Cautious Optimism: An Infertility Podcast

We are so excited to share this interview this week! Karly sits down with Chelsey and her gestational carrier (surrogate) Michelle Burton to discuss the amazing experiences these two have undergone over the last year. Michelle shares her amazing perspective she was able to have while carrying Chelsey’s baby girl and how it has been something she has always wanted to do.  We discuss the relationship that these two ultimate strangers had to develop and work on to make this journey no doubt one of the most meaningful of both of their lives. Tune in to hear the most amazing story with so many miracles along the way that ultimately brought baby Arlo into the world. 

Karly, Chelsey & Karin are together again on today's episode to talk about the sometimes very difficult emotions that can accompany Mother's Day.  We want you to know that wherever you find yourself today that we love you, see you, and validate your joy or pain. We love and appreciate you all! 
"Don't let sadness obscure the view.  Your covenants have already paved your path.  Keep going.  You are doing better than you know. I think the Lord would throw His arms around us and let us know we are worthy enough to keep going and our sacrifices have been acceptable before Him.  He would tell us He is reserving for us all that is in our hearts, unspoken things that only He could know. He would say that He sees us and all we do behind the scenes, that we are not invisible to Him.  He would ask of us the same thing He asked Peter: "Lovest though me?...then feed my sheep".  (John 21:15-17)
-Sharon Eubank

We are so thankful and excited to have Becky Freestone on to share her story with us this week! Not only is Becky a cherished friend and neighbor but also an infertility warrior in every way. Her story is incredible and at times unbelievable of how her four miracles came to her and made her a mother. She has persevered through infertility on top of battling an eating disorder for many years. She now uses her own experiences with recovery and tools she has learned to help others who are struggling with eating disorders by providing virtual coaching online. Her story is one not to miss and will leave you feeling inspired and strengthened to conquer the unimaginable trials our bodies sometimes have to face. 

In this episode we are joined by an incredible  Ultrasonographer, educator, and dear friend Kari Wood.  Kari has over 10 years of experience in this industry and has a unique perspective into the challenges of those struggling with infertility as she has provided such a crucial service at sometimes the most pivotal moments of someone’s journey through infertility time and time again. Kari shares the struggle of her profession as she may need to go from one minute giving a patient  the worst news of their life to the next minute giving another patient the best news of their life.  We gained so much more appreciation for our ultrasonography technicians as Kari explains the complicated variables of the job. We are so grateful to her and her mission to create a curriculum for her students on how to better treat patients going through infertility with an appropriate balance between professionalism and empathy.  Thank you Kari sharing your wisdom, compassion,  and allowing us the opportunity to share our own experiences with your students.  We hope ALL educators share your same passion and desires!

We are back this week with an incredible interview with Oakley Peterson @nothingdownaboutit.   Oakley is a Northern California girl who has embraced Utah as her home after marrying her husband Scott 12 years ago.  Oakley describes herself as an advocate, family girl, ex girl band bass player, and just a mom who loves to get loud about the things she is passionate about.  Oakley is a source of light and joy to those who know her both personally and to the hundreds of thousands who follow her lead in the online community that she established in 2013 called @nothingdownaboutit , the happiest and most inclusive place to celebrate "Up Syndrome" .  Since starting this podcast we have wanted the opportunity to hear and learn from Oakley as she has such an incredible gift for sharing her personal experiences with grief and loss through motherhood that create a safe place for such needed connection.  She and her family so beautifully demonstrate how to live Cautiously Optimistic by "letting life surprise them" as they navigate the sometimes complicated but always colorful road of life.  Thank you Oakley for sharing your time and heart with us, we simply adore you.  

Karly, Chelsey, and Karin are excited to be back together again in person on today’s episode.  They catch up on what is going on in their lives including Karly’s BIG 30th Birthday this Monday March 15th.  With all the fun plans to celebrate this big milestone in Karly’s life also comes the conversation of how to handle occasions, celebrations, holidays, or milestones in life that are met with failed expectations. Karly opens the conversation with how this approaching birthday has been hard with the reminder that her family does not look the way she expected it to at the age of 30 and what she does to combat those feelings of disappointment and grief.  Chelsey & Karin also talk about facing unmet expectations in their lives and acknowledge that EVERYONE has or will experience this in their own way. Tune in to hear some of their ideas on what has helped them to work through those difficult emotions & days and to shift their focus on their accomplishments and potential rather than their failures and unmet expectations. 

This week we discuss the importance of self care when dealing with difficult trials such as infertility. Not only is there a physical aspect to the ups and downs of trying to conceive but the mental stress and turmoil is also ever present. We each highlight the different ways we have personally struggled with not implementing great self care as well as sharing things that have helped us to show ourselves some love while going through these challenges. Mindfulness, therapy, exercise and talking things through with someone you trust are some of the techniques we have found helpful in our experiences. Let’s not forget retail therapy! Ultimately, self care is not selfish and there is more that defines us than our infertility even if at times we forget this important truth. We share some thoughts from a wonderful book in this episode and highly recommend it for anyone searching for some useful tools while dealing with infertility: Conquering Infertility by Alice Domar

In today's episode of the Cautious Optimism Podcast Chelsey & Karly interview the amazing Lisa Henderson, a nurse who provides us with so much knowledge, experience, and perspective from working in an infertility clinic. Lisa has been an incredible resource and friend to us through our experiences of infertility and we are so grateful to her for being here with us today.  We learn how Lisa's career lead her to an infertility clinic and why a piece of her heart will always remain there.  Being an IVF nurse comes with many responsibilities and challenges as you try to care for and support your patients through their entire  process through the Infertility Clinic.   Lisa opens up about the low's, high's, and complexities of her career as one minute she would make a call to a patient to deliver the worst news of their life to 5 minutes later calling a patient to deliver the best news of their life.  Lisa sometimes wishes she was also equipped with a degree in counseling to provide further support for her patients through the roller coaster of infertility .  Ultimately Lisa believes that living a life of Cautious Optimism means having the courage to continue towards your goals with a head held high doing the best that you can with what you have been given.  

We are so thrilled to have the inspiring Jenny Hunter with us on this week's episode. When we  were brainstorming in the very beginning of this podcast on who we would like to interview, we all individually thought of this amazing woman because she has touched all of our lives with her light and love! We are so fortunate to have Jenny as one of our neighbors and a fellow member of our religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Jenny is a devoted wife and mother to 5 adorable children all under the age of eight!  From the outside looking in at Jenny and her adorable family you would never guess that she knows the heartbreak of  infertility, we are so grateful for the unique perspective she gives us as she shares such precious pieces of her life.  Jenny lets us in on the difficulty of not only getting pregnant with her children, but the extreme difficulties that followed through pregnancy and a very unexpected diagnosis.  Jenny has a gift to find and focus on the light through the darkness and to recognize the tremendous miracles that have transpired in her experiences with motherhood.   We can't wait for you all to love Jenny as much as we do!

We end our couple interview's with Karin and Stephen this week!  Karin and Stephen just got back from a long anticipated family vacation, so this episode sounds a little different than others because it was recorded via Zoom. Through their trial of recurrent miscarriages Stephen and Karin have realized the importance of communication with one another but also with those closest to them, Stephen opens up about how he has learned to better communicate what is going on in their lives to his family so they can be allowed to be there in both the high and the low moments.  They connect over their shared  faith in eternal families that helps them find purpose in their losses and work towards the day that they will be reunited with all of their babies.  Tune in to hear Karin and Stephen  disclose what has been the hardest, funniest, and most helpful in their experiences with grief and loss.  They remind us to not let life pass us by, to focus on the things we "can" do and understand that each emotion and situation we endure is not forever.  Thank you Karin & Stephen for wrapping up this last couple's interview for our awesome Cautious Optimism Community!