Honoring Kayla: Spreading awareness for PPCM

Hello,

My name is Jessica Grayson. My little sister, Kayla Grayson-McNabb, unexpectedly passed away on Dec 20, 2024, from a rare condition called Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM). This is something no one tells expectant mothers about. This can happen in the last couple of weeks of pregnancy to 5 months after giving birth. She had her son on Sept 17, 2024, at 28 weeks. She wrote a couple of posts about her situation I would like to share…

September 19th, 2024, was the happiest day of our lives. Our first year anniversary starting off strong a day late . We both can say that this first anniversary did not go as planned, but we received the biggest blessing out of it, our son. Grayson Elijah McNabb made his big entrance into the world on September 17th, 2024, at 28 weeks. Our little man just could not wait to come into the world, and he is doing so great. He has a long road ahead in the NICU, but we are not worried at all because we know our family's strength and perseverance run in his blood. To my love, Happy Anniversary. The year has flown by, and I cannot wait to see what the future brings with our family ❤️

Okay, I thought I should make this post to make all of the mommas I know aware of how your body could drastically change during postpartum.

Last weekend, I was admitted into the hospital because I thought I had pneumonia for a week and a half, and it wasn’t getting better breathing-wise.

As I got there, they did tests and determined I never had pneumonia but postpartum cardiomyopathy (heart failure).

I was literally shocked because I have never had heart problems in my life. If you know me, you know I live a very healthy lifestyle.

But apparently, this is a normal thing that can happen to a woman’s body after childbirth. There are several thousand cases of it, but I know I was never told about this during pregnancy or that it could happen postpartum.

It’s a journey of physical therapy and healing, but my heart is going to get back to what it needs to here soon.

Ladies, be aware, postpartum is crazy.

She was the type of person that always spoke out and wanted others to be aware of certain situations that were close to her heart ❤️

We are raising money not only for her husband Cody and her son Grayson but to help spread awareness on Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM).

We also have made some shirts, hats, and bags that will help spread the awareness of PPCM for Kayla. These are 2 links to the shirts and bag, you can also search Amazon for Kayla’s Corner and find different items that can help spread PPCM awareness.

https://a.co/d/gg0HdyU

https://a.co/d/hze7K9q

Thank you for taking the time to read Kayla’s story, and any donations are greatly appreciated.

The Grayson Family