Infertility Feelings

Today, Jesse and Doug are thrilled to be joined by the incredible Dr. Janet Jaffe to dive into how infertility can disrupt our reproductive stories.

We all weave narratives about our lives—stories about our families, our pasts, and our dreams for the future. At the heart of these narratives lies our reproductive story, filled with hopes and dreams of becoming parents.

In this episode, we explore the emotional impact of losing or altering this story. Dr. Jaffe helps us understand the pain that comes with these changes and offers a compassionate framework for rewriting our stories. Together, we’ll discover how to find growth and new beginnings, even when our paths take unexpected turns.

Let’s get started! 🌟

Janet Jaffe, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist who has been working in the field of reproductive psychology for over 25 years.  She is a co-founder and has served as co-director of the Center for Reproductive Psychology in San Diego, CA. Her clinical work focuses on helping individuals and couples navigate the many emotional and psychological pitfalls that can happen on the journey to parenthood.

You can learn more about Dr. Janet Jaffe at drjanetjaffe.com

To learn more about Uniquely Knitted Visit uniquelyknitted.org

Infertility and Politics both bring up lot's of feelings, let's talk about it. 

In this episode Jesse and Doug take a NEUTRAL stance on politics but a hard stance on your (you, the listener) mental health and emotional needs during infertility. We talk about the feelings around infertility and IVF being included in political conversations. We talk about a possible way to approach this election season in light of infertility and our mental health. 

This is not a political podcast and we know that people have very strong opinions on things like infertility, IVF, and politics. At Uniquely Knitted and on The Infertility Feelings Podcast we take a neutral stance on most things and focus heavily on the emotions of the individual struggling with infertility. 

Uniquely Knitted is a Non-Profit Organization serving all who are emotionally affected by infertility. We are on a mission to bring healing to the traumas of infertility and end the isolation that comes with struggling to grow your family.

Learn more at https://uniquelyknitted.org

Infertility is an extreme challenge to any marriage. Finding a way to make it through is so important. 

In this 3rd episode of our Marriage Series Jesse and Doug look at how becoming a growing person individually and in our marriages can create hope and a path forward during infertility. 

However, growing will look different for each couple and include different things depending on the couples needs and unique experiences. 

In this podcast Jesse and Doug talk about why growing is an emotional and practical step towards making it through one of the toughest challenges that can face a marriage. 

Uniquely Knitted is a Non-Profit Organization serving all who are emotionally affected by infertility. We are on a mission to bring healing to the traumas of infertility and end the isolation that comes with struggling to grow your family.

Learn more at uniquelyknitted.org

In this second episode of our three part marriage series we are looking at all the ways infertility impacts our relationship when we go out into the world!

We will be looking at how infertility impacts family dynamics, friend group dynamics, and what the future will look like as a couple.

We are diving into all things, in-laws, brothers, sisters, friends, feeling left behind, and wondering what the future will look like for you as a couple. 

This episode is all about the ways infertility impacts our relationship when we go out into the world. 

Uniquely Knitted is a Non-Profit Organization serving all who are emotionally affected by infertility. We are on a mission to bring healing to the traumas of infertility and end the isolation that comes with struggling to grow your family.

Learn more at uniquelyknitted.org

Infertility impacts every part of your Marriage!

Literally... every part.

Over the next 3 episodes Doug and Jesse will be looking deeply into the topic of marriage. In this first episode we are looking at the ways infertility impacts our personal relationship together!

We will look at communication, intimacy, processing differently, fighting, and all the other ways infertility impacts the interpersonal part of marriage.

For many, marriage plays a huge role in our life and understanding how infertility impacts it is incredibility important.

We also know that not everyone is married. We truly believe however that these conversations will be beneficial for everyone!

Uniquely Knitted is a Non-Profit Organization serving all who are affected by infertility. We are on a mission to bring healing to the traumas of infertility and end the isolation that comes with struggling to grow your family.

Learn more at https://uniquelyknitted.org

Infertility is so stressful that it can cause you to burn out.

But how do you know if you are approaching burnout? What do you do if you are burnt out? What does it feel like to experience burnout?

In this special 100th episode of the Infertility Feelings Podcast Jesse and Doug are jumping into the topic of BURNOUT!

THANK YOU to all of our listeners and thank you for making the first 100 episodes so amazing! Cheers to the next 100! ✨

Uniquely Knitted is a Non-Profit Organization serving all who are emotionally affected by infertility. We are on a mission to bring healing to the traumas of infertility and end the isolation that comes with struggling to grow your family.

Learn more at https://uniquelyknitted.org

When you struggle with infertility you are faced with many difficult decisions. Decisions about how long to try for things, when to switch things up, how much money to spend, where to seek support, and the list goes on and on. 

These Decisions can be overwhelming, anxiety provoking, and cause us to shut down. How are we supposed to emotionally cope with all these decisions! 

Then, on top of that! How are we supposed to make healthy decisions that we feel good about!!

In this episode Jesse and Doug are looking at how these decisions make us feel and how we can get to a place where we are making decisions out of a healthy place. 

Uniquely Knitted is a Non-Profit Organization serving all who are emotionally affected by infertility. We are on a mission to bring healing to the traumas of infertility and end the isolation that comes with struggling to grow your family.

Learn more at https://uniquelyknitted.org

Jesse, Doug and all the Uniquely Knitted Process Group Leaders talk about what infertility makes us feel toward our body.

Jesse talks about how getting pregnant was what her body was "supposed" to do.

Doug talks about how he felt like he was the butt of a joke.

Kelly talks about how she felt like her body had failed her.

Krista talks about how her body is sensitive.

Natalie talks about learning to be kind to her body.

Infertility makes us feel a lot of things towards our body and is deeply connected to our literal bodies. If you have ever had feelings toward your body during infertility this episode is for you!

Learn more about us at uniquelyknitted.org 

Stress and Infertility seem to go hand in hand!

Does stress cause infertility? Does infertility cause stress? How do we reduce stress during infertility? Should we reduce stress during infertility? If we reduce stress will we get pregnant? What if we reduce our stress and don't get pregnant?

All these questions can twist you into a stress pretzel. Ugh. 😵‍💫

In this episode Jesse and Doug look at how stress makes us feel during infertility. Specifically they look at how we should approach the connection between infertility and stress.

They offer a fresh perspective on approaching the management of stress in our life in light of infertility.

Uniquely Knitted is a Non-Profit Organization serving all who are emotionally affected by infertility. We are on a mission to bring healing to the traumas of infertility and end the isolation that comes with struggling to grow your family.

Learn more at uniquelyknitted.org

Sometimes Infertility can make you feel numb.

Whether it's the chaos of trauma or the forever-long process of struggling to conceive, infertility can leave you feeling emotionally numb. When your foot falls asleep it gets a funny fuzzy feeling. When you struggle with infertility that funny fuzzy feeling seems to land on your brain, making it hard to think, feel, and be present.

In this episode, Jesse and Doug look into what it feels like to feel numb during infertility. Where does it come from? How do we identify when we are feeling numb? What can we do when we feel numb? Will we feel numb forever? Feeling numb sucks, it's as if your emotions have collapsed and you are left struggling to feel anything at all, good or bad.

If you are in this position, we are sorry, and we made this episode for you.

Uniquely Knitted is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing research, education, and direct emotional support to people suffering from infertility, miscarriage, and loss. 

Infertility has created a mental health crisis in our world, but it doesn't have to be like this forever. We believe that together, we can change the experience of infertility!

Uniquely Knitted www.uniquelyknitted.org

Uniquely Knitted Process Groups www.uniquelyknitted.org/process-groups