Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and heart symbols are everywhere you look. Recently, a call from a friend of mine made me stop thinking about candy and red paper hearts, and start thinking about beating hearts! My friend is very excited to be experiencing her first pregnancy and I have been sharing her joy. She called in tears to tell me that her recent 20 week sonogram showed that her baby has a heart defect. This shocking news came out of the blue for Melissa and her husband Mark as there is not a family history of heart defects on either side of the family. As Melissa knows that I am a genetic counselor and work with pregnant women, her first question to me was, “why did this happen to our baby?” So I began to share what I know with Melissa, which I will also share here with you.