The sins of chocolate cake

A lesson to be learned by those are wise and can avoid my pitfall...never ever eat dense, dark chocolate cake smothered in dense, dark chocolate sauce at 8 in the evening. Because otherwise you'll be up at 4 am ruefully reflecting on the sleep that still eludes you and wondering if you'll ever actually sleep again. I'm sure the raspberry tea had something to do with it as well, but still.

Until the whole 'awake at 4 am' fiasco, we had a really excellent day. It started not so auspiciously with Zoe still cranky from things being topsy-turvy and a bad night's sleep. However, as the day wore on, she became sunnier and brighter and by bedtime, she was her sweet self, happy and laughing and loving again. It is so wonderful to have her back! I'm really glad we kept her with us, even though it's made it harder to see the babies.

Speaking of the babies, I went at noon to nurse, but there was a miscommunication and the day nurse was in the middle of finishing Deet's bottle - Sophie had already eaten. So I was able to finish feeding Deet, but couldn't nurse. Nothing daunted, we came back at 6 pm to try again. I took Sophie back first (they have little nursing alcoves, painted in soothing colors, with a recliner and soft instrumental music playing - I've nearly fallen asleep several times now). Last time I nursed her, it took about 5 minutes to convince her to open her mouth - this time she was wide awake and rarin' to go. She latched on instantly and ate voraciously for nearly 15 minutes - clearly I have another baby barracuda on my hands! She eats rapidly, with great concentration, and it is so fun to watch her little brow furrowed as she works away at it. Her blonde hair is like velvet and I can't stop stroking her head as she eats.
Then it was Deet's turn - I hadn't been able to nurse my little old man at all yet, so I was curious to see how he'd do. He latched on instantly as well and ate for 20 minutes straight! He's so different from his sister - much more methodical and deliberate about his eating. Not fussy, but he likes things just so, and he works hard at it but isn't a devourer like Baby Sister (hey, two minutes is two minutes, and I'm sure he'll hold it over her head in years to come!).
Erich went up to the hospital by himself once we put Zoe to bed, since I'd been with the twins twice and he hadn't been able to see or hold them at all. He spent about 2 hours and came back beaming. He got there in time for evening feeding, and the night nurse, Janet (who is wonderful and we love her), let him feed them both, take their temperatures, help weigh them, and change their clothing.
He said that she was telling him that all the nurses love our babies - when they're tired and frustrated with dealing with their fussy, cranky charges, they come over to our babies' crib (they're sleeping together now!) and cuddle with them to relax. :o) Janet said she almost didn't know what to do with babies that actually EAT when offered a bottle - most of the babies, even though they're in the progressive unit and getting better, still have to be coaxed to eat, and it can be exhausting and frustrating. She said it's so refreshing to just pop a bottle in their faces and have them suck it down!
She also said all the nurses are just amazed at how EASY our babies are. Again, (and understandably) the majority of babies there tend to cry a lot, and they can't get over the fact that our kidlets don't cry unless there's absolutely something wrong. Quite often Janet will go to check on them, thinking they're sound asleep, only to discover that they're wide awake, gazing around peacefully and not making a peep.
They are definitely opinionated and make their feelings known when something is done that they don't like, but they are so easy-going! It gives me hope that I might actually get some rest when I get them home. :o)