Day 1

Wednesday night, someone in America won a Powerball jackpot worth $115,000,000. By the next morning, word was spreading across the state that the winning ticket was sold in Iowa, and it was the biggest jackpot ever won in Iowa. Later that day, the news reported that the winner bought the ticket in Des Moines, at a grocery store only a couple miles from my home. While I never regularly shopped at that store, I had bought groceries there numerous times over the past few years.

When I woke this morning from my first night with the twins, I opened the newspaper to find a front-page headline asking, “Who’s happy today?” The headline rhetorically referred to the unknown winner who had yet to step forward, but I thought of my situation, about how I had just completed my first night caring for my complete family, enjoying the miracle of twin infants that few will ever enjoy, and I thought that headline could refer to me.

That’s what this post could be about if I could hold a coherent thought. Instead I’m rediscovering that brain no work good on small sleep.

I have to say the twins weren’t too bad. The NICU did a fantastic job of putting them on the same schedule. They still woke up every three hours, but at least they did so simultaneously. Three-hour stretches overnight aren’t bad for newborns either. Abbie only gave us two-hour stretches for those first few blessed,* blessed** nights.

Speaking of three-hour stretches, we just completed one, and both are awake. I’m typing with Tory in my lap right now. He’s sucking on a pacifier, waiting for me to finish typing and feed him. I can’t imagine a big bag of money being any sweeter.

* Here, “blessed” is used in the “gift from God” sense.
** Here, “blessed” is used in the “substitute for an expletive” sense.