On January 15^th my life had more and more value after becoming the proud parent of a twin (Zeid and Yara) who have arrived to this world 8 years after my first and lovely child Suzan. The arrival of Zeid and Yara was a fabulous event but it has caused complete and unprecedented chaos in our daily lives!

We have never imagined how raising a twin can be such a cumbersome task, and we were not psychologically prepared. Since January 15^th I honestly do not recall sleeping more than 3 hours in succession and I do not recall waking up without the impact of a child’s cry! This sleep deprivation has been the most challenging pressure I had to deal with in my daily life.

Newborn children are such complex creatures, although it seems there functions are simply stated in eating, crying and … you know what! However, there are differences in the nascent personalities of the two. The boy is irritable and wants his demands met immediately. He is vulnerable to the impacts of gases and abdominal pain and needs careful handling that can only be learned through experience and trials and errors. The girl is calmer and seems to be ‘composed’ in relation to hunger and pain. She can spent a few minutes before raising her voice in protest of delay. She spends the day drinking milk and sleeping while she wants to keep awake in the night observing and listening to her environment with attention. This of course is in complete antagonism of our sleep requirements!

My wife is suffering from losing control over the household. She had managed to set stringent rules and regulations for behavior and everyday life for both me and Suzan but now we are all unable to follow such regulation even if we want to do so. The whole attention is on the babies. Their calendar and agendas determine what we do and do not do. A total of 16 hours per day is spent on the twins and such a life is really hard.

Older and wiser people claim that such conditions will prevail for 40 days and then a gradual system of “time management” can be enhanced. My only wish is for a 6 hour spell of sleep at night and this is the minimum needed for a human being. I am currently reaching my office exhausted and keep 10% of energy to be able to drive back home in the afternoon, get a 1.0 hour sleep to energize myself and prepare for the night.

Raising Suzan was a different experience. She was suffering from allergy to milk proteins and was in continuous pain, but controlling one child is much easier. Every parent knows the sequence of events associated with child feeding and it takes about 1.0 hour per child, and there are at least 6 feeding times a day, so a total of 12 hours is allocated for feeding and associated events.

I do not have time to read and work or even eat properly. I am writing this post in my lunch hour at office as I feel in great need to write and bring myself back to “normal” life schedule. I am certain that with time the raising of the twin will be a very enjoyable and rewarding process, maybe after a few good hours of sleep.

Suzan is doing fine. She is a smart kid and she does not show negative signs of jealousy. She is frank in her protest that we are no longer giving her quality time for playing and entertainment either inside or outside the house but she understands that this is a temporary arrangement and every member of the family has to carry some responsibility now to be able to enjoy more in the future.  

I am feeling so happy and grateful to God for the great gift and putting all my efforts in raising Zeid and Yara throughout my life, however I still kneel in front of their bed  each night and beg them to sleep for 3 continuous hours!!