Darla Abraham sits with her three kids, 3-year-old twins and a 2-month-old, at her Butler Township home.

Bringing home the first baby is both terrifying and joyful, say several of Butler's new mothers.

Tiffany Keffalas of Butler Township, who gave birth to her first child, Perseus Nikolas Beamer-Keffalas, on March 15, said she and Perseus' father, Mike Beamer, own a small business.

“It's hard to balance the small business and the baby,” Keffalas said. “We're at week seven and we're getting a little bit better at working during nap times and things like that.”

She said Perseus, like many newborn babies, has his days and nights mixed up.

“He likes to sleep through the day and party all night,” Keffalas said with an exhausted laugh.

Regarding unexpected facets of motherhood, Keffalas said she didn't quite realize how difficult it would be to get everything done in a day.

“If you're dressed and the baby is dressed in the morning, that's a good day,” she said.

She was also surprised at the amount of diapers, formula and clothing her fast-growing son has gone through.

Perseus has grown two sizes in his seven-week life, Keffalas said.

Her mother, Karen Keffalas, works 12-hour shifts at Butler Memorial Hospital and has three days off per week. She spends most of her days off with Perseus.

“She pretty much plays the role of second mother for me,” Tiffany Keffalas said.

She does not take the help and advice of her mother for granted.

“(Motherhood) is something that's overwhelming to start with, but I think with the support of my family and Mike's family, we've been really lucky to take care of him and not feel as overwhelmed as most parents do,” she said.

Darla Abraham, also of Butler Township, expanded her family to five on Feb. 28, when she delivered Hailey Grace Abraham at Butler Memorial Hospital.

Waiting eagerly for their baby sister were twin toddlers Faith and Hope Abraham, who were born prematurely three years ago at Magee Womens Hospital of UPMC in Pittsburgh.

Abraham said she found out she was having twins after a fainting spell in the shower sent her to the hospital.“I was shocked,” she recalled of the double discovery. “My mom couldn't believe it either.”The pregnancy progressed smoothly until it was discovered that the umbilical cord was blocked and not providing adequate nutrients or oxygen to the girls.“If I didn't deliver them early, they would have been stillborn,” Abraham said.The tiny girls weighed 2 and 4 pounds, respectively, and remained in the neonatal intensive care unit for six weeks before Darla and her husband, Phillip, could bring them home.Today, the rambunctious twins are thrilled to be big sisters. But they had to be taught that little Hailey is a real baby.“They love her,” Abraham said. “They think she's a baby doll and they want to go play with her. I'm like, 'You can't just play with her because she's too little yet.'”When Hailey first came home from the hospital, Abraham ran to the kitchen and when she returned to the living room two minutes later, Hailey and one of the twins were gone.“The other one said, 'She's upstairs,'” Abraham recalled. “Her sister had carried Hailey all the way upstairs and put her in her bed. I almost had a heart attack.”Having been around many babies during her life, Abraham has adapted well to her role as the mother of three children age 3 and younger.

“I pretty much went along with the whole moth“I pretty much went along with the whole motherhood thing,” she said. “It came naturally.”Aubrey Rader of Harmony is also accustomed to twins loving a bit too much on a younger sibling. Rader gave birth to Liam on Dec. 21, giving twins Arabella and Kennedy, both 2, a younger brother to dote on.“They're obsessed with him,” she said. “I have to hold them back and rein them in. They want to be on top of him all the time. They're very protective of him.”Having Liam after first raising twins wasn't easier, but the Raders knew what kind of chaos to expect from the first few months.The twins were born without issue at 38 weeks, but the first three months of their lives were a whirlwind trying to figure out the girls' schedules.“The first three months were like survival mode, figuring out what worked, what didn't,” Rader said.Rader went back to work as an admission counselor at Slippery Rock University 12 weeks after the girls were born, just as they seemed to get a routine established with sleeping and eating.Now she works part-time as a youth ministry director at St. Peter's Reformed Church, a job that involves more work from home and in the evenings. She's also in the Harmony Fire District Auxiliary and is vice president of the local Moms of Multiples group.The key to juggling three young children, a job and other activities is communication and organization with her husband, Josh.“That is the biggest key, the teamwork between the two of us and the willingness to support each other in the things we do,” she said. “I feel like we talk about our schedules 17 times a day.”Eagle staff writer Rachel Wagoner contributed to this report.

Tiffany Keffalas holds her baby, Perseus, at their home in Butler Township.

The Rader family sits in their Harmony home.