fun with daddy, Aunt Libby, Rie, Siyang and Yaya!

Aunt Libby being creative whilst we were opening a bank account...

Four at home at last!!!!

Mommy: "LILI don't touch the electrical outlet!!!"

Lili (with hand dramatically on forhead): "In the movies people don't shout at princesses!"

Mommy: laughing....

Lili: "Mommy don't laugh at me I am fretty (aka pretty)"

Mommy: still laughing...but harder...

cute interruption to below photo shoot....

Passport photo shoot....not sure this will work...

She's home! She's home!

The reality of all that has been swirling around me hit hard on Tuesday evening after the update meeting with Noa's doctors. I'm not sure anything could have prepared me for viewing the results of her MRI. It is an amazing scan that I'm sure has saved lives but it somehow seems so wrong to view slices of your newborns brain. And the doctor's assessment although not devastating were not what I expected....hemorrhaging of the brain is not something you ever want to hear in regards to your infant.

Noa is doing fine through all the tests and pokes and prods. She is really laid back and doesn't cry much - hard to tell whether it's the result of various meds she has had pumping through her, or whether it's a newborn thing, just her personality, or if it's a result of what she has been through in the womb. Time will tell. She has a super sweet smile with a cute dimple in her lower right cheek. She is nursing well....eating more and more every day.

We are to hear the results of the last tests on Saturday at noon. Then maybe we can bring her home on Sunday or Monday. I am so ready to have my little family back together. Spending days at the hospital and nights at home is tearing me to bits.....

Chad's sister, Libby arrived on Wednesday night. having her here as company for the kids and Yaya has made me much more at peace in spending hours on end at the hospital.

The last two weeks have been wrought with much churning in my soul yet in the midst of it all the Lord has truly strengthened me. I am constantly giving thanks to the Lord for His presence and favor. Regardless of our circumstances He is good.

Psalms 138:1-3
I will give Thee thanks with all my heart:
I will sing praises to Thee before the gods.
I will bow before Thy holy temple,
And give thanks to Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth:
for Thou hast magnified Thy word according to Thy name.
On the day I called Thou didst answer me:
Thou didst make me bold with strength in my soul.

Bath Time....

Baby Noa awake.....

First time holds! Delicious.....

Our newest arrival!

Psalm 139:13-15

For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to Thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret…..

We have received our newest blessing who made a four week early arrival. Her entrance into the world has provided us the opportunity to observe God’s ever present faithfulness, His intricate attention to detail and His loving tenderness toward His children.

Noa Frances Hammond arrived on February 26^th at 10:30am, weighing 7.2lbs (3.2kg). Noa is a feminine Hebrew name meaning ‘movement’ and Frances is in honor of her Gran (Chad’s mom). As she was in the womb she was constantly ‘on the move’ and as you continue reading you will understand how aptly she was named as we are now praying and longing for her movement once again. (On a side note, unbeknownst to us, Noa is also a currently popular Japanese name for girls as in the Kanji it conveys ‘with love’)

Because of some complications which were putting stress on Noa, an emergency c-section was preformed and the doctors since have been concerned that she had not been getting enough oxygen to her brain and other organs. Noa has been in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Yodogawa Christian Hospital since her birth. She is sedated, in a controlled incubator and undergoing some the most cutting edge care and therapies available. The details are medical but the reality is that she is in God’s care and He is weaving a testimony that will follow her the rest of her life.

In a land not our home where less than one percent are followers of Christ, we have been gently placed in a nest of God’s love. We are being meticulously cared for by brothers and sisters in Christ in an incredible way….team members who have finally arrived since the completion of the India Festival, new friends, church family, doctors, nurses and chaplains here at the hospital.

I am gaining strength daily and can now walk to the NICU without assistance and sit with our precious new life multiple times daily. Our prayer is for a miraculous recovery and that she can swallow and nurse soon after the therapy is complete (toward the end of this week). If she can accomplish those instinctual tasks then we will all gain confidence that God has been at work in her body toward healing. She has an EEG schedule for Friday so that the doctors can compare new stats with her initial baseline report and then on Monday an MRI is schedule that will reveal the extent, if any, of damage to her brain. We could have a long road ahead of us but God is continually pouring out His grace for our daily needs.

I so desperately wish I could somehow combine all the languages in the world to choose the words to convey the depth of gratefulness and comfort Chad and I have had from your prayers and support from around the world. Unfortunately, I am sure every language would fail me…..