diff --git a/frontend-next/src/app/api/login/route.js b/frontend-next/src/app/api/login/route.js
index e0c9366..aa66674 100644
--- a/frontend-next/src/app/api/login/route.js
+++ b/frontend-next/src/app/api/login/route.js
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@ import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
 import { auth } from "firebase-admin";
 import { signInWithEmailAndPassword } from "firebase/auth";
 // Lib Imports
-import { auth as authConfig } from "../firebase-config";
+import { app, auth as authConfig } from "../firebase-config";
 import { customInitApp } from "../firebase-admin";
+import { getDatabase, ref, get as firebaseGet } from "firebase/database";
 
 // Needs to "init" on each call to the API 
 customInitApp();
@@ -16,9 +17,31 @@ async function handleEmailAndPassword(email, password) {
     var userCredential = await signInWithEmailAndPassword(authConfig,email,password);
     if (userCredential.user.accessToken) {
       var token = await auth().verifyIdToken(userCredential.user.accessToken);
+      var expiresIn = 20 * 60 * 1000; // 20 minutes
+      var sessionCookie = await auth().createSessionCookie(userCredential.user.accessToken, {expiresIn,});
       if (token) {
-        var expiresIn = 20 * 60 * 1000; // 20 minutes
-        var sessionCookie = await auth().createSessionCookie(userCredential.user.accessToken, {expiresIn,});
+        var database = getDatabase(app)
+        var user = await firebaseGet(ref(database, `users/${userCredential.user.uid}`));
+        if (!user.exists()) {
+          var userOptions = {
+            name: "user",
+            value: JSON.stringify({firstName: 'DNE', uid: userCredential.user.uid}),
+            maxAge: expiresIn, // 20 mins
+            httpOnly: true,
+            secure: true,
+          };
+        } else {
+          var userData = user.val()
+          userData.uid = userCredential.user.uid
+          var userOptions = {
+            name: "user",
+            value: JSON.stringify(userData),
+            maxAge: expiresIn, // 20 mins
+            httpOnly: true,
+            secure: true,
+          };
+        }
+        cookies().set(userOptions);
         var options = {
           name: "session",
           value: sessionCookie,
@@ -27,14 +50,13 @@ async function handleEmailAndPassword(email, password) {
           secure: true,
         };
         cookies().set(options);
-        var uid_options = {
+        cookies().set({
           name: "uid",
           value: userCredential.user.uid,
           maxAge: expiresIn, // 20 mins
           httpOnly: true,
           secure: true,
-        };
-        cookies().set(uid_options);
+        });
         return NextResponse.json({ options }, { status: 200 });
       }
     }
diff --git a/frontend-next/src/app/api/signout/route.js b/frontend-next/src/app/api/signout/route.js
index e476c1e..e33509a 100644
--- a/frontend-next/src/app/api/signout/route.js
+++ b/frontend-next/src/app/api/signout/route.js
@@ -3,15 +3,8 @@ import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
 
 
 export async function GET(req) {
-  cookies().set({
-    name: "session",
-    value: "",
-    maxAge: -1,
-  });
-  cookies().set({
-    name: "firstName",
-    value: "",
-    maxAge: -1,
-  });
+  cookies().delete('user')
+  cookies().delete('session')
+  cookies().delete('uid')
   return NextResponse.json({}, { status: 200 });
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/frontend-next/src/app/api/user/route.js b/frontend-next/src/app/api/user/route.js
index d521841..a81a852 100644
--- a/frontend-next/src/app/api/user/route.js
+++ b/frontend-next/src/app/api/user/route.js
@@ -1,37 +1,7 @@
 import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
 import { cookies } from "next/headers";
-import { app } from "../firebase-config";
-import { getDatabase, ref, get as firebaseGet } from "firebase/database";
-
-export async function POST(req,res) {
-    var uid = await req?.json()
-    var database = getDatabase(app)
-    var user = await firebaseGet(ref(database, `users/${uid}`));
-    if (!user.exists()) {
-        return NextResponse.json({
-            firstName: "not-found",
-            lastName: "not-found",
-            uid: "not-found",
-        });
-    } else {
-    cookies().set("firstName",user.val()?.firstName)
-    cookies().set("lastName",user.val()?.lastName)
-    cookies().set("uid",uid)
-    return NextResponse.json({
-        firstName: user.val()?.firstName,
-        lastName: user.val()?.lastName,
-        uid: uid,
-    })
-    }
-  }
 
 export async function GET(req) {
-    var uid = cookies().get("uid")?.value
-    var database = getDatabase(app)
-    var user = await firebaseGet(ref(database, `users/${uid}`));
-    return NextResponse.json({
-        firstName: user.val()?.firstName,
-        lastName: user.val()?.lastName,
-        uid: cookies().get("uid")?.value,
-    })
+    var userData = cookies().get("user")?.value
+    return NextResponse.json(JSON.parse(userData))
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/frontend-next/src/middleware.js b/frontend-next/src/middleware.js
index ec53106..d8fa4d0 100644
--- a/frontend-next/src/middleware.js
+++ b/frontend-next/src/middleware.js
@@ -21,13 +21,8 @@ export async function middleware(req, res) {
   }
 
   // If new user, redirect to onboarding
-  var { uid } = await responseAPI.json()
-  var user = await fetch(new URL("/api/user", req.url), {
-    method: "POST",
-    body: JSON.stringify(uid ? uid : {}),
-  });
-  user = await user.json();
-  if (user.firstName !== "not-found") {
+  var user = JSON.parse(req.cookies.get("user").value)
+  if (user.firstName !== "DNE") {
     return NextResponse.next();
   } else {
     return NextResponse.redirect(new URL("/onboarding", req.url));