"Clicking"

On April 9, I took Brenson to see our pediatrician for his routine 2 month check-up and immunizations. As Dr. F was performing his exam, I noticed that he listened to Brenson's chest with the stethoscope for a little longer than normal. Then, he sat Brenson up and listened, then tilted him at a 45 degree angle and listened, then laid him back down and listened some more. By this point, several minutes had passed and this momma was getting a little antsy. 

After all the listening, Dr. F calmly told me that he was hearing abnormal sounds in Brenson's heart. I'm pretty sure if Dr. F would have been listening to my heart at that moment, he would have heard abnormal sounds there, too. Those are {very} scary words for a parent to hear about their newborn baby. 

He described what he heard as a "clicking" sound and said that it could mean a variety of things. He also said that it could be nothing, but that Brenson would need to have an echo cardiogram and EKG to find out for sure.

Dr. F was very calm and told me that I needed to remain calm and not worry too much until we had more information. My head had that under control . . . I mean, I understood that jumping to conclusions or freaking out wouldn't do anyone any good . . . but wow. On the way home, I called Chris to let him know what was going on. I didn't cry, but I did feel pretty overwhelmed. I think I did a good job at remaining calm, though. I really just wanted answers.

Dr. F's office scheduled everything for us to go to the local pediatric cardiology clinic on April 11. I was thankful to get in so soon. After dropping Brianna off with my friend Kendall's mom, we headed across town to the clinic. We had to get there 30 minutes before our appointment time to fill out paperwork and such, and then had a short wait before being seen. 

Mr. Brenson slept for the first little bit after we arrived.

Then, he woke up and played for a few minutes.

Then, he decided he was hungry. He ate for about 3 minutes before we were called back.

He ended up finishing the majority of his bottle in the exam room. It actually worked out perfectly because he had to lay very still during the tests, and eating while laying there helped him be calm. For the tests, we laid Brenson on a table where the ultrasound tech swaddled him up (very tightly), only leaving his chest and face exposed. He even had the sheet wrapped around his head (which Brenson loves). The lights were dimmed very low, the room was warm, and there was lullaby music playing. The atmosphere helped me relax as well! The procedure lasted about 20 minutes, during which time the tech took TONS of video and photos of Brenson's heart. Brenson did so well . . . he didn't cry at all!

I didn't take any photos during the actual procedure, but here is Mr. Man right after it was over. The marks on his tummy are from the EKG patches.

Putting his clothes back on . . .

I was relieved that he did so well! Also, the ultrasound tech had told us if he saw anything "major" with Brenson's heart that we would see a pediatric cardiologist immediately. I was so relieved when he said that we could leave and that our pediatrician would be in touch with us. We knew this did not mean we were in the clear, just that there was nothing major.

However, a few days later, Dr. F's office called and said that all tests came back normal and that there was nothing abnormal detected at this time. Praise God! I really had no idea how nervous I was about the whole situation until I got that call. THEN, I finally cried and got scared and felt happy and relieved all at once.

We are sooooo thankful that Brenson is healthy. Of course, with God's help we would have walked through the situation one step at a time had something been not right with his heart, but I'm so glad that we don't have to.