Becoming a Zombiedaddy

Once upon a time, zombiedaddy was only a myth.

I can hardly remember waking up at night or losing any sleep after our first daughter was born because it almost never happened. All I know, in the morning Jija would tell me that Nuha our daughter woke up several times that night for feeding and change of diapers while me the daddy was sleeping like a log. And people were saying being a father was a tough job. Not when you have a supermama around.

When the twins arrived, I knew from the beginning that my sleep-like-a-log routine was going to be put through the shredder for a very long time. Even Supermama couldn’t handle two crying babies at the same time... and twins do cry at the same time, ‘cos the moment one started to wail the other would definitely catch the drift and start her own concerto. So, I had to soothe one while Supermama nursed the other baby. And while Iwas at it, might as well feed her and change her diaper as well. Now I would be wide awake, the twins had gone back to sleep like nothing happened. But I couldn’t just doze off again, it would take some time to get into the sleep mode again. And then when I finally re-entered slumberland, the twins were up again for another crying-we’re hungry-feed us cycle. Supermama was hollering at me to get up and to prepare the formula and whatnot. That’s when I noticed while doing the soothing/feeding thing at 5am that my skin was getting numb, my hands were shaky, my mouth seemed very dry, my eyes were watery, my voice got hoarser. I was panicking.. What was happening to me? I asked Supermama if she noticed the changes in me. And then she answered.. as calmly as a sleep deprived mother could muster.. “those are normal if you only get 2-3 hours sleep every night”. That’s when I realised that i had crossed the line and there was no turning back. I was becoming a Zombiedaddy.

It’s so true what people were saying that being a father was a tough job even when you have a supermama around. The only bright light at the time was every twins site I googled said that this sleep deprived thingy was only temporary and would get better as the twins got older. Now i can gladly confirmed that as a fact. I still don’t get eight hours worth of sleep at night but definitely no more waking up every 2 hours to feed the twins. Hopefully it’s gonna be smooth sailing after this... although my instincts are saying choppy waters ahead!!