Trust your Instincts.

I have been worried for Karter for about two weeks now. For the first week of it I just dismissed it as some hormonal thing on my part. As the next week moved on I was still worried about him and began asking my husband if he was worried and if he thought he was ok. I had no reason to think anything was wrong at this point other than I suspected he may have an ear infection. He woke up one morning with a low grade fever. It hung around all day and would go down when I gave him Tylenol. The next morning it was gone, however he still kept touching one of his ears. Last Sunday when I got him out of bed in the morning, I thought his lips looked a little blue, but he seemed fine and took off running so I kinda dismissed it at maybe he was cold as it was a little chilly in the house. I asked Jimmy if he thought his lips looked blue and he said yes, but Karter had just put on some of my blue chapstick, I still though it was something other than that, but I kept an eye on him and he seemed fine. Other than the mild fever one day and the ear thing, and being supper cranky for a few days I really had no other concern, but I still had an underlining worry. I decided I would call the doctor on Monday and have his ears check and mention to the doctor that I thought his lips looked blue. I didn't get that far. As Dr. C began his exam he stopped and kept listening to his heart. I of course asked "what's the matter" and the doctor asked if he had previously had a murmur.

He begins to look through his charts and all his info says no murmurs. I know one of the boys had a slight murmur in the NICU but we were told it has resolved itself before we left. All exams to this point has not indicated a murmur. It is at this time that I tell him I thought his lips looked blue yesterday. He sends us to get an x-ray and results show that Karter has some enlargement on his right side. We now need to see a pediatric cardiologist. We can't get in until Aug. 4th which for a parent that is scared and doesn't know what is wrong is a very long time. I asked the doctor if I needed to limit his activity, or rush him to the ER if his lips turn blue again. He answered no to all of these. I then asked if he was just going to drop dead and he assured me he was not. However, I don't know much about the heart other than it's what makes you live or die so it's very scary.

I know I have awesome readers. I ask that you please keep Karter in your thoughts and prayers as we take yet another journey in parent hood.