She tries not to worry. He will be able to run and jump and play and, most important, love and be loved. When the family doctor again hears the murmur, Alex is referred to a pediatric cardiologist, who takes a quick listen. The family sits in the waiting room for 20 minutes before Alex goes in for an electrocardiogram, a chest X-ray and an ultrasound. It is a terrible 20 minutes.
Questions flood their minds.
An hour later, they learn that Alex has a moderate-size hole in his heart between the right and left ventricles. The doctor tells them it might remain the same size, it could shrink and it might even close. Problems will come if the hole gets bigger. The baby wails louder, though she is rocking him and patting his back. She jiggles him back and forth across the living room.