Breathing Through the Journey

Sharing post from Facebook dated 12.19.25

I am finally home.

What most of you do not know is that for the past month I have been in the hospital (12/2-12/18). Over Thanksgiving, we learned that my right side of my heart was working overtime and very large, causing for a leaky right valve. I went through multiple tests and turned out to be not a heart issue, but a lung issue causing pressure on my heart and making it work harder. Besides the 2nd, the 3rd-18th, I was being held at UPenn where they were able to diagnose me with Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (IPAH) with a right heart catheter test (RHC). To treat this disease I have, I have to use a REMUNITY pump, which is a medicine called Remodulin. This medicine is used to help alleviate the pressure in my lungs and reduce the amount of work my heart has been doing.

Symptoms I experienced prior to diagnosis were shortness of breath and my legs feeling very heavy walking. We thought, maybe it was me being out of shape or the pregnancy. However, some of these symptoms occurred prior to being pregnant and only had gotten worse once I was pregnant. I could not walk up my 5 steps or even walk to the bathroom without losing my breath and needing to sit down and rest.

On top of this new journey with navigating IPAH, myself and Brandon also lost our baby. Due to the severity of my disease, I was not able to proceed with the pregnancy. I could have lost my life by 20 weeks pregnant, and I was almost there. There were also complications where the baby would not have survived due to the treatments and testing I had to do to try and save my life. I was also advised by the specialists that I cannot bear children due to my disease and how this would happen again. Which then leads me and Brandon to have to seek a different route to have children— very difficult news to hear.

Right before all of this was happening, we were about to announce that we were having a baby boy and his name was Wyatt James Ferretti. It’s heartbreaking sharing this because of how much he was already loved and how excited we were to be parents. He had a name, we had his nursery all picked out, and we had plans with all of our friends that were also pregnant around the same time as us. As a shining light though, we are thankful for Wyatt coming into our lives, because if it weren’t for me being pregnant and meeting a Nurse Practitioner at my OB-GYN practice, we may have never caught the heart murmur in time and I could have been in a worse condition.

Everyday is a struggle, everyday I am learning my limitations, learning how much energy I can exert while I’m physically healing, and learning how to cope with our new reality. Brandon has been the strongest person I have ever met and the most loving person helping me and helping us navigate this new journey. Best husband and supporter, ever.

I am finally home, and thankful to be alive.