Know your body! Women's Fertility

A wonderful conversation with Angelica about Women’s Health and  Natural Fertility Regulation.

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Transcript

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Lydia:   0:00
 It is so nice to be here. And, I just met you this morning,  Angelica!

Angelica:
Everything happens for a reason.

Lydia:   0:11
Yes,  and we are here in  this beautiful place, Culture of LIFE  Ministries,  which is where I also give my services to help women and couples. Women that have not been able to to conceive or that are having issues with their menstrual cycles. And I'm so happy that Angelica is in the health community, she's a health professional as well. She is a beautiful young lady.
Tell us a little bit about you.

Angelica:   0:41
Oh, thank you. Well, I am  a medical assistant student. I'm done in January and my goal is to become an RN (Registered Nurse) So, I will be on a LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse) program after that.  I have a stepson and I love him so much!I just got married in June. And something that is really interesting about us meeting is that, I actually have been told that I can't have kids.

Lydia:
Oh, they told you that?

Angelica:
Yes, I have polycystic ovarian syndrome,

Lydia:
And they told you you can't have babies because of that?

Angelica:
Well, yeah. I haven't had a period in a really long time. So before I got diagnosed, I'd gotten years without not having one. Since June I haven't had one, so there's a lot of things. When my first OBYN sat me down, she's like, um, we could do an egg account for you, but your chances are like...  my levels just weren't where she wanted them to be out and everything.

Lydia:
Can you tell us what this means, this count that she wanted to do?

Angelica:
She wanted to count the amount of eggs that I had  within me.

Lydia:
You are very young!

Angelica:
Yeah, I was 17 when she told,  when she did that.  And I had gotten my first period and I was like, 13, 12,  and then it was super irregular. But, you know, you go to the doctor and he tells you it's fine. You are a  teenager, your hormones are out of whack. It's OK.  And you know my parents  didn't know any better, So then I would go,  I was 16,  17 and I didn't have a period for almost two years. And my mom was like, this isn't right. We need to take you to go see an OBGYN  And she got me tested, and it was a long process. And she was like, you know, you want to look into other avenues when it comes time to having a baby, either in vitro or adoption, all of these other things. It was, Yeah.

Lydia:
You were 17 and she told you that. Because your reserve of eggs was very low already?
So that meant that you were gonna have early menopause?

Angelica:   2:46
I don't know. I kind of just blinked out, and I haven't, um I haven't been back to a doctor. I've been to a doctor for other things, but, like not to an OBGYN  and I haven't, well, yeah. I haven't been back to an OBGYN and get myself looked at in a long time

Lydia:
So you are having irregular cycles?
Angelica:
Yeah,
Lydia:
But you still having them?
Angelica:
No. I haven't had a period in, um, a couple months, 6,  7 months.

Lydia:
You know, there's many issues that some times could be the cause of that? The way a doctor can help you,  that is trained on these medical fertility,  It has to do with the nature of the body and preserving  fertility, without having to resource to what that doctor have told you. What did you think when she told you that?

Angelica:
Well, I was 17 and I never wanted kids.

Lydia:
Who was gonna think that 17, right?

Angelica:
Yes!  So I was like, Oh, okay. And then, you know, you go through the emotional turmoil like being told you can't ever have kids. And then, when  I was 21  when I moved to Canada, and it was super eye opening that, you know, that was something that I wanted in my life was Kids. And then thankfully, like I married my husband, who has a son already. So he's been an added blessing in my life that, you know, I didn't have to have him inside of my tummy, but I love him like I did.

Lydia:
It is so wonderful to be a mother, right?

Angelica:
It is! and it changes your perspective on everything. We always talk about, you know, if in the future that we do wanna have kids like how to go about it and whether adoption is an option, things like that.


Lydia:   4:29
So, yeah, that is a wonderful thing. You know?  I remember the words of Pope John Paul the Second mentioning that,  for couples,  families that have not been able to have their own children, there is those babies that they can adopt that can be their own.
But you know what you're telling me. I have heard so many things,  by couples or women that the doctors told them -you can't have babies.  I remember so dearly this case, it was about seven years ago. About a couple that they have been married for 13 years and they could never get pregnant. So, different  reasons that they have given them.
What I teach is The Billings Ovulation Method,  which is centered on the woman's fertility and ovulation. And even if ovulation doesn't happen every month, or frequently;  when there is certain conditions in the body like PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), sometimes ovulation happens  but is not frequent. So when the woman knows and it is, uh, she learns about her body and she will be able to detect when she's really in the pick of her fertility, conception happens. And sometimes medications are need it, monitored by a doctor of course.
 So, but anyways, coming back to this couple, they were told that they were not gonna have a baby,  they started learning all of this method, which is very, very simple. In this case, she was having monthly bleedings, but she didn't have signs of ovulation, which, according to the Billings Ovulation Method, we detect that trough the cervical mucus  that is present throughout the menstrual cycle. And she learned to identify signs of fertility that were not too clear -but she had them.
We give specialized recommendations for couples according to the situation;  either low fertility on the man or low fertility on the woman. And in this case, I refer them to a doctor so she could be prescribed supplements. Since I'm not a doctor, I am not a medical provider, I cannot prescribe.  But even supplements is very important that, you know, that  a doctor is monitoring them. So she started taking different things and she changed a little bit some of
her routines on her life. Three months later, she got pregnant.

Angelica: Oh, wow! that is amazing!

Lydia:
And it had been 13 years. And this is a couple that was told you're not gonna have babies, because the what condition that she had, when I saw her they diagnosed her with that condition, a medical condition, but she...  they conceived a beautiful baby.

Angelica:
Wow, That's amazing.

Lydia:   7:28
Yes! you know? when I meet  for the first time, we ladies like you, the first thing we do is just to take the health history. And since right now, we're in the clinic, you know, with the doctor in a medical provider area, then all of these to refer to the doctor. And when we're not in this setting on a clinic, because I have my office separate also, and  couples and women come and see me there,  I work with, you own, with your doctors. Sometimes you don't even have to... sometimes, couples don't even need supplements or medicines and pregnancies happen. What do you think about it?

Angelica:
I think it's - everything happens for a reason. You can't believe in a higher power and not -you know,  think that He is going to. That's why I always believed,  If I meant to have a baby, naturally, you know, it's gonna happen.

Lydia:
You know what you said! Yes, if you are meant to have a baby naturally,  You're meant to have a baby naturally. You know? there is a lot of stress when...  I'm sorry that you were told that -that you were not gonna have babies. Because, how can somebody say you are not. Specially with not good medical investigation, right?

Angelica:
Yeah, it completely agree. And then the biggest thing is that people always want to stick you on the pill. Here's birth control. It's gonna fix you all up inside.

Lydia:
Birth control...  the pill. You know, um, it saddens me that, um theres some medical professionals that without doing any medical investigations, they give the pill like this is gonna fix you. What is what the pill is going to do?  The pill is gonna force a woman to have a monthly bleeding,  but the pill is to cease ovulation, to stop ovulation.  So,  if the woman is having infrequent ovulations, the pill is  just gonna mimic a menstruation, because is not a menstruation what a woman has.  It is a hormonal withdrawal of all of the hormones that she was polluting her body with.

Angelica:
Yeah, and I was on it, a while before I got married, and I did not like the way I felt.

Lydia:
How did you feel?

Angelica:
Uh, like, very irritable,  like I did not  have a sex drive, that was one of the biggest things.  And, um, I think the irritableness was just the biggest thing, making me emotional in such an erratic way that wasn't me. And I remember when I lived in Canada, I went and did some work with my church and I had a lot of women that told me, like oh, -when I first got married, I got on the pill and it just made me this completely different woman. And it was so normalized that you get on the pill and you get crazy.  And I was like, why is that OK? How are we as women saying It's OK that my husband thinks that I was crazy while I was on the pill? It's like -That's not okay!  I don't want that! So I stopped taking it. I was like, it made me sick to like, It was more mentally that I got sick, but, like I just didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't want to go,  I missed a week of work at one point in time and I was like, I gotta stop taking this; that's finally towards the end is when I got sick because I stopped taking it and I was like, maybe like withdraws of it;  I don't know if that's a real thing, but it was just like, -This isn't good for me. I need to stop taking it.

Lydia:   11:03
Well, you know, the pill affects women in different ways, but what you said a while ago is so interesting. I mean, why to settle down and say, Well, it's OK everybody else's having the same side effects and that's fine. I mean, I really think I really believe that it takes your womanhood away. And then you become a different person. To not only your partner, your husband, but to  the people, around you!  So this is a reality on a lot of women!

Angelica:   11:31
And they don't know any better. That's the thing.  These women that I would sit around with and commune. You know, we share the word of God and all these things. And then they, you know, we talked about the personalized, but then it's OK that you're that you're crazy or you were -not you for, you know, three months before you decided to have a baby and we as a society of women are just like yeah, that's my mom went though that's okay; my sister went through that like, instead of being like, You know, that's not...  you don't have to feel like that. You know, there's other methods, but it goes back to what you said earlier; how there's, like Catholics, that were still using the pill, even though that's something that the religion so highly was against!  It was so normalized. Let's do this because it's easier than all these other methods are being safe, you know?

Lydia:   12:21
Yes, we were talking about Humanae Vitae, and when it came out 50 years ago, it was a response to the widely use off the pill, even by us Catholics. And by the Catholic community, well, we believe that contraception is not to be used. And at that time, it was the pill. And why? because it creates a separation from man and woman.  God had so lovingly creating us, to be  totally one united with Him and the marital embrace. So, when we take fertility away from either him or her,  fertility is like, we're not a complete person. So how can we be one and with God if we are not a complete person?

Angelica:   13:01
Yeah. No, I agree completely.

Lydia: 13:04
 And also,  but it is, I think, uh, in my experience, I think it is fear, or lack of knowledge.

Angelica:   13:15
Lack of knowledge is probably the biggest. We were talking about that the other day that just after you get out of high school, there's no more education about your body and who you are. What's next? You know? Yeah, Like no one tells you that when you become sexually active, you need to go get a pap smear. No one tells you that. You know you don't have to be on birth control. That's not the thing that you, you know, my sister, um, is younger than me. And she's been on birth control since she's, I don't know, been 16, 17 years old. But, you know, there's no other option in her mind.

Lydia:
Well, there is other options.

Angelica: 13:54
We know that!

Lydia:
Yes, and you're right, you know, we're growing up, girls are going up in the only thing that they have that is being promoted is contraceptives. Usually the pill. Did you know that there has been the studies done a couple of years ago? There was a study that was going on for several years that, ah, women that use the pill, have more tendency to be diagnosed with some kind of anxiety or depression disorder, or to be taken medication for these conditions?  And, it is highly, it's higher on younger the girl is -teenage years.

Angelica:
That's interesting.

Lydia:
And then there was a discussion about, you know, different groups say different things.  Of course us, that we promote the natural womanhood; that a woman is wonderfully made, and we're supposed to be preserving all of that, the oneness and selfness of womanhood.  And there are some groups that will, you know, it says: well, is a slight increase, a slight increase on those conditions. Well, but it is there. And  what you said a while ago: the ladies that you were interacting with, were going through this,  even yourself!

Angelica:   15:10
Yeah, you just don't know any better. You don't, there's no one there to tell you,  like there's no one like you. There's not enough of you in the world to go around to be like: there's this. This is the best thing for you,  because so many times we get away from, specially in medicine, we get away from our body and our spirits have to be in harmony for anything to work.  So, if we're not in harmony there, how do we expect to get better? How to expect to have a child? All of that stuff goes, correlates together. So it's when you come into the picture and you're like, you know, let's take away the pill let's do do supplements. Let's do X, Y and Z to help your body. It really changes the game completely like it just changed,  we've only been sitting here for a few minutes, and it's just already changed my viewpoint on it all. Like it does, like I was just talking a couple months ago about how I was like Oh, like I should probably get back on the pill like, regulate some stuff. And I'm like, that's not ok.

Lydia:   16:12
Well, you know,  what I do is to teach girls about how is that our bodies given us signs through the menstrual cycle. And it's not only over gynecological issues that a woman might have or a teenage girl; it is about other parts of the body that might... okay, in your words:  ovulation is a sign of health. If ovulation is not happening regularly, especially in a young woman, in a young girl; there is something is off. And there has to be medical investigations to find out what is it.  Usually the doctors, what they give is the pill. Without medical investigations. So,  our approach to the woman,  the girl, the teenager, or the woman, starts what we call charting; tracking her fertility signals.  So there will be the biomarkers of her hormones. And then,  these charting is gonna let us know what might be off in her body.  And then, medical Investigations are necessary sometimes. And the results, most of the time,  I mean, it could be an issue with the thyroid gland,  sometimes it can suppress  your fertility.
We had some girls, ladies diagnosed with issues like this, and then proper medical treatment is given, and then ovulation  is a natural occurrence,  without having to resource to the pill. And then for those ladies that desire to have a baby, babies have been possible,  just by changing the dosis of medications sometimes. And how do we know this? Because you, a woman,  are so part of this because you are providing all the fertility and infertility signals through the menstrual cycle, that would be also a tool for medical investigations and medical treatment. What do you think?

Angelica:   18:15
I think that, you are right. It's I'm just thinking back on the many of times where I've sat down with, like, an OBgyn doctor, or anyone for that fact, and had this conversation, and it's just very, the standard questions. Okay, well, when was your last period? Okay, okay. We're gonna prescribe you this, and that's it! When inside of me, I'm like, well, that's not it. That's, you know, there's so many other things going on. Whenever I would tell a doctor. Well, I haven't had a period in  x amount of months; They're like, Oh, okay, well, let me go ahead and give you this pill, -the pill, and it's like, Okay, but, you know, that's not the only thing that's going on with me down there. Like, you know, when I was on the pill, like not being able to my sex drive not being where it was at before. Like, those are things that, you know, the doctor wasn't concerned about. It was like, let me give you a period. Here you go!

Lydia:   19:09
Yeah, like I was saying, its just a bleeding, its usually not a period. You know, sometimes we have couples coming to see us precisely because of that. I remember clearly these these wonderful young couple that came in, she, um she was not interested on her husband anymore. And the husband wasn't interested in her either. Oh, but she knew. She said, since I started taking the pill.  Because she said,  before we weren't doing that; and  then my whole being changed after that.  So is, like, ah, you know,? There's no need to go through that.

Angelica:   19:49
It's just education, yes, education. And I think especially amongst our community as a whole. As, um, Latin American people like or not, we're not the most educated in alternatives. You know, um, we are not the most educated, that there's something else out there. Like my mom was a teen mom,  her biggest goal was that none of us became teen moms.  But, you know, educating it in such a way that you know, don't have sex;  like there was It was just wasn't it was different, you know? And now, looking back at that, like as a culture, sometimes we forget that, you know, we can educate differently than being so like -Let me go put her on the pill so she doesn't end up knocked up at 16 kind of thing. And it's like, No, it doesn't always need to be like that.

Lydia:  20:45
Yes, sometimes we, as society might thing, that having a young girl, a teenage girl on the pill will solve everything. But it isn't! it is placing risks on herself , and on  society as well. I mean, just to think that the majority of teenage girls don't even really take the pill the way it's supposed to be.  And that can just... so many, many more things can happen because of that; including unexpected pregnancies, and then fears and then, decisions that they may regret later on, right?

Angelica:
Very true!

Lydia:
Now,  think about it. The body of a  teenage girl is still developing, also of course, her reproductive system,  it's not optimal yet. So, we start introducing all of these things on the body, all of this powerful hormones that might change the way she's supposed to fully developed. You know, I remember clearly these lady that she was a teenager and she was put in the pill because of acne, Okay? And she said it was very, really severe,  and she was very, you know, had a lot of issues with that. So she was on these pill for about 10 years. So when she is  about 25 she gets married, and what does she do?  She is ditching the pill, because -- I want a baby! a year passed and no babies. So in this case, the pill  had damaged her system in a way that it was, uh, you know, fertility signals were not there that are very essential for aiding on fertilization;  to transport the male cells and all of that, which is the cervical mucus. And many other things. So in this case, she went through different supplements and, she had to  resource to some medications prescribed by a gynecologist to help her ovulate. And then, with the knowledge of her body, through The Billings Ovulation Method, in correlation with medical treatment. We create it's a beautiful communication between the doctor, the woman and us. So everything is integrated, you are not  just left there like,  that you don't know what's going on. So in this case, the woman becomes -is part of his healing of physical healing of the body. And at the end, she did became pregnant.

Angelica:
It's so  beautiful!
 
Lydia:
And this baby is now like, seven years old, or so, eight?

Angelica:
That's precious!

Lydia:
But, you know, sometimes they say:  nothing happened!  You take the pill! You take this, and but sometimes it affects fertility.  Women might be ovulating, and sometimes women stop producing the mucus that is essential for fertility for fertilization.  Because of side effects to the pill of the hormones.
So, uh, I just think, you know, um, that is been enough! that... ...  girls are amazing! Womanhood is to be celebrated,  not to be suppressed.
 
Angelica:
I agree!

Lydia:
And what a most  wonderful way of doing this that really know how is how your body works? How it was create it! and the possibilities that you have, you know,  to preserve this wonderful creation by really caring for the body that God gave you!

Angelica:   24:
Yeah, that's it! it's  understanding that we- We're not just us, that this isn't, you know, we weren't just placed here for whatever to be alone I guess it's the biggest thing.  And like, someone cared so much to design every inch of your body the way that He wanted it . And knowing that when we trust that and trust in Him and listen to our bodies, all things will work out.

Lydia:   24:56
When we don't fight it right?  when we acknowledge it and cherish it!
Angelica:
Yeah.
Lydia:
You know, just to think that when we were in our mother's womb, all of the possibilities that will one day  become our eggs were there, and then we get to young age  and we want to suppress all of that!
Angelica:   25:15
Yeah. No.
Lydia:
That's not it!
Angelica:
Yeah. No, very true.

Lydia:   25:19
 So you know, I would love to,  if anybody you know that is having an issue with  menstrual cycles, or  they have been told: you are not gonna be able to have babies. We're here,  here in Culture of LIFE Ministries. I'm here every second and fourth Thursday of the month and just call in and make an appointment. And there's doctors here, medical personnel that are wonderful, and we are able to be of  service to you. This is why we're here for!  so let us know, send us a text, call us. And it is pretty much the labor of my life:  to be doing this, educating girls and couples about their fertility.  The  gift  that life is itself! and  collaborating with doctors for the diagnosis and medical treatment. I just want to  also mention, with couples that are facing low fertility or they're having issues that are not able to conceive. Um, sometimes the couple's won't be able to conceived, but at least they will know what is it.
Angelica:
Yeah. Stop wondering.
Lydia:
Exactly.
Angelica:
At least  have an answer.
Lydia:
And about 30% of cases, when  because of the irregular ovulation,  infrequent ovulation or issues with ovulation. The girl, the woman will be able to to feel better about her body and knowing what is happening and knowing that: Okay, I'm getting the right treatment, and I am not being  exposed to side effects of hormones.  Or I have to use devices that I don't  really want to; that can cause abortions as well, like the IUD,  for example.
And, the majority of the couples that we have seen have, by the grace of God, being able to conceive, but sometimes not. And only God knows that.
Angelica:
Yeah.
Lydia:
You know, I also sometimes see women that they have lost a baby, a  pregnancy at the early stages. And they have never been told that their mothers already. Oh, I just talk to somebody a week ago, a beautiful couple. They had suffered a couple of looses,  several babies have died in the womb  at a few weeks of life. And it was at that moment when I was talking to them that I told them: but you  are a mother, you are a father already. You have babies! so she started crying and we cried together because
Angelica:
That's beautiful
Lydia:
the moment she realized that it was true! that she have been already a mother; and the doctors don't say that to us!  It was a baby, it was babies that God, for some reason had... their life, the time in this earth is determined by Him for a reason.
So I just wanted to...  Angelica it has being a wonderful conversation with you
Angelica:
It has, it has!
Lydia:
Thank you for telling me, telling us all of these that you have witnessed, and the way you feel  and, you being a young woman is so very important.

Angelica:   28:36
Thank you. Thank you for your platform and all that you do. It's amazing to teach women that, you know, your body is in a scary thing. That it's okay to know your body and what's happening. Like that's an amazing work. It takes a strong person to do that. So thank you.

Lydia:   28:53
Yes, thank you also, and you know, my labor is also to share this with more people, especially medical professionals like you. The more people that is doing this is better because it will be able to take this message even further away. We are here at your service, if you are also interested on learning more about it. And you think you know, I'm a medical professional. Even if you're not a medical professional that you like to learn how to do this. We can teach you, we can train you. 
We are  part of a very big association that is in over 100 countries in the world,  scientifically  based. And validated even by the World Health Organization. So, uh, let us know.
And it's been a pleasure to talk to you again in Nuestro diario Caminar. Angelica gracias!

Angelica:   29:50
Thank you.  Thank you, thank you,  thank you.