It can take months to appear: A condition known as postpartum cardiomyopathy, which really means pregnancy-related heart failure.
Fortunately, it's not very common, but it strikes at a special time in a woman's life, when she's just had a child. If it's not treated carefully, the consequences can be deadly.
"When I had my son, I had just turned 24," Ashley Lobocki said.
Lobocki looked back on her pregnancy with her son, Brady, who is now 10, and said she could tell early on something wasn't right.
"I started getting short of breath and not feeling well, and that was very early," Lobocki said.
As a nurse, she tried to rationalize her symptoms.
"Everybody always tries to, 'Oh, I had the same thing.' 'Oh, don’t worry about it.' 'I was short of breath, too.' 'Oh, yeah, just wait till you get to that eighth and ninth month,' but it very quickly escalated," Lobocki said.
She insisted on a more thorough evaluation, including an ultrasound of her heart, called an echocardiogram. The results were not good.
"She said, 'Ashley, I don’t know if you’re going to live,'" Lobocki said.
Lobocki had developed a cardiomyopathy, or weakening of her heart, putting her life and the life of her unborn son at risk.
"It's usually a disease that can start at the late pregnancy, and also can take clinical presentation after delivering the baby," Dr. Yelena Selektor said. "It's tough to diagnose because many symptoms are similar to what pregnant women can feel. Woman can feel that her legs are a little puffy, that she doesn't have as much energy as she had before, she might be a little short of breath and (find it) difficult to climb stairs."
It's when those symptoms become excessive -- or recur after a few months -- that a concern should be raised. Some of the risk factors include a family history of heart troubles, age older than 30, having multiples -- such as twins or triplets -- high blood pressure, high blood sugar and kidney problems.
If found early, it is treatable with medications and cardiac rehab. But there are serious dangers if it's untreated.
"It progresses fast and sometimes it can lead to heart transplant if (a) patient seeks medical attention, and we can offer this to the patient. Sometimes it can lead to death," Selektor said.
Lobocki was treated early, although at times, things were touch and go.
"In the months passing, I couldn't hold him for long periods of time, which was really hard as a new mom. That's all you want to do," Lobocki said.
Still on medication, she has had a near full recovery, and her son is doing great, which she had a feeling about from the beginning thanks to a random encounter before her son was born.
"This woman came up as women do cause we all get a little intrusive when we see a baby belly," Lobocki said. "She said, 'Honey, don't worry. I had heart failure. I just had two twin children and they're fine and I'm fine.'"
Selektor also emphasizes that many other complications of pregnancy, such as high blood pressure, gestational diabetes or preeclampsia, can predispose a woman to developing other heart disease at an earlier age, and should serve as a red flag to get even more regular heart screening.
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