Sunday, May 15, 2011

Nighttime

Travis has a hard time at night.
When the boys were getting many more bottles than they are now, and we had to reheat breastmilk in the bathroom sink I would poke and prod him to get out of bed and start the milk warming.
He would get out of bed, and lumber to the kitchen - then I'd hear water running in the bathroom (that's where the tap water is the hottest) and then he'd come back.
Fifteen minutes later when I got up to retrieve the bottle... there was no bottle warming.
This happened 3  or 4 times.
"Travis," I would say, "I thought you were heating up a bottle."
"Yeah, I did."
"No. There's no bottle here."
"What? I don't... um... I'm sorry."

What was he doing if not heating up a bottle?
Neither of us knows.

Most nights Travis and I have a conversation almost exactly like this:
Becky: Travis. Wake up.
Travis: Okay. I'm up.
Becky: I need you to go get Grey.
Travis. Yeah. Okay.
*minutes pass*
Becky: Travis!
Travis: Mm?
Becky: Wake up.
Travis: Yes. I'm awake.
Becky: Go get Grey.
Travis: Yep.
*I wait, and he doesn't move*
Becky: Did you hear what I said?
Travis: Yes.
Becky: What did I say?
Travis: You. Um. What now?
Becky: Go get Grey.
Travis: Okay.
Becky: Go get him right now.
Travis: Okay.
*again, time passes*
Becky: TRAVIS! Wake up! Go get your son!

Sometimes, part way through this conversation he'll say something completely nonsensical, because he's still asleep. For example, "But I don't want to drive all the way through the southwest states," or "Did you tell them I wanted Chinese food?"
Then I say, "Travis, are you awake?
"Yes."
"What did you just say?"
"I said... um... okay. Now I'm awake. I wasn't awake."

Last night was especially pathetic. At 1:00 the boys woke up hungry. Travis helped me get set up, and I started nursing and he left to use the bathroom.
Ten minutes went by, and he didn't return.
I wondered if he'd gone out to the kitchen for a bowl of cereal.
Fifteen minutes went by.
Then another five.
The babies were ready to burp, and I couldn't do it by myself.
"Travis!" I called.
No answer.
I realized that he must have fallen asleep somewhere.
"Travis!" I yelled. "Travis! Travis! TRAAAAAVIS!"
No reply, and the babies were fussing.
But the thing about nursing twins is, you can't just get up and move around.
I was getting mad, because part of me was suspicious that he had gotten up and gone to sleep on the couch or the guest bed.
"TRAVIS!" I tried one more time. Then, I finally laid the unburped and fussy babies on the bed (which almost always results in vomiting, sadly) and got up to find my husband.
He was sitting on the toilet.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
"I'm just going to the bathroom," he said.
"You have been in here for 35 minutes," I said.
"I... what? Really?"
"You fell asleep, but I need you to come help me now."
"I'm sorry," he said, "I can't believe that happened."
Then he stood up, and sat quickly back down.
"My legs are totally asleep," he said.
One of the boys started crying and I went to get him. Travis hobbled after me, wincing and holding on to the walls.
"I can't feel my legs or feet," he said. "AH! Now I can! It feels like pins and needles!"

I think one of the problems is, we need two days on the weekend to recuperate from the week, go grocery shopping, clean, and take turns napping and catching up on sleep.
But when you're in the process of starting your own free lance film company you don't get Saturdays off. It's like any other work day, except that you shouldn't have to work.
It's a bummer.

So today we're spending the day in bed. That's the rule. We're taking turns napping and fixing each other food and being in charge of calming down the babies.
I already feel much better.


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6 comments:

stayday said...

This could have been us last night, well early this morning. My poor husband is so sleep deprived he can't even remember what happened last night. My girls are 2 months old today- I thought everything was supposed to get a little easier after 6 weeks- not happening in this household.

Wendy said...

I laughed so hard remembering the time Patrice fell asleep on the toilet when he was supposed to be heating up a bottle. He, of course, won't admit he ever did that! l7 months later and I still feel tired just thinking about our first few months with Ben and Emma. We were lucky. B & E started sleeping through the night at 4 months old-we were shocked!

Noelley Belly said...

This is SOOO funny Becky! I'm glad Travis got back to bed. When I fell asleep (not on the toilet) and both of my legs fell asleep, when I stood up to go to my bed I fell over flat on my face and sprained both of my ankles. Consequently, sleep was more important than thinking about my hurt ankles, so I army crawled back to my bed from the other room and let my ankles swell up over night. It was an ugly morning! So I'm glad Travis didn't hurt himself! Have a good week, hopefully I'll be able to stop by! This week is kind of crazy.

Sharon Beesley said...

haha. good luck.

MARCIE said...

Oh Travis is so funny! Cute post.

April G said...

I just found your blog and I'm loving it! I have infant twins too (I'm also breastfeeding and cloth diapering), so it's very enjoyable reading your blog posts and being able to relate to so much of it! My twins are 7 months now and... oops, baby boy just started crying. Obviously this "late afternoon nap" idea of mine is not going to work. I lost my train of thought. Worst comment ever. Oh, I think I was saying that my husband is still, after all this time, similar to yours in being difficult to wake up and falling asleep in the middle of helping me with the babies. :P I wish you the best!