52 : 15 (part 3)

We have heard that parenting is putting your heart outside your body and watching it run around in your kids. Since Ewan was born we have definitely found this to be true as he climbed structures at the park, was found halfway up a ladder in the garage, or toppled constantly with those first steps. He brings us joy regularly and extreme fear occasionally... Last week was one of those weeks, but thankfully it all worked out and he has a (mostly) clean bill of health.

One morning last week Ewan sat with us watching tv and I noticed a lump on his throat and lost my breath, my head knew not to worry but my heart still sank. After a trip to the pediatrician a virus was assumed, but a veinous hum in his heart was found, which is harmless and extremely common in toddlers (especially big ones), but since it was found with the other symptoms a blood panel was run with a chest X-ray. 

Ewan was a champ, didn't even flinch at the blood draw and was only slightly freaked out by his first X-ray. The blood panel showed Epstein-Barr virus, yes our ladies man has the kissing disease, but all we need to do is wait out any symptoms that may appear like any other virus and we can happily check the swollen glands off of our worry list. 

The X-Ray was another story, while no lymph nodes were swollen in his chest an unexpected shadow was seen by his heart, which was likely nothing, but couldn't be ignored as it may have been an indicator of a serious heart defect. Ewan has no other symptoms of the heart defect, but we must do our due diligence and with a potential wait of weeks/months to get into the heart center at Stanford our (amazing) pediatrician got us in touch with a private practice in San Mateo that had a cancelation and could see us on Friday, I wasn't thrilled it was Friday the 13th, but I would have made any day or time work to know the situation. The staff at the cardiologist office was amazing, as was the doctor, the toys were plentiful, and after an EKG and an echocardiogram we now have 100% assurance that while there is a veinous hum and an innocent murmur, both of which will likely be gone before he is 10, the anatomy of his heart is pretty damn awesome. The doctor told Ewan his job is to play hard, eats lots of fruits and veggies, and maybe have some fish occasionally --- we promise doctor was said with a huge sigh of relief and a few mama tears. 

This is not the sort of sharing that typically occurs here, but this blog will be printed as our boy's baby book and we want him to know this story for when his own kids scare the hell out of him and for his basic health history. We also want to be real about the ups and downs. 

Don't let this week's picture fool you, while he does have a virus plenty of adventures have been occurring, but this captures one of our favorite things, morning cuddles and typically a little tv before we all face the day.