Our Little Peas Are Home!!!

That’s right – the Gage household is officially complete! Nicholas came home from the NICU on Thursday. That was a bittersweet event. It was super exciting to have him home, but it meant leaving his little sister behind, all by herself at the hospital. However, we think Nicholas’s homecoming was the inspiration Ava needed to get busy and start taking bottles regularly. When I called the NICU Friday morning to see how she had done Thursday night, the nurse surprised me by saying that she hadn’t had any tube feedings since her brother left and she might be ready to go home the following day! Sure enough, she took all her bottles for 48 hours, passed her car seat test (don’t ask), and was ready to join her brother in Perrysburg Saturday night. Nana and Baba were hired for their first twin babysitting duty so that John and I could leave Nicholas at home while we picked up Ava. It was with great joy that we turned in our NICU parent badges and brought home our last little bundle of joy.

Since having both babies home there hasn’t been a lot of sleep for the new mom and dad, but we’ll take that over the daily trips to the hospital. Nicholas is the problem sleeper but he did much better last night. He wasn’t too sure of his crib at first, preferring instead to constantly be held. We’ve been working on this, though, and last night he spent the entire night in his crib, waking up only twice other than to eat. Ava continues to be very quiet and dare I say an easy baby. They had their first doctor’s appointment yesterday and they’re both doing a great job gaining weight. I guess we must be doing something right! Little Ava is getting close to 5 lbs (4 lbs 13 oz) and Nicholas is 5 lbs 8 oz.

The cats can’t quite figure out what in the world these two little noise-makers are all about, but they’re pretty sure they don’t really like them. Husker is obviously a little jealous and Digger just wishes they would be quiet. There is lots of sniffing going on. They do, however, love their new sleeping spots – on top of the changing table and in the bassinet when it’s not in use. John is posting a picture of both cats sleeping in a bouncy seat – their way of letting us know that they’re still the babies of the house!