Newborn - Concerned about hole in heart?

Question

My beautiful baby boy was born not even a week ago, August 19, 2008. My heart dropped and my eyes filled with tears when the pediatrician told me that my baby had a hole in his heart.

I was asleep, being exhausted from labor and birth when they did the first check up on day one but I believe they said they heard a murmur while listening to his heart. The doctor told my boyfriend he'll come back the next day to listen again because the murmur could be a blood vessel that haven't closed yet? I'm not entirely sure what was said because like I said, I was sleeping. =(

Day two, doctor checked to listen for it again and the murmur was still there. He than ordered for a cardiac echo to record the murmur so they can electronically send the results to the children's hospital.

What's the cause of this? Is there a reason why this happened? Did I do something wrong? A million questions rush through my head... I'm not sure if it's irrelevant but my baby's father's older brother has down syndrome and throughout this entire pregnancy, I've been in fear that my baby will have it too. If my baby had down syndrome, wouldn't have the doctor tell me if he did or not? Is there a slight chance that my baby may have it?

I'm a bit concerned. Can someone help me answer these questions?

Answer 1

My husbands brother also has down syndrome. It has nothing to do with the hole in your baby's heart. It is from a blood vessel not closing properly, most likely. My grandma had a hole in hers, and my sister also. They didn't find out my grandma had one until she was 58, so people can live with them for a long time. They can do surgery and close it. It has nothing to do with what you did prior to having your child. Everything will turn out just fine. Keep your chin up :) I wish you all the best, and congratulations on your new one!  

Answer 2

both of my children had holes in thier heart. my sons one closed in less than a year, my daughters hole was bigger and needed surgery  at three years of age. she was back at kindy the following week. now they can repair holes by going in thru the groin so they can avoid open heart surgery altogether.  

Answer 3

yoo did nothing wrong and i don thtink that it is connected with downs cuz my dad had one and all they did was wait till he was old enough did and operation and for the past 41 years he has had a normal life. he hasnt got downs.

Answer 4

They would have told you if your baby had Down Syndrome by now. There are distinct facial features that the doctors check for, (almond shaped eyes, very round head, for example) as well as body proportions, lack of muscle tone, and something called nuchal translucency. They would definitely know by now! And the doctor would be under legal obligation to tell you.He has no reason not to tell you that.

Heart murmurs can be serious, but they can be minor too. I have a friend with a fairly significant murmur- he's in his thirties and healthy, you would never know it. I have a minor heart murmur, and it's never affected me at ALL! I am a runner and rollerblader and I work out, and although the doctors monitor it, I'm fine and it's never caused me an ounce of a problem. Here's a quote from Wikipedia:

"Murmurs are not usually part of the normal cardiac physiology and thus warrant further investigations. However, they sometimes result from harmless flow characteristics of no clinical significance."

Even if your son would need, say, surgery, doctors are amazing nowadays. My sister in law needed surgery to correct a rare life threatening heart condition when she was a young kid, and they did it with a

scope and a balloon! She had a tiny bruise and scar on her thigh; and by the way, she's absolutely fine now.

Your little man is in good hands at the hospital, the doctors will find out the cause of the problem (which, I repeat, is NOT Down Syndrome) and give him the very best care. If you have questions, make those doctors spend time with you and tell you everything. You have the right to know. I know sometimes it seems like they are too busy to talk to you, but you are your son's mother and you have every right to know! Get pushy!

This is treatable, Mom! And don't you dare think that this is your fault- it is NOT. My murmur wasn't my mom's fault. My SIL's defect wasn't my MIL's fault. It's just something that happens.

Answer 5

My daughter was born with a heart murmur, my doctor said she had a hole in the chamber of her heart and that it usually heals itself, which it did by the time she was

4 months old.

It's nothing you did, a heart murmur and down syndrome have nothing to do with each other.

http://parenting.ivillage.com/newborn/nh...

My sister's son was born with down syndrome, the doctor said it's caused by a chromosome copying itself. Here's a site that explains it.

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/birthdefe...

Hopefully everything will be alright with your son.

Good luck to you.