here's the scoop

many people have been asking me how my heart is...so here is what we have learned.

for those who don't know, let me fill you in. i had to have an emergency c-section with allison because her heart rate kept dropping and wasn't coming back up. it turned out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. because of my c-section i ended up staying at the hospital for a couple of extra days. well, i was suppose to leave on monday, but throughout sunday night i had been a little short of breath, but i was getting over a cold and just passed it off as that. early monday morning i woke up and felt like i couldn't breathe. i paged the nurse to come to my room and she checked my vitals and just told me to relax. she left and about 15 minutes later, i really couldn't breathe! it was getting scary! i paged the nurse's station again and they asked if the nurse could bring me anything and i told them that i couldn't breathe. well this time they listened and sent a whole slew of people. after being tested for swine flu, three ambulance trips to the hospital from the women's center, a chest x-ray, a cat scan, and an echo cardiogram, they finally figured out what was wrong with me.

i apparently have a pre-existing heart condition. i was diagnosed with mitral valve stenosis. due to the excess fluid in my body from pregnancy and a c-section, my heart couldn't keep up. i went into congestive heart failure and fluid was backing up into my lungs. i was very lucky to have had the c-section which allowed for me to stay a few extra days in the hospital, otherwise i would've been at home when i couldn't breathe, and who knows what would've happened. i was also very fortunate to have good doctors at the hospital who weren't satisfied when test results came back inconclusive. they kept investigating different avenues until they figured out the problem.

since allison's birth, i have had another echo cardiogram and have gone to see a cardiologist for a more specific diagnosis. i have rheumatic mitral stenosis- that's right, it was caused by rheumatic fever. the doctor guesses that i contracted it somewhere between the age of 5-15 and that is what caused the damage to my heart. the weird thing is that my mom has the exact same condition and had open heart surgery about 6 years ago. so will i have to have the surgery? the answer is yes. i cannot have any more pregnancies before i have my mitral valve replaced, otherwise, i will probably be able to wait until my 40's or 50's.

so, there's the scoop. it has been an emotional ride trying to figure everything out. but i am trying to put it out of my mind, as my doctor suggested, and come back to deal with it in about a year. until then, i am so that i have an otherwise healthy body that made it through my two pregnancies. i am more grateful for my heavenly father and the little family that he has blessed me with.

*by the way, does anyone know why the spacing is always so weird after i post? it isn't like that when i am typing it...