2 Month Old with Heart Murmur?

I just took my two month old son to the doctor yesterday for his checkup. She heard a heart murmur that she had not heard before and is sending us to a pediatric cardiologist. He has had poor weight gain in the past and we have switched his formulas to a higher calorie formula and he seems to be gaining fine now (although we are going to go see a GI doctor also). I am so worried that I am not sleeping or eating. What should I expect at the doctor and am I right to be concerned?

Did the doctor say what level of murmur it was? Most are functional and do not greatly affect quality of life.

And yes you should be concerned. All parents are concerned. It's normal and shows you love your baby.

You are doing the best you can do, getting him to the doctor to evaluate his needs. Just pray and keep loving him.

since u r going to see a paediatric cardiologist he will verify and tell u.,,,,many murmurs r innocent ones,,so u cant be sure ,,till he examines and confirms with echo

I've had a Heart Murmur my entire life, and it hasn't had a effect on my Health whatsoever, I'm 52. My Dad also has a Heart Murmur and he is alive and well at 77.

Yea I know your worried, but you won't know anything until your doctor does an angiogram or echo-cardiogram on your baby. Hope everything is OK.

Heart murmurs themselves can be caused for various reasons. Most of the time it is something that corrects itself over time, especially in babies. It may be that your doctor did not hear the murmur earlier because it was so small.
Although it is probably nothing to worry about, it is always better to be on the safe side and let the doctor examine him.

You have every right to be concerned..
I don't think i would get any sleep either if God forbid I was told that about my son too.
maybe like other answers say, hopefully it's just something temporarily and won't affect him in any way.
just try to stay positive and pray to God that everything will be ok.

good luck.

Yes, I think that you are right to be concerned. Heart defects are actually the most common birth defect. Problems gaining weight are often associated with heart defects. However, most defects are relatively minor. Many children are born with holes in the heart that close as they get older without any medical intervention at all. My daughter has a complex congenital heart defect that required surgery at birth and again at 4 months. I highly, highly doubt that your son has anything serious like that - you would have known before this if he did. But it's good that you are going to the cardiologist. It's also positive that he is gaining weight better now on the higher calorie formula.

When you visit the cardiologist, you can expect them to take a medical history. They will weigh and measure your son, take his blood pressure, heart rate, and probably also his sats (oxygen saturations; measures the amount of oxygen present in the blood). They will listen to his heart. They will probably also do an echocardiogram, which is like an ultrasound of the heart. Since your son is so small you will probably get to hold him during this if you want to, or you can stand next to the table with him. They will get pictures of the heart from all different angles, to see if his heart has any structural abnormalities or any problems with blood flow. An echo is the best way to find out what's going on. I can't imagine not doing one, but if they don't you should definitely ask for one.

I know how it feels to know that something may be wrong but not know what. The waiting is so hard. If you want to you're welcome to visit the support board I belong to - http://boards.babycenter.com/n/pfx/forum... Good luck to you!

The natural thing to do is worry and no one can stop you from doing this. Hopefully your little one has an "Innocent" heart murmer and will require nothing further other than keeping a close eye on it through his life. My 2 1/2 year old was born with a complex heart problem and has so far undergone two major heart surgeries. The doctors have just been amazing and I'm sure whatever your little one has he will be well looked after. Best of luck, I am thinking of you and would like to know how your little one goes with his checks.