I tried my best to get pregnant due to other health concerns that would cause me to have a hysterectomy and luckily I found out at 5 weeks that I was going to be a mom all over again. It was a rough pregnancy due to bleeding up until 20 weeks. The doctor and I didn't think I would carry him to term. To our surprise, I made it to term and was incredibly happy to have my second boy. About 4 days out of delivery, I was back in the hospital for what we thought was HELLP syndrome, but turned out it was my gallbladder. So at 5 days post partum, I had surgery to remove it as well as have a tubal. I knew this child would be my last so I wanted to make it permanent. The surgery went great and I was excited to be able to recover at home with my newborn. For a while, I was having trouble breathing and with coughing but I thought it was all due to gas being in my chest from the surgery. I gave it a week before going to see my primary doctor. The swelling spread from my legs to my stomach and it was to the point that I couldn't lay down without struggling to breathe. My doctor did an X-ray and ran to me to tell me I needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible due to fluid around my lungs. So I was aggravated having to be put back in the hospital because I got pneumonia. All I wanted to do was spend my maternity leave with my baby. So after getting a sitter set up for however long it would be, I went to the hospital. It was when they started doing the EKG that I got worried. I laid there hooked up to all these wires wondering what was going on. The nurse came in to tell me I was being admitted on the heart floor, but she never told me why. The doctor finally came in after what seemed like forever and told me that I was in congestive heart failure. At that moment, I was more scared than I've ever been. The next day was when I had my echo which showed the PPCM with an EF of 35. I spent a week in the hospital, and they took 30lbs of fluid off of me with IV lasix. I felt amazing when I left. As of today, thanks to medication, strict diet and fluid restriction, and exercise, my EF is now 50-55. I feel incredibly lucky to be where I am today. It is still a struggle trying to keep up with everything I'm supposed to, but thanks to a good support system, I am still doing good. I had never heard of this condition before until I was diagnosed. This is a very serious condition and every woman pregnant or trying to get pregnant needs to know about this condition and what to watch for.
My Details
- Date Diagnosed: 16/11/2014
- Child: 2
- Initial EF: 35
- Current EF: 50-55
Story By Amanda Edwards