The Fertility Warriors

When does implantation bleeding occur? How often does implantation bleeding occur? What are the reasons that implantation doesn't work? How does implantation occur?

These are just some of the questions I'm answering in today's podcast, and if you check out next week's episode I'm diving into implantation again to talk about how to support implantation during the TWW

The process of how implantation occurs is actually really complex and although I'm not a fertility specialist or medical professional, I hope that I've been able to explain the important parts of how implantation occurs with you on the podcast in an easy to understand way.

And then understand how the process of implantation occurs, you'll see just how complex it can be and how many processes are going on in the body to enable this to occur, and exactly what can cause implantation to go wrong.

Of the many things that could cause implantation to fail, probably the most significant is that the endometrium essentially either falls asleep at the wheel and fails to allow the blastocyst to implant, or that it actively starts to secret a stress response hormone to stop it from doing so, usually because it perceives the blastocyst to be of poor genetic quality.

It could also be other issues with your uterine lining, or another common reason is that there are immune system issues that mean that the blastocyst is essentially rejected by the woman's body as being a parasite or other foreign object.

In today's podcast I also talk about implantation symptoms and some of the indications you might have that implantation has occurred. Of those is one of the most popular amongst infertility communities: implantation bleeding. If you're wondering when implantation bleeding occurs or how often it occurs, as well as some of the other symptoms, then tune in.

Lastly though I've talked about my general reluctance to talk more about these topics, because truly warriors, I see my role as one that helps you cope emotionally with infertility and fall pregnant sooner and I don't believe that anxiety, endless Googling and the generally obsessive behavior during the TWW assists you in doing that. Rather, I feel that it can fuel that anxiety, so please approach this episode with curiosity and wonder at how incredible the human body is rather than obsessing over the things that you cannot control during this process.

Today I'm welcomed on the podcast by Kristyn Hodgdon of The Fertility Tribe and we have chatted all about overcoming the loneliness of infertility by building and becoming part of a fertility community.

Let's be real.

Infertility is SO lonely.

It's hard when you don't want to go out like you did because of the costs and lifestyle changes you're making to fall pregnant, but then also when you do, you feel like you're either giving a science lesson or answering the Spanish inquisition... or enduring hours-long conversation because your friends are all pregnant or expecting and it feels like you no longer have anything in common with them.

But it also seems absolutely crazy to me that we go into fertility clinics and keep our heads buried into our phones, but are surrounded by other people in the exact same boat as us... but then later feel lonelier than we ever have before.

I do get it though.

Sometimes we can feel utterly terrified that we'll run into someone who will 'out' us.

Whilst we're in the clinics we're often running late for work.

Aaannnddd It's also embarrassing.

Research has shown though that it's incredibly important for us to find community when we are going through hard times, and in fact, research has also shown that those who have support and are part of a community on their journey have better outcomes too.

So how do we overcome the loneliness of infertility? That's what we talk about in today's podcast with Kristyn, who shares her journey, including:

How she came to try to conceive (at a time when none of her friends were)

What some of the pro's and con's of therapy were

What led her on the path she is now on

Tune into the episode to find out more.

The Fertility Tribe also has an app that you can go to to support you on your journey and find that community.

You can follow The Fertility Tribe on Instagram @thefertilitytribe and visit the website here.

Hands up if you feel like you've tried everything to fall pregnant... and yet here you are feeling completely burnt out... and not pregnant.

If you've tried all the things to fall pregnant and still don't feel like you're getting anywhere, today on the podcast I'm sharing two quite different angles you might want to take in order to continue making progress,

In truth - I see this a lot. Many of the clients I work with in my 12 week program come to me with huge checklists and to-do lists. Sometimes they're feeling a mix of anger and frantic energy, and at other times they're feeling completely dejected and jaded and just plain exhausted. And then it's a vicious cycle because they can't maintain the perfection or strict regime that they feel they 'should' be undertaking (or the advice they're receiving contradicts itself) and this results in more stress, poor sleep, poor digestion etc, making things worse.

That's a really common and normal reaction to trauma. Yep, trauma. Infertility can take a significant toll on not just our emotions, but also our physiology and that can sometimes result in feelings like this.

But I do also chat later in the podcast about some other medical avenues you can take to continue making progress in other areas.

Tune in and then come and find me on Instagram and let me know what you thought!

In today's podcast, I'm sharing with you my experience of sharing our journey with our loved ones and how to tell your friends and family you have infertility.

Is there an easy way to do it? Well... yes and no. There's no foolproof way to ensure that everyone will say and do the right thing - they never will, but in today's episode, I'm talking about my recommended approach to announcing your infertility journey, based on the way one of my wonderful friends once announced that her husband had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

You'll have to tune in to the full episode for details, however, I strongly recommend sending an email to your friends and family. It's a great way to ensure that everything you want to say comes out and comes out right. I have a number of resources in my fertility library that can help you with this (including a PDF you can just straight up send), but it also gives you time to process, gives them time to process and generally allows for an easier journey.

I remember telling my friends and family well, but today you're also getting to see the insight (and hindsight) of how that worked and perhaps what I'd have done differently if I had my time again. Tune in for details.

Let's be honest, it's SO hard when your husband wants to quit trying to have a baby but you still want to keep trying to fall pregnant, or when you and your husband generally don't see eye to eye on particular situations.

Today, I'm breaking down how you can both work together to come to (hopefully) a resolution. Spoiler alert: it will always involve some compromise on someone's part but in today's episode, you'll learn how you might be able to uncover what is really going on, how to get your husband on board, and also even whether certain decisions in your life are actually decisions that he might want (or aren't appropriate for him) to be involved in.

You may also be interested in these articles and podcast episodes

Is the universe telling you to quit trying to conceive:

https://robynbirkin.com/is-the-universe-telling-you-to-quit-ttc/

How do you know when to quit trying to conceive:

https://robynbirkin.com/give-up-trying-for-baby/

How to support your husband through infertility:

https://robynbirkin.com/how-to-support-your-husband-through-infertility/

Today on the podcast we're talking about infertility warning signs and signs and symptoms that you may have trouble conceiving or help you brainstorm what could be going on with your body.

I know that sometimes it feels like our bodies are failing us, but as my journey has progressed, I have come to feel that our bodies are like finely tuned machines, and that sometimes our body likes to send us warning signs that something might be wrong. As much as it totally sucks too - our fertility is often one of the first things to suffer when our health is out of balance and that's because our fertility is non-essential for life. So if something goes pear-shaped with your hormones, that's one thing, but if your heart just stopped beating... well, then you'd have a much bigger issue.

So when our body is out of balance, there will often be changes that affect our fertility first, and it's up to us to listen to these warning signs that could be indicating that something is not right, and rectify them, not just in order to conceive and fall pregnant, but in trying to be the healthiest version of yourself and prevent further health issues down the line.

First and foremost, if you have been trying to conceive for over six months (especially if you are over 35 years of age!) it's a given that something is probably wrong. If you are under 35 , then something is absolutely wrong.

You first need to know exactly when you're ovulating. Check out my upcoming post on how to track your ovulation properly, as well as this podcast on ovulation to ensure you're getting it right. Research estimates that as many as 57% of women are incorrectly timing ovulation.

But let's say that neither of those things are happening, here's some ways you can diagnose that something might be going on (and then even do some of your own research as to what that might be)

So what are the 4 warning signs that something is wrong:

•Your cycle length and timing

Not many women at all have perfect 28 day cycles, however when we are in optimal health our cycles should be pretty close to that. Some big indicators that something might not be right is in a too short follicular (before ovulation) or luteal phase (after ovulation). Likewise, if either of these are too long, it could also signal a problem.

Your cycle should also be regular and consistent - if it is neither of those things it could indicate a problem.

And if it is more than 40 days, that may also signal a problem.

One tip is that I often find that when there is a short luteal phase, Traditional Chinese Medicine is better at working through this, whereas Western Medicine sometimes dismisses it as nothing. If you are in this category, this may be something to consider.

2 Pain

Pain is not normal y'all. Sometimes when we are growing up, it's almost like we are expected to have painful cycles, and sometimes that is the case as our bodies adjust to puberty, but certainly by your early 20s, if you are experiencing really painful periods that require days off work, it could be an indication of endometriosis.

3. If he drinks/smokes/rides bike

I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that sperm basically creates itself from scratch and is really easy to change. The bad news is, men are often overlooked when it comes to infertility and that sperm can be a bit fickle.

If your husband smokes, drinks a LOT, has a poor diet, is a cyclist - chances are sperm could be below par. If you think about an individual sperm, it has to cram an entire strand of DNA into a teeny tiny head - so it's quiet complex, and hence why it's important to try and get that right...

UUgghhhhhhhh, baby showers. When you're infertile and invited to a baby shower, all of a sudden it feels like a different ball game. A different, awful, longest couple of hours of your life, ball game.

And it can be really tempting to try and avoid it altogether. On today's podcast, I'm sharing my very best baby shower tips, both at a practical level and at an emotional level. If you are infertile and invited to a baby shower, you'll receive some next level baby shower tips.

First up, I think you should go. You'll need to assess your emotional capacity but where you can, I recommend you do. In the podcast I talk about what to do if you feel you cannot possibly attend, but also WHY your brain is being a bit sneaky on you and why I think you should attend.

And then we dive into my tips. Here they are at a glance, but make sure you hit play on this episode and get the full run down on these baby shower tips:

•I think you should go

•Arrive late and leave early

•Have some responses ready

•Have a wingman

•Go easy on yourself and your diet

•Be gracious

•Bring along something that will help you feel strong

•Soak up that energy as good juju

So, what's your best baby shower tip? DM me on Instagram and let me know x

We have more than 100 episodes of The Fertility Warriors now (crazy, I know?!) and if you scroll riigggghhhhttt back to episode 1, you'll hear some of my story, and if you listen to my story of having Olivia (my second) you'll know even more, but I thought it was time to revisit my story a little bit and how exactly I came to this place of having this podcast.

I wanted to share with you WHY I feel so motivated each and every day to help other warriors and what I discovered that I feel is so important to share.

If any of you have ever received a calling, you'll know that it's just something you can't get away from. It keeps calling you back time and time again, and it just doesn't leave you alone. My experience with infertility and the lessons I've learned have been much like that. And I still remain so passionate about filling the gap in care that I believe can make the difference not only emotionally to women suffering with infertility, but can have a dramatic positive impact on pregnancy rates too.

And until that becomes a standard part of care... I guess you're all just stuck with me!

Tune into today's episode of The Fertility Warriors Podcast to learn my full story as well as how I can help you on your journey, through my program, The Fertility Warrior Intensive.

My 12 week program is a comprehensive mind-body program that is designed to help warriors conquer the stress of infertility and in return, tackle their conception journey with improved fertility, self confidence, happiness and calm. Together, we will completely change your journey and help you develop grace, grit and gratitude.

There was a very brief moment in time when I joined the app TikTok and published some videos (which I thought were hilarious but you might not have haha), mostly around the topic of what people do and don't say that can be harmful for folks like us with infertility.

I published a video that talked about some of the things that people say and asked people for some more BS comments they've heard in the comments. To my surprise, one person wrote when people say it is still possible to live a happy and fulfilled life whilst you're trying to conceive and when you have infertility.

At first I was taken aback. YOU GUYS - that's literally EVERYTHING I teach. But then.... I remembered what it was like in those early days of trying to conceive unsuccessfully, and if someone had told me happiness was possible, I'd have damn near throat punched them.

Infertility felt like the worst thing anyone could possibly ever go through. It felt like month after month my heart was being ripped from my chest and the words failure were printed across my forehead. It felt like everyone around me was falling pregnant that that it was just IMPOSSIBLE to ever feel happiness for them, without also feeling extreme guilt, jealousy and sadness for myself.

It felt like month after month I was a terrible specimen of a wife and of a woman. Happiness felt SO far away for me. And to be honest, it also felt like suffering was part and parcel of infertility. So if some life coach or therapist or mind body practitioner told me that I could have a great life whilst I was going through infertility, it would have sounded like BS to me too.

But here's the thing. It only got worse for me. Like rock bottom, complete hot mess, unable to concentrate at work, cried all the time at home mess. But it took that for me to realise that in fact, actually, NOBODY deserved to suffer like this and that maybe, just maybe it might be possible to feel otherwise.

The months after that were all about learning and connecting and changing my perspective, and looking after my emotional health and resilience. The person who emerged was completely different. If I magically fell pregnant the next month but told you that it WAS possible you'd never believe me (and neither would I!) BUT, the thing is, I had yet another failed IVF cycle! But for the first time, I DID feel both happy AND content (obviously not happy that my cycle had failed, but generally happy with life).

Tune into this episode to listen to the full story and the moment I knew everything was different, but if you're struggling right now and just hear all of these people telling you that it is possible to feel different, I want to let you know that I completely understand how you feel... but that I've been on the other side and I know it's possible. You just have to take the first step.

Today on the podcast we're asking the question that I've LONG wanted to ask a Reproductive Endocrinologist, and I'm thrilled to invite one of my absolute favourites onto the podcast this week, Dr Sasha Mikhael to discuss the pros and cons of IUI treatments in helping you fall pregnant.

It's a very subjective matter and one that Sasha discusses with colleagues often, but we both agreed that we see SO many women who persevere with multiple failed, heartbreaking IUI cycles, when perhaps they should consider moving onto stronger interventions such as IVF, which can also be diagnostic.

So, tune into this week's podcast where Sasha breaks down the various research that has been conducted on IUI, as well as IUI vs IVF, the typical success rates of IUI, the benefits of IUI and IVF and her take on how women can advocate for themselves at the fertility clinic.