Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here

After MONTHS of waiting and waiting and spending more time than we wanted to at Baylor, all of our boys are home! This weekend was pretty momentous in the lives of the Newhouse family. On Friday, James was released to come home, so Bob and Kathy brought Ryan back to the hospital in his car outfit to pick up his brother. Stephanie, our nurse, loaded us up with tons of goodies and we put Ryan and James in the double stroller and took them out to the parking lot for a ride in the Suburban. Just like when we brought Ryan home, Bob threw on some tunes by the Boss, and I held James' hand and watched him sleep his first car ride away. Every time we'd hit a bump, James would startle and splay his fingers then hold my hand again. He was so funny to watch. Upon arrival at our home, we brought the two boys in amongst much videotaping and camera flashing. (Since I was doing both at the same time, I don't necessarily recommend watching the video). We brought the boys in after a brief (but hot) chat in the driveway with our neighbors.





Once everyone was settled, the troops (our moms and Faith) showed up for a grand celebration - although this time without fireworks. We had a meatball & ravioli casserole thanks to the amazing food that Lainie, Vickie, and Anne prepared for us. Aunt Karen, Amy, and later Julie and Ellie joined the party to admire our two boys. Of course, Michael was still in the NICU at Baylor. Our party was missing a star participant.


(Ryan leaves the NICU)

From before the boys were born, both the doctors and the nurses told us that Michael would probably be the last to come home. For some reason, the bigger babies tend to spend more time in the NICU. Michael's only hold up was the fact that he didn't like to eat by himself. On Wednesday or Thursday, we realized that he could eat most of his bottle in one sitting before burping and then finishing his meal, otherwise, he sucked down too much air. Once we learned his tricks, it took just a couple of days to break him out of the NICU. On Saturday, I called Bob from the hospital and told him to quit mowing the lawn, prepare the brothers, and come pick up the rest of his family - it was time for Mikey to come home.


(James leaves the NICU)

Julie, Jonathan, David, Ellie, and Aunt Karen had stopped by the hospital to see Michael before they headed back to Nebraska. Everyone got to hold him except for Ellie who got to admire him through the window. I spent most of the time between when I called Bob to get the production started and the time he and the boys showed up, holding Mr. Mike. It was probably one of the last times I have strict one on one time with one of the boys, and I really enjoyed it.


(Michael leaves the NICU)

James and Ryan rode up the elevator in the triplet stroller complete in their car outfits to pick up the last of our crew. We did the check out process much more quickly the last time and brought Michael out to join his brothers in the stroller. I did get a little weepy once more as we rolled our family out of the hospital together. Michael's car ride home was pretty uneventful despite all of us worrying that Ryan would wake up and want to eat in the middle. When we got home, we unloaded everyone, videoed the whole process and took tons of pictures of the three boys laying in their bed together.





It's good to have the family home!



Here Bob and the boys video chat with Grandpa Newhouse in California.