I have had 3 successful pregnancies. All producing healthy baby girls and all delivered by C-section.


My first baby – I was told ‘wouldn’t fit through my pelvis’, I am a curvy girl with big hips but I was young and naïve and took the Dr’s advice, this baby was only 7lb1oz. My second pregnancy, myself and hubby made the choice to go the elective C-section path due to being told that it’s highly likely this baby will be bigger and I could risk rupturing my scar tissue, she was born at 7lb3oz, so again not very big.


My third and final pregnancy, we were given no option but to have a C-section due to my previous history. During this pregnancy, the radiographer expressed concerned over the baby’s growth at my 32 week scan, so I was monitored regularly and was told the baby may need to be delivered earlier rather than later and this could be fatal for the baby.


So I spent the next several weeks with severe anxiety over the possible death of my unborn child. Had another scan at 35 weeks only to be told, everything looked fine, bub was a little small but everything looked great. She was born weighing 6lb13oz.


Not long after having this last baby, I started to get very heavy periods, golfball-sized clots. However, my GP who I had entrusted for my two most recent pregnancies, told me it was completely normal. I went on about my life dealing with heavy periods, when I started to notice pain in what I thought was my scar tissue. I told my DR about this and again she brushed me off.


By this stage, it had been going on for more than a year. It was by chance that I was chatting to a friend and she mentioned her brilliant GP that she was seeing for infertility issues. That afternoon I called this clinic and made an appointment with the GP.


This Dr was amazing, she listened to me and sent me to an obstetrician/gynaecologist. This OB/GYN was fantastic, she sent me for a scan, we tried medications, she believed it could be endometriosis in my scar tissue, she inserted a Mirena, which helped ease the heavy bleeding however, did nothing for the pain which was getting significantly worse each month.


Initially the pain was only a few days before my period and then a week following to now being 3 weeks of pain and 1 week of minimal pain. I ended up having a laparoscopy in October 2016 where she removed all signs of endometriosis tissue. This was not successful, with pain returning after only a couple of months.


So I have been battling on trying different remedies both traditional and holistic options but nothing seems to work. I spend a lot of time lying in bed, taking pain meds in high doses just so I can sleep through the pain, I have missed days at work, my fitness is at an all time low due to my pain.


My next option is to have a hysterectomy which won’t guarantee that the endometriosis will cease. I feel frustrated and angry at this invisible disease and the impact it has on my life and my family’s life.



This story was a contribution to the Storylines: Her Voice Matters project, a collaboration between Women’s Health Goulburn North East, Women’s Health Loddon Mallee and Murray PHN.

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