from that point on was dealt with from an "us" standpoint. There was no, "I'll take this shift and let you sleep."

EVER.

Every shift was ours. Every feeding was Team Powerhouse taking the field. Every day was Team Powerhouse trying to parent and care for and meet every need of four kiddos. Every day was one player from Team Powerhouse losing his/her ever loving mind while the other player jumped in, though painfully sleep deprived him/herself, and rallied for the big win.

The Big Win? Making it through a day.

Seemingly simple.

SEEMINGLY.

When the babies learned to sleep through the night, our whole world changed. The benefits of sleep for Team Powerhouse (and our little mascots) were glorious! And though the Team worked hard during the day, we no longer had to show up for the game in the middle of the night.

Until last night.

I heard a cough. A weird one. A couple more. My internal radar went off and I went to stand in front of the babies' door to listen closer. It took 3 seconds and then I barrelled through the door calling for my Teammate in a panic. Wild Man was choking on his vomit that looked like it exploded all over the room.

And then it happened.

Team Powerhouse showed up for the game.

We stood, The Husb holding a screaming Tiny Miss who had been awakened in a panic, me holding a screaming Wild Man covered in vomit.

No words were issued. Just a moment. A look. And we shot into gear.

Each of us one-handed working with baby on the hip. Me bathing, dressing, calming Wild Man. Husb stripping bed linens, washing out gunk and starting the washing machine. Me holding two babies on the couch, watching Baby Einstein. Husb cleaning and disinfecting nursery. Me standing over washing machine desperately waiting for "Lamby", the required lovey, to finish washing. Husb getting Tiny Miss back to sleep and Wild Man's bed ready.

The chaos subsided. I gave myself a firm chastising for giving Wild Man a new food for dinner knowing his acid reflux CANNOT HANDLE UNFAMILIAR FOODS. And then we climbed into bed, high-fived each other for a good game, and went back to sleep.

It's good to see that Team Powerhouse still has it.

Though I do hope to keep all game times during daylight hours from here on out.