Menstruation and Menopause

Our miracle baby Nia was once the tear streaming down her daddy's face as he sat alone in his car waiting for my D&C (dilation and curettage), a procedure that removed the remains of the sibling Nia will never know. She was once the words my pain-consumed heart uttered as I rocked on my knees asking for a miracle.

Heavy menstrual bleeding. Painful periods. Fatigue from anemia. Never wearing white (ever). Spending hundreds of dollars a year on tampons and pads because you have to wear both. These are just a few examples of what it's like to live with uterine fibroids, a topic nobody wants to talk about. Uterine fibroids are very common non-cancerous tumors that develop in the muscle of the uterus that can change the quality of your life.

I remember waking up on the morning of my 13th birthday with an unexpected birthday present — my first period. Like many girls, I was unsure of what my period was supposed to feel like, and I was uncomfortable talking about it. Growing up, I had watched my mother struggle with period pain, so I assumed that was normal.