Found out about pregnancy after returning from honeymoon in march of 2000. normal pregnancy until Aug or Sept. Then started swelling reall bad, retaining fluid. This continued to worsen, eventually causing Jo to have to sleep in upright postion, because laying down was painful. and she was unable to breathe. Continued to see same OB/GYN, who is hi-risk doc, and knew about family history of heart probs. He diagnosed deep vein thrombosis (DVT) for the swollen legs, and respitory infection for the congestion in lungs. Symptoms continued to get worse, and Jo started getting weak. Doc tried some other meds for the "respitory infection" and put her on bed rest.

Following the birth of our daughter, Jo had several incidents of SOB and dizzy spells. These were diagnosed as "panic attacks". While moving into a new house, Jo was so weak she could not help move anything, or walk, or care for the kids. She eventually went to the ER, thinking she had pnuemonia. Lucky for us the ER doc had a clue. He ordered x-rays, to check for fluid in her lungs, and said "guess what? Your heart is enlarged, almost 2x normal for you." He called a cardi in, who had Jo admitted to the Cardiac Care Unit, where she remained for 4 days. She had an EF of 10% on admittance and was just about unconcious most of her stay. A heart cath was done, and fortunatly, found no damage to her heart. With meds, and a light cardio workout, Jo is now up to an EF of 35%, and looks to be improving everyday. Her strength is returning, as is her endurance, and all is looking well for the future.