DaddyX2

The Adventures of A-star and B-boy

The Phantom Baby

posted on: 01:56 PM August 22, 2007


Four months ago, our twin boys A-star and B-boy were born and our adventures with them in this world began. In the early days we'd get asked what was the hardest part of taking care of newborn twins. The answer: the third twin, our Phantom Baby.

Phantom Baby would always appear when you the least prepared for him, lying in bed, getting no rest from your short, REM-less naps. You'd dream you were feeding him, burping him or just holding him and then A-star or B-boy would start crying (the real babies). That's when the worst part happened: you'd accidentally drop the Phantom Baby, maybe roll on top of him or even just wonder where he'd got to when you actually woke up and he vanished. I literally woke up and searched the bed for a baby before I realized it was the Phantom Baby, and he'd be back soon enough.

I'm not sure what Phantom Baby looked like. You never really had a clear look at him. I just know he was spooky. No cute nicknames for him. All right, I named him Danny Phantom, after the cartoon. My wife and I took turns taking care of him and my Sister even prepared a bottle for him. I think he eventually felt we neglected him in favour of his two brothers, just like a real baby. That's when he decided to send me a message.

It had been a bad night, A-star had been crying (from what we later found out was GERD) and I had finally gotten him to sleep by rocking him in a car seat. Rather than go upstairs, I told my wife I'd sleep on the living room floor next to him. As I lay there in the dark, I heard a baby crying, so I tried to get up. That's when I felt the crushing weight of Giant Phantom Baby. I couldn't see him, but I could feel him. He was an invisible six foot tall baby. His stomach was on top of my chest and he was holding me down like a pro wrestler. He was crying. Like a good parent, I was concerned that he might wake up A-star, so I managed to get an arm free and pushed the Phantom Baby off. I then easily removed A-star from the car seat (since it was a dream, because in real life, getting him free of the car seat is not easy) and ran up to the nursery with him. The Phantom Baby's angry wails echoing in my ears.

That's when I woke up.

I kind of feel bad that I never went back to see what was wrong with PB. Things settled down a little bit (just a tiny bit) and I only take care of him on the odd occasion now. He also doesn't startle me at those times. My wife has a lot of friends with Newborns. On a visit, one of the new moms mentioned PB. Apparently she had seen and nursed him many times, so I guess he's moved on to greener pastures; pastures where he only has to compete with a single baby.

 

1

re: The Phantom Baby

That is such a cute story.

posted on: 11:08 AM February 05, 2008 by Mommyrella

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