She thought her heart problems were resolved – until she got pregnant

Practically from the time she figured out crawling, Kacie Nowakowski began somersaulting around her home.

她的父母, picking up on her high energy level and love of movement, enrolled her in gymnastics at age 2.

全班同学还选择了另一个选项. 凯西的儿科心脏病专家建议她进行高强度的运动来增强她的心脏.

凯西出生时就有两个心脏问题:一个出生后没有闭合的孔(室间隔缺损)和心肌增厚的情况, 可能使泵血更加困难(肥厚性心肌病).

By the time she was 7, Kacie was competing in gymnastics. At the height of her sport, she trained 25 hours a week. The balance beam was her favorite event.

她继续每年至少去看一次儿科心脏病医生做检查. 在她高中最后一年，医生让她出院，说她已经“痊愈了”."

几年后，凯西不再参加体操比赛，转而成为一名教练. 在夏天, 她在马里兰州切萨皮克湾的一个户外运动营地与儿童和成年人一起工作. For fun, she climbed rocks, snowboarded, raced mountain bikes and sailed.

In 2016, when Kacie was 24, she started feeling occasional rapid heartbeats. 它们持续大约15到25秒，每天一到两次，而且只在她休息的时候. 有时她会感到头晕.

At the time, her mother, Kimberly Kruger, was battling late-stage colon cancer. 在她母亲于2018年去世之前，凯西和她的父亲是主要的照顾者.

凯西的初级保健医生, 她认为心脏跳动与照顾母亲的压力有关, 治疗焦虑的处方药. Despite her medical history, diagnostic testing was not ordered.

After several years of teaching elementary school, 凯西获得了图书馆学硕士学位，并开始在一所小学担任图书管理员. 心脏继续跳动.

去年, 凯西29岁的时候, 她和她的丈夫, 雅各Nowakowski, 一名消防员, 决定组建一个家庭. 这对夫妇住在巴尔的摩北部，当她很快怀孕时，他们很高兴.

在她第一次体检时, 她的医生并不关心她的心脏病史——直到凯西提到偶尔的心悸. He had her wear a cardiac monitoring patch for two weeks.

看了检查结果，医生告诉她，她的心律不正常，而且很严重.

Her pregnancy was now considered high-risk. This meant a new doctor at a new facility. It also prompted her first echocardiogram in 13 years.

检查显示，她出生时被诊断患有的肥厚性心肌病恶化了, 使她的心肌增厚. Related to that, she had several deficiencies in her heart's left ventricle. 医生说他很惊讶她还能坚持这么多高强度的活动.

因为雅各布的工作安排, Kacie was alone when she received the news, 感到震惊和不知所措. She sat on a couch in the hallway outside the doctor's office and sobbed.

医生告诉凯西，她需要在皮肤下放置一个电池供电的设备，以记录她的心率，并在必要时将其电击回正常节奏. It's called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.

医生说:“没有它，你就是一个会飞的空中飞人，而你的身下却没有网。. “这是你的生命线."

She received it in March, when she was 22 weeks pregnant. 手术后，她的胸痛非常剧烈，以至于她不得不坐着睡觉两个多月. She also couldn't lift anything heavy or bathe or dress herself for two weeks.

预产期前两个月, 当医生打来电话时，这对夫妇正在和凯西的父亲以及雅各布的父母一起吃生日晚餐. 他想和他们俩说话. They went outside the noisy restaurant.

“这就是分娩过程中会发生的事情，”医生对雅各布说. 他解释说，凯西将在心脏手术室而不是一般的产房里通过剖宫产娩出孩子. Also, she would recover in the cardiac intensive care unit.

"Your wife's heart will be challenged," the doctor said. "It will need to be a very controlled environment."

After the call, Kacie and Jacob leaned against the restaurant wall and cried.

当她的父亲, 库尔特·克鲁格, 明白了吗?, it washed over him at multiple levels – the challenge she was facing now, as well as a flashback to when she was diagnosed as a baby.

He also knew she was up for the challenge. 那些年的体操训练不仅增强了她的身体，也增强了她的思想.

"Kacie is my little Energizer Bunny and filled with positivity," he said. "She's very regimented and always has a plan. 我知道这对她有帮助."

所有的计划都成功了.

Madelyn Nowakowski was born on June 30. Kacie, who was sick to her stomach and disoriented after delivery, was monitored for 48 hours before getting to see her baby.

"When I first held my daughter, I felt a soothing feeling," Kacie said. “我们做到了. 我这么做是为了这个孩子. My heart was stable, and she was in my arms."

Doctors detected that Madelyn has a heart murmur. 他们紧跟其后.

至于凯西的心脏, 分娩非常顺利，有传言说她可以把玛德琳变成自己的大姐姐.

医生说，虽然凯西最终可能需要做心脏手术，但可能要等几年. That will give her time to recover from this pregnancy and, hopefully, another.

"They want to avoid any danger if I am stable and doing well," Kacie said.

In addition to waiting at least a year until considering another pregnancy, 凯西被告知要减少剧烈运动，如高强度锻炼和山地自行车.

Doting on Madelyn is likely to keep her plenty busy.

"We have such a beautiful relationship and bond," she said. “她是一份美丽的礼物."

Editor's note: This story was corrected on Aug. 31. Madelyn Nowakowski was born on June 30, not July 30.

发自内心的故事 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.

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