My name is Jessica Grib and I died after delivering my daughter in September 2016. I crashed and coded in the post-op room after my C-section, was given CPR for 10 minutes by several different people, and paddled with electric shock until they brought me back to life. I was then placed on several life support devices and my family was told that there was little hope of my survival.
Pregnancy
I was 30 years old and pregnant with my second baby. My husband, Kevin, and I also had a 2 year old son, Noah. This pregnancy was different than with Noah. I was more tired, I got winded easily, and I had terrible headaches when I would lay down at night. In the few weeks before my daughter, Amelia, was born, my blood pressure began to rise. There were a couple of occasions where I was admitted to Mercy Hospital as an outpatient to monitor my pressure. Bed rest and blood pressure medication didn’t lower my blood pressure, so at 37 weeks gestation, the decision made to begin an induction. We were 12 hours into the induction when Amelia turned breech. Since this was now a breech birth, a cesarean section was scheduled. The C-section went without complications and Amelia was born on September 29th. Kevin, Amelia, and I went to the recovery room. This is when everything went wrong.
Chaos and Devastation
Suddenly, the staff urged Kevin to leave the room with Amelia because my heart-rate was skyrocketing, my oxygen was plummeting, and the room quickly filled with doctors and nurses. Shortly after arriving in the recovery room, I was taken to the ICU. I had a rapid heart-rate, low oxygen levels, fluid on my lungs, and unstable blood pressure (with some readings even as low as 49/37). Within a very short time, arrhythmias of my heart developed and I was paddled several times to get back in rhythm. Cardiologists in the Mercy system were called emergently. Kevin, my mom, and my mother-in-law were told that my heart was failing. It was one of the worst cases this cardiologist had seen, and I needed to be in cardiac cath lab immediately.
In the cardiac cath lab, my heart stopped beating and I coded several times. A 6-person team began CPR for a duration of about 10 minutes. The cardiologist was able to place the Impella device into my heart to pump the blood for me since my heart wasn’t beating properly on its own. The Impella device kept me alive long enough to be transferred to another hospital in St. Louis, Barnes Jewish Hospital. My family was told that the best chance of survival was to get to Barnes and to be placed on an ECMO machine. I arrived at Barnes on September 30th and was admitted to CV ICU (Cardio thoracic /Heart chest ICU). I was placed on the ECMO machine in addition to the Impella device. At this point, I was on a ventilator and two cardiac machines, I was in heart failure, my liver was failing, and my kidneys were failing. Amelia was receiving amazing care in the nursery at Mercy, I was on life support at Barnes, and Noah was at home. No matter where my husband was, he felt guilty for where he wasn’t.
When I was transferred to Barnes, my family was faced with the harsh reality of the doctor’s words. My heart was not beating. I was completely flatlined on the monitor for about 36 hours because the Impella device, ventilator, and ECMO were working as my heart, lungs, and kidneys. My husband was attempting to process the doctor’s words: that he was going to lose his high school sweetheart the day his daughter was born.
The Miracle That Let Me Meet My Daughter
Miraculously, after a few days, my heart began to beat on its own again. It was just a blip here and there on the monitor, but it was enough to give my family hope. Those blips slowly turned into more arrhythmic beating and I began to breathe on my own again. On October 5, 2016, I was taken off ECMO and the Impella device was removed. My ventilator came out on October 8th. On October 9th, I was celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary by sitting up in a chair and having my husband feed me ice chips one by one all night. My heart function (ejection fraction or “EF”) went from 5% at Mercy on September 29th to 40% on October 5th to 60% today (50-70% is considered normal heart function).
On October 11th, when my daughter was 2 weeks old, I was able to meet her for the first time post-delivery. Since I was under sedation for so long, I suffer from retrograde amnesia, meaning that I have memory loss even before my traumatic event. I estimate that I lost about 3-4 weeks of memories, some of which are the birth of my daughter, something that shouldn’t be erased from any mother’s memory. I have no recollection of her birth, my C-section, or the nurse placing her at my cheek minutes after she was born. For all intents and purposes, I did not meet my daughter until she was 2 weeks old.
I was also able to see Noah for the first time since being admitted to the hospital. Two weeks after giving birth, my family of four was finally whole for the first time. I received physical therapy and occupational therapy in the hospital because my fine and gross motor skills were so severely impacted. I was unable to walk or feed myself, and even needed assistance from my loving husband to place a pacifier in our newborn daughter’s mouth. I experienced several complications including blood clots in my heart and uterus and extremely elevated heart rate and blood pressure. However, after just three weeks in the hospital, I was able to return home with my family. Going home was both thrilling and terrifying – I was so afraid I was going to die when I got home without the help of my life-saving medical staff.
The Misery of Recovery
After being discharged, I still felt miserable. My blood pressure was out of control, even with my 10-12 medications per day. One night, my blood pressure rose to 195/115. I could feel it elevated as my head felt like it was about to explode, I felt extremely nauseous, and I was not able to stand up. My heart rate was also extremely high even as I was sitting still. I couldn’t walk around my house without stopping to rest. I could not take care of my children. I was not able to return to work. I was so discouraged that I was going to be this sick for the rest of my life. However, my peripartum cardiologist kept digging for answers. In November 2016, she detected the presence of a paraganglioma, a tumor located next to my adrenal gland. As scary as this new diagnosis was, I was told that it would be the answer to all of my problems once it was removed. It was possible to get my life back.
I had surgery to remove the tumor on December 7, 2016. To say I was terrified is an understatement. This surgery was extremely high risk and I didn’t want to die… again. Amazingly, the surgery was uncomplicated and I awoke from sedation with low-normal blood pressure and a healthy heart rate. I did not have to be sent to the ICU as originally planned and I was able to be discharged just two days later.
One week after surgery, I felt completely like myself again. I could pick up my son. I could care for my daughter. I had my life back! That tumor was the cause of my heart failure. Removing the tumor solved all my problems.
I returned to work full-time on February 1, 2017. My maternity leave was extended just 4 weeks longer than I originally planned. My heart rate and blood pressure stabilized to normal numbers and my stamina has returned. I was truly given my life back.
I survived Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM). This is a silent killer that is taking far too many new moms away from their newborns and families. I want to share my story to educate people about PPCM. The United States has one of the highest maternal mortality rates, even when compared to underdeveloped countries. I never thought I could lose my life during childbirth in an American hospital in 2016. Pregnant women, as well as health care professionals, need to know the signs and symptoms of PPCM as well as how it can be treated. If I can save just one mother from being taken away from her baby by PPCM, I know I will have succeeded in my goal.
Biography:
As I write this, I am exactly 37 weeks gestation with my post-heart failure pregnancy. My husband and I extensively researched the risks with heart failure and paraganglioma tumors with subsequent pregnancies. We spoke with every specialist we could think of, including a few of those who saved my life. Every doctor was supportive of another pregnancy and I am being followed very closely by my obstetrician and my peripartum cardiologist. I am having routine BNP blood tests conducted to determine if I am in any cardiac distress, echocardiograms have been performed before and during pregnancy, and hormone levels are being watched through bloodwork to ensure the tumor is not returning. All of my tests are coming back with healthy numbers in the average range. Still, my husband and I (and all of our family and friends) are waiting with bated breath for the birth of our third child. We are hopeful that we have an uneventful labor and delivery this time around.**Update- Jessica now has a beautiful healthy 6 week old!
