Talking About TTC

This month we were supposed to bring home our baby girl, but unfortunately that isn't our reality. In this episode I talk about how I embrace the difficult days that "should have been" something other than what they look like now. Mother's Day, Father's Day, due dates, and seasons where you were planning to have a baby in your arms but you don't. I talk about how we can honor our emotions while also trying to find joy on the hard days.

So much of my TTC journey has felt like time spent waiting... that in between space... the weeks in between cycle day 1 and ovulation, the days waiting until you can take a pregnancy test, the time waiting to get in for bloodwork or a scan, the months in between a loss and when you feel okay and ready to start trying again. It's hard to find joy in the in between, but in this episode I share the six things that I have been focusing on to make sure that I am still living my life and finding the joy and the good when I can. 

Who knew there was so much we didn't know?! In this episode I dive into the misconceptions that I had about fertility clinics before we started our own journey at one. This is not intended to be medical advice. I am not a doctor and I am strictly speaking about my own personal experiences. 

In this episode, my sorority sister, Kim LaNeve and I talk about her success with integrative health when trying to conceive after loss. We discuss what lead her to integrative health, how important it is to advocate for yourself with doctors, and Kim shares her feelings and emotions while her and her husband were trying to conceive after loss. 

I have had so many people reach out to me over the last couple weeks and share that they are struggling because they feel like "everyone" else is pregnant except them. It's a hard place to be in when you are struggling with loss or infertility and you feel like the thing you are praying and wishing for is happening for everyone else except you. In this episode I talk about the hard ugly feelings that come along with navigating happiness for other people but heartbreak and sadness for yourself. 

In this episode I had the privilege to talk with best-selling author, Morgan Martin. Morgan wrote her book Healing Empty Hands  after her and her husband experienced their miscarriage a few years ago. On this podcast, she shares some of the highlights of her book and how the book can serve everyone, even those who haven't experienced loss. Morgan also shares how her loss affected her pregnancies that followed, and gives her best advice for someone trying to conceive. 

In this episode I discuss how I have really suffered with my body image over the last 9 months of trying to conceive. Between weight gain, postpartum hair loss, yes even without a healthy full term pregnancy apparently that can happen, and just feeling like my body has let me down, my self image has taken a hit. I share the things I am doing to treat my body well and love my body as it is right now. 

In this episode I dive into some responses that I got online from other women on their TTC (trying to conceive) journeys. I asked women to share things that other people have said or done that have been helpful or hurtful and there were so many valuable "do's and don'ts". The goal of this episode is not to shame anyone or make any feel guilty, but instead, offer some practical pieces of advice for how you can be there for a friend or loved one who is TTC. 

In this episode I dive a little deeper into an instagram post that I made where I shared the 10 things that help me to stay positive. While I still have hard days and times where I feel anything but positive, these 10 things help me to recenter and try to regain my hope and positivity. I hope some of these can also help you! 

In this episode, I try to fit the last 8 months of our life into 25 minutes. I share about our personal experience with TTC so far. I talk about our recurrent miscarriages, the emotions we felt after each loss, our struggles with the medical system, as well as some of the best advice that I needed to hear from my cousin. Our story isn't wrapped up with a pretty bow on it just yet, but this is where we're at and I'm so thankful you are taking the time to listen.