At age 30, during Jessica Grib’s second pregnancy, she began experiencing extreme fatigue. She attributed her exhaustion to normal pregnancy symptoms, coupled with chasing after her two-and-a-half-year-old son, Noah. She was induced at 37 weeks due to high blood pressure, and delivered her daughter, Amelia, via C-section as she was breech.

Post-delivery, Jessica experienced difficulty breathing and went into cardiogenic shock from post-partum cardiomyopathy (PPCM). Unknown at the time, a tumor had developed which secreted adrenaline and caused Jessica’s heart to go into overdrive after the C-section. Jessica was placed on a ventilator and the Impella® heart pump was inserted into her heart to allow it to rest. She was then transferred to another hospital and placed on ECMO support, though her physicians did not expect her to survive.

After six days of support, physicians explanted the Impella® and took her off ECMO support. Jessica met her newborn daughter for the first time after two and a half weeks. Almost immediately after, medical staff discovered a blood clot in her heart and uterus, which required medication and an emergency dilation and curettage (D&C). Determined to return home to her family, Jessica began physical therapy to learn to walk again and regain her fine motor skills. She later had the tumor removed and has made a full recovery with her native heart intact.

Heart Recovery has allowed Jessica more time with her family and the ability to advocate for peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM). She promotes testing to help women discern pregnancy symptoms from those of PPCM. Jessica has had two more children since her heart event, and celebrates each day as a family of 6.