During my second pregnancy, a difficult pregnancy which included pre-term labor which was treated with terbutaline and gallbladder disease I became very fatigued. I complained to my midwife that I couldn't breathe but my sob was chalked up to having a big baby. I finally went into real labor on July 26, 2001 at 37 weeks. After a long and difficult delivery, I delivered an 8 pound 9 ounce perfect boy at 3:55 Friday morning -- with the help of a vacuum.

While I was still in the hospital, I began having severe pain, I presumed from the gallbladder. Hindsight tells me it was the fluid in my lungs. I took percocet and still couldn't breathe but the pain went away. I went home from one hospital on Sunday and went into the small hospital in my town for gallbladder surgery on Tuesday. Everyone noticed my feet were still swollen, but I had just given birth. Also, my blood pressure was still slightly elevated.

I woke up completely unable to breathe and panicked. I thought I was dying. And I could have. Later I learned that when they were bringing me to from the anesthetia, they removed the breathing tube and I went into flash pulmonary edema...my lungs filled with fluid and I couldn't breathe. They immediatley reintubated me and struggled to find another vein. They began giving me iv lasix and I learned I lost 6 liters of fluid in one day. All together, the birth, the gallbladder and fluid, I lost about 50 pounds within a week. I remember thinking as we went in the elevator and the nurse said we were going to ICU, that I mustn't be dead if I was going to a room. I thought I couldn't breathe because of the huge breathing tube in my throat and tried to pull it out. Now I know it was the ventilator that was breathing for me.

We found out the next morning that I had peripartum cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure as well. I stayed in ICU 4 days and couldn't see my baby. Finally, I got my own room and stayed another 2 days. My EF was 15-20% and I almost died. God saved me...how else would I have made it through labor and surgery? I wouldn't have.

We stayed with my parents for the first month. It took a long time to adjust to the meds and still I get dizzy often. I have a lot of various aches and pains related to everything including trauma. In the past two months, I switched PCPs and Cardiologists in favor of more aggressive drs. My first cardio. didn't want to repeat the echo for 6 months!! I went to Dr. Arnold at St. Joseph's hospital in Atlanta and he did a repeat echo the next week. On October 2, my EF had already improved to 45% and my heart size went from 5.9 cm to 5.5 (not quite normal but close). He also took me off some meds he thought I didn't need.

My beginning meds were lasix, k-dur, zestril, lanoxin and coumadin. The first week I saw Dr. Arnold, he took me off lanoxin. After my echo, he took me off coumadin and told me to take an aspirin a day. Through the two months since diagnosis, I stared taking axid (for a hiatal hernia that hasn't been confirmed yet) and a low dose of celexa for depression.

I felt pretty rough until a few weeks ago and I still get tired easily. But I finally took myself to the dr. and shopping alone. I've had a few days where if it weren't for the hernia (which they can't fix because of my heart) I'd have felt normal.

Everyone told me it would get better and for several weeks I didn't believe them. Now, I am confident. It just takes a while to adjust. I believe with God, all things are possible!