Bless Her Heart

At Montana's 2 year well baby check, my pediatrician listened extra long to her heart.

At first I didn't think about it, then as she got quieter and kept moving the stethascope around, I got a little worried.

She said to me, "Has anyone ever told you she has a heart murmur?" I said, "No. Never." I have heard heart murmur a million times. My sister had one, I had one, so and so had one, so and so's kid had one. At this point, I'm not freaking out.

The doctor says, "Hmmm. Really? Because it's really loud."

"No. This is the first I've EVER heard of it." Starting to get a little more worried. No freak out-no tears, just concerned. No one wants to hear that their baby has something wrong, especially with a vital organ. But, murmurs are common, I kept telling myself.

Then, she said, "Well don't worry. Murmurs are very common. 95% of kids get them from ages 0-18 at some point, and they correct themselves." Phew. We're good then....

"But..."


BUT?

"...hers is REALLY loud!"

K, I'd held my composure long enough. I'm trying REALLY hard in my life to be less emotional, less dramatic...less waterworks at the drop of a hat. But, when she said, "LOUD" again, with that concern on her face, tears welled in my eyes.

"Okay. So, what does that mean?" I asked.

"Well, I'm sure its just a normal murmur, but I want her to see a cardiologist right away. She may need an EKG...just to make sure everythings okay," she explained.

"I'll take the soonest appointment possible," I said, as I wiped my eyes and decided that there was no reason to freak out until I had REAL, factual news.

Today was Montana's appointment with the Pediatric Cardiologist. The nurse decided to wait on the EKG until the doctor listened to her heart. No sense trying to undress her, stick 13 stickers with wires on her and make her sit still for 5 seconds, when she wasn't even willing to get her weight and height measured easily.

The doctor listened to her heart, and after asking Montana if she had a frog for breakfast (very nice man), told me that Montana has an innocent heart murmur. Very common, as my pediatrician said. He said, instead of her heart sounding like a "Lub-Dub", it's like "Lubswish-Dub", which is just meaning he can hear her blood moving through like water through a pipe. He said on the contrary to this being a concern, its actually an indication that she has a very strong heart, and should be an excellent athlete.

"Definitely put her in sports," he said.

"Daddy will be so glad to heart that!" I said to Montana.

I said a quiet prayer in the car on my drive to the Med Center... and the best possible outcome happened. Not only that, I'm proud of myself for not prematurely freaking out and causing a lot of undue stress for something that was not even an issue.

BLESS HER HEART...it's what keeps mine beating!