• The symptoms started in September 2016, before leading to two miscarriages
Tabitha Ndichu, the sister-in-law to Janet Mbugua, has opened up about her journey with fibroids and the challenges she has gone through. Tabby is the founder of 'My Red Is Beautiful' and also an advocate for women living with fibroids.
Speaking during 'Unscripted with Grace Msalame', Tabitha said, "In September 2016, we had just come from our honeymoon and it's then that the symptoms started.
"I was having heavy bleeding and very painful cramps. It sucked because from painful s*x to not being able to enjoy my experience as a new bride, it crippled my life for me and my husband."
Initially, Tabitha used to have five days of cramps, but when it went to 10 then 14 days, she knew there was a problem. It reached a point she couldn’t sleep, eat and had to ask for more off days when her menses came.
"In February 2017, I had gone back to lose some weight to balance my hormones and try looking for a baby, then I started feeling dizzy," she said.
Her trainer suggested she take water but after that, she couldn’t move and he had to let her go home. She was diagnosed with anaemia and always looked pregnant and people would constantly ask whether she was pregnant.
Tabitha has symptomatic fibroids, meaning, they have grown inside the uterine cavity, thus when the child is trying to grow, the fibroids compete for nutrients, causing miscarriages. She does not leave the house the first five days of her period, and people sometimes feel like she is intentionally avoiding them.
Tabitha adds that she would want to give her husband a child. "I would do anything to be able to give him that baby but I cannot do it. I have been pregnant twice the last two years but ended up with a miscarriage," she said.
The hardest thing to come to terms with is the fact that she might never be able to bear a child. On how she keeps strong, Tabby said it's by God’s grace.
"God’s grace has been sufficient. My family and my husband have been very supportive. I have also decided to create the life I would want for myself. Each day I wake up and stand by a mirror and proclaim all the things I can and will do," she said.