Ryan's 9 Month Dr. Appointment

Ryan had his 9 month appointment with our pediatrician today. He was 28 3/4 inches long and weighed 16 pounds 5 ounces. Even though he does not appear to be scrawny, his weight places him in about the third percentile of babies his age. Our doctor was not concerned about this though because Ryan has been on the low end of the weight distribution all along, and his growth is continuing to trend upward at an acceptable rate. He is just a tiny guy! His exam was going very well until the nurse read the result of his in-office hemoglobin screen. Ryan's hemoglobin was 9.0, and the normal range for his age is 10.5 to about 13. Our doctor ordered bloodwork to test his serum level of hemoglobin along with a CBC. Since our pediatrician's office does not offer phlebotomy services, I had to take Ryan to a hospital to have his labs drawn. I was not overly concerned at the time though because Ethan's 9 month hemoglobin screen had also been low, he'd had a serum level drawn, and we ended up just needing to give him vitamin drops containing iron as treatment for mild iron deficiency.