Cardiology

In the hospital, Colton had 2 Echocardiograms. The first one was given the day he was born to see if he had any major heart defects, since we didn’t know he had DS. The report came back showing no congenital heart disease, but a few minor things that were most likely “neonatal transitional changes.” When a woman is pregnant she gives her baby oxygenated blood; therefore, the baby has a small part of their heart that remains open (like a little hole) until they are born. When they are born, that part of the heart slowly closes up so that they can now get oxygenated blood on their own. When it isn’t fully closed, you can hear a small heart murmur. As it closes, that murmur gets louder until it eventually closes all of the way and the murmur disappears. (I still am not clear on all of the terminology, so that’s why I’m not using specific terms). Colton had a second Echocardiogram the day we were discharged just to double check things before they sent us home. Again, the report said the abnormalities were most likely “neonatal transitional changes.”

At about 7 weeks old, Colton got a cold. He sounded really congested and was coughing, especially during feeds. Since he was so little, I decided to take him into the doctor to make sure it wasn’t turning into RSV or Pneumonia (it was February and those things were going around). At the doctor, they said that he was okay and wouldn’t need any medicine. They recommended elevating his head while sleeping and using a cool mist humidifier. However, the doctor was a little concerned that she could still hear a heart murmur. She felt like that little hole should’ve already closed by now. She had another doctor come in for a second opinion. They decided that they wanted us to get another Echocardiogram just to be sure everything was okay. She did tell me that she checked for a pulse in his toe, which is one of the hardest pulses to feel, and she could feel one, so the heart was doing a good job of pumping blood. Plus, his coloring looked good. She didn’t think it would be anything major, but because of his diagnosis, they wanted to have a cardiologist look at him.

I took him to the Children’s Hospital out west for his Echo a week later. They wanted him to lie still on a table for 30-35 minutes while they performed the Echo. Pretty easy for an 8 week old…NOT! Colton is very wiggly in general, so I had to get a bottle out and feed him during the Echo in order to try and keep him still. He actually did pretty well, considering it took a long time. I was worn out after it because I had to feed him with one hand, hold one of his hands still because he kept swatting at her equipment, and bend over to talk to him to keep him calm. When we left, she told me that they would read his Echo results immediately and fax them over to the Pediatrician’s office. I called the Pediatrician’s office and told them that the report should be coming soon and to let me know when they arrived. By the end of that day, I never heard anything. The next morning I called to check and they said they had never received a fax. I called Children’s and spoke with the Echo Coordinator and she said she’d fax over the results. Several hours later, still nothing. I was a little frustrated because we were talking about my baby’s heart here. I just wanted to know how he was doing. Finally around 5:30 pm, a nurse called me to tell me they received the results. She said that it wasn’t anything major, so that’s good news. However, since it didn’t say “Normal Echo,” they had to refer us to a Cardiologist. Our appointment with the Cardiologist wasn’t for another 2-3 weeks. The following week, we went to the Pediatrician for his 2 month checkup, so I was able to talk to her about his heart. She told us that she wasn’t a Cardiologist, but she didn’t think it would require surgery. She fully expected for them to keep an eye on him and maybe do a repeat Echo in 6 months. That made me feel better. I also knew that if it was something they were really worried about, they would’ve wanted to see us immediately and not 2-3 weeks later.

At 11 weeks old, Hunter and I both took Colton to meet with the Cardiologist, Dr. Frazier.



Dr. Frazier looks a lot like Weston...just kidding!!

When we got to the hospital, they first wanted to do an EKG. I never realized an EKG and an Echocardiogram were two different things. I’ve just never had experience with those before. The EKG just showed the rhythms of his heart. It only took 2 minutes or so. They just wanted both an EKG and an Echo in order to have a point of reference for future visits. Dr. Frazier was wonderful! She came in and drew us a diagram of the heart and explained that Colton had an ASD (Atrial Septal Defect). She said that the wall between his left and right atrium has multiple holes (PFO’s). Lots of people walk around with little PFO’s all of the time and they don’t even know it. Most likely, his PFO’s will close up on their own, but only time will tell. She said that they’d want to see us back in 1 year to check him again. At that time, they’re hoping the holes have closed or gotten smaller. If they’re still there at 1 year, then they’ll want to see us when he’s 3, then maybe again at age 5. If they aren’t closing on their own, then maybe at 5 he’ll need to have a procedure done, which they can do with a catheter. It looks like he will not have to have open heart surgery unless he’s getting really sick from pneumonia or bronchitis, which can be caused by increased blood in the lungs (since blood is leaking from the left side back to the right side). Dr. Frazier said she didn’t expect to see us anytime soon. She thought Colton looked great (good coloring and a nice, chubby body). I said to her, “So, you’re saying this is best case scenario for a child with DS?” She said, “Absolutely!”



As soon as Dr. Frazier left the room, Hunter and I looked at each other and smiled. We both breathed a sigh of relief. We feel so very blessed that our Colton’s heart is good. One less hurdle to jump, and for that, we are thankful! Thanks be to God!