The End of an Era

Tonight was the end of an era. The day I had been dreading since we first brought the girls home has arrived.... time to move the girls into their cribs! Now some of your are probably gasping in horror wondering where the girls have slept up till now. No need to call DCF, they were safely cradled in their bassinets that were conveniently located at our bedside.There was one next to Geoff and one next to me. We call this "Man on Man Defense. You see, this was the perfect set up because at the end of the night, we were left with a very important decision to make- which side of the bed should I sleep on? Regardless of the circumstance, if the baby that slept on your side should decide to wake up, it was YOUR responsibility to wake up and "HUSHHHHHHHHHH", rock, or shamelessly beg that baby to sleep. (On a side note, Chloe has the incredible talent of knowing when you are standing up and rocking versus sitting down and rocking. She, for one, prefers you stand. This leaves one with little choice but to learn how to sleep while standing up.) Now, there are not too many advantages to having premature babies, but I figured that since they were born at 4 lbs. each, this would give me ample time to keep them in their bassinets that hold up to 15 lbs. This would give me an extended amount of time to listen to their breathing, stare in awe at their cuteness,or simply know that my babies are close by while they sleep. (As I typed that last line, I could almost imagine all of the fathers reading this blog rolling their eyes while all of the mothers nodded their heads in agreement, sympathizing with my pain and agony.) So anyway, both girls have made astonishing gains since their days in the NICU and unfortunately have outgrown their bassinets. So today, for the first time ever, they are sleeping in their cribs. As I walked away from that room, I shed a few tears knowing that my little babies are not so little anymore. My husband just smiled- probably a little relieved that he no longer had to put so much thought into which side of the bed he should collapse on. As for me, all I could think of is how sad it will be to see those bassinets empty when I go to bed tonight. Lord, give me the strength NOT to blow up the air mattress and sleep on the nursery floor.....