Turning Pain Into Purpose
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Turning Pain Into Purpose

Beth shares her IVF journey, miscarriage, and health changes.

Featured guest:
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Episode Description

In this solo episode of "Quiet the Clock," Beth shares her personal experience with IVF and the heartbreak of a recent miscarriage. She discusses the emotional toll of fertility treatments, the importance of self-advocacy, and the lifestyle changes she's made for her health and fertility.

Beth Gulotta

Licensed Mental Health Counselor

Founder of NYC Therapeutic Wellness and Host of Quiet The Clock.

Episode Transcript

well at 37 like I've shared I froze my eggs at 39 I got pregnant naturally at

0:06

40 I had my son um and we were in the throws of you know Parenthood and and

0:13

and newborn um but I always knew I wanted a second child I always knew and felt really strongly that I want my son to

0:20

have a sibling uh Rob has siblings I have siblings I think it's a really important relationship and just to have

0:27

that person to go through life [Music]

0:42

with welcome to this episode of quiet the clock I am solo today um I have a

0:50

story to share about myself and where I am now and I am a little nervous to

0:57

record this right now I'm a little nervous to put this out there but I think that there's so much value in

1:04

Sharing kind of where I'm at now um I want to just um sort of say trigger

1:11

warring for anyone that is struggling with infertility or recent loss um

1:17

unfortunately that's what today's episode is about and I know when you're going through those things that something like this can be really hard

1:23

to listen to so I just want to lay that out there and if this is not something that you're ready to hear or to listen

1:30

to please you know stop and don't listen um and I totally get that I totally understand that um I had not intended to

1:38

do the solo episode um I really love sharing the guest stories and through

1:44

sharing their stories I can also share mine and I think if you've been listening that you see that as we're

1:49

doing the episodes where I have my amazing guests on where I you know will share a little story about myself or how

1:55

I relate to something the guest is saying but I have not uh been on here in

2:01

a Solo capacity since the beginning of quiet the clock uh the beginning of season 1 where I started sharing you

2:08

know my egg freezing Journey why I started this podcast why it felt important for me to cultivate

2:14

conversations and just through everything I have gone through recently I continue to tell myself that

2:21

there was purpose and this purpose is to share my story and hopefully connect with other women that are in the space

2:28

or just share more about what I've learn learned uh about what I've gone through recently and watching the film back from

2:37

La we were out in LA in the beginning of February we filmed 10 amazing episodes out there um and watching those back I

2:45

was sharing things in those episodes that are not quite true any longer there

2:51

some are true in that you know what I'm about to share here today in terms of my journey um but just to put it out there

2:59

in that

3:12

[Music]

3:59

back up to um where do I start this um

4:05

well at 37 like I've shared I froze my eggs at 39 I got pregnant naturally at

4:12

40 I had my son um and we were in the throws of you know Parenthood and and

4:18

and newborn um but I always knew I wanted a second child I always knew and felt really strongly that I want my son to

4:25

have a sibling uh Rob has siblings I have siblings I think it's a really important relationship and just to have

4:32

that person to go through life with um but again Rob and I didn't really align

4:41

on that or the timeline of that and those very hard conversation started

4:46

again about would we do that when would we do that and you know I kind of did

4:52

feel right back to the place where I was at 36 37 38 about wondering or wondering

4:58

whether or not I would even have a baby and now is back in a place of wondering whether or not I would have a second and

5:05

my son would have a sibling and so Rob and I you know do what we do best is we

5:11

hear each other out we talk it out and we come to a place that feels good for both of us and where that place was was

5:19

the decision to take those frozen eggs and make embryos and just see where we were at um and that was suggested to me

5:25

by my current doctor Dr Alexis Green who's incredible and amazing and really

5:31

always takes the time to listen and answer my questions and every so often I like find myself in the fertility

5:37

doctor's office just to like check where things are at just have a conversation maybe get some questions answered and

5:43

feel feel a little bit more reassured and she was incredible because you know I could be really open and honest with

5:50

her and just say hey here's what I want but here's where we're at and she was like listen if you were telling me you

5:57

guys were on the same page I would tell you toy naturally you got natur you got pregnant naturally at 39 she's like but

6:03

that's not what you're saying to me she said why don't you take these embryos and just see what you had and that

6:08

really stuck with me and then I brought that to Rob and several conversations and you know several conversations we

6:15

came to the decision to make the embryos and I believe at that point it was last

6:21

summer um so maybe June July is and so we started that process with Dr Green

6:28

and Dr Green works with two Labs one in the city and one in Greenwich and just based on where we live greenage was way

6:35

more convenient for me and for us and so I started to do all the paperwork to get

6:42

my eggs transferred from the clinic in the city or to wherever they were stored I didn't even know where they were

6:48

stored and maybe that's something I should have known and if you've frozen your eggs and you don't know where you are maybe that could be helpful

6:54

information for you to have or find out I was really not even aware of where my eggs were

7:59

processing is that my impatience really was a disservice to me and I'm really

8:04

working on continuing to stay patient um I would say I definitely am a person

8:11

that if I identify wanting something like I'm ready to go for it very quickly whether that's like a trip an outfit I

8:18

want whatever it is like I want it I want to go for it now and that is like

8:23

magneti like magnified to like a millionth degree when we're talking about babies and and expanding my family

8:30

so I started to work to coordinate with the other lab that Dr Green worked with in the city and that just didn't feel

8:36

right something didn't feel right about that clinic just the way they responded

8:42

like the communication wasn't great and I just wasn't really feeling good at that place now back up to season one of

8:50

quiet the clock with Dr Brower who is amazing incredible she left me with this

8:55

little nugget and gosh that was probably in the spring now we're like five or six months you know ahead of time in the

9:02

summer whatever or whenever and she said just do it at the clinic in the city

9:08

your eggs are there and that stuck out to me so I started to consider doing it

9:14

at the clinic in the city and when I when I was working to like with both

9:19

places to transfer the place in the city was like the administration was like so communicative like so on top of that and

9:26

that's something that I really oh my gosh as I'm recording this my best friend just sent me Parts cuz she knows

9:32

what I'm going through um universe and so I started to feel really

9:37

good about the way the clinic was communicating and really badly about how the lab in the city was communicating

9:43

with me so I just thought to myself and actually my friend just text texted me helped me look into this um I just

9:50

thought to myself maybe I do just do the embryos there and so my friend that just texted me gets on I think it's called

9:57

sart and looks at the lab review from the clinic which is something I

10:02

highly highly recommend when you're thinking about making your embryos and I will get to that because I have a lot of

10:08

suggestions and like pieces of advice based on what I've been through and what I've learned based on what I've been

10:13

through um so I made the ultimate decision to make the embryos at the clinic in the city um and that is a

10:21

process in and of itself a process I've learned a lot more about since going through it um and it is we just had our

10:30

last episode was with Nancy and she had an amazing quote which is you you hold your breath 880,000 times so you hold

10:37

your breath when they thaw the eggs because not every egg is going to survive the thaw um then you hold your

10:44

breath to see how many eggs actually fertilize because not every egg is going to fertilize and then you hold your breath so that happens pretty quickly

10:51

you'll know how many survive the thought you'll know how many fertilize then you have to wait to see how many make it to

10:56

day five day six blasticus so you hold your breath for that then you find out how many make it there and then if you

11:04

choose to do the genetic testing which Rob and I did choose to do I think that's about two weeks so then you wait

11:10

two weeks to find out what you're left with how many normal embryos that you're left with and at each stage for us you

11:17

know we lost some and I don't like to really talk about numbers on here because that you know gets into

11:23

comparison and can make people feel bad but I'll say I was very happy with the

11:28

number that we got um and from there we decided to move forward with the first transfer and that

11:35

was not an ideal experience for me and the communication I was getting administratively did not translate in

11:42

terms of uh patient care so I felt very left in the dark I felt unheard I didn't

11:50

I was not communicated with I had medication that I didn't know what to do with and wasn't getting answers on I

11:56

never spoke to a doctor which I do understand you to nurses more than you talk to doctors but I had no

12:02

relationship with anyone there like I would go in for my monitoring and my blood work and someone would call me in

12:08

the afternoon and it would always be a different person and I was like trekking from Westchester driving to the city

12:15

like leaving Rob to like manage Jean all by himself to get there and do that and I just remember in my gut feeling this

12:23

is not right this is not right I don't feel good about this and you know I encourage every body to make sure they

12:31

have a relationship with somebody wherever whatever clinic or place or doctor you're working with that makes

12:36

you feel really good because it's a very isolating process and it just made

12:42

everything 10 times harder to not feel like I got the communication I deserved feel like I got the attention that I

12:49

deserved I never saw or spoke to an actual doctor until minutes before my

12:56

transfer where I am need to pee so badly because when you go into to transfer an ember you have to

13:02

have a full bladder I'm in a gown I had just taken I think like a you know

13:07

whatever Med to relax me and like this guy could have like passed me on the street or or like screamed in my face I

13:13

never would known he was a doctor so that was super super unsettling um and

13:20

the other thing that came up when I was going through that was my THS level was

13:26

high which is a indicator of thyroid function and it was was 2.9 before my

13:32

transfer and again I didn't know any of this but if if you're not a woman trying

13:39

to get pregnant that is an okay number but if you are trying to get pregnant or

13:44

they're going to be transferring an embryo you want it at 25 and I did not trust my gut with that

13:51

and they the nurse reassured me it would be fine fine fine they also reassured me

13:56

that a natural transfer versus a medicated transfer would have no difference and be fine fine fine um and

14:04

for me in terms of the natural transfer I was just supported with progesterone

14:09

suppositories I had no estrogen and nothing else other than that I didn't get any like antibiotic and I know all

14:16

of this because my second transfer was all medicated which I'll share about in a little bit and I was really concerned

14:23

by that level and I like was asking my acupuncturist I texted Dr Brower and she

14:30

was kind of like I would really want it at 25 before transfer there was a miscommunication in terms of like the

14:37

medication they told me they would redo my blood work and call me back to let me know if I should start the thyroid

14:42

medication they never called me back I ended up calling them back and I started

14:48

the medication on a Saturday the transfer was on Tuesday and to my knowledge it's probably not nearly

14:53

enough time to like make any difference in in the thyroid so that was another thing that went wrong in the first

15:00

transfer um and I know this is a lot of information but again just

15:06

knowing having more knowledge so understand what your thyroid level is

15:12

know that it should be at 2.5 or under and if it's not again this is where my

15:18

impatience didn't serve me like I wanted to do the transfer and I wanted I didn't

15:23

want to have to cancel it and the day before I was in tears because I wasn't getting any answers and texting Dr

15:29

Brower and and I'm I'm like thinking to myself I should just call this whole thing off and I and I didn't I didn't

15:35

because I was really ready and I really wanted it um I had another suggestion

15:41

from another woman that I was working with more like healing work and she suggested I wait a month to like unblock

15:48

some things and I just I didn't want to wait so I didn't trust my gut I was way

15:54

too impatient and I moved forward with this transfer that didn't feel good by any means and it didn't work it didn't

16:01

work and the waiting is torturous so after

16:06

you implant there's like a 9 to 10 day wait before you do blood work to to show

16:12

whether you're pregnant or not and um it's really really hard you're trying to

16:18

like take care of yourself you're like doubting if you're doing too much did I

16:23

lift should I not be lifting my son and you're just like overly cautious and anxious while you're waiting to find

16:29

that news out and I was back and forth between whether or not I would take a pregnancy before the blood work and I

16:36

had had a friend who had a successful transfer first time and she took a pregnancy test before the blood work and

16:43

I just was kind of up in the air about whether that felt right for me and my

16:48

blood work was the day after Thanksgiving and so what I decided was I was going to drive down the city do the

16:55

blood work and then come home and do the pregnancy test and with what's weird about the twoe week there's almost these

17:03

like like feelings or emotions or symptoms that you just start to like

17:09

attach to and say think you're pregnant like it's almost psychosomatic you almost like make up these things and

17:14

you're had that feel like you're pregnant so I did feel like I had some of those symptoms but I obviously really

17:21

didn't because I wasn't pregnant and um we had spent the night so the the blood

17:27

work was the day after Thanksgiving we had spent the night at Rob's parents and

17:32

Rob was was still at his parents with our son when I left very early to go to the city and so when I got home and did

17:40

the pregnancy test my sister was here with me and Rob was not home yet and I

17:46

took it and I just really thought it would be positive and my sister and I like left in the bathroom we went into

17:53

my bedroom and we're just kind of hanging out we set a timer and we went back in and

18:00

I saw not pregnant and I just fell to the floor um hysterical crying and I

18:08

just couldn't wait for Rob to be home because I just wanted to be with him and

18:15

um it was really devastating and I just had some false expectations because I

18:20

had gotten pregnant so easily with my son and I just assume my body is built for this this is going to work uh and it

18:28

didn't work and that was extremely devastating and I think the weight of the whole

18:33

process poured down on me too and just looking back about like how there was no

18:38

communication how I felt in the dark how I felt like I had these things happening that I didn't understand

18:46

and it just all culminated and it was a very hard weekend

18:54

um yeah and I immediately went to work to to transfer all those embryos back

19:02

not back but where I had started I I to Dr Green and so I worked tirelessly to

19:08

make that happen ASAP and the place in the city told me that it would be six

19:14

to8 weeks to get my embryos and I told them absolutely not and I I was on the phone with the patient experienced

19:20

person like multiple times telling them how awful my experience it was and they

19:26

really worked to expedite and the the the guy in grenage was amazing work to

19:32

exp expedite my embryos out of there and he made me the guy in grenage was like

19:37

don't worry they're coming to us they're going to be in safe hands we're all good um and then there was this other

19:44

miscommunication mishap where I got an email saying that only

19:51

one there was this mixup where there was it made me believe that there was only one embryo going to Greenwich and I was

19:57

like wait a second we have we have x x amount left so just for

20:03

everybody listening the ones they're still there like the ones that don't come back genetically normal they're

20:08

still at the clinic and you can ask like what the abnormalities are I've since met with a genetic Specialists that have

20:15

went through that with me but no one communicated that with me for me to know that those actually

20:21

existed and you know I told the the woman on the phone the patient

20:26

experienced person like I don't know to ask those questions and also anytime I'm

20:32

on the phone with you or your phone number shows up I'm instantly in a state of anxiety because I don't know what I'm about to hear and so to expect that

20:39

patients know to ask these things is is unfair so to anyone listening if you go

20:46

if you go through this and you get x amount of normal back whatever made it

20:51

to Blas assis like and didn't come back normal they're still there and you can ask about like the abnormalities and you

20:58

know the status of those I didn't I didn't even know that they existed so because of all that mixup like it I read

21:06

an email in a way that made me think we only had one embryo going to Greenwich and again I fell on the floor crying and

21:12

the guy from Greenwich like very quickly clear that up for me and and he was amazing um so fast forward now we're

21:21

into December um I did some more healing work the work I should have done before you

21:28

know I did the first transfer but again I was extremely impatient and was just ready to get going on all of this um I

21:36

did some other things to take care of myself and you know we met with Dr Green

21:41

for our our game plan and I felt like really in a good mental emotional

21:47

emotional physical state to move forward with another transfer and that experience

21:54

was a million times I I didn't even I couldn't even think of the word to say it was like a million times better Dr

22:00

Green was at every one of my appointments except when she was away on vacation but she you know was constantly

22:06

communicating with the doctor that saw me I felt like I got all my questions answered I got really attentive care um

22:14

I did not feel in the dark about anything we completely changed the protocol I did a medicated cycle which

22:20

was for me EST estrogen patches estrogen pills progesterone

22:26

shots um and then I got a couple other things that help with like couple an antibiotic and one other thing like I

22:34

got five different things that I didn't get at the previous place and that was a

22:39

um protocol that really did work for me I mean it is a lot the shots are a lot I

22:45

end up having to do and I'm not good with needles at all I hate needles like if I could some have someone holding my

22:51

hand doing blood work every time and I'm 42 years old that would be amazing and great for me um

23:58

and he came downstairs on the phone and he said you're pregnant and I was so excited and I was

24:05

so relieved um and it was just such good news and like I actually saw so the way

24:12

my doctors work there's a a portal I think like everybody has a portal now and I saw the blood or come through and

24:17

I'm like I'm not this was like before we got the phone call and I said I'm not ready to check because once I check this

24:23

day can go one of two ways cuz if it's not good news I'm out for the count for the rest of the day and I like I need to

24:29

get some more stuff done before I even look at this but then they called us with good news um and I felt amazing and I felt

24:38

relieved and I felt excited and I just felt a range a range of things

24:45

um and it just felt like everything that I had put into it like culminated in

24:51

this amazing news and I was just so excited to now be on my pregnancy journey and um you know expand my family

24:59

and all of the things and so everything was going well for a good amount of time

25:05

we go out to LA we film all these amazing episodes met so many amazing people just had the best best time I'm

25:13

out there doing my shots you know bringing all the medication one of the and I think I talked about this in one

25:19

of the episodes like I had to because with the shots you have to take them during a certain time window

25:25

so our on my flight like my fight was was originally supposed to land at one time in LA and that would have meant I

25:31

had to do it on the plane but we happened to get in early so I raced off the plane and was able to do it in like the airport bathroom but you know when

25:39

it's just kind of funny and you're excited like who cares you're pregnant like I'll do the shot wherever U and I

25:45

came back from LA and that Monday we had our first scan and that went well like

25:53

we saw everything we were supposed to see they they're looking for what I learned was a fetal pull they saw a

25:58

heartbeat Flicker and that's it's not really the appointment where you'll like hear a heartbeat yeah so all look good

26:04

on the first scan send us on our way said to come back the following Tu no I'm sorry following

26:10

Thursday um and so we go back the following Thursday Rob is with me

26:16

and I just remember feeling like prior to that appointment I

26:22

just remember feeling like I don't feel pregnant and looking back now I I think

26:28

it was less of a symptom thing and more of a intuition thing uh when I was

26:34

pregnant with my son I felt very connected and I felt like I wasn't alone and I really started to not feel that

26:42

way uh but I kind of wanted to ignore that thought completely because who

26:47

wants to think that you want to just think like your baby's in there and your baby is growing and I didn't really want

26:53

to fully acknowledge those thoughts but they were definitely there I remember remember getting ready for the

26:59

appointment and being in my closet getting dressed and I was like I almost

27:05

envisioned it not going well which I just quickly didn't I wanted to like get that thought out of my

27:10

mind um and then Rob and I were sitting in the waiting area and I just looked at him said I'm really

27:16

nervous and then we go into the room and

27:21

um you know you get on the table you put your legs up the whole thing and I knew

27:27

immediately something was wrong because I didn't see anything on the screen and then you can almost like if you've ever

27:33

been this through this you know like you can feel the doctor's energy too and she kept moving like the probe

27:40

around and trying to like get a different position and then she said I don't I don't see anything and I was

27:48

just I couldn't control myself I was hysterical I was hyperventilating I was

27:53

shaking and then she tried um like a different way of doing the

28:00

ultrasound and still nothing and she brought in a tech to get like second eyes and there was

28:08

nothing and um she said that the baby probably stopped growing right after shortly after that

28:16

first appointment um and I was I was just heartbroken I

28:21

was in disbelief uh I will share I'm almost a month out no I'm more than a

28:27

month I'm like five weeks from that that moment and time and that place and so

28:32

it's a it is a lot easier to talk about and talk about here and again I want to

28:38

share this because I you know committed to be vulnerable and the whole time I'm going through all this I just thought

28:44

like I will share all this and I will pay this forward and hopefully it's helpful to even one woman um so if it

28:53

seems like I talk about this with ease it is not easy but it has gotten easier

28:59

and the rest has been a whirlwind um five weeks have felt like five years

29:06

time has moved so slowly I've also in that time done a million and one things

29:11

that I will get into and share here and probably share more in depth on another episode or on social media because I

29:18

have Dove very deeply into doing a lot more research on things and I'm Blown

29:23

Away by what I've learned um for me I made the decision to not do a DNC um Dr

29:30

Green was amazing again to lay out all my options and and sort of let me know

29:35

pros and cons of the options um and in that moment I just I

29:41

just couldn't imagine myself back there the next day because if I did decide to do the DNC I would come back the next

29:48

day and have that done and I just I was like I can't come back here tomorrow and I said let let's give my body time to do

29:56

its own thing and I I really sat with that decision even after that because I

30:02

went back the following week and my body hadn't passed the tissue and she just

30:08

let me keep waiting because I'm like I don't want any more medication I just spend so much time pumping myself with

30:14

so much medication I was like I don't want any more medication and I don't want a procedure and luckily I guess luckily

30:22

unluckily my body did do its thing and and passed everything on its own which

30:27

was a horrible experience in of itself I I was bleeding tremendously I was

30:34

thought I might have to go to the hospital I was losing so much blood and it's you know I'm sorry again this is

30:40

this is a lot but it's the reality of it and the reality of what so many women go

30:46

through and you know I sit in disbelief that I am in this Camp of women and no

30:53

one wants to be in this camp but the power of sharing your story and I've connected with so many women that have

30:59

been through this since I have been and that's been extremely helpful because while you have friends that are so

31:05

loving and so supportive and checking in there's almost a separation now of like

31:11

you just don't get it you know you don't get it you haven't been through it and I love and appreciate all of their support

31:17

but there's a different kind of support that comes from a woman that has been through it and does get

31:23

it so my body did its thing um and since

31:29

then it's been really a lot of ups and downs I have really D very deeply into

31:37

what can I do and I've read so many books on how to improve egg quality I am

31:43

working with uh Stephanie Adler whose episode comes out this week and she's helping me with my nutrition and balance

31:50

my hormones and taking supplements these are all things I never really have done

31:56

and it's fast fascinating to learn what's the power of nutrition and a lot

32:03

of the books that I'm reading and again I think this deserves like a whole separate episode or again like blog or

32:10

something to share all that I've learned about this idea that age is the defining

32:16

factor of fertility it's absolutely not it is absolutely not and so you know we

32:22

call we call this podcast quiet the clock and it's it's born out of the narratives that say at 35 you're like

32:28

infertile and I'm here to say absolutely not true I mean I could have said that before when I got pregnant naturally at

32:34

39 and I will certainly say it now because everything that I'm reading just debunks that idea completely there's so

32:41

much power in nutrition and how we feel our body to help our fertility um so I

32:47

definitely will share more on that but it's been like a frenzy and a panic of like ordering every supplement buying

32:54

every book reading everything Googling everything

32:59

um revamping or like yeah my whole kitchen like I have thrown out all my

33:07

pots and pans and ordered new like the toxins is a real thing there is no plastic in my house

33:12

anymore and now where I sit because so this has probably been like four weeks

33:18

of this like I have stopped drinking coffee very basically stopped drinking

33:23

alcohol I had a few beers this weekend cuz I'm like I have to have some balance like this can't be all consuming um no

33:30

gluten no soy no Dairy I'm cooking like a maniac like I'm up at 5: to work out

33:37

and I start cooking by 600 before my son is up it has just been a major 180 on my

33:45

lifestyle um and I'm excited about those changes

33:50

because as I'm making them and I'm living them I'm like this is about my overall health and not just my fertility

33:57

health so I'm excited to you know change those things for the

34:03

bigger picture and someone that is been very supportive of me has said Thank

34:08

that baby for waking you up to your health and I I found that very profound and very helpful and I do try to look at

34:16

like what does this mean like what is the bigger picture here why did this happen what is the purpose of this what

34:22

is the takeaway from this and I think it is this wakening to my health because

34:28

while I consider myself a very healthy person I was not entirely health healthy

34:33

like I was taking no supplements or vitamins I was definitely not eating enough protein I would have a jam-packed

34:41

day and like eat a protein bar like on the Run thinking that was really healthy

34:47

way too much coffee um so I think it has really has really opened my eyes to my

34:54

health um and I just have been seeking out so much information and so much

35:01

support and that has been extremely extremely helpful to me um the other thing that I found out which is Weighing

35:08

on me heavily is my thyroid antibodies are really

35:14

really elevated the range should be 25 to 60 and Min are 95 and the one there

35:20

is this fear of like what is happening in my body I don't know what's going on and two there is this major frustration

35:26

that there is not a full full thyroid panel done before you even start IVF and

35:31

I don't know if anyone else has had one done or they knew to do that or advocate for that with their doctor but that

35:37

wasn't done for me until after I had my miscarriage and my doctor again is so incredible and is you know now treating

35:44

me as like a multi- miscarriage patient and what she said she's like you're not that but we'll do all the work up for

35:50

that and you know I wish that was something I knew before to look for before because there's all these things

35:56

she's looking for now that I've since since I've had this miscarriage and you know my question and frustration is why

36:02

aren't we doing these things before any woman starts an IVF Journey like we

36:08

could if we could Safeguard or or problem solve or problem shoot for something and fix it before we transfer

36:14

that would be amazing and share and save so much freaking heartbreak so much

36:19

freaking heartbreak so I have a frustration with that and I have a real fear of is there something really wrong

36:27

going on or or bigger that I don't know and when I tell you I've done everything

36:32

I am doing everything I I met with a genetic specialist I am meeting with a reproductive immunologist in the

36:39

beginning of April I'm doing a spirit baby reading I'm reading every book Under the Sun um and the funny thing is

36:48

I tell my clients not to do these things this these deep Dives and so I had a little bit of a meltdown last night because I'm so overwhelmed by it all and

36:56

I decided last night that that I also have to manage my overwhelm and my stress and find a balance with all of

37:04

this because stress is such a major issue in all of this too and you know

37:09

it's it's not easy to not stress and and just try to relax but I I think my energy right now is better spent on you

37:18

know meditating or walking versus reading another chapter about thyroid um

37:24

or trying to find a way to to balance it and do both um so this has been my

37:30

journey and I guess yeah where I started goes all the way back to last year where we started making the embryos and uh it's been really really

37:39

hard it's been extremely hard I am so anxious and eager to have another baby

37:47

and to expand my family I am fearful that something bigger is wrong

37:55

and um you know what I what I'm learning too and I love my doctor tremendously is

38:01

that there's a lot of self- advocacy that has to happen there's a lot that I have been doing on my own and

38:07

researching on my own while also having support but there's you know I was saying to Rob last night I need to be

38:14

equipped with information so I can have the questions like I had no questions I

38:19

had no questions when I started this because I just didn't know and that was that did not serve me

38:27

well so and maybe I'll come up with some questions you can ask and I'm going to

38:32

share all the books that I've read but if you feel something in your gut like

38:37

listen to that and patience is such a virtue I wish I was more patient I wish

38:43

I tuned into myself a little bit more I wish I trusted what was coming up for me

38:48

I just sort of pushed all that down because I'm like I want this baby and I want this baby now and I realize now

38:56

while you know I'm do the mental math constantly because I wanted my kids closer together and it's just not the

39:03

reality and I try to keep telling myself two or three more months will be a blip

39:08

if it means you find out what's going on with your thyroid it means that you turn your whole nutrition

39:14

around and so I'm just trying to stay really really patient um and one of the

39:21

things I kept telling myself when I was going through all of this is that I can pay this forward and I can

39:28

share my story and I encourage anyone to reach out to me that is in a similar

39:34

place or maybe you're about to transfer and you want to know you know more about

39:39

thyroid you want to know more about like health or things you can do as you're

39:44

prepared for that transfer I'm here for all of it if anyone has any questions or anyone just wants to connect and share

39:50

their story I have found so much comfort from talking to other women that have been through this and I wanted

39:57

everyone to understand where I was now and not listen to the LA episodes and be like wait what like what's going on

40:04

where is she at and because I do share bits and pieces of that through you know the interviews with the guests um and I

40:12

hope that this is helpful I don't know it's I hope it's helpful and I do just

40:18

want to share it and um Rob has been incredible and amazing through all of

40:23

this and so supportive and just also very helpful in sort of bringing me back

40:30

down and helping me stay positive and helping me take things way one day at a time because I do look like very far

40:37

ahead and get really again impatient and eager and so he's really helpful in in

40:42

grounding me and that and so that's been really really helpful if you have any

40:48

questions or again just want to connect I'm here for it I I am in this Camp of

40:55

women now and again I don't think any woman wants to be here but we're stronger when we come together and we

41:01

support each other so I'm here for that and I will do another episode where I go

41:07

more deeply into what I've learned again the books I read the supplements I'm

41:12

taking um and yeah I don't really know how to wrap this up other

41:19

than everybody take care of yourself trust yourself tune into to your

41:24

intuition tune into to your guts tune into to what your body is telling you

41:30

and I will continue to keep you posted on our journey and where we're at um

41:36

right now I'm just taking a minute to kind of take care of myself and make some changes and do some things that I

41:43

have control of and get more mentally prepared to see what is next for us I

41:50

still trust I'm going to say this I still trust that we will expand our family I still wholeheartly believe in

41:56

that I still whole hardly want that and it's just a different path to get there

42:02

so I hope this has been helpful um yeah it's hard to put out there but I

42:10

hope it's helpful to somebody hi I wanted to jump back on here because I just finished watching

42:18

what I recorded yesterday which I think signifies how nervous I am to put this out here because I never really rewatch

42:25

The episodes I leave that to my amazing EP Shelly who watches the

42:30

episodes and edits all of them and um but I did watch this one back and it is

42:36

because I'm very nervous to put it out there and while listening it to it I realized I think I left out a lot of the

42:42

nuances of all of this a lot of the complexities of this a lot of the

42:48

emotional layers of this and maybe that was my own subconscious or protective

42:54

coping mechanism to make it more logistical and while the logistics are

43:00

really important I think um you know I did get emotional recording it I think some of the emotions or or things that

43:07

came up for me were left out and I do think those parts are important um I

43:12

wanted to read something that I wrote while going through this and it's funny because if you've listened to season one

43:18

there are a lot of things I journal on and things that I write that I have shared here um and I thought this one

43:25

captured it pretty well um but before that read that I was

43:30

thinking today about just like the nuances like I don't know if anyone's listening that has been

43:36

through this like I got like superstitious about things I got superstitious about where I parked when

43:42

I went to the doctor where I parked when I went to my acupuncturist if you look at the closely at the recordings of the

43:48

LA episodes or see some of the pictures um on our website I'm wearing the

43:53

medical bracelet for my transfer and I kept that on until the ultrasound where we found out

44:00

um that we had lost our baby and immediately like in the midst of my hyperventilation and tears I was saying

44:06

to Rob get this off me get this off me get this off me um so there's just so many nuances to all of this there's so

44:13

many complexities to it there's so many emotions there's so much

44:18

blame constant questions of like what did I do wrong could I've done anything differently I went through the Monday

44:25

when we had the first good Ultra sound to the Thursday we did everything I did in questioning like did I do anything

44:32

did I do anything wrong what what did I do so the blame is really huge and I just wanted to read

44:40

this because I think it captures just the emotion of it and what we women put

44:47

ourselves through the questions we ask ourselves the emotions that we feel um

44:52

and if this is helpful or relatable to anybody again I want to I want to share it

44:58

um so here it goes less than a week out from my

45:04

miscarriage well I guess technically not even because my body has not done anything yet I'm still waiting for my

45:09

body to pass this baby boy that I wanted so desperately this coming right after a failed transfer most days I fight to get

45:16

out of bed which I do because I have a toddler that needs me I Rush him off to daycare and I get back into bed where

45:23

I've given myself permission to just have my coffee and zone out to love is blind but then the guilt sets in and the piles

45:29

of things to do are still there so I muster some energy to get out of bed and fold the laundry or wash the dishes or

45:35

answer some emails and then I get back in bed bed is my Solace right now I feel alone but I have chosen alone the texts

45:43

come in the offers to talk or there but I don't want to what am I going to say that someone that had a successful

45:48

transfer and a brand new baby in their arms to someone that has two very healthy children they don't get it I'm

45:54

now part of a club that I never thought I would be in and those are the people that I will and can talk to because they

46:00

get the pain and the disappointment and the hopelessness they get the extensive amount of effort emotionally physically

46:06

logistically and financially with no outcome with a road still ahead that is just as uncertain because for me the

46:12

road does not end here I have to keep trying but the trying is terrifying because there is a real possibility that

46:18

I will end up here again I foolishly thought that this would just work I got pregnant with my son so easily and I

46:25

knew what a blessing that was at the time but wow do I really get it now and then there are all the layers

46:32

and complexities of being 42 and feeling like I'm running out of time and now not trusting anything or anyone the doctors

46:39

the clinics and mostly myself what did I do wrong did I drink too much coffee not

46:46

take the right supplements the thoughts are endless and the information is endless I find myself signing up for all

46:52

the things plugged at me on Instagram I've ordered special tees signed up for emails about infertility and how to

46:57

prevent miscarriage and then I don't even look at them because that is too much that's where I ended that I I

47:05

stopped there but it still makes me really emotional and I think a lot of people can relate

47:11

to this and again I hope this episode was really helpful it felt important for me to jump back on here and just share

47:18

how hard it is how lonely it can feel how uncertain it could feel how out of

47:24

control it can feel um it's a really really hard place and

47:29

if you're going through this again I'm here I I'd love to connect to all of you

47:36

and to all of you getting up each day and getting out of bed or G giving yourself permission to stay in bed I I

47:43

honor you um and I get it if you like the episodes that you're hearing and you want to hear more please subscribe to

47:49

our Channel and stay tuned for more incredible stories and tools when I froze my eggs at 37 I felt alone I felt

47:57

unsure I felt confused and uncertain and when you're considering such a big

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decision feeling those ways do not feel good so we have created a step-by-step

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how we put it together I think it's a great guide I think it's really comprehensive and covers a a lot of the

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things to be thinking about to be considering and maybe some things you didn't even realize you should be thinking about or considering um the

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goal is to not let have anyone feel alone in this journey so if you again if

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you're thinking about this decision sign up through our website quith clock.com and make sure to follow us on Instagram

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and Tik Tok at quiet the clock pod this is a very big decision so I don't want anyone to feel alone in it so if you're

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thinking about it grab this guide and you can also DM me with any questions I'm here to support you through this

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decision and this journey

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