Honestly, can't really know if the fluid alone caused the problem or an underlying factor that caused it and the fluid didn't help. WITH THAT SAID, I will tell you that I have seen many patients be taken to the ICU for too much fluid and edema...especially when it makes it's way into the lungs. It makes the heart go on overload and I'm sad to say..it could have been prevented because it was simply overlooked or not calculated correctly. While opening up an IV and pushing fluid might have been the correct action at the time; slowing it down a bit would have been a good approach...especially if you clearly started swelling. During the nurses assessments and even doctor rounds, this should have been followed up on a little bit better. I would obtain a copy of your operative report as well as post operative and go over it with someone that understands the lingo to see what happened. You would be surprised at the things written in those reports that were not discussed with you.
In fact, I've had 3 sections and 3 weeks ago, I had a hysterectomy at the same hospital I work at as a nurse. I knew that with the pain meds and coming out of the anesthesia I'd be out of it, so I had a family member with me at all times. One thing I alerted everyone to was to watch the speed of my IV because I didn't want to over infuse. My husband remembered and asked the nurse why it was running so fast-just saline, no meds...her reply was "oh my, I set it at the wrong level" and she fixed it. Later that night I felt horrible pressure in my bladder region however I had a catheter. I tried telling the nursing asst that my catheter wasn't working and she assured me it was. The nurse finally came in as I was unkinking my own catheter and almost immediately I felt relief as I watched 300cc of urine coming out! My point is.....ALWAYS have an advocate present to help check up on things and answer for you when you can't.
I'm sure you'd be ok the next go around but I'd discuss everything with your doctor. Good luck.

Thanks so much for your reply, it is good to hear from an ob nurse that this does happen to other people. I just went back in to have everything cardiac checked out again, and all looks "great" according to the doc...so i am guessing, it was simply fluid overload. I loved my doc, and am so sorry that this happened, b/c now i am afraid i will be unable to trust her in the future. And maybe not, because i realize that with transitions over the weekend this could have just simply not been caught from doc to doc and nurse to nurse. Dr. B kept telling me that it would go away, that i'd get my ankles back, etc. perhaps she just didn't pick up that it only started after all the fluid, but she should have as my record indicated it.

You're welcome. Here's the thing...before I started working in the medical field, I was the type of person that would sit back and just listen to the dr..not expressing my feelings, etc. Even when I was in the hospital having babies, and something didn't feel right, I never 2nd guessed anyone because I thought that was rude. HOWEVER, after crossing over I see what little mistakes can have such a big inpact on peoples health. Nurses and doctors are humans, they make mistakes. Problem is when they don't own up to fixing the problem and continue overlooking. I tell ALL my family and friends....ask questions, be persistant..YOU HIRED these people! When I was just in the hospital and the nurses came in to give me meds, they would just start pushing it without telling me what it was...I didn't like that. You have the right to question and refuse anything!
So with that little class in backtalking 101-I don't think you'll have the same problem and if you do...everyone will know. Make sure your husband stays with you and keeps questioning and is persistant.

I just got done typing a long reply and it didn't post. I'd love to talk to you some more as it seems we have a lot in common. I'll add my story later this evening.

Would love to hear more about your story. It is so good to hear someone say they have had a similar incident. I don't think anyone can understand the frustration.

My pregnancy had been pretty uneventful, but I chose to have an epidural and was told that I was dehydrated, thus they gave me a lot of fluids. Meconium was present when they broke my water to attach the fetal monitor and my son's heart rate dropped everytime the doctors checked me (he didn't like being messed with). After the third time this happened, they did an emergency c-section. My husband and sister were unable to be in the room with me as it all happened too fast. (Looking back we should have asked for a c-section instead of waiting for things to get out of control.)

I was in surgery for awhile because they found a large dermoid cyst on my left ovary that had to be removed. I had severe shoulder pain post-op (apparently from the trapped gas in my body from the surgery) and was unable to hold my son for about two more hours. But once all that was over, things seemed to be going fine.

My son was born on a Saturday, and I had some swelling in my legs in the few days that followed. I pointed it out to the nurses and they said it was normal. The doctor that released me on Tuesday didn't even check me, he just came in and said "hi" and that he was sending me home. (My second mistake was not being more persistent.)

The swelling didn't go down, it continued to get worse and by Friday I looked huge and had other complications as well. I had a random little catch in my breath (like a gasp or a hiccup), a strange cough, and I was short of breath. Some of this was going on before I was released, but no one seemed to think it was a big deal. My family convinced me to get it checked out, so I went to my ob-gyn. I got in just before 5 on Friday and my doctor was on call and really rushed. She checked my blood pressure and it was high, so she had me lay on my side and rechecked it. She was ready to let me go and my husband stopped her long enough to convince her that something was really wrong (yikes!). She sent me to the hospital for a chest x-ray and the order said something about the possibility of pulmonary embolism or cardiomyopathy. A close friend of mine had just died almost exactly a year prior from a pulmonary embolism, and I knew that cardiomyopathy wasn't good news either. I really thought I was a goner. The x-ray showed that my heart was enlarged and surrounded with fluid.

In the hospital, I was put on a blood thinner and lasix, and bed rest. (Unfortunately they forgot to give me a catheter and I had to pee A LOT!) Laying down made my abdomen hurt something awful and using a bed pan was less than pleasant. They ran several tests and found no blood clot. On Saturday they sent me home with no answers. The pulmonologist said he didn't know what I was doing there and the cardiologist was very vague. I finally had an ob-gyn from my clinic tell me that everyone thought I'd be fine within six months. At that point I wasn't sure if the problem had been my heart, my lungs, my kidneys, or what! My husband called him and asked for further clarification. He asked what happens in cases where someone doesn't get better and he said, "heart transplant." Well, that was not comforting. I went to my parents' house to recover and keep my feet up. (I was still on bedrest) I lost about 25 pounds of fluid over that weekend!

I continued to feel better, but was still traumatized from everything that had happened. I had several follow-ups with the cardiologist. He told me there's no reason for me not to have more children, that I would just need to be monitored closely. Then at my one-year follow-up, he asked if we were planning to have more kids, and we said yes (mostly to see his reaction) and he strongly advised against it, due to the "cardiomyopathy". At previous visits he said that what happened to me resembled PPCM, but that my problem was in my right ventricle, which is not usually the case with PPCM. I really feel like there's something there not telling me.

My husband and I decided that regardless of the real cause, we were too afraid to put ourselves through that stress again and opted for a vasectomy. It was still not an easy decision because we really wanted 2 kids. But we thought it was better to count our blessings and get on with our lives.

I feel much differently about doctors than I used to. I was always naive and thought that they knew best. I had medical professionals dismiss my concerns and suspicions that my son had autism, saying that "some kids just talk late." But we knew that something just wasn't right and pursued an answer and some help. We got him into therapy and explored alternative medicine and eventually he was diagnosed with 'Autistic Disorder'. Thank goodness we didn't sit around and wait. You have to trust your gut when it comes to your health.

It's been a little over four years since my "heart problem" and I'm still confused. It seems that my problem could have had more to do with the epidural and c-section and not a major heart defect. I occasionally have heart palpitations when I'm stressed or have alcohol, caffeine, or aspartame. The doctors have done further tests and say my heart is fine now. I can definitely relate to your frustration. I've just recently started doing more research on this and I'm very interested in anything you find out.