I know motherhood is a joy, a gift. I also know that it can be incredibly challenging. They say becoming a mother is an overwhelmingly emotional experience, something difficult to describe or grasp unless you’ve been there. I've heard the early days are filled with love, awe, and gratitude, but also stress, poop, and lack of sleep.  In truth, I wouldn’t know; I haven’t gotten there yet. But you have. And that’s the problem. See, I’ve been trying to get to where you are for a long time now. I’ve dutifully tracked my cycles and ridden...

We all know that what we put into our bodies affects our health in many ways. So if you are trying to conceive, it makes sense that you might be wondering how diet affects fertility. Evidence shows that diet can affect every aspect of trying to get pregnant, from ovulation to egg quality to embryo implantation. In fact, research shows that nutrition and ovulation are especially closely related.  Let’s talk about ovulation first. What is it?  Ovulation is when an egg is released from a mature follicle in the ovary. The egg lives for around 12...

The science of making babies started back in the 1930s, and the first reproductive endocrinology practice was founded in 1939 at Johns Hopkins. While the field continues to advance, many individuals find themselves without answers or new technologies to help them conceive.  When I first started working in the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility back in 2013, PGS testing was relatively new, and not many patients went with this option when pursuing IVF. By the time I left the clinic in 2016, ERA cycles were coming out. Since then, PGS, ERA cycles, mini IVF and...

When I met my husband Tristan in 2019, it was one of those I've-found-the-one moments. I know that sounds so cheesy, but it was. From the get-go, marriage and children were 100% in the cards for us. I think I even told him my favorite boy's name within the first few weeks of dating. And when he didn't flinch, that was that. I had been diagnosed with Endometriosis the year before in June of 2018, but at that point, I still didn't know the magnitude of the damage it had done to my reproductive organs. In...

Catherine (Cath) Lee and Lauren (Lar) Lee-Crane, here! We’re identical twin sisters that both suffer from endometriosis. We live in Atlanta, Georgia, and recently started a supplement company called Semaine Health in hopes of creating and sharing a more natural and healthy way of dealing with period pain.   Our Endometriosis Stories Lar: When we were kids, our mom was diagnosed with endometriosis after having a cesarean section. She explained it as causing really painful periods. Growing up, we never questioned if there was a treatment for it because we thought monthly pain was just part of being a woman. I remember...

Like so many of you, my road to motherhood was not an easy one. My fertility journey started 13 years ago when I came to the United States after marrying my husband in my country, Colombia. We met on match.com. He is Israeli and was living in the United States, and I am Colombian and was living in Bogota.  After we got married, I wanted to get pregnant right away. I assumed I would get pregnant right away. I come from a very “fertile” family. On my mother’s side, I have 9 aunts and 9 uncles; all...