Amy Barton

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My name is Amy, and i am now 28 years old. My pregnacy with my son, Jack, was almost perfect. I gained 55lbs, true, but i thought nothing of it, nor of the pitting edema (swelling) of the feet that came with it. I was warned by all who knew me to watch my salt intake, watch my fluid intake, but i, oblivious in my cloud of happiness, never thought something like PPCM could ever happen to me.  My last visit to my OB showed that my blood pressure had suddenly skyrocketed, and she was duly concerned. She offered a choice between medication or immediate inducement. I chose the medication, went home, and changed my mind (the absolute uncomfortability of late-stage pregnancy may have helped change it, aha). The next day i went to the hospital, checked into a beautiful birthing room, and scarfed down Taco Bell that my fiancee snuck in for me. I soon learned that i wouldn't be keeping this beautiful birthing room, as my son, being contrary (as usual, i've learned), was breech. He was finally delivered by c-section at 12:24 p.m. on November 10th, 2005. Jack was wheezing while they let me hold him, and it was quickly discovered that he had fluid in his lungs and was not breathing normally. My son's sickness saved my life, as the hospital comped a room for me to stay in until my son could leave the hospital. Had that not happened..i would not have been at the hospital when the worst happened.

Over the course of the next five days, i realized that i was getting weaker, not stronger. Short walks made me breathless. My stomach was still the size it had been before giving birth, something which alarmed my mother, an LPN.

I kept complaining to the nurses that i couldn't breathe normally. I'm not sure what they thought of me..perhaps they considered me a hysterical new mommy; these nurses gave me Xanax and told me to get some sleep. I stayed awake the entire night before i was admitting to ICU; i simply couldn't breathe when i lay down. Still, i never thought it was serious..i even thought it might be gas! Eventually, at seven in the morning, i became frightened enough to call the nurse. Through some oversight, the staff had left a machine in my room which checks oxygen saturation level, and i had been using it, becoming more and more alarmed at the readings. When the nurse (not the one who gave me xanax, thank god) entered the room, my oxygen level dropped to 84. I was on my hands and knees on the bed, gasping for air. The nursed immediately ran out of the room and returned with a wheelchair. I was wheeled to the emergency room and one hour later, i had my very own bed in ICU, complete with IV's in both hands, pushing heparin and nitro, and a galazy of heart monitor leads attached to my chest. At the age of 26, i was told i was in Congestive Heart Failure and had PPCM. I thank that nurse, and my cardiologist, in my thoughts every single day.

Now, 15 months later, I still have some discomfort at times of stress, but i have recovered almost completely.

One side note: The hospital that i was at has had two previous cases of PPCM...one ended in death..the other, severe brain damage. I shudder to think what could have happened to me had the chain of events in my case been different. If my son had not been born ill, if they hadn't neglected to take out the machine...would i be here?

Good luck and good health to you all.