Another Praise Report

On Monday the eye doctor gave us a good report on Kristell's eyes. The doctor said it's not unusual for babies who were on ventilators to have some unusual blood vessels and problems with the optic nerve, especially when they had some brain bleeds. We praise God for this miracle!Kaitlyn loves her little sister, and they are enjoying playing together. Kristell often will stop crying when Kaitlyn sings to her.

Besides caring for Kristell and Kaitlyn, we've been busy trying to get caught up with life in general. Our house is gradually getting back to normal. Getting all the mission-related things caught up will take a bit longer, but we're making progress.

Yesterday (the 15th of December) was the day Steph's doctor had tentatively scheduled the c-section for Kristell. It's hard to believe that Kristell was already seven weeks and a day old!

Last week on Thursday Kristell had her 6 week check up. The doctor gave us a very positive, encouraging report. She has gained on average 43 grams a day since she got out of the hospital. At her appointment she weighed 2.9 kg. (approx 6lbs 6 oz.). All of her reactions and reflexes were normal and, best of all, the doctor said he didn't see even subtle signs of any brain damage. We are SO grateful! The pediatrician wants to see her again at three months after she has another brain MRI.
Kristell is filling out well, and even has the beginnings of a double chin. She's kind of in between newborn size clothes and the preemie size. We are so thankful she is doing well! Thank you for praying for us!

Uncle Joe left on Friday. We really miss him!

Kristell was six weeks old on Monday.
She's gaining weight well!

Home Sweet Home

We're finally back to Lesotho after almost two months away! It feels good to be home, but I think we're experiencing a little culture shock after living in an upscale retirement community in a big city for a while. We miss the electricity and especially the washing machine!

We're really going to miss Grandpa and Grandma Louw. They were SO good to us!

Sorry that it's been a while since we've put anything on our blog. Here's a few "one month old" pictures.

Kristell is doing so well and really putting on weight. You can see how much her legs have fattened up below. The doctor said she should gain an average of 20-30 grams a day. On average, she's been putting on a little more than that since she got home from the hospital. On Monday she weighed 2260 grams. I think that's almost exactly five pounds.