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At just three pounds, Matthew looks exactly like a premature newborn. But the tiny baby boy is actually 7 months old.
Matthew’s mom, Jenevieve Cook, had to be induced at 28 weeks once doctors realized her unborn baby was not growing properly.
After 98 days in the NICU, Matthew’s official diagnosis remained incredibly unclear; nobody knew what was wrong with him.
"Before we got discharged, they said he had microcephaly at that time," Jenevieve told WLKY-TV. "We were told Matthew would not live very long."
It took two months before doctors finally realized why Matthew was so tiny: MOPD Type 2, an extremely rare form of dwarfism.
"We were told Matthew would walk, he would talk, he would go to school, he would just be extraordinarily small," Jenevieve said.
Because Matthew has been suffering strokes and brain aneurisms, the family has taken their baby boy to California, where he will undergo at least two skull surgeries.
"We do get a lot of people who are encouraging and they're kind, but we also get a lot of people that are just beyond belief and they're shocked when they see him," Jenevieve said.
Despite all the odds against him, the Cooks are making sure that Matthew’s life is as normal as possible.
"Matthew will be just like everybody else, he'll be it there throwing the ball like a regular kid. He's just extra small, there is nothing wrong with just being different," Jenevieve said.
