This is StRest! In this episode, Kerstin Lindquist welcomes TV host and beauty expert Courtney Cason to share her deeply personal journey through infertility, IVF, miscarriage, and motherhood.

With raw honesty, Courtney recounts the emotional and physical toll of fertility treatments—including egg retrievals, hormone therapy, IUI, and the devastating loss of a pregnancy just before Christmas Eve. Together, she and Kerstin open up about the unspoken grief that comes with infertility, the invisible weight of reproductive struggles, and how motherhood after loss brings its own complexities.

They discuss the financial burden of fertility treatments, the hidden emotional side effects of hormone medications, how to support friends and family navigating infertility, and the complicated feelings surrounding pregnancy announcements after miscarriage.

Courtney also shares her mindset shifts, health practices after years of fertility treatments, and how she balances a thriving career with the demands of motherhood today.

If you’ve ever faced fertility challenges, supported someone going through it, or struggled to find hope after heartbreak—this episode is for you.

✅ Infertility, miscarriage, and the emotional toll of reproductive loss

✅ The invisible costs of IVF, IUI, and fertility meds—financial, physical, and mental

✅ Why grief hits differently during the holidays

✅ How hormone treatments alter your identity and emotional state

✅ The pressure of “last chances” and embryo decisions

✅ The motherhood myth: what pregnancy and postpartum really feel like after IVF

✅ How to support someone navigating fertility struggles or miscarriage

✅ Why women need better education about ovarian reserve and reproductive aging

✅ Moving forward after trauma: parenting with presence, purpose, and grace

✅ Shifting from secrecy to solidarity: why sharing your story matters

00:00 – “Who loses a baby on Christmas Eve?” — The heartbreak that changed everything

02:45 – Who is Courtney Cason? From QVC to CBS to motherhood

06:09 – Cancer, Alzheimer’s, and quitting her job during a high-risk pregnancy

10:07 – The “dark fertility web”: appendectomy, IVF, and low ovarian reserve

14:48 – IVF begins: stim meds, weight gain, and embryo decisions

21:34 – Pregnant again—until there was no heartbeat at 11 weeks

23:13 – The rainbow painting that helped her believe again

25:12 – One frozen embryo left: navigating grief, pressure, and hope

31:24 – Blog therapy, hormone fog, and the quiet strength of small wins

44:24 – Non-negotiables for stress relief and why this chapter feels different

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