Heart murmur

#3 was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 4 weeks. Didn't get the impression
from the drs. that it was a big issue. He's got a specialist appointment on
Tuesday. He's gaining weight over what is expected, and is vigorously moving
pretty much all the time even when asleep-which he did when inside me too.
(I wanted to call him Isaac after Isaac Newton-perpetual motion and all
that). He's very strong-already pulls to stand if you give him two fingers
to hold, and then bounces while standing.
My concerns a
He's got very blotchy skin. It permanently looks like he's cold on his arms
and legs, even when they don't feel cold. Does this show circulation
problems? He also bruises easily, but I'm not worried about this as me, and
mum and #2 all bruise easily.
The other thing, which I'm probably being silly about is his sleeping. He
sleeps very well, as #1 did, but better during the day. When he's awake he's
very alert though. My (silly) worry is that if he really cries (not just
little moans but full out crying) he doesn't cry for more than 2-3 minutes
before he falls asleep, even if he seems really hungry. He then doesn't wake
easily for a feed, but will wake within 30 minutes needing feeding. I'm
concerned that he's tiring himself out with crying and his heart is
struggling to keep up with the exertion. It's a bit silly, but neither the
other two did that at this age (or even later) they didn't fall asleep by
themselves without being fed/rocked/pushed either, which he does often.
Obviously I'll bring it up with the specialists, but Iif it's likely to be a
bigger issue than I've got the impression a heart murmur usually is, then
I'd like to be prepared before I see them.
Thanks:
Debbie

"Welches" wrote in message
...
#3 was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 4 weeks. Didn't get the impression
from the drs. that it was a big issue. He's got a specialist appointment
on Tuesday. He's gaining weight over what is expected, and is vigorously
moving pretty much all the time even when asleep-which he did when inside
me too. (I wanted to call him Isaac after Isaac Newton-perpetual motion
and all that). He's very strong-already pulls to stand if you give him two
fingers to hold, and then bounces while standing.

My concerns a
He's got very blotchy skin. It permanently looks like he's cold on his
arms and legs, even when they don't feel cold. Does this show circulation
problems? He also bruises easily, but I'm not worried about this as me,
and mum and #2 all bruise easily.

Daughters 1 and 3 have a heart murmur. At ages 14 and 10, there have no
problems associated with it. DD1 has to take antibiotics before a dental
appointment due to the heart murmur, but not all people with heart murmurs
have to take antibiotics before an exam. They do a yearly echocardiogram on
DD1 and did some stress tests before she tried out for track, but other than
that, the doctors have not been concerned. Blotchy skin doesn't ring any
alarm bells with me as I have seen my kids skin be blotchy at times. Myself
and DD1 bruise very easily. DD1 has blood problems, I do not.

The other thing, which I'm probably being silly about is his sleeping. He
sleeps very well, as #1 did, but better during the day.

It's a bit silly, but neither the other two did that at this age (or even
later) they didn't fall asleep by themselves without being
fed/rocked/pushed either, which he does often. Obviously I'll bring it up
with the specialists, but Iif it's likely to be a bigger issue than I've
got the impression a heart murmur usually is, then I'd like to be prepared
before I see them.
Thanks:

All three of my kids slept very well. I think it has to do more with the
fact that you are more relaxed as a parent and you don't have time to pick
them up at every whimper and they are allowed to "teach" themselves to fall
asleep. As long as he is gaining weight and seems happy, I wouldn't worry.

Is his lips turning blue while he is crying? That would signal there could
be some circulation and heart problems, but that is not the only indicator.

--
Sue

Welches wrote:
[snip]
The other thing, which I'm probably being silly about is his sleeping. He
sleeps very well, as #1 did, but better during the day. When he's awake he's
very alert though. My (silly) worry is that if he really cries (not just
little moans but full out crying) he doesn't cry for more than 2-3 minutes
before he falls asleep, even if he seems really hungry. He then doesn't wake
easily for a feed, but will wake within 30 minutes needing feeding. I'm
concerned that he's tiring himself out with crying and his heart is
struggling to keep up with the exertion. It's a bit silly, but neither the
other two did that at this age (or even later) they didn't fall asleep by
themselves without being fed/rocked/pushed either, which he does often.
Obviously I'll bring it up with the specialists, but Iif it's likely to be a
bigger issue than I've got the impression a heart murmur usually is, then
I'd like to be prepared before I see them.

I can't help with the other factors, but this is like my third. My
first two needed rocking/sitting with to fall asleep, but doing that
actually kept my third awake. She needed to be put into a dark
room on her own and would fall asleep without any parental input.

HTH
--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

"Welches" wrote:

#3 was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 4 weeks. Didn't get the impression
from the drs. that it was a big issue. He's got a specialist appointment on
Tuesday. He's gaining weight over what is expected, and is vigorously moving
pretty much all the time even when asleep-which he did when inside me too.
(I wanted to call him Isaac after Isaac Newton-perpetual motion and all
that). He's very strong-already pulls to stand if you give him two fingers
to hold, and then bounces while standing.

My oldest was diagnosed with a heart murmur - she's now 46 and the
mother of 3.
My concerns a
He's got very blotchy skin. It permanently looks like he's cold on his arms
and legs, even when they don't feel cold. Does this show circulation

I have blotchy skin because I am very fair. When I get upset, it gets
blotchy. dd#1 and dd#3 also have very fair and very transparent skin.
When dd#1 was swimming as hard as she could (at age 16) you could tell
that she was making a great big effort because the skin on her back
would get blotchy.

problems? He also bruises easily, but I'm not worried about this as me, and
mum and #2 all bruise easily.
The other thing, which I'm probably being silly about is his sleeping. He
sleeps very well, as #1 did, but better during the day. When he's awake he's
very alert though. My (silly) worry is that if he really cries (not just
little moans but full out crying) he doesn't cry for more than 2-3 minutes
before he falls asleep, even if he seems really hungry. He then doesn't wake
easily for a feed, but will wake within 30 minutes needing feeding. I'm
concerned that he's tiring himself out with crying and his heart is
struggling to keep up with the exertion. It's a bit silly, but neither the
other two did that at this age (or even later) they didn't fall asleep by
themselves without being fed/rocked/pushed either, which he does often.
Obviously I'll bring it up with the specialists, but Iif it's likely to be a
bigger issue than I've got the impression a heart murmur usually is, then
I'd like to be prepared before I see them.
Thanks:
Debbie

We have friends who's first child had a congential heart defect of
medium severity, it was diagnosed at birth, the instant they heard
something, the doctors knew to look further straight away, not delay.
Which means what your doctor has heard either only signifies something
minor, or nothing at all. With the problem this child had (something to
do with a valve), the parents were told the first sign of it causing
problems would be feeding difficulties - which it didn't and she had
surgery aged about 3months. If you think about it, it makes sense, if
you see a picture of someone waiting for a heart transplant, they are
very gaunt looking.

The screaming and falling asleep fast is a bit abnormal, but if it was
because the crying was too much for him, he'd become unconscious, not
fall asleep, so bizarre though it is I don't think it's worrying -
actually I remember now a 1 year old who would scream and then black
out, it was scary to watch, but she didn't have a heart problem.

My sister had a heart murmur, I remember my mum saying how worrying the
first year was, waiting for tests and even if it came back negative
wondering if there was different test and so on. I don't know how much
testing capabilities have changed since then, but at least we have so
much more access to information, I think that was what was most
difficult, just having the brief chat with the specialist and being told
everything was fine and not being able to easily reference any
information that confirmed that. They never did find any cause for it
and she no longer had it by the time she was a teenager.

Cheers
Anne

Welches wrote:
#3 was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 4 weeks. Didn't get the impression
from the drs. that it was a big issue. He's got a specialist appointment on
Tuesday. He's gaining weight over what is expected, and is vigorously moving
pretty much all the time even when asleep-which he did when inside me too.
(I wanted to call him Isaac after Isaac Newton-perpetual motion and all
that). He's very strong-already pulls to stand if you give him two fingers
to hold, and then bounces while standing.

All excellent signs.

My concerns a
He's got very blotchy skin. It permanently looks like he's cold on his arms
and legs, even when they don't feel cold. Does this show circulation
problems?

No. It's normal for a small baby to have poor peripheral circulation.
Blue lips would be a sign of a circulatory problem.

He also bruises easily, but I'm not worried about this as me, and
mum and #2 all bruise easily.
The other thing, which I'm probably being silly about is his sleeping. He
sleeps very well, as #1 did, but better during the day. When he's awake he's
very alert though. My (silly) worry is that if he really cries (not just
little moans but full out crying) he doesn't cry for more than 2-3 minutes
before he falls asleep, even if he seems really hungry. He then doesn't wake
easily for a feed, but will wake within 30 minutes needing feeding. I'm
concerned that he's tiring himself out with crying and his heart is
struggling to keep up with the exertion. It's a bit silly, but neither the
other two did that at this age (or even later) they didn't fall asleep by
themselves without being fed/rocked/pushed either, which he does often.

Again, I don't think this sounds like a problem - just a combination of
individual baby traits in terms of ease of falling asleep, and a very
small baby not being in much of a pattern yet with regard to his
feeds/naps. Some babies actually cry for a few minutes before going to
sleep as a tension-releasing thing, and that's just what's normal for
them. If he's active, alert, feeding well and gaining weight well then
he is currently fine and it's unlikely the heart murmur is of significance.

The specialists will likely want to do an ECG (which will show the
pattern of conduction of electricity through the heart) and an echo (an
ultrasound scan of the heart). These may show that everything is
normal, or they may show a minor problem that's likely to improve with
time. So, as you say, a heart murmur on its own, in a healthy baby, is
not likely to be a matter for concern. I look forward to getting updates.


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell

"Sarah Vaughan" wrote in message
...
Welches wrote:
#3 was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 4 weeks. snip

Thanks everyone. I'm reassured :-)
Debbie

On Jul 27, 11:20 am, "Welches"
wrote:
#3 was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 4 weeks. Didn't get the impression
from the drs. that it was a big issue. He's got a specialist appointment on
Tuesday. He's gaining weight over what is expected, and is vigorously moving
pretty much all the time even when asleep-which he did when inside me too.
(I wanted to call him Isaac after Isaac Newton-perpetual motion and all
that). He's very strong-already pulls to stand if you give him two fingers
to hold, and then bounces while standing.
My concerns a
He's got very blotchy skin. It permanently looks like he's cold on his arms
and legs, even when they don't feel cold. Does this show circulation
problems? He also bruises easily, but I'm not worried about this as me, and
mum and #2 all bruise easily.
The other thing, which I'm probably being silly about is his sleeping. He
sleeps very well, as #1 did, but better during the day. When he's awake he's
very alert though. My (silly) worry is that if he really cries (not just
little moans but full out crying) he doesn't cry for more than 2-3 minutes
before he falls asleep, even if he seems really hungry. He then doesn't wake
easily for a feed, but will wake within 30 minutes needing feeding. I'm
concerned that he's tiring himself out with crying and his heart is
struggling to keep up with the exertion. It's a bit silly, but neither the
other two did that at this age (or even later) they didn't fall asleep by
themselves without being fed/rocked/pushed either, which he does often.
Obviously I'll bring it up with the specialists, but Iif it's likely to be a
bigger issue than I've got the impression a heart murmur usually is, then
I'd like to be prepared before I see them.

All a heart murmur means in and of itself is that when you listen to
the heart with a stethoscope, you can hear the blood moving inside.
If you think about the amount of blood going through and how fast it's
moving through different chambers and vessels, in a way it's
surprising that it's ever quiet. About 85% of kids will have a heart
murmur heard at some point before they grow up -- often with fevers or
anemia just because the blood is moving faster.

Murmurs can have very different qualities based on the cause. Some
are classic "innocent murmurs" and you can tell by the sound exactly
what it is. Some are more nonspecific, but not really worrisome.
Some have more concerning qualities to them and are more worrisome for
heart disease (sounds characteristic of abnormal blood flow through
the heart).

I've found that different pediatricians have vastly different patterns
for referring children with a nonspecific murmur and no other symptoms
to cardiologists (as the blotchiness and sleeping patterns don't
really sound like heart disease). I didn't even know that some
doctors referred kids like that routinely until I did a cardiology
rotation. I asked one of the cardiologists if he'd ever once
diagnosed clinically significant heart disease in a patient like that
and he had to think about it. He said that yes, a couple of times in
his career, he had found something worth knowing. As those were
probably at least 25-30% of the new referrals to the cardiology
clinic, it was a pretty low hit rate.

Kate, ignorant foot soldier of the medical cartel
and the Bug, 4 years old

"Welches" wrote in message
...
#3 was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 4 weeks. Didn't get the impression
from the drs. that it was a big issue. He's got a specialist appointment
on Tuesday. He's gaining weight over what is expected, and is vigorously
moving pretty much all the time even when asleep-which he did when inside
me too. (I wanted to call him Isaac after Isaac Newton-perpetual motion
and all that). He's very strong-already pulls to stand if you give him two
fingers to hold, and then bounces while standing.
Well the heart murmur seems to have already resolved itself. It was
definitely there at 4 and 6 weeks (2 different drs.) The heart pead has said
to have it checked in a couple of months, but he thinks it's already mended.
Thanks, everyone!
Debbie

Welches wrote:
"Welches" wrote in message
...
#3 was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 4 weeks. Didn't get the impression
from the drs. that it was a big issue. He's got a specialist appointment
on Tuesday. He's gaining weight over what is expected, and is vigorously
moving pretty much all the time even when asleep-which he did when inside
me too. (I wanted to call him Isaac after Isaac Newton-perpetual motion
and all that). He's very strong-already pulls to stand if you give him two
fingers to hold, and then bounces while standing.
Well the heart murmur seems to have already resolved itself. It was
definitely there at 4 and 6 weeks (2 different drs.) The heart pead has said
to have it checked in a couple of months, but he thinks it's already mended.
Thanks, everyone!

Excellent news! It's quite common for minor problems to resolve
themselves - the circulation has to go through some changes after birth
and, if these are slow to happen, it could cause some additional noise
in the heart in the first few weeks that then resolves as the heart
grows and the circulation completes the necessary changes. Maybe that's
what happened. Anyway - who cares as long as he's OK. ;-)


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell