01/09/2026
❤️💙 The language heart families learn…
Before CHD, so many of these words meant absolutely nothing to us.
Echo. Saturations. Gradient. Shunt. Cath. Anticoagulation. Pacemaker. Milrinone.
Then one day, they become part of your everyday vocabulary.
You learn what numbers are “normal” for YOUR child.
You learn medication names, doses, side effects, and schedules.
You learn how to describe symptoms to a cardiologist.
You learn enough about valves, pressures, rhythms, and blood flow to follow conversations you once would have never understood.
And sometimes you hear yourself talking to another heart parent and realize…
We really do have our own language. ❤️
But behind every medical word is something much bigger.
There’s a child.
There’s a family who had to learn.
There are appointments, hospital stays, late-night questions, celebrations, setbacks, and so much love.
None of us entered parenthood expecting to know this language.
We learned it because we had to.
We learned it so we could ask questions, understand the plan, and advocate for our children.
And somehow, words that once sounded terrifying eventually became part of our normal conversations. ❤️💙
Heart parents, what’s ONE medical word you never imagined you’d know so much about? 👇
