So.

So.
What's new, you ask?
Let me tell you.

Abram has not been growing well.  (That isn't new.)  He hasn't been growing well for several months.
I finally found a doctor that I dared to trust just before Christmas.

I know that babies/toddlers/children come in many different shapes and sizes, but Abram was just...small.  I took him for an appointment and I was right--the first percentile.  He had been growing fine until about July and then he just stopped.
His other development has been just fine...excellent, in fact.  He is a very engaging little man, his eyes are bright, his demeanor is happy and satisfied.  He rolls, crawls, stands next to furniture, reaches for everything, knows us, responds to sounds, etc., etc., etc.
But I could no longer reason away his very small size.
So we went.
She was very nice and understanding of the situation.  (I know I still haven't publicly shared what happened during and after Abram's birth, but one day I will.)

She wanted us to come back in one week for another weigh-in and to do some blood work.  She called me after the blood work to tell me that the results were puzzling and that she thought we'd be better served by a pediatrician (she is family practice).  She referred us to another doctor, and gave him a heads-up that we had had a bad experience with a doctor.

We went to see the pediatrician January 9th.  He ordered more blood work and the numbers were even more puzzling/concerning.

From there, we were referred to a pediatric hematologist in the big city for an mri and a bone marrow biopsy.  We went there this past Monday.

Abram did SO WELL. The nurses and doctors said he was the cutest thing EVER and I believe they were genuine with their effusive comments regarding his charm and good looks.
As for the tests, his mri looked good.
Dr. Anim wanted to do another cbc (blood draw) to see if the results of that would change whether he still wanted to do the bone marrow biopsy. We were comforted by his conservative approach to such a painful and invasive test.
The results did, in fact, change the course and we were able to avoid the bone marrow biopsy.

Abram will go back to see the pediatric hematologist  in one month to see how things are looking then. The dr was very encouraged with how Abram looks and acts, even though his blood work remains puzzling.
Though I cried when I handed over my baby, our time there was peaceful. I believe this was because of the prayers of God's faithful people on our behalf.

The unknown can be scary.  The known can be scary.  So in the meantime, we continue to research on our own, to love on this little man we've been given, and to carry on, putting one foot down in front of the other.

I am encouraged by how Abram acts, his general demeanor, his happy disposition.  He doesn't seem sick.  I don't really think he is sick.  But something's not right with his blood so we need to figure that out.

I will write more as we know more.

In the meantime, it is bitterly, bitterly cold in MN right now and my guys are hard-pressed to stay warm enough to function outside.  I'm probably the odd-duck Minnesotan who never posts crabby weather statuses on facebook.  I don't really see what good it does to carry on about the weather and I actually like winter.  I don't have to show my fat arms when it's 30 below and there's not as much sweat.  These are both good things in my life.  But I don't have to work outside in it, so I suppose my husband can gripe about the cold if he wants.

Additionally, my bff Monica gave me a coffee alternative called Teeccino that I actually really like.  When it's crazy cold, I can drink "coffee" in the afternoon or evening without me & Abram hangin' out all night from the caffeine!  I love me a cozy cuppa.

I feel like maybe I'll be able start writing more again.  I miss it, but there have been some things in the way of this little hobby of mine.

I don't really have a good "closer" for this post so I'll have to just say "the end."

The end.