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.

Addicted?

When Kristell was still in the hospital, we noticed that one of her daily medicines was caffeine--and lots of it, too, every morning! I was curious and looked into it on the internet today. This article provides a good summary of what I learned.

So go ahead and enjoy your coffee. Kristell had the equivalent of 6 cups every morning!

Home at Last

When Kristell was first born one of the nurses told us we would need lots of patience and lots of prayer while she was in the hospital. She also said that we should count it a miracle if she gets out of the hospital before her due date (September 24.) Thank you so much for lots of prayer. We have seen a miracle!The doctor was satisfied with her progress and discharged her even though she hasn't gained back to her birth weight of 2000 grams. (I think she weighed 1940 grams this morning.)

Shhhhh, baby. Don't cry!

The NICU and pediatric high care unit were all painted up with these wall murals. It was a cute place, but we are SO glad to be home with Kristell! We plan to spend a week or two with still here in Bloemfontein with the Louws.

Progress

Kristell gained 50 grams yesterday, and the doctor is pleased with her progress. Unless something changes, he plans to discharge her tomorrow. We can't wait to have our little girl home! Thanks for praying for us!

Kaitlyn's Favorite Day

Sunday is the only day Kaitlyn can go into the high care unit at the hospital, so of course they are her favorite days. Today she really enjoyed getting to hold her little sister for the first time.
Kristell is doing well. The doctor said she is "thriving" now. All she needs now is to gain weight. She weights 1870 grams and has to weight 2000 grams before she can get out of the hospital. On average the doctor expects her to gain 20 grams a day, so we're guessing that it will be around a week before she gets out of the hospital. Yesterday she ended up getting two baths, so she didn't gain any weight. (A bath uses up a lot of a preemie's energy just to stay warm.)

Thanks SO MUCH for your prayers!