The Fertility Underground Podcast

Have you ovulated??? One of the most commonly asked and most frustrating questions in fertility. And for good reason, right? But the problem with this isn't really the question (predicting and confirming ovulation could change your life, even if you've been TTC for a while and have failed interventions like IUI). The problem lies in HOW most doctors check to see if you've ovulated. The standard, "one-size-fits-few" approach is inherently flawed, and we'll discuss how and why in this episode. There are tons of women out there (and maybe you're one of them) that are being told that they didn't ovulate and then are shuttled into interventions like ovulation induction (clomid, femara), IUI and even IVF when they are, in fact, ovulating on their own! WHEN ovulation occurs varies greatly among women. This is an important one, ladies.

Today I'm sharing the struggles and frustrations of a husband looking for answers. He and his wife have been trying for 3 years to conceive. They've had several chemical pregnancies but no successful, full-term pregnancies. He says, "Every doctor says we should be getting pregnant easily." Sound familiar?? His wife was diagnosed with PCOS, but does she really have it?? And what impact does PCOS have on fertility (beyond impacting your ability to ovulate)? We're going to take a deep dive into this couple's story and uncover some pearls for any woman trying to conceive. 

Today's episode is in response to a phenomenal Reddit post. We'll be answering the following questions and more: How do doctors diagnose PCOS? What's the deal with doctors prescribing Clomid to women that are already ovulating?! What increases your risk of ectopic pregnancy? Does IVF increase or decrease your risk of ectopic? How do you know if your hopes of a natural pregnancy are "pie in the sky" or actually attainable?

Hello there beautiful and amazing fertility friends. Today I am commenting on a Reddit post from a lovely woman who had some questions about progesterone levels in pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage. She had low levels of progesterone early in her pregnancy, so she started progesterone supplementation, but the pregnancy did not continue. Wanting to be informed and prepared for a future pregnancy, she asked her doctor about starting progesterone BEFORE getting pregnant. Her doctor not only told her this was unnecessary but that it could lead to issues with menstrual regularity and even ovulation. Could that be true?? Today I break this down (including comments made in the post). We'll be talking all about progesterone including an aspect of progesterone supplementation that most doctors are completely unaware of. We'll also step outside of the box and consider what could cause low progesterone in the first place as well as other factors that could lead to pregnancy loss. 

Hey there fertile friend! Today I'm getting all riled up as I address a very common issue in the world of infertility: using estrogen to lower FSH levels. We'll chat all about FSH, what a higher FSH level really means, why FSH is not the real "issue" and why lowering it with estrogen is the last thing that you need to do. 

Hey there, friend! Have you had a failed IVF transfer or even a miscarriage even though the embryo was PGS or PGT-A normal? If so, this episode is for you. It's also for any woman that is preparing for an embryo transfer or is considering PGT-A testing of her embryos. Today is the first of many Reddit responses I'll be doing via our podcast chats. I've been spending a lot of time in TTC and infertility subreddits, and the questions that women are asking there are so valuable and common. So I thought, hey, why not chat about them here, since when one woman asks a question, it usually means that so many others have the same question. I hope you enjoy these and that you find them to be helpful!

Hey there, friend! Today's episode is a long one (fair warning), but it wasn't optional for me. Today I share my TTC journey, the ups, the downs, the "failures" and the celebrations. And even though it's been a few years, it still feels very raw and brings tears of pain and joy to my eyes. I'm sharing my story with you today because my story matters, and so does yours. Every woman's story matters. In fact, our stories hold so many of the answers that we are looking for. It's meaningful to me that even though our journeys are different, that we can connect through them, grow through them, and find meaning in them. It matters to me that you know how much I care about you, your emotions and your experiences. It matters to me that you can see how my values, beliefs and purpose were born from this experience and continue to evolve with each additional experience I have with the women and couples that I work with. Being here, talking with you, guiding you, supporting you is one of the main reasons that I am here on this planet. I am here for you, should you need me. I hope that sharing my story with you today is like planting the first tiny seeds of our relationship, and that this is just the first of many chats and interactions that we have. 

Hello there my Fertile Friend, and welcome to the very first episode of The Fertility Underground Podcast. I have so many ideas and dreams of what I'd love for this podcast to be, and I'll share them with you in this chat. But more importantly, I want this experience to be what it needs to be for you. It might be a new perspective or insight. It might be a place where we can have the tough conversations; the kind of conversations that transform you. It might be a place to explore something new and exciting, to vent or to simply be. Whatever it is that you crave, desire or need on your fertility journey, I hope that you find it here. That this is a place you can come to listen and be heard, to contemplate and evolve, and to simply be. I look forward to wherever this takes us together.