Beyond statistics and clinical observations, there are stories and lives.

These are the stories of women who have faced death; their heartaches, their grief, their joys, dreams and hopes.

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My story starts on Sunday, May 21st, 2017. I was 39 weeks pregnant with my first child and the current measurements at the time were estimating our child would be around 10.5 lbs if the baby went full term. Due to concerns about the size and potential issues during and after labor, I was scheduled for a cesarean (C) section on May 22nd as a precaution. I was 36 years old and over the years I had heard just about every labor and delivery story from all of my friends, family and coworkers. Even t...

In 1988 I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Amber Elise. She was 14 days late and I was in labor for 17 hours before the doctors decided to do an emergency C-section because the baby showed some signs of distress and Momma was too. The surgery went well, even though at one point I was desperately begging the anesthesiologist to listen to me, saying "I could not breathe".. he ignored my pleas... so I figured it was only from the epidural/ saddle block that I had received and I thought all wa...

I have wanted to be a mother since my earliest of memories. Lots of young girls dream about their wedding day and marriage. All I used to dream about was being a mom. I couldn't wait until it was my turn. When I was 29 I got pregnant for the first time. It wasn't planned but we were so excited. Unfortunately in the 6th month of my pregnancy we lost our baby and I went through what was the MOST difficult time in my life. We found out if we wanted to have a healthy baby, we needed to do IVF. An...

I have a hard time finding another story quite like mine no matter how hard I look. I was 26 and pregnant with my second child. It was a planned C section due to my first child's failure to progress and the complications I had faced. I was overweight and my doctor and I closely monitored my weight gain. I had only gained 15lbs. My entire pregnancy was normal. I had no chest pain or no shortness of breath. I even worked until the day before I went to the hospital. The surgery went fine and I was...

It’s been one year since my experience with peripartum cardiomyopathy, and in that one year, I’ve realized several things. I should have been more assertive. I should have been that patient that raises hell. I should have called my mom. But let’s go back. Everything with my pregnancy was going spectacular. Yeah, I couldn’t sleep, but who can while pregnant? While my belly was big, I had only gained about ten pounds. My blood pressure was good. My cravings w...

I'm 27 years old and was just diagnosed with PPCM yesterday. I gave birth to my third child, Adelaide, on October 16, 2016. I'm almost positive that I had PPCM after my second child, Dawson, but I was never diagnosed. Right after I had my son I ended up in the ER with high blood pressure, which I never had before. They ruled out pre-clampsia, did a chest X-ray and sent me home. My blood work also came back that my tsh levels were low, pointing toward hyperthyroidism. I was having severe anxiety ...

I'm 22 years old, when I was 18 I found out I was pregnant with my son. My pregnancy went pretty well. No complications. Toward the end of my pregnancy I started feeling short of breath, had a lot of swelling. When I went to my last appointment they just assumed it was regular pregnancy symptoms. I had my son in September 2013. Every thing went well, we went home. I few weeks go by and still short of breath, tired, weak. I go to a urgent care. They tell me I have post partum cardiomyopathy. They...