Welcome back to the Doctor Rich channel. Today we have a special guest: Lucero Tarin. Lucero is here to talk with us today about endometriosis and infertility — and how what you don’t know might keep you from getting pregnant.
Don’t have time to read this post? Watch the video here instead!
Doctor Rich:
Now there are many risk factors for infertility — including factors that affect the sperm, the quality of the eggs, the ability to ovulate, the tubes… Today we’re going to talk about endometriosis, which makes up about 15% of all infertility cases. Now that being said, for women who have endometriosis, 20 to 50% are infertile. And for women who present for infertility, 50% have endometriosis.
So as you saw in the thumbnail, Amelia, a bouncing eight month old baby…
Lucero:
Yes!
Doctor Rich:
…has joined us! And tell us about your journey with infertility, endometriosis, and how you were able to bring this wonderful bundle of joy into the world.
Lucero:
Yes! So thank you, Doctor Rich, for having me and making that journey a little easier for me. My husband and I decided we wanted to have a little baby, and you know, we started to try. One month became two, two became six, and then a year, then two years… We saw fertility specialists, we did a few rounds of IUI, we did all kinds of blood work and tests…
Doctor Rich:
And how long had all that gone on?
Lucero
The total time was about three years.
Doctor Rich:
And what symptoms did you have?
Lucero:
Very heavy periods — and painful. It was very, very painful — to the point where I had to medicate. If I didn’t medicate, I couldn’t function.
Doctor Rich:
Yeah. And this is very common for endometriosis. I think many people have heard of endometriosis. Ten to 15% of women have endometriosis — so it’s pretty common. The thing is, many women don’t KNOW they have it. They just have painful periods — and also happen to not be able to get pregnant. And a lot of people don’t connect the dots.
Now it’s important to understand that pregnancy doesn’t occur automatically in ANY circumstance. In fact, the chances of getting pregnant in any given cycle (when both the male and female partner have total normal reproductive function) is only about 20% per cycle. The cumulative pregnancy rate over six months is about 70%.
IUI is intrauterine insemination. So the physician will come in, and the syringe will be passed through a speculum into the cervix and into the uterus — and the sperm will be injected directly into the uterus (thereby increasing the chance of pregnancy). But that didn’t work for you?
Lucero:
No… no, it didn’t. And it was, I think, more emotionally draining, you know? Just because it was a lot — and it’s a lot to go through mentally. Physically, I think it was okay. So once we moved back to El Paso, I immediately went back to Doctor Rich’s office. I explained what was going on and said, “I think I have endometriosis!” So that’s where he listened to me and said, “You know what? Let’s find this out.”
Doctor Rich:
The symptoms, the history, and the infertility… it just all made sense. And I think it was pretty quickly after that that we scheduled and did a laparoscopy, which is (at least in my office) a robotic procedure with small little incisions where we can evaluate the entire pelvis. With endometriosis, there are inflammatory proteins that affect the tubes, the sperm, the tubal transport… It affects the uterine lining, it affects your hormones, and it just throws off all of these very delicate processes that are required for pregnancy.
So in your case, there was a lot of endometriosis — it graded out to stage three (even involving the appendix)! And we were able to take all the disease out in an outpatient same-day surgery. What was your experience?
Lucero:
It was pain-free!
Doctor Rich:
Wow.
Lucero:
To the point where I thought it was weird! It was like, “Is this how it’s supposed to be?” So yeah, it was immediate. As soon as I had my first cycle afterwards — all the pain was gone. I didn’t have heavy, heavy bleeding. So those symptoms that I was experiencing that were very obvious to me were gone.
I didn’t expect to be pregnant so soon after surgery!
Doctor Rich [jokingly]:
Like in the recovery room? Or like…
Lucero [laughing]:
It was a little quick! Yeah, so it was about three months later that we conceived our little baby girl — and it was quick! On a little bit of a personal note, I took a pregnancy test to tell myself, “You’re not pregnant, stop getting excited!” I had missed my cycle — so I was a little bit past due — and I just took it to bring my emotions back down.
Doctor Rich:
Yeah.
Lucero:
And then when I found out I WAS pregnant, my emotions really went up, and I was super excited! I was nervous and in disbelief really!
Doctor Rich:
Because it had been such a long journey, right?
Lucero:
It was such a long journey — and it was kind of those moments like, “I should have listened to myself a little bit sooner!” But I think it all worked perfectly in the end.
Doctor Rich:
What advice would you have for women that are suffering with pain and infertility?
Lucero:
Do your own research, listen to yourself, listen to your body, and go with Doctor Rich — because that’s what I did, and it worked perfectly for me! If you are struggling with infertility, there’s a possibility that you could have a baby. Because I thought I was at the end of it — and I wasn’t. You know, I did get my little baby.
Doctor Rich:
Thank you, baby, for watching. If you know somebody who has trouble with fertility, make sure you share this video and impregnate that subscribe button!
