The Robe

Harrison's housecoat is totally sweet, but we couldn't get him to keep the pipe in his mouth for long as you can imagine.

  

When he wore himself out, he surrendered.

Then Scott talked to him and played with him until Harrison made it clear he'd rather eat in silence.  Thankfully that's also when the Cardinals game started.

Later in the day, he started fussing again so we had Bev our super awesome neighbor stop by to rock him to sleep.  Then she went home.  She's sort of good at things like that.

He had his second well child checkup today at his pediatrician's office.  All's well except for a little office circumcison revision.  After the doctor man did a little pulling and tugging, all was back to normal except that Harrison absolutely lost it.  No matter, though.  He'll never remember it.  The Dude weighed in at 11lbs 4oz.  Now, I don't know exactly what that means or anything, but the doc said Harrison gained about double what he thought he would since the last visit.  That's crazy.  Way to go, milk...way to go.

The Beckwith Wiedemann things and stuff:

He gets blood tests every six weeks to check the level of alpha fetoprotein (AFP) because he has a higher risk of developing a pediatric liver tumor called a hepatoblastoma.  Our first 6-week AFP level drawn this week came back near the 3,000 micrograms/milliliter mark.  This is much reduced from the 50,000 mcg/mL level recorded just after birth.  The levels are usually very high at birth (hence the name because the fetus' liver cells make AFP) and then drop off to baseline over the next several weeks to a few months.  97% (Yes, I know I'm not supposed to start a sentence with a number) of all hepatoblastomas are associated with elevated levels of AFP, and these levels are usually in the hundreds of thousands.  So, as of now, he doesn't have a hepatoblastoma, and he'll be tested again in another six weeks for the AFP level at the same time he receives his first three month kidney ultrasound to check for a Wilms tumor.

These tests have not been weighing on our minds whatsoever as we have so thoroughly enjoyed him and marveled at the miracle that he is. Without a doubt, we're continually so thankful for God's grace as we deal with many unknowns.