there are bad nights and worse nights

It's to be expected that some nights are going to be worse than other nights when you're dealing with infant twins. ... of course when most of your nights are already pretty rough, the "bad" nights seem exceptionally rough.  Our girls really are terrific, the problem is that there are two of them.  So if Arianna has a good night, even a great night, there's no gaurantee that Genevieve will follow suit, and vis-a-versa.  Lately the nights start off great.  Both girls are down between 7:30 and 8:30 and they go a good 4-5 hours in a solid sleep.  Mom and Dad get to unwind a little, eat dinner with two hands - maybe even watch a TV show NOT on Nick Jr. (of course we've become very attached to Yo Gabba Gabba & Wow Wow Wubbzy so who's to say we won't crack open a bottle of wine and keep the channel where it is).  We're in bed by 8:30 / 9:00 with optimism at an all time high and the girls soundly asleep.  After the first stretch they wake up anytime between 11pm and 1am for their midnight snack.  Everything usually goes smoothly here and the girls are back down again, appearing sound asleep.  This is were the fantasy dies and reality sets in.  Inevitably one (if not both) of the girls begin to have battle of intestinal gases an hour or so after the midnight snack.  We can't say with any certainty if this is a genetic problem inherited from Dad or due to something they're getting from Mom's diet, but the epic battle that ensues is one for the ages.  Brow's crinkle, frowns extend, legs tuck in and a musical medly of toots and shrieks ensues.  If only one girl is locked in battle her sounds are sure to wake the other, who quickly takes up the harmony cry.  Mom and Dad rush in to sooth and rock back to sleep, only to see it start up again the moment they return to their own bed.  Sometimes an additional snack will settle things down, of course this re-sets their eating pattern for the night and then they expect comfort food every hour or two, instead of every 4 to 5.  This also tends to throw off our plans of having them on the same schedule, which means if they're up every two hours, but there's an hour delay between each, then we're up every hour on the hour.  The night will typically end just before my alarm goes off with one or both girls snuggled happily in between Gina and me in our already space deprived Queen bed.  I've devised a method of wrapping a sheet around me and tucking it back in under me so that, using my own wieght, I can hang off the bed in something resembling a hammock.  Of course, Karma does not trust this method as it hangs me perilously abover her bed and she spends the next hour or so glancing warily at me waiting for the inevitable fall to crush her.  The last few nights we've wondered whether we should try the "cry it out" method, where the child is allowed to cry themselves back to sleep.  We're not sold on this idea, but we decided to try it last night (this morning) with Genevieve, who started to whimper around 3:30 - only 45 minutes after having a full feeding.  We brought the still silent Arianna to bed with us and we let Genevieve whine for an hour or so before we finally decided we could take no more, only to find that she was asleep.  So how can you let a child cry themselves to sleep if they are already there. ... and still crying.  Do we let her cry herself awake then?  Needless to say I needed all 24 ounces of esspresso this morning that would fit into my reusable water bottle. ... and even that is proving not enough.