EP 286 Divine Timing and Signs from Spirit Babies | Nancy Weiss

Nancy Weiss is a Reiki master, psychic medium, hypnosis practitioner and spiritual coach specializing in spirit babies and personal growth.  She helps women connect with the souls of their babies before pregnancy and guides them to trusting their intuition and their spiritual connection on their motherhood journey.  Her own experience of becoming a first-time mother at the age of 42 via embryo adoption and communicating with her daughter before pregnancy was the catalyst to share this sacred work with others.

Nancy shares her incredible journey of finding her babies through embryo adoption and the power of mindset and energetics in the fertility journey. She emphasizes the importance of connecting with spirit babies and fostering a playful and positive mindset. Nancy also discusses the role of divine timing and the signs that spirit babies send to communicate with their future parents.

Links:

Follow me on Instagram @nancyweissintuitive

"Cawfee with Spirit" Podcast on Youtube: https://bit.ly/3IQoec3

Book Your Spirit Baby Session: https://bit.ly/42Ah2d9

Takeaways

• The power of mindset and energetics in the fertility journey

• Connecting with spirit babies and fostering a playful and positive mindset

• Trusting in divine timing and the signs that spirit babies send

• The importance of grounding and reconnecting with the body

The Way of Fertility is here! Be sure to check it out here www.michelleoravitz.com/thewayoffertility

For more information about Michelle, visitwww.michelleoravitz.com

The Wholesome FertilityFacebook group is where you can find free resources and support: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2149554308396504/

Instagram: @thewholesomelotusfertility

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/

—------------

Transcript: 

Michelle (00:01)

Welcome back to the podcast Nancy. I'm so happy to have you back.

Nancy (00:05)

Hey, Michelle, I am so happy to be here too. It's been a long time, and I'm happy to be back talking about my favorite subject.

Michelle (00:14)

Okay, so we had an initial episode a while back, but I want you to, if it's okay, share your story again. But your story is so freaking amazing, just like how you found your babies and how it was meant to be. And I just love it so much. So I'd love for you to share that.

Nancy (00:32)

Of course, of course. So, um, it's like trying to remember now. Okay. Um, so we're going back six years, right? Cause my children are now four and six years old. Um, my husband and I got married late later in life. I think we were 40 when we got married. I can't remember anything, my dates. So don't mind me, but we were around 40, um, when we got married and, um, wanted to start a family.

Michelle (00:36)

Ha ha.

Nancy (01:00)

And we went through multiple rounds of IVF. It was kind of, you know, I didn't really give myself a chance to get pregnant naturally, which in hindsight I would have, but I spent so many years, you know, at getting older saying, oh, I'm gonna need IVF, I'm gonna need IVF, and that's the route that I took to have my children. So we had about...

I had four egg retrievals, five transfers, using our own genetics that did not work. And I just kept my heart and my mind open the whole time of how my babies would come in because my main thing was about being all about mindset and energetics of how would I bring my, how to bring my babies in to having that faith, that hope, that trust.

And one day I found out from a nurse, a friend of mine who's a nurse, about embryo adoption, which I had never heard of. And at that point, I think I was a fertility coach for, I think over two years at that point, where I was in this business. I was a spiritual fertility coach, but had not heard of embryo adoption or embryo donation. And as soon as I heard about it, I knew that it was the right thing for us. It was like it just, everything just clicked.

And my husband loved the idea too. And if anyone out there doesn't know what that is, embryo adoption, it's when a couple has surplus embryos after having their children, you have a choice of leaving them frozen indefinitely, destroying or discarding them, or donating them to science, or donating them to other couples like me, like us. And we found out about it, we knew it was the right thing, and we went for it.

And that is how I had my first daughter, Luna. She was frozen for 13 years at that point before I had my transfer. And then I had my daughter, Ayla, my second daughter, two years after that. And she was frozen for 15 years at that point before I transferred her. So that's how we created our incredible family.

Michelle (03:13)

Well, tell us a story about you moving to Georgia randomly and how they were there. That's the crazy, crazy part.

Nancy (03:16)

Oh.

Yeah, so I think one of the things is hard, you know, when you're in your, when you're in your fertility journey and you're going through the ups and downs, you're going through the pain, you're going through so many different, you know, upsets and disappointments and highs and lows, it's hard to see the big story because you can't see everything that is being orchestrated. There is, and I always talk about, there's so much being orchestrated in the spirit realm, in the universe to make everything happen.

as it should. So my husband and I, you know, we again, we met later and we met later in life. We got married. He was in Ohio for about 12 years, which would be about the same time that those embryos were frozen, which is wild. We met in New Jersey and we stayed there for a little bit. And we then randomly decided to move to Georgia just to get further south because we were like,

The houses are less expensive there. Let's just move. We were newly married, having fun. We're like, let's just do it. And I did start my IVF treatment in New Jersey at that point, but we didn't get too far into it. We just had gone through all the testing. And so it wasn't like I needed to stay there. So we just kind of up. We surprised her entire families about moving to Georgia.

That's where I started my official like IVF journey, I'll say. And those little girls were there waiting in Georgia for 13 years at that, right? 13 years at that point, getting my numbers a little mixed up. But it's just kind of wild to see that like that's where I needed to get my babies. And I call them my little Georgia peaches. Um, but that's where I needed to be.

And if you would have said like, you know, like, why are you moving to Georgia? I couldn't see this, you know, but I know that is like this grand scheme, this beautiful thing that's being orchestrated and how that wound, how that came to be.

Michelle (05:20)

Wow.

That's incredible. It's such an incredible story. And their genetic sisters? Siblings, amazing. It's just insane. And that's, you know, when we talk about the spirit realm and it seems so abstract, but it's actually not as abstract as one would think. Because I talk about it as just an, there's an intelligence, just like the intelligence that

Nancy (05:30)

They are genetic siblings, yes. Yes, yes.

Michelle (05:53)

moves animals to do certain things when they know they're sick and they like what it is that causes us to heal our bodies, the same intelligence that works in ourselves, works us as well on a different level of guidance. And all it is, is really intelligence and connecting to that intelligence. And part of that is

not shutting down, but like maybe moving away from our analytical mind, because I just feel like also in society and just kind of like how the world is, we really rely very heavily just on the analytical aspect of our mind to the point where if nothing aligns with that and you can't see it and prove it, it's not real. But now what's interesting is that they're actually coming up with some studies that show intuition is real.

Nancy (06:41)

That's great.

Michelle (06:44)

that the people do actually see things or respond to pictures before they see the picture with the same frequency or the mind has a certain like expression when it's tested to certain emotions that would be appropriate to those pictures and they would feel that before that. So I want to talk about that first because I think people think it's like, oh, this like abstract thing, but it's, it's

really comes down to an intelligence and connecting with that intelligence. So I'd love to get your take on that.

Nancy (07:17)

I think that's the only point. Yep. So that's the only point. We are all connected. We truly are. Just as I'm able, like, in my sessions, I could work with somebody that's in another country, literally Australia or England or anywhere.

these abilities that we have. But you're like, how can I know those things? It's because we have this connection and we are all connected. Not just here in the physical body, but our energetics and then those spirit babies coming in, our past on loved ones. There is nothing there we may be separated in this physical form, but our energetics and spirit know each other and are

quiet to tap in to start to tap into those things. Also like that intuition, you know, we make so many decisions sometimes based on fear, where we're just making these decisions on fear instead of letting that natural ability come up of being like, yes, this feels right. And the more that you start to tap in to yourself and that beautiful tapestry of energy, you can then start to make decisions.

Michelle (08:31)

Mm.

Nancy (08:40)

out of love, making decisions with this whole body, yes. And I think that's how it was. You know, for me, I think I chose IVF with fear because I was like, I don't see how else anything could happen. And so for me, looking back now, I feel like I chose that with fear, but the embryo adoption was really just based on this love, this knowing inside of, oh my God, like as soon as I heard it, my whole body reacted. And I was like,

Michelle (08:42)

I love that.

Nancy (09:10)

Yes, this is a yes, and I knew it was the right thing. And women, especially on the fertility journey, have turned off that natural, because that natural kind of intuition, that natural connection, because so much is fear, so much is like waiting and scared and wanting things to work. And of course we want it to work, but we then get out of our body. We then get away from that natural.

that beautiful energy that's around us and within us to make those choices, to make those different choices. That makes sense.

Michelle (09:46)

Yeah, it totally makes sense. I mean, really trusting your body. I always, I compare it to like, are you willing to bet on yourself and your body and the intelligence that runs it? And really, are you willing to bet on your knowing, you know, that knowing that intelligence that you have within you, that voice that has always guided you and we've had those glimpses where we did listen or we...

heard it and then we didn't listen. And then we remember hearing it and not listening. And those are the ones that we remember the most, but really, truly just trusting that, allowing ourselves to come.

Nancy (10:17)

Yeah, and that, yes, and the, you know, kind of going like the body believes what you tell it. If you say I'm old, if you say I'm sick, if you say I can't do this, I can't do that, your body listens to you, you know, and if we go back to grade school, and I don't know if anybody did this, but in grade school they would have an experiment where they had two plants, and one plant you would speak to it nicely and say beautiful things.

And then the other plant, you cursed at it, you said these terrible things. Well, what do you know? The plant that was spoken nice to grew beautifully. And the plant that was spoke to negatively did not do as well or die. And our body is the same exact thing, telling ourselves, we got this, we can do this. I am fertile, I can carry a baby to term. And all of these things, even if in the beginning it's a little bit of fake it till you make it.

Michelle (11:17)

Mm-hmm.

Nancy (11:17)

Your body doesn't know the difference between you telling it 100% truth, you know what I mean? Or you're kind of faking it and you're just kind of going along with it. And that is a huge thing on this, you know, in anything that you do. I don't know if the listeners know, but also I, in the last few years, I had stage three breast cancer. And I treated that cancer just like I did my fertility journey.

I'm not going to say that I wasn't scared and that it was hard, but I went through chemotherapy, radiation, a double mastectomy. I did all this. I realized today, you know, before coming on the podcast, I said, my goodness, in the last five years, right, six years, I had two babies and went through stage three breast cancer. Now, what did I do when I was going through my cancer journey was the mindset. It was huge to talk to my body and not say anything was wrong with it.

not to be fighting against it, but that I was just going through this little upset within my body. And everything that I did became a healing. I would twist it into a healing. And the medicine, the chemotherapy I got was how can I make this positive? You know, I would see it as medicine or light coming in from the angels. And so I just, on my fertility journey and all through that, about that, with that, is always about the mindset.

And how can I continue to feed my brain and my body the positive messages to help me form that faith to get me to the next step.

Michelle (12:51)

Honestly, you are such an inspiration because you walk the talk. Like, it's not something that you just talk about. It's something that you actually experience and you experience something that is so devastating. It's a really, I mean, like there's no words.

And so something like that and to actually, in the face of that, still...

stay with love towards your body is incredible. And this is just one of the few reasons I love you so much. And it's such an incredible, and it was actually interesting because I was going to ask you to talk about that. And it really is just a testament to the power of our belief in our intention and the way we speak to our bodies and how our bodies do in fact respond to our vibration.

Nancy (13:46)

Yeah, it's so powerful. And I don't think everybody always realizes how powerful those words are, how powerful that mindset is, the intention. Like I said, you can go into anything with a positive mindset or a negative mindset. Now, it doesn't mean that it's always going to work out in your favor, right? Like, I have a client that had a failed transfer recently, and that's hard.

but it's all the little things that she's doing that are going to lead to that success, that lead to the long-term mindset and success. So you're gonna have your ups and downs. Don't think I wasn't on the floor crying at some points in the last six years on my journey, whatever I was going through, but it was the consistency and all the things that I did for myself of the next day, back to meditating, back to doing inner child work.

Michelle (14:26)

Yeah.

Yeah, imagine.

Nancy (14:42)

back to doing energy healing, whatever I could do for myself and using all those tools for yourself and then trusting my body, trusting myself that I was making the right decisions and doing the right thing. So and I think it takes time. I don't, you know, I don't expect everyone to just be like, okay, yeah, just all of a sudden it's going to happen. It's going to I'm going to be like this tomorrow. This is incremental changes. This is incremental work that you do for yourself, your self care.

and all the things that you do on your journey.

Michelle (15:14)

It's really mothering yourself. It's becoming a mother to yourself and loving and nurturing yourself. So, you know, that's not an easy thing in general. Like, you know, the fertility journey, the motherhood journey, the whole journey, it's not an easy thing. Like, as you know, I mean, it comes with its own challenges, it all does. So mothering yourself, it's the same thing. It's kind of sticking by your side, by your own side, no matter what. And staying...

Nancy (15:17)

Oh yeah.

Michelle (15:43)

strong, supportive to yourself and that self-care and having those breakdowns and accepting yourself and giving yourself those that grace. And I love that you mentioned that because that's part of the journey. It's part of it. We're not perfect. Nobody's perfect. And that's the point. It's like just honoring and accepting yourself where you're at, but from a place of love.

Nancy (16:02)

Yeah, yeah. And sometimes one of my coaches told me, she's like, you need to sit in the river of misery sometimes. You need to let that flow through you. A lot of us who are maybe type A or those really strong professional, not gonna say professional, but these women that are like me, I'm like Capricorn. I just think about the goals. I think about the next step. And sometimes I won't always, in the past I have not always...

recognize that I have to go through sadness, that I have to go through pain in order to really heal through it, you know, instead of just going on to the next thing and like powering through. You need to kind of really experience the emotions in your body and I think this is a big thing when it comes to fertility or any type of things that can cause trauma is that we leave our body because we don't want to feel what we're going through.

we can gloss over the emotions because it is so painful. But in that, it gets trapped within us, you know, and that gets us further and further away from our intuition and our gut and knowing what is right for us, what is wrong for us. And so it's a big healing journey. I think those of us, you know, I say that around the fertility journey, we're on a very specific journey for a reason. And it's all about really this self acknowledgement, this self growth, this transformation.

of how we go through all these ups and downs. And it's no joke, it's not for the weak, right? But let me tell you, you become the strongest woman. You become so strong going through all these things, right? And really knowing yourself and knowing your body and your baby, I think it's just like, it's just such a big, it's almost inexplicable, but this giant web of all these things that come together and connect, you know?

But I think it's really important to get back into the body so that you can process emotion, so that you can get in touch with yourself and your energy to then connect with your baby and connect with your mindset to bring them in.

Michelle (18:15)

I love that. And so how does one, if people are really disconnected with their bodies or it's really difficult for them to kind of like face or experience the emotion, how would you recommend for people to do that in a way that's like

practical?

Nancy (18:33)

So I think one major thing would be to ground yourself. And if you've ever heard of grounding before, this is connecting with the earth. This is, you can imagine yourself for me, I love picturing myself as a tree. It's something I do every day and actually feel those roots going down into the ground, into mother earth, being held, being feeling safe, feeling secure. I think that it sounds so simple.

It sounds so maybe magical to people like how is me picturing myself like a tree going to help? But remember this is all about energetics. This is about intention. And when you do that you're telling the body what to do. So getting back into your body, feeling grounded, breathing, literally breathing and taking deep breaths, putting your hands on your heart and breathing and feeling your heart, your chest rise and fall. Grounding yourself.

starts to get you back into your body so that you can start to hear and listen to the signs, the sounds, the messages that come from within, whether it's physical, emotional, energetic. But breathing and grounding is one easy way to just start to reconnect with your body and yourself.

Michelle (19:52)

Oh my god, I love that. It's interesting to me because the simplest things are the most powerful, typically.

Nancy (20:01)

Yeah, and you again, you're just like, how could that be? How could that be the thing? You know what I mean? How could it be as simple as breathing? But once you start doing that, once you start developing a practice, like maybe five minutes a day, you know, you sit down, I think this is important too for women is to develop a self-care practice. And self-care is not pedicures and manicures, even though those are amazing, but self-care is really sitting down and looking at yourself saying,

What do I need to heal? What is it that I need to heal? You know, is it forgiving someone? Is it forgiving myself? Is it for processing some trauma? Is it for loving my inner child? You know, maybe I need to go out and hula hoop today and reconnect with that little girl inside of me. Maybe I need to just sit down and meditate. Maybe I need to write a letter to someone that piss me off and I need to let them go.

Maybe I need to set better boundaries for myself and not let people walk all over me. There are so many things that you can do to really foster that self care and that connection with yourself. Me, that's every morning. I sit down in front of my altar. I'm pulling behind me in front of my altar in my space. I listen to some beautiful music. I choose something on YouTube and I close my eyes and I sit there and I breathe. I ground.

I connect with my angels and guides. I do my gratitude every day. Something as simple as that, five, 10 minutes, can completely change your life. I've seen it change mine. It transformed my fertility journey. It transformed my cancer journey 100% because I was able to put myself first and make myself the priority.

Michelle (21:54)

I love that. And it's true. It's really choosing yourself, choosing yourself throughout the day, giving yourself that presence, like being present with yourself. When you're doing that, you're able to access a higher intelligence. And that is where you get those downloads and really connect with your intuition. So speaking of that, let's talk spirit babies, one of my favorite topics ever. And it's really wild because I always tell my patients, listen and talk.

Nancy (22:17)

Yeah.

Michelle (22:23)

Talk to your spirit babies, but also ask for signs and it's insane. I can write a book just on that. The stories they tell me, they are blown away by some of the signs they see. And all it takes is just asking. So talk to us about spirit babies, how they come in, how that can influence people's initial feeling or being called to parenting in the first place.

Nancy (22:47)

Yeah, so spirit babies are the souls, the spirit of children that are ready to come in at Earthside, to come into a human body. Just like we have loved ones in spirit that have passed away, babies are out there too. They're going through their reincarnations, they're going through other lives, and they are ready and choosing a parent to come through. And one of the things to do is to

calling on a spirit baby if you've never done this before, is to say like, hey, my body is ready, spirit baby, I'm ready for you and start to call in that child. And when they see you, you're like a little light and they're like a little moth to a flame and they're like, oh my goodness, yes, her, I love her. And I love who she is with. And I want that to be the way I come in, through that mom or however it is. This could be adoption too.

So I don't always say like spirit, but we're talking about spirit babies, we're talking about babies that are coming in freshly into that new body, that human form. This greatly changes a fertility journey because you are starting to connect on that deeper level with the child that is meant to be yours. And it sounds maybe crazy to some people, but connecting with that baby,

fosters this trust, this hope, this faith that they're coming. You know that they're coming and the more that you work on that, the more positive you feel, the more connected you feel knowing like yes I know this baby is coming. And so this is one of the great ways to really help on the fertility journey is connecting with those spirit babies. And I forgot what else you asked me so let me know.

Michelle (24:43)

I think I forgot too, because my memory these days, I don't even know, but who cares? It just will keep moving forward. But I think that it's just so interesting that you're saying this. I mean, the way I see it is that it's actually, a lot of times there's that initial thought, okay, I'm going to get pregnant or we are going to get pregnant. But then there's like this other element to this, which is this other being that's...

Nancy (24:46)

Yeah, I feel it. Yeah, yes.

Michelle (25:09)

part of this process and acknowledging that being, I think that the power of acknowledging that being is incredibly potent.

Nancy (25:18)

Yeah, we are making just like we chose to come into this lifetime through our parents, choosing all the things that we have, our financial situation, our sibling situation, what color are we, what nationality, what religion, we choose all these things. And so these babies that are coming in are doing the exact same thing. They're looking for the lessons, they're looking for who they need to be with. Do they need somebody that's extra?

loving or fun or wacky or silly or serious or whatever that is to come into this earth so that they can then be on their own path in having their lives. And it's just like a grandmother can send you a cardinal or a butterfly and say, oh my God, Aunt Rose or Grandma Rose, she used to always send me butterflies. I know it's her or a cardinal. Spirit babies can do the same thing.

and you can ask them to send you specific signs. And the more you connect, you can start to hear, feel, see, know exactly who they are. They're all gonna be a little bit different. Our communication is gonna be different, just like it was different for my first child versus my second. But to have them send me their name, for them to send me these things that just pop up, you start to just get that.

beautiful connection knowing they are real. Just like women know like oh I just knew it was a boy, oh I just knew it was a girl. That's that mother's intuition and it can get deeper even deeper than that like with spirit baby work. It's incredible.

Michelle (26:46)

Mm-hmm.

That's so cool. Do you have any interesting stories on what you've seen, just stories from your clients on connecting or asking for signs?

Nancy (27:04)

Yeah. Yeah, well, even one of my own, one of my favorite is the cake plate for the baby shower. And now she was, I was pregnant with her at this time, but I started connecting with Luna six months even before I knew how I would get pregnant. This was, we had, you know, I was kind of in limbo at that point. I didn't know if I was gonna try our genetics again with another egg retrieval and go through that again. I don't even think I knew about embryo adoption yet.

Um, but here I am, you know, we would talk. I knew her middle name was Grace. She literally yelled it to me one time in a meditation session. So every day I would sit there. I would connect with her. I would use crystals. And she was like, my middle name is Grace. And I'm like, are you for real? Okay. Are you sure? Like, I was like, I don't know if this really goes well, Luna Grace Weiss, but all right, girl, this is going to be your middle name. And so, um, I was

doing my shopping for my baby shower, and I wasn't a pink girl, I was a gray and purple. I wanted all her stuff to be gray and purple, and I'm looking at home goods, and I'm looking for this cake, a cake plate, a display for the cake. So I'm going through the aisles, I go through all the aisles of the cakes, cake plates, there's nothing there. There's, you know, pink ones or red ones, whatever. So I kind of give up at this point.

And I'm like, all right, I guess I'm not finding this cake plate today. I'm going through the store. I'm like looking in the lamps or something really weird, like lamps or something completely non-related to baking. And all of a sudden I see a cream colored plate and it's got this ceramic plate and it's got this gray ribbon tied through it with polka dots, which I'm like, why does this cake plate have this gray ribbon? I'm like, that's exactly what I want.

you know, for the purple cake, and then I lift it up and a sticker in the middle of the cake plate says grace on it. And I'm like, what? I like flipped out in the store. I was like, are you kidding me? She literally sent that to me. We have a cake plate with the gray ribbon and then the name, the middle name in the middle of it. And what are the odds of this, right? So you're just like, you just have to like.

Michelle (29:09)

Oh my god.

Wow.

Oh, yeah.

Nancy (29:30)

except these things too. People will be like, oh how do I know it's not imagination or coincidence? It's not. These things, there are no coincidences. Everything is synchronistic and is happening for a reason. You can't tell me that baby didn't send me that plate, right? Or my other client, right, my other client, she had her child send pine cones and pine cones, I mean,

Michelle (29:45)

Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. The signs are too obvious.

Nancy (29:58)

know they're in certain places right? You could she asked for pine cones and um they would pop up in interesting places like she would find one she'd be like oh my goodness but like here she shows up to a beach wedding and a beach wedding you would think like she's seashells uh something like that and the individual ornaments things on the table were pine cones and she was like I know

Michelle (29:59)

So she asked, she asked for that specific sign. Yeah.

Right. Yep.

Nancy (30:27)

There's just like, once you start developing this relationship with them and yourself and with spirit, it's just a beautiful thing because the impossible becomes possible.

Michelle (30:43)

I love that. I love that. That's so cool. Because it's magic. It's really connecting with a state of miracles. Because I think that ultimately, and I haven't fully, fully read this, but the book of miracles, it was at the book of miracles. Is that what it's called? The book of, I think it's the book of miracles. It's the one that Marianne Williamson wrote about. You know what I'm

Nancy (31:00)

I'm not sure.

Okay, yes, A Course in Miracles, A Course in Miracles.

Michelle (31:11)

A course in miracles, right. Okay. So a course in miracles, they say that basically miracles happen all the time that we, that is really our birthright. But we're the ones who sort of hold ourselves from that. I think part of it is not acknowledging the realness of it. When we don't acknowledge that it exists, it hides. And then when we acknowledge and make that relationship, make that connection, it shows up a lot more. And so.

Nancy (31:36)

Yeah.

Michelle (31:39)

What are some of the reasons that you've seen that spirit babies are hesitant on coming through, like being born?

Nancy (31:48)

I think one of the big things that is a big message that I've seen over the last, I think it's eight years now that I'm doing this. I'm so bad with my ears. They want to know that mom wants to play. And that sounds very simple. You'd be like, of course babies wanna play, kids wanna play, but they see so much seriousness. They see so much of this stress.

that they just want to know like, I really want mom to be playful and fun. And it doesn't come through all the time, but I've seen it come through where that's like a concern of theirs. And when we are going through so much stress, right, we're going through all this stuff, we can kind of tend to just shut down and we need to reconnect with the playfulness inside of us. We need to reconnect with our inner child. And so I'll tell my clients, go out hula hoop.

Go out and blow bubbles. Go to the park and run around. Lay down in the grass and just do some grass angels. Go in the snow. Do something that's really fun and lively that you would have done like a kid to really get that, to show them like, yes, I can have fun. Yes, I'm ready to welcome you. I think that's a huge one. And I think it has to do a lot with us, the women.

in showing that we can be that way. You know, that it's not just, yeah, the kid just want like kids love to play. They want that connection.

playing is a huge part. I'm trying to think of what else.

I think babies really have their own, they have their own agenda. This is not our time. This is not when we choose to get pregnant. This is for them saying, yes, I'm ready, the time is now. And so trusting in that divine timing, while it is so hard on your fertility journey, especially if you're getting older and you're like, oh my God, I'm 40, I'm this, I'm that, I need this to happen right now.

It's really on their timeline and we need to remember that. We need to remember divine timing and these universal, these beautiful miracles that occur exactly when they need to. Sometimes a child needs to wait for, let's say, another sibling to be born or they need to wait for a specific time or a specific season when mom moves from the city to the country. Different things like that really do affect our children.

Or who is the dad? Or where is this other, you know, the other part coming from? There are so many things that babies kind of look at and say like, okay, this is not the right time. I need to wait until this time, or I need to wait until this other sibling comes through, or mom does this or

Michelle (34:53)

so if somebody wants to connect with a spare baby, and this is really foreign to the person or somebody's listening, and what is one of the first ways they can ease into this or have that connection, what are some tips that you could provide?

Nancy (35:11)

I think one of the things is.

not letting the imagination get in the way thinking I'm dreaming this or this is not real but sitting there say five minutes a day closing your eyes putting your hands on your heart and picturing this child picturing a baby picturing what they might look like you know kind of giving them maybe a face giving them what they look like maybe you see you're holding them in your arms this is all part manifesting too

This is making these dreams become a reality. So starting to connect with them, or if that's a little bit too much for somebody, to maybe write a letter to the baby and tell them about you, say, I'm so excited, I cannot wait for you to come Earth side. I have the perfect room picked out for you. I would love to tell you your name. And just starting this conversation, just as if you would pray to God, if that's what you believe in, or praying to a loved one.

or talking to someone in spirit, just kind of starting that conversation. And the more you do that, it's like a muscle. And then they start to connect back with you. It may not happen that first day. It may not happen the first month, but as you continue to develop this relationship, it really starts to flourish.

Michelle (36:36)

Amazing. And it's true. It's actually, I feel like more intuitive than people think, that you almost have a remembrance to it. And I feel like our cells remember what we're capable of doing, like our potential when it awakens, it's really something that is dormant. And when you bring that into your world or your perception, that it awakens more so than it's a new foreign thing.

Nancy (37:04)

Yes, yes. I mean, it's going to be different for everybody, you know, depending on your level of intuitiveness. Some women are very intuitive, some people are just learning about it. So there are going to be like these building blocks and these kind of steps that need to be taken in order to start to really foster that relationship. And again, every relationship with a spirit baby is going to be different.

Some are you're just going to feel them. So maybe when you're in meditation and you say, baby, I want to meet you. I would love to meet you. Please let me know that you're here. And then all of a sudden you feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up, or maybe you get goosebumps on your arms. You can look at that as that sign of, yes, they are here. I'm getting that response. And so trusting, again, this is about getting into the body, back into our bodies, so that we can trust the emotions, the visions.

the knowing and all those things that come up and we can trust those things.

Michelle (38:01)

I love that. And of course I can talk to you for hours, but if somebody is really intrigued by what you're talking about and really wants to reach out, which I know is going to be a lot of somebody's, how can people reach you?

Nancy (38:05)

I'm going to go to bed.

Hehehe

So Instagram is the best place to find me. I'm at Nancy Weiss Intuitive, and I know Michelle's gonna put that information down here. So we have that. So there's lots of stuff on my Instagram that you can watch. And then I have something called the Coffee with Spirit podcast, in case you don't know, I'm from New York. So I have a little podcast called Coffee with, yes, gotta have coffee. Coffee with Spirit on YouTube is a podcast.

Michelle (38:34)

Gotta have the coffee.

Nancy (38:41)

where I talk about spirit babies, spirit stuff in general, so you can learn there how to connect with your spirit baby. And then I offer sessions as well, where I do spirit baby mediumship sessions and energy healing to help you connect with them, where I can connect you with your spirit baby and also teach you how to do it as well.

Michelle (39:00)

Nancy, I adore you. Like seriously, I adore you. We go way back, like way back. We go way back. New York, we're both from New York and we have the New York connection. And I just think that you're incredibly so unique in your approach to life and you have such a light about you and incredible positivity. And I think part of it is just this belief that you have this real faith.

Nancy (39:02)

No.

Hahaha!

Michelle (39:29)

in miracles and like the ability to do anything in life. And I think that you just teach so much just by your presence and how you live as a human. So of course, I love having conversations with you and I'm so happy you came back to Spirit Babies and talking about it and the podcast and thank you so much.

Nancy (39:41)

Thank you.

Stay tuned.

Thank you.

EP 285 The Power of Whole Foods for Fertility | Judy Simon & Angela Thyer

Dr. Angela Thyer and Judy Simon discuss their book 'Getting to Baby' and the importance of nutrition and lifestyle in fertility. They share their backgrounds and how they came together to help women improve their nutrition and health for better fertility outcomes. The book covers the connection between food and fertility, the importance of whole foods, debunking misconceptions about diet and fertility, and the benefits of intuitive eating and cooking. They emphasize the need for diversity in food choices and the impact of processed foods on fertility. The book also includes practical tips and recipes to support a healthy pregnancy journey. The conversation covers topics such as the importance of breakfast and meal timing, the impact of nutrition on fertility, the role of integrative medicine in fertility treatment, and the power of lifestyle choices in influencing fertility outcomes. The guests emphasize the importance of combining foods and the role of vegetables in supporting digestion and overall health. They also discuss the impact of stress, sleep, and epigenetics on fertility. The conversation highlights the need for a multidisciplinary approach to fertility treatment and the importance of finding a supportive healthcare team.

Takeaways

• Nutrition and lifestyle play a crucial role in fertility and improving fertility outcomes.

• Eating whole foods, including a variety of fruits, vegetables, plant-based proteins, and whole grains, is important for fertility.

• There are many misconceptions about diet and fertility, such as the need to cut out carbs or follow specific diets. It's important to focus on nourishing the body with whole foods.

• Intuitive eating and cooking skills are valuable in creating a healthy and sustainable approach to nutrition.

• Diversity in food choices is essential for optimal fertility and overall health.

• Processed foods can negatively impact fertility, and it's important to prioritize whole foods.

• The book provides practical tips, recipes, and a six-week blueprint to support a healthy pregnancy journey. Breakfast is an important meal for fertility and overall health. It is best to have a substantial breakfast with protein, fiber, and vegetables.

• Meal timing is crucial, and it is recommended to have more calories earlier in the day and fewer at night.

• Combining foods, especially vegetables, can support digestion and nutrient absorption.

• Stress, sleep, and lifestyle choices have a significant impact on fertility outcomes.

• Epigenetics plays a role in fertility, and lifestyle choices can influence gene expression.

• A multidisciplinary approach to fertility treatment, including integrative medicine, can provide comprehensive support.

• Finding a supportive healthcare team is essential for navigating the fertility journey.

Guest Bio: Judy Simon

Judy Simon, MS, RDN, CD, CHES is an award winning registered dietitian nutritionist who specializes in reproductive health. She is the founder of Mind Body Nutrition, PLLC and a clinical instructor at the University of Washington. Judy’s expertise includes fertility, PCOS, eating disorders, weight inclusive medicine and reproductive health. 

Judy has held leadership roles in the American Society of Reproductive Medicine Nutrition Special Interest Group and is a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 

Judy integrates mindfulness, intuitive eating, eating competence, while taking a non-judgmental, inclusive down approach to help people have healthier, more fertile lives. 

Judy is the co-founder of Food For Fertility program and co-author of the upcoming (April, 2024) book Getting to Baby A Food-first Fertility Plan to Improve Your Odds and Shorten Your Time to Pregnancy, Ben Bella Publisher

Guest Bio: Angela Thyer

Angela Thyer, MD is board certified in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Ob/Gyn and Lifestyle Medicine. She is a founding partner of Seattle Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Thyer completed her undergraduate education at Duke University, medical school at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, residency at Oregon Health and Science University, and fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She completed The Culinary Coaching program through the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine in 2020 and became a certified plant-based chef through Rouxbe in 2022. She and Judy Simon, MS, RDN created the Food for Fertility program and have co-authored a book coming out in 2024, Getting to Baby: A Food-First Fertility Plan to Improve Your Odds and Shorten Your Time to Pregnancy which highlights the best foods to optimize fertility.

Website & Social media links (Facebook, instagram, twitter)

Instagram: @angelathyermd

Website: angelathyermd.com

For more information about Michelle, visitwww.michelleoravitz.com

The Wholesome FertilityFacebook group is where you can find free resources and support: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2149554308396504/

Instagram: @thewholesomelotusfertility

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/

Transcript:

Michelle: So Angela and Judy, welcome.

Angela: Thank you so much. We're excited to be here, Michelle.

Michelle: So I'd love for you guys to give a background first. , I'm very excited to be talking about your new book, Getting to Baby. I would love for you first to share your background so people can know more about you and what got you to doing this type of work.

Angela: Okay. Sure. I'm a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist. So first I trained in OBGYN and then specialized in reproductive endocrine and infertility. And then I got board certified in lifestyle medicine. So, which is a more holistic kind of way to look at all healthcare, more of a preventive lens of like, how can we look at lifestyle measures to, you know, really help people in all phases of their life.

Angela: And I've always been interested in food, nutrition, exercise. And so over the years, it just became a bigger and[00:01:00] bigger part of my practice. And I've always been interested in obviously hormones, but metabolism and Judy and I started working together at the university of Washington. And we found we had this common interest in really helping women, you know, work together to improve their nutrition and health, which subsequently leads to improvement in their fertility.

Michelle: Oh, totally.

Judy: And I'm a registered dietitian, as Angela mentioned, and my master's is in community health education. And I sort of went through traditional training, and when I came back and re entered, you know, medicine, gosh, about 20 ish years ago, all of a sudden, PCOS and all these things that I had never really learned about just came front and forward.

Judy: And so I was fortunate to connect up with Angela and really do the deep dive into, Hey, what do we know about insulin resistance? How is this affecting fertility? And these were things that traditionally I hadn't been taught. [00:02:00]So really, I think we kind of joined each other's worlds. You know, I joined American Society of Reproductive Medicine and, you know, joined all the fertility docs.

Judy: And You know, Angela would come to the nutrition conferences. So we did a lot of cross pollination and from that we went off and both started into private practices and she'd refer these amazing patients and we decided, wow, we're seeing them one at a time. Wouldn't it just be the coolest thing if we could start classes?

Judy: So about 12 ish years ago, we started the food for fertility classes where we brought women in who were trying to conceive. Many of them had PCOS, endometriosis. unexplained, lots of different diagnosis. And that's who we brought the food and the people and the lifestyle into the classroom, which is really why we wrote the book.

Judy: It's kind of, we took all our years of experience, science and knowledge and said, let's make it accessible to more people.

Michelle: That's awesome. And so [00:03:00] talk about the book. What's in the book? And obviously it's for people trying to conceive, getting to baby. What were the top things? 

Angela: Yeah. Well, we, we started off by, you know, kind of, we always want people to understand the whys, you know, why this, why that what's the connection, what's the underlying biology and physiology? And then what evidence do we know? A lot of nutritional studies about fertility or observational studies, like they'll a population will be observed and they'll say, okay, people who ate these kinds of diets or these kinds of foods had higher fertility and more successful outcomes than people who ate this kind of diet.

Angela: So, you know, we, we want to, wanted to present all that information. So people kind of have background and good knowledge and can kind of say, oh, okay, well. Maybe that would be a good idea for me. You know, it's not, it's, it's a broad spectrum of what, you know, a good diet could look like. It's not just one thing.

Angela: Obviously [00:04:00] mainly plant forward. Cause I think we all need to eat more fruits and vegetables and plant based foods. But there is room, you know, for some animal foods too, especially things like fish and whole fat dairy, which have shown to increase some fertility benefits. So, you know, we kind of go through all the food groups and talk about what's, what we, where we have evidence, what's good, what's not so good and what vitamins and minerals and nutrients they're adding.

Angela: And then, you know, some of the biggest things that we're like, if you want to incorporate this, it's a really, it's a how to. Right. So we wanted to make it like accessible in this sense that anybody at home could be like, Oh, okay. I, gosh, I just want to add one little thing this week. What would I add? What can, what's my takeaway?

Angela: What's my smart goal? So people can kind of set their own goals and try to move forward with that, making a little progress at a time. And then the greatest thing I think is sharing stories from our patients who are just fabulous[00:05:00] women who've been on their own journey. And we had so many stories, we couldn't even share them all in the book.

Angela: But kind of telling these journeys that sometimes took months, sometimes took years and how they were able to incorporate changes and see changes in themselves. and feel increased energy and then kind of have improved fertility. Maybe if they had a partner, you know, their partner's health was also improving at the same time.

Angela: And so many of them were successful either With natural conception, or if they were infertility treatments, having better success in those treatments and making better quality embryos that we were like, wow, you know, that's really what's in the book. So as much as we could share and keep it accessible and reasonable in length.

Angela: That's, that's what the book's about.

Michelle: I found it very user friendly and I really enjoyed the image of the plate and how half of it was greens, which is great because I do believe that it's so important to get the greens. And there's so many nutrients that you can get[00:06:00] from that. And you talked about some misconceptions too, like on treating PCOS and like common misconceptions on what to eat for fertility.

Michelle: So I'd love to touch upon that.

Judy: Yeah, well, one of the things that we tried to bring out in the book is when we first started doing our classes, a lot of the reasons women would be referred to us as we'll just go lose weight. So nothing, you know, focusing on their health and we're like, Oh no, no, no, this is not a weight loss class.

Judy: This is totally about how to nourish yourself. And actually. Take away the shame and guilt in, you know, whatever size body you have being able to get the benefits of the nutrition and the lifestyle. Right? So, for example there's a lot of people that would come in with a whole list of foods that they thought they shouldn't eat because somebody told them that.

Judy: And we're like, well, are you allergic to them? No. Well, okay, you know, here's a safe And that's what we tried to do in the [00:07:00] book. Like showing in all these different, you know, sure, maybe you can't tolerate dairy. Here's a sub, here's something else you can, you can place out so that everybody would feel included, that anybody could be in the classes, read the book and really get the benefit out of it.

Judy: So when, when you talk about myths, probably the biggest one is, you know so many women are told cut out carbs. Cut out carbs and we're like, Oh no. Well, what's in whole grains and ancient grains. We know those inositols we hear about in PCOS. Guess where they come from? White beans, buckwheat. So we're saying where can you get these ancient grains are just so filled with minerals and also really showing that looking at the quality of carbs that you're choosing most of the time is actually going to be beneficial.

Judy: And this is kind of relief for women to hear like, I don't have to starve myself. I get to eat and try new things.

Michelle: Yeah. That's such a good point. And also, cause a [00:08:00] lot of times when people have carbs, it's simple carbs or juices where you're taking basically, even if it's fresh juices, like we're really meant to have the whole fruit, right? The fiber like, and digest it slowly so that it's not a sugar spike. I'd love for you to talk about that too, the importance of, of actually having the whole food.

Angela: Yeah, we definitely talk about kind of it being a whole food diet because that is so important and The issue with I mean, yes, you can get some of the nutrients if you juice But you're also gonna get mainly sugar without the fiber if you've removed the fiber. So the fiber is so important both to slow down your digestion and really pay attention to gut health.

Angela: And I know you focus a lot on gut health. You know, that's where so much of our health overall starts. And there's so many connections between the gut and the mind and the body and the hormones and everything else, every, every system. And so, having that [00:09:00] fiber in your diet, really from whole foods. I mean, especially plant based foods, right?

Angela: Because animal foods don't have fiber, but the plant based foods really then is is great food for the microbiomes, the microbiome, our microbiome and the bacteria, the 3 trillion bacteria that live in our gut. And it helps create, you know, it's more anti inflammatory because so many people kind of can get.

Angela: almost a chronic inflammation from not eating enough fiber, not feeding their microbiome. And then that can lead to more issues in more body systems that they may not even be aware of. But nobody is, you know, advertising whole foods, like whole foods. So much of what people see and kind of the noise that feeds in is just, you know, everything else that's marketed in a box or a bag or somebody.

Angela: And so that's what, and so sometimes those help people put health claims on other products that [00:10:00] aren't whole foods and then whole foods kind of get neglected. And so, yeah, we definitely want to say, you know, it's important. And we talk about eating the rainbow and the colors because each colors, providing different phytonutrients.

Angela: And so, you know, you want that broad range because the more diversity you have in your fruits and vegetables, the more diverse a microbiome you're going to develop, the better protection for your immune system and just make everything else work better in your whole body.

Michelle: I love that you talk about diversity because actually a lot of people end up developing sensitivities even if it's healthy food that they eat all the time and it's important to have diversity because it really allows the body to get so many different benefits and also not get too intolerant of one specific thing.

Michelle: The body likes diversity.

Judy: Absolutely. And we really wanted people to feel inclusive with the book. So that's why there's so much [00:11:00]culinary medicine, like just basic skills. Here's how you can throw something together without even a recipe, you know, just really, you know, five steps to a great salad. What should it have, you know, different things like that.

Judy: And we also wanted it to really highlight the, All the global cuisines. And so for example I see a large population of South Asian women, right? And so there's, there, there always were like their diets too high in carbs. And we talked about what are all the wonderful things that herbs that you're using, the dolls, you know, the pulses, but we tried to make sure we had things from all regions because unfortunately a lot of people here in the medical world, like, Oh, just eat the Mediterranean diet.

Judy: We're like, Oh no, no, no way. That that's so exclusive. It's not inclusive. We want to talk about, you know, foods from, you know, West Africa or Central America, a lot of the indigenous healthy foods, and then also what's seasonally available. And so one of the things that we really tried to [00:12:00]share is a lot of different types of foods.

Judy: Simple preparation, but let people start where they're comfortable. So if you're a chef that only has three or four recipes and you're still sort of using some are processed foods, maybe they'll start with adding a soup or adding some vegetable dishes or adding a salad and letting them know you're going to get benefits from those first steps.

Judy: Because some people feel like, like I just talked to someone, she goes, I'm trying to be all in, you know, trying to be perfect. Do you know what I mean?

Michelle: Yeah,

Judy: And that's stressful. It's stressful to feel like you're getting a grade on your diet. And we want people to feel like it's fun. They're having a date night with their partner and maybe they're trying a new recipe in the book.

Judy: Or they got inspired because there is a lot of pressure when people are trying to conceive. And the book is also for those people who are like, Hey, we want to get pregnant in the next year. What's the path to a healthy pregnancy? We have no idea how long it's going to take, but [00:13:00] what's going to prepare us?

Judy: And you know, Michelle, that like 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned. So a lot of people, you know, maybe they're exposed to a lot of those fertility disruptors, and if they would have known even a few months in advance, they could have decreased some of the risks, you know that could impact their fertility and pregnancy.

Michelle: definitely. I remember seeing something, it was about a burger or like a chicken sandwich or something. It was a sandwich with a bun that the woman just kept in her closet and just saw what happened and it was not, it was not good. Breaking down and I'm like, whoa That is crazy. Like things are supposed to break down if they don't break down and they don't yeah Just break down like what happens in your body So talk about the importance of eating whole foods.

Michelle: Listen, we're going to have processed food once in a while. It's not like, you know, end all be all like, it's not one thing or another, obviously, [00:14:00] but talk about the importance of really being intentional about choosing more whole foods in your diet. 

Angela: Well, you know, I do think, I think that everybody's so different in what they eat, but I think that, yeah, the ultra processed foods and processed grains, so like breads, cereals, pastas, Anything it's just so it it's everywhere, right? It's it's you can't get away from it and it's become normalized And it and so it has become acceptable and ordinary And the problem with those foods is yeah, you don't need to say i'm not never going to eat that again But it replaces it, you know, it takes the place of whole foods.

Angela: And so I think you know Where do you get whole foods? Well, it's hard to get whole foods You You know if you're eating If you're buying foods at convenience stores or fast food restaurants or even regular restaurants Sometimes i'm surprised that menus don't have Kind of like more vegetables available when we talk about the fertility plate[00:15:00] and the whole plate being half Vegetables, right?

Angela: You're not going to get that in a restaurant, like the restaurant usually. So, you know, we, we have talked to women, we didn't really talk about this that much in the book, but like, I think some of the women gave us examples of, you know, planning when you go to a restaurant, gosh, what can I eat from this menu that would be more of a whole food, what are the, sometimes the side vegetables are something they'll order from some of those things to say like, yeah, I don't need to necessarily go for the most. Indulgent luxurious meal. I want to go for the whole foods cause I know that's what my body needs. So we talk about being intuitive eater or competent eater. It, you know, I don't think this is taught well in schools. So, you know, to, to be honest, nobody, it's nobody's fault. Like where you are, it's a growth opportunity for everybody to be like, Hey, I didn't really get this education growing up.

Angela: My parents worked. I didn't, you know, I didn't cook that much growing up, but now I'm an adult. And I need to really learn about [00:16:00] nutrition and what my body needs and how to heal myself through food. And what that might mean is I need to cook more. And if I don't know how to cook more with whole foods, You know, there's opportunities to learn.

Angela: There's so much now available on YouTube, or that's both good and not so good, but you know, you can find the good, the good things and learn to cook with whole foods and buy things like our book, which are trying to teach people almost some intuitive cooking skills. Cause you don't always want to be cooking from a recipe.

Angela: You want to get some basic staples and some comfort in the kitchen and some things you really are good at, and then always build new and add new. Okay. But yeah, so that was like one of the tenants of our philosophy of how we taught was, let's talk about, you know, building a meal. Let's talk about what vegetables are going to be in the meal, what protein is going to be in the meal.

Angela: And for us, that was mainly going to be a [00:17:00] plant based protein. So either beans, lentils. tofu or tempeh or edamame, so a soy based protein, or fish, since all of those have been shown to increase fertility. And then whole grains, those ancient grains, so not processed and kind of putting that all together and nuts and seeds and other things that provide those denser nutrients.

Angela: And really starting with like cutting things up, like, okay, let's prep everything. Let's do the mise en place. Let's get everything ready. Let's plan meals. So you're going to have leftovers. because it takes work and effort. You don't want to put all that effort in and then only eat once. So you want to have some leftover meals that you can repurpose throughout the week or free some of these meals that you're going to be able to then thaw out next week or next month when you're more time pressed, and you know, you've got your own freezer meal that you've prepared that you're going to be able to thaw out and cook and have a nutritious, delicious, quick meal, right?

Angela: So it's just a, I think it's a mindset, right? [00:18:00] It's a different way to think. And, and everybody can get there and just build that knowledge and build those skills. And that's exciting.

Michelle: It is exciting. I find that whenever you're learning something new, like you, you make it more complicated in your mind. You're like, oh, I have to do this whole thing. But you don't realize, like as you learn it, you could really strategize and make it so much easier and cheaper. You could save money that way.

Judy: Absolutely. Michelle, you bring up a really good point. And what's really fun is a lot of the women who've taken classes or patients of ours, like even after like two years after they have their baby, I'll get an email. You know, I saved all those recipes from class and I still love the, you know, the quinoa mango black bean salad.

Judy: It's so delicious in the summer. I take it to parties or one patient just wrote me about the soca bread made out of chickpeas that they start to add them to their repertoire or you want to increase their self efficacy, their confidence and their competency. And then when they do eat out, you know, maybe [00:19:00] they do broaden and they, you know, they go for an Indian meal or an Asian meal and they know like, Hey, I'm going to order one whole vegetarian.

Judy: So I get more broccoli and veggies like they know how to order and feel good. When they go out or they travel, you know, how can I take that and keep it better? And, you know, just really, you know, giving them that support. And so in the book, for some people, this is really new. We kind of do like a six week blueprint, but we also say like, If you feel pretty good on some of the skills and you've checked the box, awesome.

Judy: Work on some of those things that you, you want to build up stronger in your repertoire. And if you feel like you need more time, I remember when our class switched to virtual and we started to go to every other week, the women were like, this is kind of good because I have more time to work on my goals.

Judy: I kind of like that other, remember the every other week model? You could do that with a six week plan. Maybe I'm going to try to do this over twelve weeks, you know, three months, give myself some time to To try new things.[00:20:00] And the thing is you're getting the benefit with every step you take. There's a benefit, you know?

Judy: And so the cool thing for us is sometimes at the end of the class, women who didn't eat in the morning, they like. You know, we started eating in the morning because of class and the food was really good. They started regulating their cycles, Michelle. It was amazing. And one of our last live classes before COVID, I remember one table of four, they were all kind of waiting to get their cycles and things and getting ready for IVF.

Judy: And they all went on to conceive. They all got their cycles and went on to conceive. And that was just, the cost of food and, you know, putting a little bit of time in so that lifestyle does make a difference whether someone's going for art treatment or they're, you know, they're, you know, they're just maximizing their fertility options.

Michelle: Yeah, there was actually a study on girls in college that skipped breakfast and how it impacted their cycles I thought that was interesting[00:21:00]

Judy: I would guess negatively. I'm thinking if

Michelle: Negatively, yes negatively. Yeah. Yeah,

Judy: You know, I just want to check.

Michelle: They most of them started regular and it they became irregular.

Judy: You know, and people are getting into a lot of fads where they're really time boxing their food. I just talked to someone in a smaller body and she says, I'm trying to eat clean. So I only eat between this time and this time. I go,

Michelle: Mm hmm

Judy: you should eat when you're hungry. Your body needs nourishment all day, not just eight hours.

Judy: So sometimes we see people that are going to overboard. And they're restricting, and then their reproductive axis is not getting the nutrients it needs. And I'm like, that's not what you want to do for ag health. That's not what you want to do for reproductive health. If you feel cold at night and you're, and, and you know, and as we know with, you know, acupuncture and Chinese medicine, energy is such an important concept.

Judy: So if you're freezing all of a sudden, and you're starving [00:22:00] yourself, you're not nourishing your body.

Michelle: Absolutely. And actually in Ayurvedic medicine, they say that when the sun is out, that is when, because we, you know, we, we respond to the elements. And when the sun is out, especially like around 12 PM, you should have your largest meal because it increases your own digestive fire because we get influenced by nature.

Michelle: And actually the morning you should have breakfast, you should have food during the day when the digestive fire is. Increase the most and when you shouldn't is as it gets darker like a couple hours before you go to sleep That's when you can give your body a break. So it kind of According to Ayurveda, it's a little bit more flipped than what's typically done where people skip breakfast.

Angela: Right. And, and, you know, that, that exactly parallels some of the metabolic studies, right? So what Ayurvedic medicine is known for so long, right? And then Western medicine has to come and prove it that like our digestion is[00:23:00] better in the morning and the way glucose and, and. nutrients are processed in the morning is better when we have more energy and we're more active throughout the day.

Angela: And then at night, things are winding down and slowing down and you want your body to relax for sleep and not be digesting a big meal. And, and we do talk about that, but it is really hard for people to flip to try and get more calories and earlier in the day when fewer at night when the typical pattern is, is the opposite.

Michelle: and it's going to give them a lot more productivity and energy to have a good breakfast because you know, protein, you got those good fiber and vegetables and berries and, really start your day right.

Judy: We encourage people if they're really set in a way, we're like, we'll do it as an experiment. Be curious. Try it on the weekend. Maybe try it on the weekend because you don't want to change your flow. See how your energy feels, especially when people are telling us they're fatigued.

Judy: They're like, I'm so tired. And it's [00:24:00] like, and most of their energy intake is at night. They wake up not hungry. You know, we do try, you know, try to flip that around and that's part of that intuitive eating and eating competence and see where your body, because really people know a lot about their body and so we want them to be in tune to that too and trust that.

Angela: And I was just going to add that, you know, sometimes people have these ideas of what a typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner is and what food should be part of those meals. And we say, Hey, that does not have to be the case either. I love a breakfast salad. I love eating my leftover dinner from the night before for breakfast.

Angela: If I've made something delicious, I made this great stir fry and I've had a little bit because it's late, but I'm like, I want to have that for breakfast. I'm going to have a big bowl, you know, so I love having those other things early in the day because I do feel like it gives me great energy. And then the other thing that we talk about is, you know, the[00:25:00] walking after meals and especially getting outside early in the morning and getting that sunlight to really Start your day and, and get your clock going and how important those rhythms can be to recognize that you have, your body has a rhythm, sleep consistency is important, exercise and movement throughout the day is important, all these other things that we want to build in, you know, to our base for overall wellness to support fertility.

Michelle: Yeah. I love it. I love it that you're a doctor and you're interested in this because unfortunately it's not as common. Like people don't know about all of these things about really connecting with nature and the nutrition aspect of it. So it's amazing. It's so well rounded because you have like so many different backgrounds and perspectives on

Judy: We, we, we, yeah, we try to bring it all together and that's why this book would have been much longer if our publisher didn't say stop, you know, it was like twice as long. You'll see when you're writing your book, you want to share everything. And so we did include [00:26:00] two chapters on like boosters and disruptors, you know, talking about stress and sleep.

Judy: And then also some of the disruptors like, you know, alcohol, cannabis, endocrine disruptors, because we didn't want to scare people, but we felt they needed to know. And you know, science based, evidence based, but we did put it at the end. You know, we really focus on the food and feeding yourself because really that's what our program is all about.

Judy: But we find that when they put it all together and they get to those boosters and they add the movement and the stress and so many of our patients, patients who do acupuncture will say, well, that's one of the ways I always say, what do you get out of it? Cause I always want to know. And they go, Oh man, I'm such a good place to do.

Judy: I leave in my stress level is so much better. I go, then that's something you want to include in, in, in what you're doing for your health. If you have the privilege and you have the accessibility to it. So we, we try to make everything accessible. Because there's so [00:27:00] many women and men who don't have access to medical care when it comes to fertility.

Judy: It's really the underprivileged do not have access or such limited access that we thought if we could at least cover the main things and it could be, you know, available in libraries or, you know, things like that and audio books that that would be a way that more people could really have that information.

Michelle: Well, it's great information. And also, I love that it talks about. combining foods, in Chinese medicine, we have a lot of formulas of herbs. So each herbal formula has different herbs and they work together as a symphony. And a lot of times they'll include ginger or digestive herbs to help assimilate.

Michelle: So working together, And a certain symphony is what makes it that much more beneficial for the body. And I like how you talk about the importance of combining foods. You were talking about putting [00:28:00] vegetables because if you just eat meat without vegetables, it's not going to be able to simulate as well and digest as well without those vegetables helping in that fiber.

Angela: Right. The vegetables are actually pretty protective, right? So I mean, there, you know, there have been studies that look at people who eat just more of an all meat diet and then people who eat more of a vegetable based diet, but with meat and the gut is healthier, right? If you incorporate those vegetables the, the, because the fiber from the vegetables is so protective.

Angela: That then you are able to digest the, the meat and make use of the nutrients in the meat as well. So I think that's, that's great advice. And I think that, you know, out here we're in Seattle. And so we have a lot of, you know, we have a number of people who are trained in acupuncture. They are, you know, trained in traditional Chinese medicine.

Angela: And we have always basically said, you know, gosh, I don't know that area, [00:29:00] but I trust. The practitioners in my area who knows so much this has been around for so long that let's, you know, combine and talk about the best of all worlds and support everybody's health. And then the same with fertility clinics, like some people really are going to need that extra step of a traditional IVF clinic.

Angela: They might need insemination. They might need IVF. And then all these other things are going to be supportive and enhance their success because it's so expensive. And the last thing you want to have to do is multiple cycles. And so the more efficient you can make each cycle by bringing your best self forward into the process and taking the time, like a lot of people, you know, want to kind of take a lot of time to get to a fertility clinic.

Angela: And then once they get there, they want IVF yesterday. Like they want to be pregnant yesterday. So And it's still really about the time and the investment in, [00:30:00] you know, producing optimum health for you and your partner. And so that, you know, it might take a good three months, right? Of preparation to say, let's make sure when you do IVF, if you need IVF and you're going to do it, that everything's perfect.

Angela: As great as you can make it going into the cycle instead of just like, Oh, there's an opening next week. Let's get started. You know

Michelle: I wish all reproductive endocrinologists spoke like you

Angela: Oh, yeah. Thank

Judy: she, and she, and she walks the walk, you know, for all the patients we've had together. A lot of times after that initial consult, she'd be like, okay, I want you to do, you know, food for fertility and work on nutrition and lifestyle for three months. You know, let's see, you know, what we can do with some of these biomarkers that are, that are elevated in a very positive way.

Judy: And then quite often during that three months, a woman starts cycling. I always, I remember saying to Angela once years ago, I go, What if you put the [00:31:00] fertility clinics out of business? I mean, we were kidding, you know, when I said that they have the role. So please don't think I'm saying that, but you know, we did.

Judy: And she's like, great. She was like, wonderful. Let's help people on the easiest journey. Let's not, you know, when someone gets sent to me and they've already had three failed IVFs. for whatever reason. And they're like, okay, I want to work on my nutrition. I'm so happy to work with them, but I feel really bad because they're pretty wounded because they've been pretty disappointed and let down.

Judy: And sometimes it was something obvious that nobody ever brought up, you know, their eating disorder, their PCOS, that things could have been optimized first. So I think that's where we all work together. So I feel like that's why when you work in integrative planning, You know, practices. We, we work with, you know, fertility yoga instructors that we really trust and, and, and, and D's and dietitians and, and, you know, we know which clinics are going to be weight shaming, you know, we want to know [00:32:00] where can our patients put the best team together, where can they get support groups from resolve or other organizations so that they feel as fully supported as they go on this journey, because a lot of people, Never expected this.

Judy: They just, I went through unexplained infertility for years. Never thought that was in the bags for me, but it was like. You know, you feel helpless. So having a community, and I think when we all work together interdisciplinary, you know, and we know the best people to send our patients to, or best organizations, or how to check, we really help them.

Judy: We really, we really can help. So we're excited about you, you know, your future book. Yes. I mean, you know, I was just coming first, but yeah, looking for resources is so important, Michelle.

Angela: And I, right. And I think, you know, those resources are great. And then also if somebody is seeing somebody and it's not clicking. You know, it could be it could be their doctor. It could be their [00:33:00] dietitian. It could be whatever They you don't have to stay with the same person. You can actually go get another opinion you might You know, click better and work better with someone else who Has different information even it's not all the same.

Angela: So each of us don't necessarily provide the same information or You know, it's an art and a science and I think we all feel that that we connect with people It's so important, but we all connect differently And and as an individual each person should really You Make the most of that and, and really make that work for them.

Angela: They're the ones they're invested in it.

Michelle: That is so true. Absolutely true. I've seen people who have been going for years to one reproductive endocrinologist and then when they changed different approach, different energy, just like, and it was a different outcome,

Angela: Yep.

Michelle: you know, it happens. 

Judy: And if you make a change, [00:34:00] no one's mad at you. We all want the same end result. I always tell them all the clinics in this town, they're all friends. They all know each other, you know, professionally, they all know each other. They're going to send your charts.

Judy: They're not going to hold them back. You know, everybody does want a positive outcome, you know, to take place.

Michelle: Yeah. Yeah. That's great. I mean you know, not always the case, , but when it is, it's amazing, and it's true you really do have to find that alignment and I always say, you know, it takes a village and creating a team of different people that can support you in different ways.

Michelle: When going through this, but of course nutrition is so important in Chinese

Judy: We all eat.

Michelle: Yeah, we all eat and we eat for a reason a good reason, right?

Angela: Mm hmm.

Michelle: And the spleen and stomach are actually the center and they're like the mother in a sense, you know the nurturer Aspect of our bodies and that is really where everything else gets built they [00:35:00] talk about pre heaven chi pre heaven energy in the kidneys And of course the kidneys are really important But sustenance, the energy with which we can sustain and increase after our genetics is food,

Angela: Right. And I think, you know, that's just kind of being understood. I mean, I think in science, Yeah. We now are recognizing, you know, there's genetics, and then there's epigenetics, which is how the genes are expressed and the epigenetics is how we influence which genes are expressed. And that has to do with our nutrition, our stress.

Angela: Our sleep, our movement, our community, our mental disposition, our mental health, our optimism. All these things have a huge impact in our health by the epigenetics. And I think people sometimes think it's just genetics and things are. A predetermined and it's going to be one way and it's totally [00:36:00] not. You have so much influence as a, as an individual about what path your life can take and how your health is affected by these decisions you make every day.

Michelle: which is so empowering, I think, to know that you actually can have a hand in your

Angela: Mm hmm. 

Judy: , I was just thinking we almost wanted to add a whole another chapter on epigenetics, but we had to pull it back. So we just kind of sprinkled it in, you know, the lifestyle things. But even when we work with people who are using donor eggs, their health will have an impact on these epigenetics. So that really empowering that mom, you are the full mom, you know, even with a donor egg, what you eat, your life, your health.

Judy: Is going to have an impact on your baby. And I think that really helps people to know that

Michelle: That is such a good point. It's really true because it's, it's all important. It's all parts of the [00:37:00] whole.

 That's where you do have control right over your lifestyle. And these some of these decisions because you don't always have control over your fertility. I mean, certain aspects are just out of your control, and you do feel that helplessness.

Angela: And so I think where you can feel good and feel empowered is, you know, these are the actions I can take. These are the steps I can take. I am making progress. I am growing as a person. I'm helping myself. I'm helping my community. Whatever the case may be, I try to recommend not kind of losing yourself in just trying to get pregnant.

Angela: Really recognize your, yourself as a whole person and all the things you are providing to, to your community through purpose and service and love and, and everything you're doing is just, it's key to who you are and it brings you strength and peace. And that's just really [00:38:00] Great to know and you, those are decisions you can make.

Angela: That's not something out of your control.

Michelle: That's so important. And thank you for bringing that up and you guys, I could talk to you guys for hours cause you know what, you know what I love? Well, first of all, your knowledge, you guys are very knowledgeable about what you're talking about, but the passion , and the compassion. With which you are operating 

Michelle: I think we both have one major thing in common is that we love this community and it's a beautiful community to serve. And so for people who want to find you or read your book, how can they find you?

Judy: Well, the book is available at all major books, booksellers and many of the independent ones request it getting to baby book.com. It will be released April 9th. So I'm not sure when this is released, but April 9th will be released. It can be pre-ordered. You can follow me at Fertile Nutrition or on my website, mindbody nutrition.com [00:39:00] and Angela.

Angela: And you can also request the book from your library. So libraries don't automatically stock books, but if individuals make a request to a library, the library can order the book. So that's something to know as well. And then I'm at AngelaThiremd. com or at AngelaThiremd on Instagram.

Michelle: Awesome. It was such a pleasure meeting the two of you. You guys are so nice and so knowledgeable and just really lovely to talk to. So thank you so much for coming on the podcast today.

Angela: Thank you, Michelle.

Judy: Michelle. Thanks, Michelle.

Angela: to you as well. 

EP 284 Defying the Odds: An Incredible Fertility Story of Hope

On tomorrow’s episode of The Wholesome Fertility Podcast, Alana McGlashan of @thenurturedwomban_ shares her personal fertility challenge story and experience with Asherman's syndrome. She discusses the complications she faced after a miscarriage and the diagnosis of severe Asherman's syndrome. Alana shares her journey of healing and preparing her body for conception, as well as her experiences with pregnancy and loss. She emphasizes the importance of connecting with the heart and womb, and the power of self-trust in the healing process. I was deeply moved by her story of hope and how she found strength to listen deeply to her soul’s calling and knowing that she was meant to have her children. Be sure to tune in!

Description:

Alana experienced miscarriage, Ashermans Syndrome & infertility on her journey to conceive. Navigating Asherman's Syndrome was one of the hardest times of her life as she was told due to the severity she may not be able to have children. Sending her on a healing journey that although may have taken 2 years, she now has 2 children later. The medicine she found on her journey she now shares with women in her 1:1 energetic womb explorations, helping women to rewrite the story they have been told on their own fertility journey & setting the foundations for profound healing. You can find her on Instagram @thenurturedwomban_

For more information about Michelle, visitwww.michelleoravitz.com

The Wholesome FertilityFacebook group is where you can find free resources and support: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2149554308396504/

Instagram: @thewholesomelotusfertility

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/

Transcript:

[00:00:00]

Michelle: Welcome to the podcast, Alana.

Alana: Hi, how are you going?

Michelle: Good. So I'd love for you to share your story. I know that it's been a very personal fertility challenge story and definitely defied the odds from what you were told. And I love stories of hope. So I'm very excited to have you on and share your story and your experience with Asherman's syndrome, which I think a lot of people aren't really aware or may not even be aware that they actually have.

Alana: Yeah, absolutely. And at the time, you know, I had no idea what it was and it was something I was searching for in the hopes to hear hope, because I was just hearing a lot of stats and a lot of Let's say stories that I didn't, I didn't want to hear at the time. So I felt pregnant and lost that little baby at 10 weeks.

Alana: And I was a scientist working in Sydney, which is from [00:01:00] where I live, two hours travel away. And I went to the early early pregnancy. room, and they gave me all these options of what you can do next. And. At the time, everything, I would say I was heavily in my masculine energy. Like all just do the things, list out the steps and we will follow them to become parents.

Alana: And because I traveled so far away, I took the option of a DNC, which is a dilation and curette. I'm not sure if that's called anything else anywhere else. And it's just basically the surgical removal. Yeah. Okay, cool. And yeah, and I woke up to complications after that. And, you know, after being told like, it's so routine and I just thought, you know, it would be simple.

Alana: We do this and then I have a bleed and we can start trying again. And I woke up to, yes, as I said, complications. And [00:02:00] feeling really disorientated and I just felt really in my gut like wow what what just happened and they kind of just brushed me off and My doctor, then later, just was like, okay, well it's been six weeks, you haven't got your bleed back.

Alana: Sometimes women need a little bit longer. And I just knew in my gut things weren't right. And for me, I had no period. So 12 weeks, post that surgery. I still had no period. Yeah. And I think maybe around the eight weeks I, I was like, no, my gut's telling me something's not right. I'm going to book a specialist appointment and because they take so long to get into, I thought I'm just going to book it now.

Alana: And if I don't need it, then I can cancel it. 

Michelle: Did you, did you know anything at the time? Did they say something was off or you just kind of felt

Alana: yeah, they, there was nothing ever mentioned of Ashman syndrome. The only thing that they mentioned, I mean, they obviously mentioned some risks that can happen and the risks, risks are a perforated uterus, but it's so [00:03:00]routine that if that was to happen, that was really negligence. And that was all that they had described as a potential risk.

Alana: So I hadn't even heard of Ashman's by this point, like, and so I followed my gut, made this appointment and it must have been around the four month mark after surgery and I told him my story thinking I was just going in there to get a tablet that would just help kickstart everything. Maybe I just needed some help to get things along.

Alana: And again, you know, I was, I was very naive at that time on, of my cycle and understanding my body. And I walked in and told him my story. And basically he said, we, there's something called Ashman syndrome, and I feel that this is, this is your situation. And. We need to get in and have a look like, cause he could do it via scans and then go in and do surgery, but he's like, due to the nature of how long you've already waited and the scar tissue that would be there if it was [00:04:00] confirmed.

Alana: We need to get this cleaned up ASAP basically.

Michelle: Before we continue on the details, I want people to know like, what is Asherman's syndrome?

Alana: So Ashman's syndrome is basically where scar tissue grows inside the uterus and reduces your fertility as a result from some form of surgery. So they might try and say just from DNC, but if you have a baby and maybe there's retained placenta and they clean it out that way, any sort of surgical intervention within your uterus, Could potentially scar.

Alana: And I think what's important for women to know right now is that any change in your period. Or if you're experiencing difficulties falling could be a sign. I have no women after, so the percentage is actually quite low. I forgot to look it up before we jumped on today of Ashermans. But The other women that I had sort [00:05:00] of searched for to bring awareness to our local hospital and their procedures, they had their period, but their periods just were different, a little bit lighter, maybe they didn't go as long, there was just a lot less.

Alana: small signs, which they quite easily then got fobbed off as just being paranoid in a sense. And then all turned out to have different stages of Ashman's, whereas I had none and my stage was quite high. Actually the highest he had seen in my local area. So that was not good news for me.

Michelle: Yeah.

Alana: yeah, so long story short, he said we need to operate and Confirm, and if so, it's a 20 minute procedure, I'll be in and I'll be out.

Alana: And, I thought, oh, I thought my legs were pulled out from me at that moment, but from that surgery I woke up and I felt really disorientated, as you do, and he's standing there waiting for me to wake up to tell me that, [00:06:00] yes, I've confirmed it's Ashman's Syndrome, however, it is so severe, I I've been in there for four hours and I can't see without risking damage to your uterus.

Alana: And I need to do some further tests before we continue. And I remember the first thought I thought of was, am I going to be able to have children? And he had this solemn look on his face and he goes, I have no idea what's possible right now. And I was just. Gutted. Absolutely gutted.

Michelle: Wow. That is so real. I mean to be in a situation like that and just thinking, okay, I'm going to go in and have the surgery and everything's going to be fine, it's going to be, what did he say? 20 minutes? And to actually see that it's really severe so what happened after that? 

Alana: Yeah, so I then had to go you have to allow a little bit of [00:07:00] time for some healing and they put in, I think it depends for the surgeon, but I got a gel put in that just kind of tried to help what he did pull away with the scar tissue not to reform because there is a risk that as he opens it up, like the little spindles might.

Alana: touch and then start to pull together. So they put in this gel that lasts, I think, for four weeks. So I had to wait a month. And then he sent me for a we call it here a sonar histogram. So it's just a ultrasound where they insert water into your uterus. And then they can see like a good picture, the flow, if there's any blocks.

Alana: And I think for women that might have blocked fallopian tubes, sometimes they use this and it can either unblock or at least identify that the fallopian tubes are blocked. And, I'm just going to say that was the worst pain I had ever been in getting that. And again, no one warned me that it could be uncomfortable.

Alana: And I wouldn't say uncomfortable [00:08:00] was the word. And I was just so lucky. I had a girlfriend who came with me and just said, look, I can, I can sit here and hold your hand while they do this. And it probably turned out the reason why for me it was so painful, but I have now heard many other women describe it as quite excruciating.

Alana: Is that my, most of my uterus? was scarred to the point that it was nearly completely shut.

Michelle: Oh, wow.

Alana: And so they were trying to obviously shove water in it and like open it up when it could not. And so that again was like a really hard thing to take. And the specialist had said that he will have to do this with multiple surgeries. The good news is there is a side, there's a little part that is open and he believed if he could get to there, then he could. Remove the rest and it may take a few surgeries, but he just wanted to take his time.

Alana: He didn't want to [00:09:00] cause more damage. And so we had just resigned to the fact that this is a process that needs to be done and there's no rushing it. And the good news was the next surgery, he was able to remove all the scar tissue. And again, he inserted the gel so that the hopes that nothing would close back up.

Alana: And then I had another follow up, just normal ultrasound, because I said, I was too scarred to have that other ultrasound again and yeah. And then from there he's like, okay, this is great. You know, we've got, we've got rid of it. The uterus has opened back up. It's gone to normal shape again. Let's work on your lining.

Alana: So a. Do I call it a symptom afterwards? Is that Your lining may not become thick again. And he is also an IVF specialist. So he was really [00:10:00] wanting my lining to get to a certain thickness that he would put his, or would want his IVF patients to be on which just was not happening. And at first it was really disheartening.

Alana: And so he'd reached out to, there's a guru in Sydney, and then he went further. I think it was It was overseas and he just said, you know, like some of them don't come back, you know, any thicker. And that is, that is their lining. And so obviously being a scientist, I had read all the papers, read all the stats and nothing was looking great to have a baby.

Alana: Some women had not many in the severity that I had. And if they did have one that were high risks the risk was the placenta could attach to your uterus muscle. And just a whole heap of other things that you really don't want to hear when all you want to do is be a mom. [00:11:00] And yeah, so it was like, I just kept going to this place and this place just kept giving me the answers that did not agree with what was in my heart.

Alana: And I just thought this can't be my story. This can't be my only story. And I just had this feeling to expand where I was looking. And so I started to research other modalities. And I thought, you know what, if I can just help support my body, who knows what's possible. And I ended up finding a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who specialized in fertility and I went there weekly for two years.

Alana: Yes. And I felt good. I felt like this was where I was meant to be, but it was really hard to hear the things that she[00:12:00] was saying. Like your body can be trusted. Your body can self heal. Everything's possible because at the time I was so, as I said, in my masculine energy of stats and facts that.

Michelle: hmm.

Alana: how, how, and it wasn't until obviously with the, with the acupuncture and the herbs, my mind started to heal, my heart started to heal, that then my womb had a chance to heal.

Alana: And of course it sent me on this huge journey, deep dive into energetics of the womb and its capacity, its ability. And I started to believe that, whoa, okay. She's a powerful organ, and not just organ, portal for creation. And,

Alana: Right? Tingles! Yeah!

Michelle: Yeah. When you said heart, that struck me. 'cause I know that the heart's connected to the uterus.

Alana: And, [00:13:00] it wasn't, it took me a long time to put two and two together. And, your emotional state. And like, the womb is the element of water, so your emotions. And it's the sister heart, right? So of course, our emotions are going to get stored in our uterus. And if she's too busy trying to hold our emotions that we're not processing, how was I giving her the space she needed to heal in the timeframe I wanted, you know?

Alana: And it was just, my world had opened up. I still had at that time stayed close to the medical system. There was still fears, you know. that if I had fallen pregnant what that then might look like, what that journey may look like. And we decided to focus not on a baby at the moment, just focus on healing, get married.

Alana: And I fell pregnant on my honeymoon or I found out on my honeymoon and we were so excited. But [00:14:00]again, I decided not to get a scan until a bit later, but that, that Bubby had decided only six weeks was it's time on this earth. And as, Sad as that was. It actually gave me the biggest sense of hope. And I realized the message was just give me time,

Michelle: Oh,

Alana: me time.

Michelle: wow.

Alana: And so I was like, okay, this is possible. That was without intervention. That was without any other, cause I had a lot of fear around anyone going in my uterus again, because of course I trusted someone to go in there and do their job. And I came out damaged and that really, and that like, not just you were hurt from that.

Alana: That changed the projection of my life completely. And so I had a lot of mistrust. I didn't want anyone to go near it if I could help it. So I really wanted that natural approach. And as I said, as that strength between [00:15:00] heart and womb grew, I knew that that was going to be possible and I just had to trust that you know, the divine timing of trusting and surrender is not the easiest thing to fall into or follow, but.

Alana: I just had to trust that my heart was guiding me on the path that, that then needed to be.

Alana: Sorry, that brings up lots of emotions thinking about back then.

Alana: And so, yeah, it was, it was actually quite interesting that the divine timing of the, that baby that I then lost the second time, my family suffered a significant loss in like my immediate family not long after. And. I believe that that baby also knew that it wasn't the time because I needed to be there for my little brother.

Alana: And it was, I was just, [00:16:00] you know, at the time you just think, wow, I'm cop and blow after blow. But when you had the little bit of space, you just thought, well, how would I have been able to grow a baby right now? Like I am in so much grief. It, it was insane. And then once He was better. I went on a Bali trip with a best friend and we just, she's like, you just need to, you know, live life a little bit.

Alana: And we went on this retreat and it was when we came back from that, we were like, okay, I feel like we're in a good place now. Like I'm in a good place. Let's just see what happens without the pressure and the timing and the scheduling. I didn't want conceiving to be a job. I really wanted it to be from the heart. And it was about, yeah, because I feel like when you're struggling, you really take the heart out of conceiving and conception.

Michelle: is, you are, every single thing is a quote. I'm like, this is amazing. This is really, I'm [00:17:00] feeling this.

Alana: Conception isn't just the creation between man and woman,

Michelle: Yes.

Alana: It's a co creation with the spirit of that baby and what it, what fuses that love, you know? And. I wanted the next baby to be strong, strong enough to like, whatever we needed to go through, we had each other. And. 

Michelle: Like the stuff that you're telling, like it's making me emotional. Just so you know, like I'm really feeling every word that you're saying, not to interrupt, but continue.

Alana: I probably needed that pause for a second. Yeah. And so then we found out in February I was pregnant and you know what? I knew, I knew instantly this was the baby, that this baby was going nowhere, that they were here and. My dreams had come true. There were still fears around the placenta attaching to my uterus and what that could mean.

Alana: And at the end of the [00:18:00] day, I have resided to the fact that if this was going to be my only baby, so be it because I wanted this baby. And. Yeah, I was in, I was, I had an OB because if things did start to go south, we wanted to be on that early. But anyways, I had a beautiful pregnancy. No complications.

Alana: The placenta was in a great spot. And it even got to the point, because most, the stats had suggested that women with Ashmans have. a caesarean. And again, that fear of do not go near that part of my body. I don't want you there. I really didn't want it if I didn't have to. And I said, can I, can I try, can I try and go natural?

Alana: Like everything is going well. There is no indication of anything wrong. And it was looking good and she thought possibly, but then my son decided to stay in the breech position and [00:19:00] I was not in the place that I am in now where I would continue with a vaginal birth. I mean, I was born a breech baby vaginally.

Alana: And so I found it really hard that the quote I was told was that we have lost the art to birth a breech baby or the skills, not the art. And I was like, Oh, okay. And then today I think, I'm sorry, who's birthing the baby?

Michelle: Mm hmm.

Alana: The mom,

Michelle: Right?

Alana: the mom is birthing the baby. Not you. Yes, you're assisting, but yeah, so, You know, my views today would have changed on that.

Alana: But at the time, again, as I had mentioned, I, we just wanted the baby. And she did give me options to do that, like manipulation, my traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, she was doing all the things to create the space. Yeah. Everything. I had everything going. I had it at home on my toes. I was doing the [00:20:00] upside down poses, which mind you made me feel absolutely terrible.

Alana: And so I just said to my husband, I can't do this. Like. This feels wrong. And and I have to resign to the fact that. He found his position and he was not moving and that's where he wanted to be. And then it was my choice to decide how then that, that became our birth together. And so we had a cesarean beautiful little boy, everything great.

Alana: It all went great. And so afterwards, because of the scarring and that fear that I had around my uterus, I didn't want to fall back in a place of like dissociation and detachment from it. Like I had. Started to rebuild this relationship with my womb. And now they've just. Also added another scar. And I was like, well, I've had one baby who's to say I can't have another like, and so I went on another deeper journey again.

Alana: And with my practitioner of healing this scar tissue and softening it before it has the chance to [00:21:00] really harden in preparation for the next baby. And.

Michelle: And this was acupuncture or another

Alana: Acupuncture at the beginning. And then it was probably for the first six months I did acupuncture and she showed me how to self massage my scar tissue. And what else did we do? There was just a lot of hands on touch. And I think her focus was to remind me that you can still have loving touch on your body.

Alana: After everything I had gone through. And after six months, It got a little bit hard with a little baby cause she was in Sydney where I had found it cause it was close to where it was really hard to get up to her. And now that he was starting to move and be mobile, it was a lot harder to have a session on my own.

Alana: And so then I started looking at other modalities. I thought, well, okay, I've done all the acupuncture. Let's see what else there is. And I come across a lady who did Yoni steaming and she did energetic [00:22:00] support. Consultations beforehand. And it became just a really beautiful practice where I could turn within and I could nourish myself and just steam and just visualize the blood flow going back to my uterus and everything being soft and really in that feminine essence, that feminine energy to allow that nurturing to happen to my womb.

Alana: And I went weekly. Until my bleed came back, which was 14 months post as I was a breastfeeding mom postpartum. And, you know, we were kind of on this urgency, let's, let's fall pregnant straight away because of everything we had. We didn't expect it to take two years to get our son. And I'm already in my thirties.

Alana: So there was like that time pressure to, all right, if we want more children, cause you know, we had always talked about having four and we're like, Oh gosh, I don't know if four is going to happen now, but if we can get. You know, on the roll, we'll see what happens. And so I had to reduce my breastfeeds to get my bleed [00:23:00] back so that we could fall pregnant.

Alana: And when we decided to start consciously conceiving, so I think it was just the month of that I ended up with my bleed. I started to feel this essence, this person, this spirit around me. And it was the first time I had really started to attune into these senses. And. I just could feel this girl, this pink.

Alana: I could see pink around me when when she'd just show up. And it was really interesting because the month I fell pregnant. So obviously that two week wait, I couldn't feel her. I didn't know where she was. And I was like, Oh, I feel like she's here. And I was pregnant and I didn't tell anyone apart from the lady that I went to Yoni steaming, because we'd always talk about, you know what, what do I feel like a baby might be?

Alana: And I was like, to be honest, I can actually sense this female around me. And I just get these glimpses of[00:24:00] pink like a pink orb and yeah. And then it turned out I had a daughter and what was beautiful about that pregnancy, I mean, we didn't find out. I like to just wait till birth to find out what the gender of our babies are.

Alana: And. I did not want to go back to the hospital system. I didn't want to be put in a place where they would just see my history and then start to implement things that then of course would lead to other interventions that I didn't want. I didn't want to be supported in that way. I knew the capability of my body.

Alana: I, like my pregnancy was again, a really gentle, easy pregnancy. I mean, I was very sick, but overall easy. And. I decided to home birth. And again, that was like a huge thing. Like in my immediate community, you know, no one does that. And so I didn't want to tell anyone cause I didn't need anyone's opinion [00:25:00] to discourage me from this because I had, I think it was just before I tested on a stick and I only tested on the stick to show my husband, like I didn't, I already knew I was pregnant.

Alana: I had this vision that the birth would be at home. And so I really just wanted to trust that That was again, where I needed to go and I needed to trust. And that took a lot of self confidence to be able to say, no, this is, this is what I want to do and why. And yeah, I had my daughter at home and now I always knew that like my journey was.

Alana: A lesson to be learned. It was a, because if I continued on the path I had continued, I would not be the woman I am today. I wouldn't be the mother I am today. I wouldn't be making the choices I've been making for myself and my family today. And it was like a realignment, but also a [00:26:00] gift for medicine for me to be able to share with women.

Alana: And, you know, I want my story to be heard, but I've also then set up my own business so that I can still be at home with my babes because I want to raise my children. And I want to help women who feel like their story is just hurdle after hurdle. And what I've learned in this, this journey is like what we see in our physical body is only the tip of the iceberg.

Michelle: Oh, yes.

Alana: Yeah, and like when we're looking and talking about our womb, the energetic womb, there is so much she holds and there's so much healing that needs to start there. And the first thing I like to check with women is that connection between heart and womb, is there coherence and resonance? How are they emotionally feeling?

Michelle: my language.

Alana: right. And, [00:27:00] and that's why I, I love listening to your podcast because I just was like, you get this. 

Michelle: I feel the same way about you, by the way.

Alana: And now I, I want women to like know how important it is to care for your womb and what we're seeing as manifestations on the physical side, the root cause. The reason that you may not be seeing change is not in the physical. It's in your energetics. Yeah.

Michelle: 100 percent Oh my God. I mean, I'm telling you, like, I'm so moved by your story, but also it just fascinates me like beyond fascinates me. When you were saying that you're a scientist, like from somebody who came from a science perspective and background, and yet, even though you were still there, you still had your inner voice.

Michelle: Letting know something was off, like the doctors didn't tell you anything was off. Nobody came to you after[00:28:00] the surgery and said, you know, something looks off. You figured it out. You knew it from the inside out. The wisdom within your body spoke to you

Alana: Absolutely.

Michelle: heard it.

Alana: Yeah. And I think sometimes for women, if you allow that external noise to be too loud, you're going to feel it in your heart. You're going to feel it as grief, as sadness, as like, why is this happening? But that noise is too loud.

Michelle: Mm

Alana: And. You know, if, if all you take away from my story is that deep knowing it's okay to know that your path could be different and maybe that's your sign to go searching elsewhere

Michelle: I mean, yeah, it's incredible. First of all, it takes a lot of courage. Oh, I mean, it takes a [00:29:00] lot of courage to hear something from an authority figure, especially if it's like people you're relying on and in the medical community and I'm just FYI, I'm not saying not to listen to your doctors but for your specific journey, your journey Had twists and turns and part of it did rely on you listening to your own gut and, and really getting to the bottom of it.

Michelle: And you remind me a lot of a patient who came on the podcast, her name was Amy and she was in her forties. And she also was told she couldn't get pregnant with her own eggs and that she was approaching menopause. And she ended up having two babies afterwards, healthy babies. And she had this determination in her.

Michelle: She was just, there was this. Kind of strength. And her voice was so loud, like her inner voice and not her voice. Her inner voice was so loud in telling her, no, no, no, no, no, you gotta, and she had this [00:30:00] determination within her that I see in you. And it's not something that is easy for everybody to answer that call.

Michelle: Like it's not an easy call to answer

Alana: No. And it's, it's a fire within, but it doesn't mean it's an easy path. And it's like, you have to have the courage to continue to choose, to continue to choose what you know to be true. And I had many challenges. There was many times where I was like, well, I feel like the universe sometimes goes, are you sure?

Alana: Because you can choose here if you want to, because we were given choice on this, on this earth. Right. And you can choose to go this way because maybe you believe this is easier. Or keep going as a reminder, you know, just to, to, to choose and yeah, that fire and that courage, like there was a lot of times where I felt like, I don't know, [00:31:00] you know, because you don't know, there's so much unknown and the world really like thrives on structure because that brings safety and that brings knowing and this path can be so unknown and all, all you can do is put one foot.

Alana: In front of the other and trust yourself, just trust in yourself, because then the pieces will start to fall and they will start to come. Yes, you may need to choose yourself, but keep choosing yourself and your baby. Because if you desire a baby, that desire is meant for you. Can you trust that?

Michelle: You know what they say, there's that Rumi quote, it says, what you seek is seeking you.

Alana: Yeah. Because otherwise, why would we? Why would we have that desire to do so?

Michelle: I really believe that. That, thank you for saying that because I really, really believe that to be true. And I think a lot of people. learn from so many different opinions and so much of that noise, outside [00:32:00] noise, it dilutes their faith in that being true. Just because we don't have proof for something doesn't mean it's not true.

Alana: Yeah. And you get to, you get to decide what's true for you. And I think that's when you come back to the medical system and your doctors is just having a place of discernment. Is this really true for you? And you know, if you can come from a place of self-trust and that self-trust guided you to go there, absolutely listen to that.

Alana: Like my message is, listen and guide from within.

Michelle: And when you talk about that heart, well, like there's this heart brain coherence, but the heart has. An energy field that's stronger than any other organ in our body. And people think it's all in the brain, but the heart actually has a way larger magnetic field. It has such an important role on our mind and it has such an important role on our uterus, [00:33:00]which is life giving and love gives life, breathes life.

Michelle: So talk about that resonance and that coherence and what you've learned about it. When it comes to the heart and the uterus.

Alana: so I want to start with a quote from Joe Dispenza that I had just recently heard, and it kind of just put the words to place of what I was feeling, and it, he says, We only accept, believe, and surrender to the thoughts that are equal to our emotional state. We only accept, believe, and surrender to the thoughts that are equal to our emotional state.

Alana: And I was like, they're the words that I'm kind of searching for. Right. Because a lot of my sensations that come through me are feelings. So I knew the heart needed to heal and healing the heart allows for the womb to heal and this relationship, this agreement between the two, like the womb holding on temporarily to [00:34:00] emotions, to.

Alana: then return to the heart so the heart can process and leave our body. And so there was a lot of practices that I have incorporated and I still do them daily where I will do a little visualization and my intention is always love. And You can still have love and gratitude, even if you're feeling deep sadness.

Alana: And it's not about, I don't want to be sad anymore. Let's reject that. This is grief is one of the deepest emotions you can have that has profound healing when you allow it to run its course.

Michelle: Yes.

Alana: And I think for women who are trying to conceive, when you're struggling, the thoughts that start to come up why me? Why is my womb not working? I can't, I [00:35:00] can't fall pregnant. I can't do this. You know there is anger, there is a disconnection and disassociation from your womb and really. In this society, we are already starting from a place of disconnection from our first bleed and reconnecting, honing in. And sometimes it's as simple as 30 seconds, close down your eyes, put your hand on your womb.

Alana: You take a deep belly breath,

Alana: visualizing your hands that are warm. That mama hug that you just love to feel. Wrapping around your womb.

Alana: And then telling it, I love you. Thank you for everything you are doing. [00:36:00] I know you want this too.

Alana: And then bringing your hand back to your heart space.

Alana: Feel that heartbeat.

Alana: Your own rhythm. beating in your womb

Alana: and feel the love between the two.

Alana: Maybe you like to envision a rope, a golden cord, connecting, vibrating,

Alana: sending out this beautiful white light. That's so strong and so pure.[00:37:00]

Alana: Feel it wrap around your body,

Alana: feel it encapsulate you.

Alana: And then on your next inhale, breathe it all back in, breathe it into your cells, every inch of your being, physical, emotional mental and spiritual

Alana: and opening your eyes and practicing a simple visualization I found daily was strengthening this reconnection. It allowed my inner voice to be heard. It built trust and surrender to the process because pregnancy, birth, motherhood, it is all setting you up. It is not something that you can plan out.

Alana: The key is surrender.

Michelle: hmm. Oh, [00:38:00] yeah.

Alana: I get reminded of that every day.

Michelle: Yeah, I think we all do, even though we've been on the path for a long time, the spiritual path really, that is in the path of truth and alignment. It doesn't matter. We get reminded every single day and I can literally talk to you for hours. I mean, There's just so much, so much information, so many things, so many ahas that I felt talking to you and I really truly think that you are so aligned in, I mean, I literally think that you're channeling wisdom.

Michelle: You're very much connected to that. I can feel it. I could feel the truth in your words. I can feel the alignment I feel the awareness and the knowing and the true knowing of thyself. I think know thyself that's like the key and the only way to do that is to get quiet and To connect with your inner wisdom and to hear what your body is telling you because the more you hear it The more your connection with it gets stronger.

Michelle: And of [00:39:00] course I can talk to you for hours, but we don't have as much as I wish, but, but I would love for you to share how people can find you and how people can work with you.

Alana: Yeah, absolutely.

Michelle: are inspired, which I know they are from your story.

Alana: So you can find me on Instagram at the nurtured woman. Womb, W O M B A N and currently the way to work with me is through my one on one sessions and they're energetic womb explorations for one hour where we can just dive into your current state, your desire, and really start honing into this connection between heart and womb with then obviously the opportunity to extend.

Alana: But That is the point of contact.

Michelle: Awesome. Well, I definitely feel you are connected to that womb. wisdom and I know that womb wisdom does actually speak to us. So Alana, [00:40:00] thank you so much for coming on here today. Sharing your incredible story, like really incredible. Like I felt it on every level of my being. It got me emotional listening to your story.

Michelle: And I thank you so much for coming on today.

Alana: you so much for having me. It was such a pleasure.

EP 267 | Five Things You Should Look Into If You’re Trying To Conceive

On today's episode, I'm going to talk about five things you should look into if you're experiencing fertility challenges. And some of these things may actually provide answers if you have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility. It’s important to note that this episode is not meant to give any medical advice and it is not meant to override what your healthcare provider has diagnosed you with or has advised you to do, but it is something that may help uncover a lot of questions that you have. So, staytuned.

In this episode I will go over:

-Common ways to uncover hidden reasons for unexplained infertility.

-Why your gut can be a key factorin your fertility health.

-What type of doctor you should choose to get baseline tests

Click here to save your spot in the Winter Cohort of The Wholesome Fertility Transformation! https://www.michelleoravitz.com/Fertility-Transformation-Group-Coaching

Pick up your free e-book mentioned in the podcast here:

https://www.michelleoravitz.com/making_the_clean_choice_for_fertility

For more information about Michelle, visit www.michelleoravitz.com

The Wholesome Fertility facebook group is where you can find free resources and support: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2149554308396504/

Instagram: @thewholesomelotusfertility

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus

 Before I get to today's podcast episode, I have an exciting announcement to make. Over the past few months, I've been working very hard to create a program that gives you the main things you've been asking for. Hands on support for me, access to my proven foundational framework, and community and accountability.

Most importantly, I've created this program to take you off the roller coaster of your fertility struggles and give you the tools to transform your fertility in just eight weeks.  I am honored to introduce you to The Wholesome Fertility Transformation.  A live eight week coaching program  designed to guide you through a proven, evidence based method of my signature program called The Wholesome Fertility Method. And that is the framework, but it will also provide hands on support with me to help you improve your chances of conceiving. So 

I'll be running this program only four times a year, and each cohort is aligned with seasons, winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Because each season only supports 10 people, it will have limited spots available. I will be putting a link on the episode notes that you can find it, and if you're interested, I would definitely do it as soon as possible because I am limiting the amount of people because I want to make it an intimate experience for all the participants so that I'm really able to help each individual.

This program not only includes coaching calls, but it also has an initial onboarding call with me, which is a one on one. So it definitely. is catered to customize your specific needs and your specific questions. And I'm so excited to announce this. It is the first time ever that I'm doing this and it is open for a limited time.

So if you are interested and you've been listening to this podcast , and you feel aligned with the things that I've been sharing, this will be that times a thousand so it really is my heart and soul poured into a program. It's also something where I will be there live with you to walk you through and help you to absolutely boost your chances of conceiving.

And I work very hard to make sure that everybody I work with gets the most benefits and gets the outcome they signed up for. So I look forward to seeing you there!

Transcript:[00:00:00]

Welcome to the Wholesome Fertility Podcast. On today's episode, I'm going to talk about five things you should look into if you're experiencing fertility challenges. And some of these things may actually provide answers if you have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility. Now, this episode is not meant to giveany medical advice and it is not meant to override. What your healthcare provider has diagnosed you with or has advised you to do, but it is something that may help uncover a lot of questions that you have. So, stay tuned. So the following five things I'm going to be talking about are things that I think can help uncover, especially if you have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility.Number one, I'm going to talk about testing. So hopefully you guys have already been tested, but this is something that sometimes I do get patients and they're experiencing fertility challenges and to my surprise, they[00:01:00]haven't gotten baseline tests, which can really help a lot. Especially just to rule out anything major. So number one, I do suggest that everybody get baseline tests with their doctors.And most of the time. Either your OB will cover these tests, and a lot of times they do. A reproductive endocrinologist is a better choice just because they specialize in reproductive medicine. And the OBs usually do understand a little bit, but they're not as well versed as a reproductive endocrinologist.

And typically a reproductive endocrinologist will pay a little more attention to things like your thyroid and more anything really that has to do with fertility. So they are types of doctors that I recommend going to if you are experiencing fertility challenges, just because you're going to get a lot more of a[00:02:00]thorough workup.

And some of these baseline tests they usually do are day two, three of your period.And typically blood is drawn during that time. And they check for lots of different hormones, but that's where they find out your FSH and how high it is. And if that means that your ovaries aren't responding as well.

And then they also check typically a full thyroid panel.

So basically it's a bunch of different hormones that give a lot of insight to the doctor to figure out what's going on. And again, this is a baseline and typically this is really where a lot of doctors will start. Another thing that they will recommend, and it is a little bit more of a procedure, but it's not terrible.

It's not like they put you under, but an HSG to make sure that your tubes are clear.Again, it's a, bit of a procedure, it's not the most comfortable thing in the[00:03:00]world. But once it's over, typically, you should feel fine. And I do highly recommend doing that because You could look into everything and not figure out why things aren't working But then when you find out if your tubes are partially or fully blocked it's important for so many reasons because you need toknow if that's the reason why you're not conceiving and then it can also lead you into Looking into other things like was there pelvic inflammation, or you can also look into possibly endometriosis, like what could it be that's possibly blocking your tubes?

And that can kind of lead you into a whole host of other things, but things that are actually really important to look into. And also, if it's partially blocked, it can cause an increased chance of ectopic pregnancy, which is dangerous. And that's something that you really want to look into. So, those[00:04:00]are the reasons why I think it's really important to look into an HSG, because everything thatyou're doing, taking care of yourself, you can go to acupuncture, you could do lots of different natural ways of trying It's not going to make a difference if your tubes are blocked.

So that's something that's really important to look into. Typically they'll also do an ultrasound and that's where they'll look at like your number of follicles and how they're growing. If there are too many, which typically you'll see with PCOS andt hey call it polycystic ovary. And the cysts are actually lots of follicles that are growing, but they're not fully maturing and not fully ovulating.

So, that will also give you insight on which direction you should go into. And then also, let's not forget about the men, a semen analysis, and they also do ultrasounds, and they look into the sperm and how they're operating, if they're Shape is optimal, and that typically will be the morphology, the look at the number,[00:05:00]is it high enough to make a difference, and also the motility, how they move, and how much semen there is.

Sometimes they can be dehydrated and not have enough seminal fluid. So all those things are definitely important to look at and then with an ultrasound They'll look to make sure that all the parts are okay and like with women they'll look at like the tubes and men Sometimes they'll see that there's a varicose cell, which is basicallyAn enlarged vein that can cause issues with the sperm as well so it's important to really just get baselines for everybody and typically that will be covered with insurance and But that really, it depends on the office, it depends on the state, I don't know, like, or it depends on the type of insurance you have, but typically labs are covered by insurance and so that's number one.

You really want to rule out like the big stuff and that is with mainstream medicine[00:06:00] conventional medicine baseline testing you want to make sure that You just rule out like all the big things. So that's number one I think everybody should be doing this regardless if you end up wanting to get IVF or not I think a lot of people gethesitant about going to a fertility clinic because they think That that means they'regoingto do IVF. They may suggest IVF. You don't have to say yes or no you couldjust go and get the tests One thing that I can say is they will know what they'redoing as far as the testing goes So it is important to at least just gather informationand they will be better to go to them for information when it comes to fertilityThen your OB because your OB does a bunch of other things, but they're notspecifically specialized in fertility You want somebody who's specialized andreally understands what it meansand what the body's supposed to do And what isout of whack and what are things that are like red flags to pay attention to?So that's something that I definitely[00:07:00]suggest Number two, connected totesting, but functional testing, so that's a little bit different. It's a little bit more detailed, so for example, the Dutch test, that's something that I run. It stands for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones, and it really is an amazing test. Ilove it. And all you have to do is really urinate at a certain time of the month, and that basically, they'll have you urinate at different times of the day so that they can see how your hormones fluctuate. That's really why this test is so superior is because Usually when you go and get tests, it's one snapshot at one time of the day and this test will take those snapshots throughout the day throughout to see like what is your waking cortisol and are you waking up enough?Do you possibly have signs of adrenal fatigue and sometimes[00:08:00] even though we're not diagnosing, sometimes you will see patterns that typically happen with low thyroid, but what that could do is it can alert. The person that you're working with or, you know, as a practitioner to go and get further tests done with your doctor. And also we can look into progesterone. So perhaps you might need progesterone.It also looks into how your estrogen is metabolizing in your body. And if you're estrogen dominant, if you have the right type of estrogen, your, your body's really processing it correctly. It also looks at your melatonin at night, which is really important. It's important for many different reasons, and it also looks into your DHEA and confirms if you're ovulating. So there's so many things that it does, and it even looks into certain nutrients that you have in your body. Like glutathione or B12.So, do you need to supplement with[00:09:00]more glutathione? It gives thepractitioner a little more detail and a little bit more guidance on how to treat youmore specifically.So, I highly recommend the Dutch test at least once. to really get a clear picture ofwhat's happening in your system. And then if it is imbalanced, I would definitelysuggest doing it again after a couple of months of implementing certain diet andsupplement regimens and lifestyle suggestions that your practitioner gives you.So that's definitely something that I would look into. So another thing that I highlysuggest from functional testing is food sensitivity tests. Because that's going tohelp you understand if there are certain foods that are irritating your system. If youare sensitive to foods that can cause inflammation, it basically is going to drainyour body because when your body is resistant to something and it's causing kindof like a hyper immunity,then it's going to drain the energy of your body.

And we don't[00:10:00]want that. That's number one. Number two, if you do endup getting more inflamed, then you're not going to be able to absorb nutrients correctly. You want your nutrient absorption. to be as efficient as possible because you want your energy, which happens from nutrient absorption. You want yourenergy to be as efficient as possible because conception takes a lot of energy.High energy is required for reproduction to occur. So that is definitely something that I would highly recommend and I think is very important. So related to that, I would definitely recommend, if you can, gut testing as well. And that you could doat home from a functional test for gut. And typically, you'll get a small sample ofthe stool. It's not as bad as it seems. You just take a little like sample of your poop.While you're wiping and then you send it you put it in a little vial and you[00:11:00]send it in and what that does is they check your microbiome, andtheycan also look at factors that contribute to inflammation in the body and I've workedwith people for months and then once we started to do, we've done a gut test.like months later, my patient decided she wanted to do it. Not everybody wants todo itbecause it is costly, but her choice to do it actually helped me as thepractitioner to see, to get more insight on shifting our supplements.And I'll be honest, that was huge. It was a key factor and it really did change a lotbecause she ended up getting pregnant. Like shortly after so it definitely helpedlower the inflammation. We got a little bit of a better Insight on what was going onin her gut and the guts really important when it comes to fertility health Somethingelse I recommend.This is another test which is often[00:12:00]ignored or Maybe not even ignoredpeople don't even know about it And that is vaginal microbiome testing. So,basically, it's a swab in the vagina and you basically send it in and it tests for themicrobiome of the vagina.Like, basically, if also not just the microbiome but alsothe acidity.And what they found is that there is a correlation, which is fascinating, withinflammation in the uterus. and an imbalanced vaginal microbiome. And there'salso a correlation betweenunexplained infertility and an imbalance of vaginalmicrobiome. And it's also linked with frequent miscarriages, and it's also linked with failed IVF transfers.So that is really, that was blew me away when I saw it. I remember going to Megasporobiotic, the company that makes it, it's[00:13:00] a probiotic that I highly recommend and the company that makes it, they're called Microbiome Labs, and I went one weekend and saw a bunch of speakers, one of which was Dr. JoleneBrighton, and she talked about this.She talked about the importance of vaginal microbiome, and I was floored becauseI couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe What it was connected to and all of thethings, I mean, just to think that women are going through months and months andmonths andmonths and not even realizing that this is the case or if they're trying toprepare their body for a transfer and not realizing that they need to protectthemselves and, and make sure that this is not an issue because they're spending somuch money.So that was fascinating. And another thing that I found fascinating was once Istarted learning more about this and implementing it. I had one patient who wasdoing her retrieval and transfer in Spain, and so she already did the[00:14:00]retrieval. She had eggs, and she was going to go for her transfer in Spain.In Spain, it is commonplace to check the vaginal microbiome, and they actuallyalways give vaginal suppositories, so that would be the solution if there is an issue,is vaginal suppositories that are probiotics. And that should start to regulate it. Soshe was getting ones from Spain. I was really fascinated.And interestingly enough, she ended up getting pregnant. So it was a successfultransfer, but I thought it was so fascinating that that is something that is so ignoredreally in the US. So that's something that I started. to a lot of my patients who arehaving unexplained infertility, frequent miscarriages or any kind of imbalance thatseems to point in that direction.So that's something that I definitely suggest looking into.And what these tests can do is provide more insight on what's going on, moreclarity,[00:15:00]really, to understand. So you're not guessing, and you're nottrying so many different things for so long, almost like a shot in the dark, withoutrealizing, like, really what's going on.And the difference with functional testing, I mean, the, I guess the con is thatthey're out of pocket. They're not really covered by insurance, but they're a lotmore sensitive to things that are often missed in conventional testing. So that Idefinitely recommend doing if you can. And then number three.

Look into your energy. So I touched on this a little bit on the functional testing about energy and how important it is to have energy when itcomes to conception.Conception is a very energy dependent process on your body and it needs a lot of fuel. A lot of fuel. And oftentimes, We are having energy leaks that we[00:16:00]don't even realize are goingon. And ask yourself, are you energy deficient? So, typically, if you feel especiallyafter eating, you feel really drained, there might be something that you need tolook into with your digestion.Or are you feeling drained at the end of the day? Are you getting enough sleep?Are you sleeping solid throughout the night? Or is it disrupted? It's not even aboutquantity, it's more about quality when it comes to sleep. Are there things orrelationships that are draining you emotionally? I'll be honest, emotions areincredibly taxing if there are like certain negative emotions that you're feeling orsadness or frustration with certain relationships and sometimes you might need toreally Make those boundaries firm so that you are not exposing yourself to thingsthat are very energy draining Especiallywhen you're going through this journey.So in this[00:17:00]journey, I always tell my patients my clients It's important toprotect yourself. It's important to protect your personal energy and You shouldn'thave to feel bad about it. So like if it meanslearning to say no, then that's what itmeans you have to learn to say no because ultimately, this is more important and ittakes priority over everything and sometimes that means you have to draw firmboundaries around yourself and you're around your spouse and just really protectyour own energy and not be around certain relationships or certain people orcertain things that can drain that energy.So, it's really important to look into your energy and I highly suggest Even startingto journal could be like a little energy journal prompt looking into what is drainingyou Are there certain things that you feel like you're putting up with and justwriting a[00:18:00]list and I remember doing that one time Because I had a coachthat was telling me to do thatLike what are the things that you are putting up with?I think that is such a great question What are things that you're putting up withbecause we all have things that we put up with and then just writing a list and then you can obviously Take out the ones that you can't not put up with. I mean, there's certain things that you just can't avoid. Okay. So that those are important things that you really can't escape, but then ask yourself, what are the things that you really don't need to be putting up with and how are ways that you can shut that down or close it off so that you won't have to put up with it?Because little by little, all that does is it really sheds light. on what it is in your life that's like sucking little bits of energy. So it could be little leaks. It doesn't have to be big. And I'll be honest, I'll give you one example, having a pile of clutter in the corner of your[00:19:00]room that you're like, you know, I'll get to this one day.living with that, every single time you see that clutter, it's going to leak a little bit of energy. So sometimes just taking that day out of your weekend and just saying, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to actually take care of this list. I'm going to get rid of these things that have been hanging over my head.And that is a way to close an energy leak. Creating boundaries with people that drain you. That is another way. Setting boundaries at work, that's another way. I mean, there's little things. Expressing yourself for something that has not been expressed or you've been afraid to express.It might be uncomfortable, but that's another way that you can protect your energy.Because when you are holding onto something that you're not expressing and that needs to be said, That could be draining your energy. That's just like holding on to something that's like slowly brewing and sucking your energy.So forgiveness, that's another way of protecting your energy. Letting go ofsomething, letting go of[00:20:00]certain resentments. I know it's very simplisticand it's not something that's going to happen overnight in certain cases, but theseare things to just keep in mind because it's almost like a great example is likeiPhone.All the things that are running in the background. Make it less energy efficient. It'snot going to function as well So what are the things that are lying in the background of your life and they could be on all levels that are making you?Drained so those are things to keep in mind. Are you also over exercising and thenI'm going toactually go into eating because that Definitely can impact if you're overeating that is not energy efficient if you're under eating that is not Energy efficient.So that takes us into number four, which is, are you eating enough or are you overeating? Are you eating what is good for your body? Are you eating energy richfoods? Are you eating processed foods, which are pretty much dead food in a package?[00:21:00]And yes, there are some freeze dried foods that are not so bad and they are made from whole foods.from real grown foods and they don't have tons of ingredients that you can't pronounce. So those are not so bad. They're kind of like in the middle, but are you eating things with lots of processing? Basically food that has no life or are youeating whole foods things that are nourishing your body?Things that your body's compatible with because it could be something that's grown that your body just doesn't respond well to. And that kind of takes us back.See, this is kind of everything's connected. It takes us back to the functional testing, the food sensitivities. Are you eating things that are right with your body?And truthfully, you can figure that out without necessarily having to do a test.Sometimes just writing a journal of how you feel when you eat certain foods, oreven just paying attention. Like, you know what, whenever I eat dairy, I havediarrhea. Well, that can't be[00:22:00]good. So like things like that, like how doesmy body Feel.Do I get really bloated after I eat bread? I was bloated for years and years andyears and I ignored that. And eventually I quit gluten and my energy shot up. Sothat's another thing. So like, are you eating the right foods? Are you eating avariety of foods? So the gut microbiome loves, again, we're makinganotherconnection.The gut microbiome loves variety. Trying to, you know, eating different things, eating different fibers, different like really the rainbow when it comes to your vegetables and your fruits and having healthy fats, having seeds, nuts, you know, things that feel good to your body and give you energy and also not overstuffing yourself because then your body can't absorb correctly your food.Are you taking time to chew when you are eating? When you're taking time to chew, you're helping your digestive system. You're pretty[00:23:00]much preparing it so that it's almost like that sous chef. You're the sous chef for your body's kitchen. And when you're chewing it, and properly chewing it, you're preparing it so that it's able to cook well and transform into nutrients that yourbody can use.So doing that plus obviously the chewing, but as you're chewing longer, you're alsomixing in that amazing enzyme rich saliva. which is also helping your digestion. So those are things that are really important to do. Making sure that you have areally good proper diet that is nourishing for your body.And I'll be honest, the diet alone can make such a difference for fertility health.Just the diet alone.So, on to number five, and this is The last one, and it's a very important one, isyour home clean of toxic ingredients?[00:24:00]And I'm going to mentionsomething before I even go into this. Nobody's going to get it 100%. So don't try,because that can cause a whole other level of OCD that I've seen. However, it isimportant enough, and it really does make a difference, that It is important enoughto bring up.There are many ways that Endocrine disruptors can come into our life and one ofthem which I see a lot is plastics If you can avoid all plastics andnot just the onesthat say BPA free Really try to avoid all plastics that being said if I'm away AndI'm pretty because I know all of this stuff. It does make me a little OCD, I guess,but if I'm away and all I can have is a plastic bottle of water, I have a plastic bottleof water.It's not like you have to do things 100 percent all the time because you don't wantto stress yourself out. It can be. too overwhelming.[00:25:00]But if you can,instead, at home at least, you can get yourself a container, a bottle that is glass orstainless steel, and then you can look into like green pan or like more non toxic Ihonestly, sometimes I'll just, green pan I'll have if I want to do something that'snonstick for certain foods, but for the most part, I will have stainless steel.I just cook with stainless steel. Those are great. There's a little trick to not makingit stick. You can actually put the stainless steel. Pan on the fire or like the stovetopfor a little while. You let it get to a certain level. One of the ways you can test isyou could take a drop of water and put it in.If the drop of water creates a bead. You can wipe it off really quick, and then thatis a perfect temperature. Then you can put the oil, and you can put even a chicken,and it will not stick. So the trick with that, with making it non stick, is to[00:26:00]let it heat, kind of like a fun fact, let it heat to a certain point.I actually remember seeing that online. You could find information, you can evenGoogle on YouTube if you really want to see exactly how to do it. You Google or you search on YouTube how to make a stainless steel pan non stick. And so that is the simplest way to have clean products. Ceramics are good too, so you have to just be aware of that and then there are certain ones that have been tested with less, the ceramics as far as plates, not having lead because there have been tested products that have shown that they do.So those are things that you can look into. And then, ingredients for products.There's many ways. There's ewg. org. You know, there's certain ways that you can look it up so that it's not as overwhelming. There are definitely ingredients that can be endocrine disruptors[00:27:00]to make it simple so that it's not as overwhelming I actually created an e book so you could check that out I'm going to put it in the episode notes and it's called making the clean choice for fertility whereI really outline Everything there. It'll also direct you to websites and resources where you can look up certain ingredients to see or products themselves to see what their rating is. So that's going to help a lot as well. So just to simplify it without getting into the details of unpronounceable words. That could be really overwhelming. Just check out my ebook cause it's free. It's got all the information and I will cover pretty much like the big ingredients to avoid and what to look forand how to make it really simple and easy. And the truth is once you do that, once you start to just.Change the ingredients of your products, then it's just going to get easier because you're just[00:28:00]reordering and then you just stay on one specific pattern. So it's not as hard as it seems. It becomes second nature, I promise. So those are the five things that I highly recommend looking into if you're trying to conceive.I think everybody should look into it and that is why I created this episode. I do hope you enjoy this episode and if you have any questions for me, you can always feel free to find me on Instagram. I'm there every day. You can DM me and myInstagram handle is at the wholesome lotus fertility. So thank you so much for tuning in today.

Have a beautiful day.