Heart Murmur: Chicken or Dog?

When I was pregnant with Ayla I became exhausted with the number of ultrasound appointments we attended to keep an eye on her kidneys.  Joel and I had to take off work, plan for substitutes, have someone get Aiden to school, yadda yadda yadda...  I began to resent the time we were investing at LPCH (Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford).

For a quick moment I began to resent the number of appointments I knew we would face while monitoring Ayla's kidneys.  And then there was the heart murmur...  aye-aye-aye!  I can't pinpoint the day or time, but I know I had a major overhaulin' with my attitude.  We have health insurance, we have some of the best doctors and specialists at our fingertips, and my GOODNESS my girl is in good hands.  Would I much rather be snuggling leisurely (without racing the clock for an appointment), crafting, or trying some new recipe for my family?  Sure.  However, that is not in the cards for me or our family right now.  Instead, I look at the times when I sit in the waiting room as moments to thank God for where he has brought her and our family to this day.

Today I had another opportunity to thank her creator in the waiting room of PAMF, Palo Alto.  Once again, Dr. Greene (pediatric cardiologist), listened to Ayla's heart and told us, "There's nothin' wrong with this girl's heart."

This is how he originally described what he heard back in May:
"If you hear something "cluck" on the other side of a door, you can tell it's a chicken.  There's no way it's a dog.  Or if you hear a motorcycle coming up from behind your vehicle you know it's not a big rig.  You know these sounds and you know them well through experiencing the sounds repeatedly."  He used these metaphors to explain how he knows the sound and difference between a heart murmur that is innocent and one that is caused by some type of heart malfunction.  Her murmur is definitely innocent (a chicken) and NOT a murmur caused by malfunction (a dog).  The reason he is having us check on her murmur is to make sure he heard a 'chicken'.  He is sure it is a chicken, but he wants to make SURE he heard a chicken.  He told us if he hears a dog when we see him again that it was a dog all along and he would have misdiagnosed her heart from the get go.  I trust his 45 years of pediatric experience (yes 45!) in diagnosing her with an innocent murmur, yet appreciate his humility in making sure he diagnosed her correctly by monitoring her murmur for some time.  We will see him again in a year.

We left the appointment with Ayla's heart "clucking" and mine overflowing with gratitude and thankfulness for the good news.