Infertility Sisters

It was a privilege to chat to Kristen and hear all about the journey she has been on through navigating infertility.

Her story involved:

• Retrograde ejaculate, male factor infertility
• 6 year journey
• Trying medication and at home IUI
• IVF - 4 rounds
• Low number of embryos
• Raising funds for IVF
• Changing lifestyle
• Surgical extraction of sperm 
• Miscarriage, D&C - pregnancy in unknown location
• Successful pregnancy

Thanks so much to Kristen for talking so openly about her story. You can find her on Instagram @kristen_in_bloom.

This weeks episode is all about Rachael and her story navigating infertility.

Her story involves:

• Hashimotos Thyroiditis
• Anovulation
• Referred to FA after 6 months TTC
• Letrozole / clomiphene
• IVF
• Fresh transfer
• Medicated frozen transfer 
• Losing weight to qualify for public funding
• Chemical pregnancies
• Natural pregnancy 
• Miscarriage 

We hope you enjoy!

We had the pleasure of chatting to Erin about her infertility journey. Her story covers:

• TTC in early twenties
• Endometriosis 
• Possible PCOS
• Severe male factor/sperm banking
• HSG procedure
• Laparoscopy
• Blocked tube
• IVF
• Pregnancy
• Bleeding in first trimester
• Hyperemesis

We are so grateful April was willing to be so open about her TTC journey. It’s such an empowering story and we were transfixed!

Her story involves:

• Solo journey (single parent by choice)
• Sperm donor
• Endometriosis 
• Multiple rounds of IUI
• Multiple rounds of IVF
• Low numbers of embryos
• Miscarriage and chemical pregnancy
• Financial impact 
• Qualifying for public funding after a long road
• Waiting for endo surgery

Warning, the last 10 minutes of this episode is emotional! 

Our weekly update goes to 25.15. Lydia talks about her positive egg collection experience and Jasmyn chats about her 28 day cycle and gives a surgery update. 

In this episode we finally get to chat to our acupuncturist - Nicola Douglas! We cover:

• How does acupuncture work?
• Chinese herbs
• When should someone go to acupuncture?
• Charting your cycle and what a good cycle looks like
• Sex when TTC
• Sperm health
• Acupuncture for IVF
• Supplements
• Use of needles in acupuncture 
• Top 5 tips for conceiving 

You can find Nicola at Tahi in New Plymouth CBD and on Instagram - @nicdacupunc

Settle in to listen to Cat’s journey to conceiving! We cover:

• Balanced Translocation
• 3x IVF rounds
• Traumatic egg collection stories
• General aesthetic for egg collections
• PGS - Genetic testing of embryos
• Emotional toll
• Impact of Covid/lockdown on treatment
• Trying naturally
• Miscarriage
• Change in fertility doctors and plan
• Cancelled manufactured FET after ovulating
• Natural FET
• Successful pregnancy
• Importance of reducing other stress in your life

This weeks update goes to 26.51 - Jasmyn is emotional as things keep changing and Lydia is in the thick of IVF! 

In this episode we chat to Emma Perks from Full Circle Physio and we cover:

• Her personal TTC journey, PCOS diagnosis, ovulation medication
• Using your period as the Fifth Vital Sign
• TTC Warrant of Fitness - Endometriosis, PCOS, Painful Sex, Vaginismus, Period Pain
• Main takeaway is: get curious with your body!

You can find Emma, Nicola and Erica virtually on Instagram @fullcirclephysio.

You can also find them  in person at Tahi, New Plymouth CBD or at 192 Tawhiti Road, Hawera.

This weeks update goes to 28.15 mins. Jasmyn might be heading down a new path and Lydia is starting IVF! 

This episode is a bit of a different one for us. We wanted to capture the NZ experience of IVF and create an episode that you can listen to if you think IVF might be in your future or if you are going through IVF and are tired of explaining how it works to the people in your life - send them the link to this! 

If you’re a keen listener of Infertility Sisters it will also set you up well for future episodes where IVF is going to be spoken about more. 

We cover:

• What is IVF?
• Why might someone need it?
• What companies offer it in NZ?
• How do you qualify for public funding?
• How much does it cost?
• What does each step of the process look like?

This is the process as at the time of recording in December 2021.

This weeks update is a heavy one! Skip to 25 mins if you don’t want to tune in, it covers: 

• Jasmyn - follow up phone consult with FA about test results, potential surgery, struggling. 
• Lydia - scheduling in IVF, cancelling trips, shift in the feeling of the two week wait. 

We had the pleasure of catching up with Nadia about her trying to conceive journey so far. Her story covers:

• Coming off the pill and having serious side effects from it
• Unexplained sporadic extreme pain for years 
• Advocating for yourself
• Misdiagnosed with mittelschmerz
• Preparing for pregnancy. Trying to ensure pregnancy will be possible
• Diagnosed with adenomyosis
• HCG test
• Medicated cycles using Letrozole
• Self referred to Fertility Associates
• Diagnosed with stage 3 endometriosis 
• Lap surgery
• Looking at IVF as the next step
• Emotional toll of TTC

Endometrioses website: https://nzendo.org.nz/esig/