Brooklyn's Homecoming - 5/09

BROOKLYN IS HOME!! As of Tuesday the 7th (at exactly 1 month old) Brooklyn gave her sister a few words of encouragement and kissed Madison goodbye.  Brooklyn had passed the "room air challenge," the "car seat challenge," and even her hearing test.  We gathered her belongings and loaded her into the car seat for her first ever ride in the car.  She was quite content as she had just finished dinner with Madison before departing and when she got home was wide awake taking in all of her new surroundings.  She even placed a few phone calls via FaceTime to reach out to family.  Her oxygen was delivered that evening and she is fully stocked now.

(The car ride home.  Parked at the time, of course)

Brooklyn filled in properly for her absent sister by screaming through most of the night.  Lindsay was kind enough to take each and every night shift as Danny had to work the next morning but no one in the house slept soundly, to be clear.  The three of us had a talk the next morning and worked it out so the the second night was much more pleasant.  Brooklyn explained she may have been cold and wasn't used to dark and quiet of the bedroom compared to the usually hopping NICU environment she just left behind.

(An "evil" smile...a precursor to the night that lie ahead)

Although its easier to spend time with Brooklyn at the moment, we haven't forgotten her older sister (by 1 minute).  Madison quickly upped her game and passed her "room air challenge" with higher scores than Brooklyn earned a couple days prior.  Remember, she had already passed her hearing test and will soon take the "car seat challenge" which isn't expected to be an obstacle.  Due to her lower birth weight, Madison will be taking an eye sight test that Brooklyn didn't need too.  Madison is eating so much its hard to believe a person this small can handle it.  She put on nearly 2 ounces over the last 24 hrs alone!  It's just the Brady's that are keeping her tied to the hospital for now.  Our girls have made so many friends with the nurses that the staff fights over who gets them on the next shift and Lindsay and Danny will need to make sure the nurses aren't secretly trying to keep the girls here longer than necessary.

(Madison, on left, questioning why her sister gets to go home.  Brooklyn not so sure about the people she's being released too)