Our Little Gray

Here's our sweet Grayson Wayne at nine months. Isn't he darling?

We're so happy to have him in our family, and he brings so much joy to our lives!

He pulls up on furniture, laughs at his brother, babbles constantly, and just popped his first tooth out!

It's so fun to have him at the table with us.

I've given a little information here and there about Gray's health, but I thought I would fill in the gaps for anyone out there that is curious.

From birth until 2 months, Gray was a fat, happy, healthy baby boy, tracking along the 75th percentile for his weight. (Just like his big brother!) We moved when he was almost 3 months, and between settling into our new home and adjusting to our new routine (woah, med school!) we didn't get around to Gray's 3-4 month check up.

Gray: 3 months, Asher: 23 months

At 6 months we finally got him in and found out he had only gained a couple of pounds since his last check up. He had dropped into the 5th percentile for his weight and the doctor was concerned that he wasn't getting enough food.

Grayson at six months

This came as a shock to us, because Asher was such a butterball!

She told us to start him on solids and a multivitamin, and she sent me to a lactation consultant. She recommended that we come back in a month to do another weigh-in. My milk supply checked out fine, but even after starting solids and making a conscious effort to feed him more, he remained in the 5th percent and so was diagnosed officially with Failure to Thrive at eight months. At that second check up the doctor also heard a heart murmur. We were discouraged and concerned, and she began mentioning terms like "Thyroid," "Malabsorption," and "Lymphoma or Leukemia."

My throat tightened, and stayed that way for a couple of weeks.

My baby boy. My sweet Gray.

Please be healthy. Lord, please keep him safe.

We had to take Gray to the lab to draw blood for testing, and he was a champ.

They kept the needle in his tiny arm for five minutes in order to gather enough.

Then we made the trek to Roanoke to see the pediatric cardiologist, and were so relieved to learn through both echocardiogram and EKG that his heart is perfectly fine, and that the murmur is only functional.

No concerns, no further treatment needed. God has heard our prayers.

Praise the Lord!

Shortly after Christmas we heard the news from the lab work. Everything came back normal, aside from some slightly raised lymphocytes.

We were overjoyed! What a wonderful Christmas gift!

The doctor wanted to be thorough, and ordered a smear with the remaining blood to further investigate the elevated levels, and said she would see us at his nine month check-up.

That check up was this week, and we are so glad to announce that his smear came back normal and he is meeting all of his milestones.

He's just little!

He measured under the 5th percentile, even lower than before, but the doctor said she was much less concerned now.

*Big sigh*

We've been given instructions to put butter or heavy cream in everything Gray eats, add pureed meats to his diet, and amp up the carbs, since we are avoiding grains due to an increased risk of celiac disease. We will take him back for another weigh-in next month. She is going to send us to pediatric gastroenterology if he doesn't beef up a little by then, but concerns of the really frightening diseases are behind us, and we couldn't be more thankful.

Asher prays before each meal that "Grayson get fat. Get helfy." and we ask you all to join him in that plea before the Lord!

He's a cheerful little guy! Just small...

XO XO XO