Meet Jessica. Jessica and her husband thought IVF was the answer to their unexplained infertility woes. A doctor would take her eggs, combine them with his sperm, and POOF - a baby. They expected IVF to work on the first round (hint, it took 4 more rounds). When Jessica found the FU Project Workshop, she was still skeptical about bringing in an additional team to help her and her husband on their fertility journey. In fact, she and her husband were the only two people that knew they were going t...
May 12, 2021•15 min•Season 1Ep. 64
At the ripe age of 33, I would have laughed at anyone that tried to tell me that it would take more than two rounds to have my family. After all, fertility wasn't my problem. My husband was the one with a low sperm count. Boy, was I wrong? IVF can be so overwhelming. Yes, it's science, and it exists to help you grow your family. However, there is a misconception that because science is involved, the probability of error is low. Join me on the FU Project Podcast this week to learn about my HUGE I...
May 05, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Meet Mari. When we met, Mari was sad and angry. Mari and her husband had been trying for a year to conceive, but hadn't had any success. At that point they decided it was best to have some tests done. Doctors diagnosed Mari with unexplained infertility and recommended IVF, but Mari and her husband weren't ready. Instead they continued to try naturally, followed by a couple of failed IUIs. They did eventually get pregnant, but the pregnancy ended in miscarriage. At that point they knew they wante...
Apr 28, 2021•15 min•Season 1Ep. 62
HAPPY NATIONAL INFERTILITY AWARENESS WEEK!! 1 in 8 couples face fertility issues. That's why National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) and the work RESOLVE does is so important. As anyone that listens to this podcast knows, it took me 10 rounds of IVF to have my two very expensive children. If you're on a fertility journey, you know how challenging this journey can be. When you first enter the world of the fertility challenged it's hard to know where to start. Start with RESOLVE. They have an a...
Apr 21, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Meet Anne. Anne was diagnosed with a diminished ovarian reserve and completed two unsuccessful egg retrievals (1-2 eggs total), followed by two unsuccessful fresh transfers. After joining the FU Project Workshop, she did another two egg retrievals. The first produced 4 Day 3 embryos which are on ice and then the second produced over 10 eggs and she now has 6 Day 5 genetically tested embryos (not a typo) on ice! These results are a perfect example of how one doctor's opinion and protocol should n...
Apr 14, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 60
An open letter to all fertility clinics... Have a little more respect for my vagina. I realize that you may be used to having women spread eagle in a room while you're going about your business, but for us, it's strange AF! Give us a towel, a blanket, anything to cover our vagina, and as a result, our anus, from the room full of people taking notes, chit-chatting and getting prepped for a procedure that in theory takes no longer than it takes to insert a tampon. Yet for some reason, here I am, v...
Apr 07, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Meet Jena. She has PCOS, had her first child via IUI (got pregnant on the second one), and then could not get pregnant with baby #2 (sound familiar?). She joined the FU Project Workshop for our experience, expertise and ability to customize a plan for her. In this chat she will share what she also was able to accomplish (other than, yes, a pregnancy) and the advice she would give someone in her same situation. Join me this week for another inspiring story. What You’ll Learn Things don't always g...
Mar 31, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 58
I recently had one of the hardest weeks of my life this past December. I was working double time so that I could feel prepared to take a week off for the holidays (that’s already stressful at any point in the year), but then my husband was diagnosed with covid and my dad was dying from covid all at the same time. Stress, whether acute or traumatic, has affected us all. We learn that stress is bad for our body and mind, but we rarely learn healthy tactics to combat it while we are in the trenches...
Mar 24, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Meet Emma… She had gone through one IUI and five failed transfers with IVF when the doctors started recommending surrogacy. However, she felt there were still avenues she could take to get and stay pregnant. When we met, Emma wasn’t ready to give up on herself, and she wanted to make sure she got it right with her next embryo. Not only was her first transfer with the FU project successful, but she learned important tactics she carried with her into her relationships and now into motherhood. List...
Mar 17, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Oh yes, I’m going there. We are talking about God, Religion and your IVF journey. Religion can play a huge role in your life’s decisions. It can play an even more confusing role if your religion and life goals create conflicting in ideologies. But is IVF and fertility support innately against God’s will? Are you playing God by using IVF to get you pregnant? This whole God conversation started because someone thought it was wrong and ungodly for me to have my blonde haired, blue eyed children thr...
Mar 10, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Meet Stephanie… She was confident in her egg retrievals and then they were unsuccessful. She was confident in her embryo transfers, and then they were unsuccessful. When we met, she wanted guidance on what was going wrong and to be better informed during her next steps through her fertility journey. Stephanie not only received guidance and useful information but also a fruitful community of people to cheer for her and support her along the way! Listen to how she learned to manage her lifestyle t...
Mar 03, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 54
There’s annoying news, and there’s sad news. There are things you can control, and there are things you can’t control. When you’re trying to navigate your fertility journey, every bump can feel like a mountain. Whether you’re having to postpone your appointment (again) due to a thin uterine or you just had a failed transfer, there’s a way to handle news that’ll benefit you and your journey in the end. While a fertility journey is sort of like climbing a mountain, there are ways to make it feel l...
Feb 24, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Meet Jennifer… Getting pregnant seemed like an uphill battle with both her husband and herself having fertility issues. They tried for two years, both naturally and through IVF, before they found me. When we met she had already went through 2 egg retrievals and 5 failed transfers with genetically tested embryos, interviewing surrogates as a possible option and then natural pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage. The natural pregnancy proved to herself that she could get pregnant, but she needed a...
Feb 17, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 52
From simple prayers to multi-step mystic processes, there is no shortage of weird tips, tricks and superstitions people subscribe to in order to get and stay pregnant. When you’re going on your 10th round of IVF like I was, you get a little desperate for something to make you magically pregnant, even if that involves taking crazy advice from strangers. On what would be my final round of IVF, I found myself open to do anything that may potentially get me pregnant. But when I got the advice to do ...
Feb 10, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Meet Charlotte… She needed IVF due to a male factor (like we did) and thought that IVF was going to create control and order in her fertility journey (like I did). When we met, Charlotte just had a miscarriage after IVF. It was then that she realized she needed support and guidance moving forward through her fertility journey. She originally joined the FU project just to get an opinion over how she should get and stay pregnant. What she discovered was her own voice and options that truly empower...
Feb 03, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Meet Heather… For Heather, having her second child felt like a ticking time bomb. There was pressure to make something happen since she was getting older and the statistics of her having a baby weren’t getting any better. But she wasn’t ready to give up on her body’s ability. When we met, Heather was 42 years old with light endometriosis and being told that she could not get pregnant without an egg donor. She joined the FU Project Workshop because of the unwavering belief that I had that she cou...
Jan 20, 2021•12 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Meet Jamie… For Jamie, she had her first child easily through a couple rounds of IVF. When she tried to have her second child, things didn’t go as smoothly. After many failed rounds and lots of frustration, Jamie felt like she hit rock bottom in her fertility journey. When we met, Jamie thought that her dreams of having a family of four may never actually happen. There was nothing technically wrong with her or her eggs, but IVF just didn’t seem to be working this time around. She thought that if...
Jan 06, 2021•15 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Meet Megan… She has severe diminished ovarian reserve (only makes 1-2 eggs on stimulation drugs), has severe endometriosis (two laparoscopy surgeries) and was told it would be impossible for her to have a child with her own eggs. She was at the most famous clinic in the USA with an exceptional doctor and was brave enough to leave there (and trust me) to go to a different, less known, doctor. Megan and I get real really fast as she opens up about how her physical body was responding due to a lack...
Dec 23, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Is IVF feeling unfair? Are you riding the emotional rollercoaster and wondering why your partner seems to be sitting cool, calm and collected on the sidelines? It's easy to feel like you're making all of the sacrifice while your partner's life seems unfazed by the IVF rollercoaster? IVF is a huge commitment and places a lot of physical, emotional and mental demand on the female. This doesn't mean that your partner doesn't feel anything throughout the process, but they are experiencing the proces...
Dec 16, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Meet Erin… For Erin, deciding to do IVF after trying for about a year wasn’t the problem. In fact, she was confident going into IVF since there were no obvious problems with her or her partner’s fertility. When we met she had done two rounds of IVF. She had everything going for her - high egg reserve at 39 and loads of embryos after fertilization. But she only has a total of 1 embryo (between the two rounds) by the end. We discuss what got her to try IVF again even with paralyzing fears that it ...
Dec 09, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 45
ARE YOU STILL IN A TOXIC RELATIONSHIP? Hint: You probably are. But it is with yourself. Handling the stress of your fertility journey is downright difficult. Fertility journeys are a perfect breeding ground for those negative thoughts to creep into your head and control how you react to your own life. That being said, regardless of whether you’ve heard of a Drama Triangle, you’ve probably been a part of one. Drama Triangles occur whenever we let our default, toxic emotional response take the rei...
Dec 02, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Meet Michelle… Michelle had completely embraced the IVF route for her fertility journey. She was pretty confident and believed she was going to get pregnant the first go-around. Flash forward through four failed transfers and learning to cope with anger and frustration, she not only got pregnant but developed a more positive, healthy mindset. When we met, Michelle had a failed transfer at her first clinic and was devastated. Together we worked to change clinics and create a healthier mental spac...
Nov 25, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 43
When you're going through your fertility journey, navigating the holidays can seem daunting: The holiday cards featuring someone's newborn or seeing a pregnant relative or hearing how one of your friends got pregnant so easily can be absolutely devastating depending on your current mindset. Then there’s the “advice.” Your aunt gives you her special 8-step routine to increase your fertility. Your mom thinks you need to change your diet. Someone else chimes in saying you must try this thing that t...
Nov 18, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 42
The doctor’s ran all the proper tests but still couldn't figure out why Allison wasn’t getting pregnant. No one had answers and no one could provide her with hope. When I met Allison, she had just had her 4th failed transfer and felt really depressed. She started to think that maybe she wasn’t meant to be pregnant. Listen to how we successfully prepared her for IVF and how her fertility journey taught her how to keep moving forward. What You’ll Learn Where she was in her fertility journey when w...
Nov 11, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Most of us are fed ideas of what healthy and ideal lives look like from the diet, wellness and fitness industry. For women, this tends to mean we are in constant diet mode: losing 5 pounds for the vacation, a few pounds over here for the wedding, take some off over here after the holidays. Nutrition can get especially confusing when there are so many “miracle” diets and quick fixes preaching that they are the best for your health. Brian Pannuzzo is a nutrition and health coach, and, well, my lov...
Nov 04, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Meet Melissa… The doctors couldn’t tell Melissa exactly why she wasn’t getting pregnant through IVF. Instead, they just gave her the (scary low) odds of her actually getting pregnant with her own legs and left the decision up to her. When I met her, Melissa was about to get an egg donor after two failed rounds of IVF. Listen to how we successfully prepared her for IVF and how her fertility journey allowed for her to gain a stronger, healthier mindset. What You’ll Learn Where she was in her ferti...
Oct 28, 2020•14 min•Season 1Ep. 39
The relationship you have with your fertility doctor is really important. But most of the time, these “relationships” tend to be one sided, where you are expected to just sit and wait for the doctor to do their magic or for science to be on your side. Now, say this with me: For a relationship to be productive, it can’t be one sided. When we think of doctors, we think of people whom we should just trust and expect to have the answers. Believing this prevents a lot of healthy dialogue from happeni...
Oct 21, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Meet Hanna… Hanna was doing everything perfectly to get pregnant. Perfect diet and even quit her job to reduce the stress, but she still couldn't get pregnant. When we met, she’d had 4 miscarriages and was preparing for IVF. Listen to how we successfully prepared her for IVF, how "less was more" for her personal focus and intensity towards her fertility journey (because she allowed me to take off the pressure), and how she never even got to an embryo transfer before she got pregnant. What You’ll...
Oct 14, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Meet Melanie… She already had a daughter from IVF previously, so why was she not able to get pregnant again? When I met her she had 3 failed transfers with genetically normal embryos and a very reluctant doctor who did not want to make any changes. It was with her last embryos that we were able to get the doctor to do things differently. She credits her fertility journey with making her a better mother and something that made her grow up a lot. Listen to how she found her confidence to stand up ...
Sep 30, 2020•12 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Meet Brittanya… When I met her she was repeatedly told by her doctor that she had "bad eggs". In the first two egg retrievals with her doctor, she produced 2 Day 3 embryos and in the last egg retrieval, she didn't even get to fertilization of the one egg she had. Listen to this conversation about how she got over many medical issues getting in the way of her fertility treatments (and how that correlated to her fertility issues) and, when she was able to finally do another egg retrieval, how her ...
Sep 16, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 35
