This week I had the honor to sit down with founder, author & functional nutritionist Alexandria DeVito. Alexandria is the CEO and founder of Poplin- the first pre-pregnancy wellness company. She is also the author of the book "9 Months Is Not Enough: The Ultimate Pre-pregnancy Checklist to Create a Baby-Ready Body and Build Generational Health".

In her book, Alexandria debunks several fertility myths and aims to educate women and couples on how they can identify underlying health issues that can impair fertility, prepare for a preconception visit with their doctor, and adopt an overall fertility-friendly diet, supplementation, and lifestyle plan.

In this episode:

00:00 Intro

01:23 From McKinsey consultant to nutritionist

05:13 Preparing for pregnancy like you would prepare for a wedding or job interview

08:29 Optimizing nutrient needs before you are even pregnant

11:47 How the male partner can optimize their health

15:06 Sperm quality and quantity declined by over 60% in recent years

17:55 Optimizing overall health: in with the good & out with the bad

24:16 Reproductive Anxiety: the fear of not being able to conceive

31:17 Biggest fertility myth: age is the main fertility predictor

35:08 Advocating for your health to be personalized & individualized

39:22 Does running more tests only increase our anxiety levels?

45:40 How can IVF patients optimize their chances to conceive?

48:30 Unexplained Infertility: "infertility diagnosis is similar in mental health impact to cancer diagnosis"

55:10 Closing

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Learn more about Alexandria's company Poplin: https://getpoplin.com/

"Go on a vacation, have fun with your partner, and simply don't stress"- these are some of the most common things I heard from people when sharing my struggles to get pregnant. And while these might work for some, I found stress not to be something I could easily switch off. Even more so while being in the midst of TTC hardship I would find myself being stressed about feeling stressed leading to a vicious cycle of ever growing stress levels.

So in this week's episode I share my top realistic tips that have helped me to reduce some of the stress fertility and even work has caused my over the years.

00:00 Intro

02:11 Why stress cannot be simply turned off

03:13 Feeling stressed about being stressed

04:11 Realistic tips to reduce stress levels

05:36 Tip #1: Serenity Prayer "I accept the things I cannot change..."

12:12 Tip #2: Putting things in perspective

17:12 Tip #3 Define what drains & gives you energy

21:50 Closing

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#fertility #ivf #podcast #ttc #stressrelief #stress #stressmanagement

No matter if it's a career milestone, getting married, or having a baby- we tend to always compare ourselves to others and start feeling like we are a failure if we see our peers reaching their goals seemingly easier or faster.

In this episode I talk candidly about the things I struggled with over the years when it came to comparing myself to others- including the challenges I encountered on my fertility journey.

I share what helped me to start embracing every chapter of my life instead of constantly longing for that one thing that seemed to be missing.

00:00 Intro

04:25 Having It All Figured Out By Age 30?

06:55 When Our Goals & Fertility Challenges Misalign

09:00 Feeling Like A Failure Compared To Peers

09:53 Tip 1: Taking One Step At Time

13:01 Why A Positive Pregnancy Test Is Not My End Goal Anymore

14:32 Tip 2: Everyone Is On Their Own Timeline & Journey

19:46 Why My IVF Experience Might Be Completely Different From Yours

21:07 Tip 3: Remember Where You Are Today Is What You Dreamed About 5 Years Ago

27:14 Closing

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#fertility #ivf #podcast #ttc #mentalhealth #stopcomparingyourself

Trigger warning: this episode discusses sensitive mental health topics and pregnancy loss.

Today's episode is dedicated entirely to the taboo topic of mental health. While the physical aspect of IVF is certainly tough, I found the mental health struggles to be a whole different beast. In this episode I talk super openly about the main feelings and emotions I struggled with the most during my IVF cycles and my TTC time and try to give some helpful tips that have helped me to deal with some of these challenging emotions.

In this episode:

00:00 Intro

03:03 Societal Expectations To Power Through

06:00 Trigger Warning

07:10 Feeling Like Desire To Get Pregnant Is Taking Over Entire Life

14:10 Feeling Like I Am Not Good Enough

21:36 Fearing That My Body Is Not Able To Get/Stay Pregnant

27:46 Closing

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#fertility #ivf #podcast #ttc #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness

Today's episode is the third and last part of my experience with an entire IVF cycle. The day of the transfer was probably one of the most exciting days in my life followed by the dreaded waiting game to find out whether the transfer was successful or not.

In this episode:

00:00 Intro

03:22 First Cycle Following Egg Retrieval

05:17 Medicine Schedule & Monitoring

13:03 Day of the Embryo Transfer

20:32 Next Steps After Transfer

21:54 Trying Not To Take Home Pregnancy Test

23:22 Blood Test To Find Out If Transfer Was A Success

26:37 Closing

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#fertility #ivf #podcast #ttc

In today's episode, I continue breaking down my IVF journey focusing on my egg retrieval experience. This part of the process was probably the biggest emotional roller coaster, having to wait anxiously by the phone in the days following the egg retrieval to find out how many embryos we would be able to freeze.

In this episode:

00:00 Intro

03:57 The Morning Of The Egg Retrieval

06:38 Fears Before Egg Retrieval

07:45 Egg Retrieval Procedure

10:38 How I Was Feeling Post Egg Retrieval

11:53 Partner's Role During Egg Retrieval

12:45 Receiving Disappointing News

15:49 Recovery Process

18:00 Fresh vs Frozen Embryo Transfer

19:21 What is PGT-A Testing?

22:45 Daily Updates On Fertilized Eggs & Embryo Development

32:00 PGT-A Results & Embryo Grading

36:31 Closing

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Continuing my IVF series, today's episode is a deep dive into the step by step process of the IVF stimulation phase (also applies to egg freezing procedure).

Sharing my learnings form my own experience, I go over all the things that you can expect at your first consultation appointment at your fertility clinic including detailed next steps if you decide to proceed with the IVF route.

00:00 Intro

02:45 Free IVF Questions Guide

05:38 What Happens At Your First Fertility Clinic Appointment

13:42 Difference Between IVF and ICSI

17:13 IVF Medicine Schedule and Stim Cycle Timing

20:13 What Do IVF Shots actually do?

22:52 OHSS Complication

22:53 IVF Medication Demonstration

28:10 Monitoring During IVF Cycle

30:57 Tip #1: Integrating IVF Shots Into Your Life

32:52 Tip #2: Keeping Medicine Organized

35:17 Tip #3: Reducing Bruising and Discomfort

37:14 Closing

Download my free Fertility Clinic Key Questions Guide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v48c1qmYCcT9yZQzhnvjVQ4geRO0SIjX/view?usp=sharing

Follow Very Beginning on Instagram & TikTok: @verybeginningofficial#fertility #ivf #podcast #ttc

In today's episode I dive into the learnings of my personal IVF experience. Having gone through all the ups and downs, I summarized some of my main learnings that I truly hope can help others when deciding when and if they should embark on their IVF or egg freezing journey.

In this episode:

00:00 Intro

02:14 What is egg/embryo freezing?

03:20 Is IVF or egg freezing affecting your ability to conceive naturally?

08:38 Reasons for IVF or egg freezing

17:50 Considerations when going into IVF or egg freezing

18:32 Consideration #1: physical & time impact 

25:00 Consideration #2: financial impact 

28:30 Consideration #3: emotional & mental health Impact

33:05 Being careful to not become a fertility clinic cash cow

35:00 Closing

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#fertility #podcast #ivf #eggfreezing

Happy Valentine's Day!

No matter if you are a hopeless romantic or find Valentine's Day super tacky- we can always use this day to remind ourselves to practice more self love, self care & self acceptance.

In this episode I share my top tips for practicing self love, especially when it comes to going through fertility struggles when your body feels like your biggest enemy.

In this episode:

00:00 Intro

02:53 Be Your Own Valentine

04:00 Self Love & Fertility Struggles

05:35 Self Love vs Self Acceptance

06:43 Top Tips For Self Acceptance

07:09 Mirror Negative Thoughts On Someone You Care About

09:55 Seek Out Spaces That Inspire You

12:07 Protecting Your Mental Health On Social Media

14:27 Taking Time For Yourself

16:56 Speak Kind Words To Attract Growth (Plant Experiment)

21:21 Closing

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#valentinesday #selfcare #selflove #fertility #podcast

In this episode I share my top 5 tips for answering the dreaded "So when are you finally going to have kids?" question. While the majority of people does not have bad intentions and is simply being curious it can be so hard to be asked that question especially when dealing with fertility issues, having a non mainstream opinion about it, or when simply not having a clear 'yes' or 'no' answer.

In this episode:

00:00 Intro

02:49 Societal Pressure Of Achieving Next Big Thing

05:06 Why You Really Shouldn't Ask People When They Are Having Kids

05:50 Some People Don't Want To Have Kids

09:21 Some People Go Through Fertility Challenges

13:07 Some People Don't Know If They Want To Have Kids

16:26 Are You Doing More Good Than Harm With Your Question

17:10 Top 5 Tips For Dealing With Question

20:12 Tip #1: Be Honest

23:10 Tip #2: Using Humor

24:18 Tip #3: Shut Question Down

26:20 Tip #4: Reminding It's Not Up To You

28:25 Tip #5: Use It As Educational Opportunity

30:10 Closing

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