At first you really can't, at least if the mom is breastfeeding. I remember my wife saying she felt like a zombie, unquote, when it was endless 3 or 4 hour cycles, 24 hours a day. But I did my share after that. At times you really don't want to hear that cry in the middle of the night but once I was up with them it was always very peaceful. As you say, wonderful memories. Although we may be forgetting some of the tiredness ;-)

Actually, without getting into a ton of specifics, my wife is using a pump, and we are also using formula. I can survive on a few hours sleep, my wife can't, and she's the one recovering from the procedure.