The quiet of the night

Quiet: Absence of noise or bustle; silence; calm; tranquility; state of unmoving; still

It's the very end of the day and quiet for the first time since 6:00 a.m.

I've never appreciated quiet as much as I do now. When it happens, I take notice in a way that I never have before and I drink it in, because it doesn't last long!

I'm sitting in my bed pumping (blah!)

The only light in the room comes from Chris's closet which is cracked just enough for me to watch my three babies sleeping quietly (knock on wood) in their cribs. Finn and Carter are sharing the big crib and Everett is in a pack n' play lined up as close to the crib as possible.

I hear them breath so deeply and watch their little bellies go up and down.

They look so peaceful.

..........

It was just last night that we tried once again to bring the babies upstairs to sleep with us. This meant that my husband also got to come back to bed! Yay! They'd been sleeping down in the basement since they came home from the hospital (except for this night). Then, a series of random events on Sunday led us to believe that it was as good a time as any to give it another go. So upstairs they came.

Knock on wood, they slept from 11- 5:30! Not bad!

And so just like that, I guess we've entered another phase. The phase of the babies sleeping in the basement, in their little bassinets, with Chris on the couch next to them, has ended and a new phase has begun.

 Our plan to have Chris sleep with them in the basement may not work for everyone but it worked for us and helped us keep our sanity. In truth, it wasn't what we originally planned on doing. We'd planned to have the babies sleep with us, in our room and we'd both get up for feedings. If nothing else, parenting multiples has taught us to be willing to throw away plans and adapt on the fly! We quickly realized that making the basement "baby central" and having them sleep down there would be what allowed us to function as parents, at our highest level. A solid block of sleep each night helped ensure that I'd be best equipped to handle the hectic and exhausting days with our boys and thankfully I have a husband that can sleep anywhere, anytime. He just doesn't seem to stress about getting sleep as much as I do. For us, this sleeping arrangement helped us get through the first 3 months. 

That said, I'm so happy to have Chris back upstairs in our bed where he belongs! 

On that first night, Colin ended up crawling into our bed half way through the night. At one point I awoke and in a sleepy daze, surveyed my surroundings.

It was perfectly quiet with only the light from a streetlamp streaming in through the half shut curtains. My husband lay next to me, our beautiful Colin was snuggled up in between us and our three babies were curled up in cribs by our bed. 

What a wonderful sight. 

What a wonderful feeling to be all together.