I have two decades of clinical experience helping women like YOU get & stay pregnant! I cannot wait to be of service to you on your #TTC journey! 

In this video, I answer all of YOUR questions about fertility! 

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I am not a medical doctor. I have been a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine for over 17 years and I will be speaking from my clinical experience helping thousands of women conceive. The office of Aimee E. Raupp, M.S., L.Ac and Aimee Raupp Wellness & Fertility Centers and all personnel associated with the practice do not use social media to convey medical advice. This video will be posted to Aimee’s channels to educate and inspire others on the fertility journey.

SEE TRANSCRIPT BELOW OR CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR THE FULL VIDEO.

Aimee Raupp:

Hello. How are you guys? It's me again, coming to you live today. As always, on my Thursdays, I get to come to you live. Thursdays at noon, Eastern Time, every week, I barely miss a week. And this week is a special week where it is a Q&A, fertility-based Q&A. So you guys get to ask me questions based on fertility, and I'm going to answer them. What I ask of you is to put it in the question box, okay? If you put it in the comments section, I'm not going to answer it, because the question box keeps me highly organized, okay? So, I'm going to let the questions start building up in the question box, then I'm going to go in there and I'm going to answer them.

And I'm super excited. I love doing the Q&As, you guys love them too, and these are great for you to come back to, because oftentimes people ask questions that you've had in the past or currently have, and so these are just great to come in. And, hello, Dariana, nice to see you. Love all of you guys. I appreciate you all so much. Okay, I see questions coming in. Top things to do for trying… Okay, let me just put that here. Okay. Okay, so Sweet One, if you have a question, put it in the question box, okay?

So again, comments, I'm not going to, what's the word? I'm not going to address. I'm only going to address things that are put in the question box. So at the bottom of your screen, you see a little circle with a question mark in it, hit that, type in your question, and then that way it keeps me super organized. I get to go through, and I get to show the question on the screen, so you guys can all see it and understand what I'm addressing and talking about in that moment in time.

So top things to do while trying to conceive with Hashimoto's. You have to regulate the immune system, and you have to improve gut health. So the Egg Quality Diet is designed to do exactly that. So my first step for you would be to recommend you to go and get my book, The Egg Quality Diet, and follow it in earnest. The biggest things that really trigger autoimmunity, especially Hashimoto's, that we know of, gluten, dairy, and soy are huge triggers for any autoimmune condition, but specifically, or especially Hashimoto's. So that's really where I would start. And then also, as I always talk about in all of my things, especially my book Body Belief, which also has a lot of great tips on autoimmunity, is addressing emotional inflammation as well as physical inflammation.

Okay, what is going on here? What are your thoughts on getting Botox? It's so funny. That question is coming up so much lately. What's going on? I don't know why it didn't let me… Sorry, it's not letting me answer the question. Okay, the Botox question somehow just disappeared. Oh, here it is. Okay. What are your thoughts on getting Botox? I think you do you. If you feel good about it, don't do it in luteal phase, don't do it when you could be pregnant. They don't recommend Botox in pregnancy.

The data, it's been around a very long time, and there doesn't seem to be any concerns about it impacting negatively fertility. And I do think for a lot of women it really helps boost the way they feel about themselves, which I think we should do on all the levels and really work on ourselves on the internal. I talk about that a lot in Chill Out and Get Healthy, my first book, like inner confidence versus outer confidence. But as far as it negatively impacting fertility, I don't see cause for worry about that.

Can doctors really predict how many healthy embryos you will get through IVF just based on FSH, AMH, follicle count? No, they cannot. They can guess. It's all they can do. It's all any of us can do. Okay, something's going on with these questions. They keep disappearing. Okay, now I just lost another question. I don't know what is going on. I'm hitting the question box, and then it's disappearing. Okay, let me just see. Top things about Botox, love your skin… Okay, there was one, it started with Ken, let me just see if I lost it. I might have just lost a question. It started with the word Ken, so I apologize. Someone's going to have to resubmit a question.

So again, you guys are putting things in the comments. I'm not going to answer things in the comments. This is a Q&A, you bring your questions to the question box, okay? Thank you. Is it helpful to go for acupuncture before IVF transfer? Yes. Acupuncture before and after IVF transfer has shown upwards of a 30% increase in success rates, and success rates is pregnancy rate. But even more recent research shows that acupuncture three months, on a regular basis, in the lead up to fertility treatments dramatically improves results, so absolutely.

Which is better for a C-section adhesion, serrapeptase or Wobenzym? They're basically the same, so either. Castro oil packs, too, abdominal gua sha, really important. I would also do Mayan abdominal of Avrigo massage as well. And then I would also consider, and I just was in my private community talking about this, that if there is C-section scar tissue and you are trying for a second child, I highly recommend a hysteroscopy.

Can you use castor all packs until the day of using FSH around cycle day 10? Sure. Okay, I answered that one already. After PRP four months, my AMH dropped. So, four months after PRP, that makes sense, because I think PRP does wear off in about three to four months, and AMH is secreted by the ovaries and is a sign of ovarian potential for that month. And so that could make sense. So, it's either repeating the PRP, also checking your vitamin D levels. Low Vitamin D is directly related to low AMH.

Also, remembering that AMH is not a predictor of a pregnancy outcome. It's a predictor when you're trying to do fertility treatments, maybe, but naturally conceiving it's not a predictor that women with high or low AMH have the same pregnancy outcomes in one year of the same age. Same age women, high or low AMH have the same pregnancy outcomes in one year. And so keep that in mind too. But other things to help improve AMH, castor oil packs, abdominal gua sha, acupuncture, anything that improves ovarian blood flow is really going to help.

Can medication for autoimmunity affect sperm quality? Yeah, methotrexate for certain affects sperm quality. So, what I've had patients do in the past is have them go off for a month, freeze semen, and then go back. I've also had patients that their husbands are on certain medications and they have to use donor sperm instead. But, absolutely, if it's methotrexate, a 100% of it impacts sperm.

Okay, use the question box below please to ask me questions. I know people are just joining in and comments are coming through. I'm not going to answer comments. I'm only going to answer questions from the questions box. Thank you. I have bloating after meals, burbs, and gas. How may I handle it? Get The Egg Quality Diet and follow it.

I am spotting a few days to a week before I get my period. I have read that could be low progesterone, but all tests of progesterone levels are fine. So, did you check progesterone multiple times in the luteal phase? That's one thing that is really common to not do. Most people just check it once at about six to seven days post ovulation, cycle day 21 is kind of the standard, regardless of when a woman ovulates. It really should be tested six to seven days post ovulation. If I see spotting and suspect low progesterone, I have them get progesterone tested multiple times in the luteal phase to see what it's doing.

Or I have them use the OOVA or the Mira. Both of those are on my website. You can go and see links to both of those tracking devices at aimeeraupp.com, under recommended products. And other things it could be is hypothyroidism, it could be a polyp, it could be a fibroid, it could be a cyst. Chinese medicine we say it's the spleen not holding. So, it could be also stagnation from a Chinese medicine perspective. So, I would need a lot more details on your case, but those are some things that I think about. What could cause pink spotting before period? So, I just answered that question.

Recommended diet herbs for fertility related issues due to fibroids. So, again, I mean I'm going to recommend The Egg Quality Diet. That is the book that I wrote for inflammation and healing the gut and fibroids and any adenomyosis or anything like that fall into that category. Herbs, I'd never loosely recommend Chinese herbs, because I am an herbalist and I take it really seriously. And I think it's really reckless to just loosely recommend herbs. But things I would consider based on knowing there's fibroids and a previous myomectomy is castor oil packs on a regular basis.

In the follicular phase, I have a whole video just Google Aimee Raupp and the words castor oil, C-A-S-T-O-R and oil, and you will get the whole blog post and the whole video with all the instructions as to when and how and where and all the things. I make my own castor oil, that is called fertility activating castor oil. You can find that on Aimee Raupp Beauty. It is formulated specifically for fertility. And there are herbalist out there, I would highly recommend finding an acupuncturist who's also an herbalist. Go in, get a new patient consult, get an assessment, and get put on Chinese herbs.

All of my fertility coaches are acupuncturists and herbalist and we also could do that for you anywhere in the world. You can go to aimeeraupp.com and look at the coaching options and you can do a one time, 60 minute session with any one of my fertility coaches, and get put on a good protocol to help address things too.

Do you think infrared sauna helps before FET? Depends. I don't want over sweating, because I think some sweat is really good to help detox and help prepare the body, too much sweating can really make us deficient. And so kind of just depends. I have an infrared sauna, I do love to use it, but maybe 10 minutes a few times a week versus like 20, 30, 40 minute sessions, where you're really losing too much fluids. Because in Chinese medicine, fluids are the most important thing to egg quality and uterine lining and kind of keeping us really juicy and fertile. So we don't want to sweat too much, but a little bit of sweat is really important.

What do you recommend for a prenatal? I have all my recommended supplements on aimeeraupp.com. You can go over there and check that out. What's the ideal vitamin D level? Between a 50 and a 70. And remember, low vitamin D is directly correlated to low AMH, or low AMH is directly correlated to low vitamin D.

Can biologics for psoriasis and sporadic dermatitis affect my fertility? Potentially. The Egg Quality Diet, again, because I treat all sorts of this stuff. I have lots of cases that come to me they have fertility problems and they also have rosacea, they also have psoriasis, they also have eczema, they have rheumatoid, or what's it called? Psoriatic arthritis. The diet changes are critical. Healing the gut, reducing inflammation are absolutely critical to healing. So, I would go there first and then play around with cutting back on your meds and see. I have had plenty of women get pregnant while on biologics. Some need them to get pregnant. So, it's a very interesting situation, but the gut health and reducing inflammation is critical to optimizing fertility.

What's ideal thyroid and thyroid antibody levels? Ideal antibody levels is below a 20, or even below a 10. Ideal TSH is between a one and a two point five. Ideal free T3 and free T4 is right smack in the middle of the range on the lab. Doing The Egg Quality Diet, what steps do you recommend afterwards? Would a one-on-one with your team make sense, even if I'm not based in the US? Yes, we coach women all over the world, any time zone, any location. I think we've literally coached women in every single continent at this point, which is something I'm very proud of that we get to share our message and empower women all over the world.

So, absolutely I think when you finish the 100 days, there is a last section in The Egg Quality Diet that says the 100 days and beyond, so make sure you read that. I do kind of lay out a good framework for you because remember this is an elimination diet, and then you are meant to reintroduce foods and I walk you through that week by week in phase four. And so that way you come up with your plan. And ideally then you stay on your plan. Anything you reintroduce that give you flare ups, you probably should eat. That's kind of how it works.

But I do also helping my clients figure out the 80/20 or 90/10 rule. So, how they can have dinner out one or two nights a week, or go to a friend's party and not have to be so conscious and live a little right. I want you to be able to live and enjoy your life and feel good. And so coaching with us can really help that really we create an individualized plan for you. And so there is that great benefit of doing a coaching session with one of my coaches.

And keep in mind, I am on a wait list for several months. I'm not taking on anyone new, probably well into the new year, but my coaches are available, they are amazing. They have been with me for over 10 years. I oversee every single case. I talk to each of my coaches every single week and we talk about cases. We have our own group meetings about cases. So, you are really well taken care of when you work with us and I see every case. And not that I need to, my coaches are brilliant. Then they teach me things too, so keep that in mind.

Naturally treat autoimmune issues hot… The Egg Quality Diet. That's the answer. Just going through seventh consecutive miscarriage, I'm sorry. And endocrinologists suggest PGS testing. I would recommend premune.com. Just type that into your web browser right now, P-R-E-G-M-U-N-E.com. Get that testing done. Look at reproductive immunology. Also, check out the book, Is Your Body Baby Friendly? I think those are two really good places to start, and I'm sending you love. Miscarriages suck.

35, did IVF, have adenomyosis diagnosed by pelvic MRI. Had 23 eggs, only three fertilized, got one fair embryo to blast. Should I do another retrieval right away? I would. And have them use lower dose meds. Even though you have a lot of eggs, so sometimes they blast you because you're 35 and you have a lot, but your eggs could be fragile. Maybe, I'm going to take one thing back. I would also maybe consider taking two or three months off following The Egg Quality Diet in earnest than going back. I think you would have much better results.

Dutch Complete versus Dutch Plus? I don't know the Dutch Plus, I think you mean cycle mapping. Would you recommend getting it in a bundle with… I don't know what Dutch Plus is. I just, myself just did the Dutch Complete. I am a huge fan of the Dutch Complete. I actually just peed on my four strips, and they're drying and I'm going to send them in tomorrow and I can't wait. Dutch Plus, I don't know what the Dutch Plus is. I know Dutch Complete. I know… Oh, it's the cycle mapping. They just changed the name. Oh, it adds the cortisol awakening… Dutch Plus takes hormone testing to a new level, in addition to sex hormones and then metabolites, it adds cortisol awakening response.

Oh, okay. I think that's interesting. Sure. So, it's the Dutch Complete with the cortisol awakening response. Sure, if you're a high stress individual or you think that stress, cortisol, chronic illness is impacting your fertility, that might be a smart thing to do. It's a brand new test, so I didn't even know what existed. How do people get the Dutch test? You go to their website, dutch.com, dutchtest.com and you order it. And you can just do it yourself and then get your results. You can, also, we do offer coaching on functional medicine testing, and so you could also do a coaching session with one of my coaches and get a Dutch review that way.

So, there are options, but typically you can order the test on your own. It's 300 bucks, if you call them. I think it's more if you order it online. The price just went up. It used to be 250, it's 300 bucks. They send it to you. It's four pee strips that you do over, basically, like a 12 hour period and then you send it in, you get the results. But you do need someone to help you interpret it. However, the Dutch website itself has a shit ton of information and resources on there, so, if you're a self starter type, you could totally understand your Dutch on your own. It just might take you a couple hours of going through the resources.

Would you recommend egg retrieval during Egg Quality Diet? Sure. I would ideally like you two months in at least. I don't recommend herbs loosely at all. I highly recommend doing a new patient consult with an acupuncturist who is also an herbalist, and getting put on an herbal formula. Or working with one of my coaches, all of whom are fertility coaches, but they're also acupuncturists and clinicians and herbalist. And we can put you on a formula. But I never, because Chinese herbs are very complicated, herbs are medicine and they're very complicated and they're never to be taken lightly. And so there's that.

My period stops at day three, comes back at day four for a day of cramps after, what could this mean? It's like stagnation, it's start and stop. I would do castor oil packs starting on day two or three, see if that helps. Also consider acupuncture and really work on any repressed emotions. That's usually a sign of pretty deep repression and frustration.

How about sex during the two week wait, do you recommend? Sure. I think it's perfectly safe. With inflation groceries are getting expensive, what are the most important things to buy organic? I do talk about it in all the books. If you have The Egg Quality Diet, the resources page does map out the Dirty Dozen, and the most important things to get organic. I do think animal products are super important to get organic. And then the vegetables that are in the Dirty Dozen, that's where I would… Anything animal related and the Dirty Dozen.

Two pregnancies in 15 years, could vesicular mole be caused of a thin endometrioma? I don't know, maybe. I'm sorry that I don't have a clear answer for you. I feel like I just don't know enough about the case to really answer that. But I would think about healing the gut, reducing inflammation, improving circulation and blood flow to the uterus and the ovaries. And it should help with the outcomes, regardless of any procedures you decide to do or not to do. So that's how I would approach it. I would do Egg Quality Diet. I would do acupuncture. I would work with an herbalist or work with one of our coaches, and really get on a plan. And as I always say, “Fertility is an extension of health,” and so we might have a diagnosis, we might have a disease state, but it's really about improving health mentally, emotionally, physically, and nutritionally regardless of those diagnoses and amplifying our chances to get and stay pregnant.

Does the Dutch test results vary monthly? I think it can vary monthly. It is a snapshot in time, and so I have a girl right now when they coach with me, we do the Dutch, it's part of our package with me. And we are going to be opening up a functional fertility package. Just keep your eyes out for that. It will be with one of my coaches, and we'll be doing the Dutch, the GI map, and genetics. And it'll be an awesome package, because we do all this functional fertility testing. I really want to offer it to you guys because I think a lot of people go to functional medicine doctors and it's like $1200 for the first visit and then all the tests. And it's like you're thousands of dollars in and I feel like we could do that for you on a lower price point.

So, I just had a girl and she's had a wonky menstrual cycle this month, and so I said, “You know what? Wait, we're going to do the Dutch next month. I want to see that period be your normal period.” Even for me, I just did my Dutch this month, because I saw a super healthy ovulation. My progesterone is high. I use Mira to test. And so I know it's a good month to get a good idea of what my cycle looks like on a regular basis. So, it is just like blood work, it's a snapshot in time. It's not a set in stone like, “Oh, your TSH has been this for six months.” No, it's a snapshot in time. But the Dutch does give us a lot of information of how your body metabolizes hormones, which is a pretty consistent thing.

Okay, I got five minutes and I have a call at 12:30, so I have to leave you guys. How soon after ovarian PRP should I expect results? Two weeks. How do you treat NK cells and cytokines naturally? Egg Quality Diet. What's your view on improving viscosity of sperm? Can this be achieve through hydration? Any supplements? Yeah, so just Google, Aimee Raupp and Healthy Daddy Diet, and you will get an entire video of me talking all about things to do for sperm health. There's a blog post and a video, so I want you to do that.

I haven't had my period in 70 days, which book should I buy first? Egg Quality Diet. Any recommendations for dealing with depression, anxiety? I know. Therapy, EMDR. This year I took on a fertility trauma coach, who is a trained psychotherapist with a decade of experience in women's health and does EMDR and therapy. And there's a reason I took her on, because this shit is hard. It is real. You can consider doing, she offers an introductory session to women anywhere in the world. She's part of our coaching team. She works just on the mental health piece and a lot of our girls will do a three or a five pack with her to really just break down a lot of the trauma and breakthrough other things, movement, sleep, community, asking for support, knowing you're not alone. It's hard. I send you love.

Okay, I have two children. I have had four losses over four years, did the Egg Quality Diet, I'm 43. Stay on the Egg Quality Diet. Sometimes it's, it's always, not sometimes, it's always frequency and consistency. So, it's not doing something for three months and then saying, “Oh, this didn't work for me.” The Egg Quality Diet is meant to be a lifestyle. It's meant to be that you learn what works for your body and what doesn't, and that then you stick with it.

I would also think about, if you had four losses, I would look into the Pregmune. And I don't have any financial affiliation with the Pregmune. I love Dr. Vidali and I think he's a genius and he created this. And I've worked with him for over a decade with women dealing with recurrent pregnancy loss. And so I recommend Pregmune because I've seen him change lives and bring lots of babies through to women who had multiple losses. And most doctors are stumped and don't know what to do. So I would look at pregmune.com and I would really get to the root of inflammatory and our autoimmune conditions, which is something that The Egg Quality Diet does address. And so staying on that is super important.

Maybe it's even doing one session with one of my coaches to get on a plan and help yourself figure out like, “Okay, these are my next steps. Acupuncture, herbs, all of that is just, I think so important. Fertility is an extension of health, like I always say. But to repair fertility, to repair hormones, to repair our ability to get and stay pregnant is a foundational approach and it has to be. And so what I mean by foundation is we have to heal the gut. We have to regulate the immune system, we have to regulate the nervous system.

Those are the three pillars that are critically important to healing anyone's fertility challenges. And so I address those across the board, in all my teachings, in all my books. That's how my coaches and I work. We're all about foundation. You're never going to hear us be like, “Oh, it's just this, take Vitex.” No, we're always looking at all the levels mental, emotional, physical, nutritional to help you shift and amplify. And we are definitely huge fans of integrative medicine and working together with the right medical team for you to figure out the best thing for your case. And if you were a client of mine, I'd put you on The Egg Quality Diet for longer, and I'd work on the mental emotional piece and I'd make you get the Pregmune testing.

This is going to be the last question I answer. Does a man's age have anything to do with achieving successful pregnancy? Sure. I think it's more about health than it is about age, same with women. It's health. It's not age. But there's lots you can do to improve sperm health.

Do one more. Been doing Egg Quality Diet for six weeks and this is the first time my period has ever been really late. I was 11 days late this month. Could the change in the eating habits cause this? Sure. I think there's two reasons that I always see if there is an impact in a cycle, that you lost weight, which will throw off your cycle and that's not abnormal. Or that you're doing The Egg Quality Diet but you're actually not eating enough.

So really make sure you're hitting your marks. You're not going too long between meals. You're eating more than 15, 1700 calories a day. If you follow the plan laid out, it's at least 1700 calories a day. So, those are usually the two biggest reasons that I see cause a hiccup in the cycle. And I would say to stay the course, and just make sure you're not skipping around on meals.

Okay guys, I'm going to go. I adore you. Thank you so much for all these questions. I will do this again, I promise, and I'll see you all soon. Have a beautiful day.

END TRANSCRIPT.

VISIT MY WEBSITE: Aimee Raupp is a licensed herbalist, natural fertility expert and acupuncturist in NYC, offering natural fertility treatment, care & coaching solutions to women who want to get pregnant! Aimeeraupp.com

CHECK OUT MY COURSES & GUIDES: Get pregnant fast with natural fertility care, Aimee’s online fertility shop & coaching solutions. https://aimeeraupp.com/natural-fertility-shop/ MEET MY TEAM: Aimee Raupp has helped hundreds of women to get pregnant naturally! Aimee and her team are experts in Chinese Medicine, Massage & Eastern Nutrition! https://aimeeraupp.com/acupuncturists-herbalists-general-practitioners-nyc/

SEE US IN THE CLINIC: Get pregnant naturally, achieve optimal health & vitality, take control of your health! Aimee is excited to work with you at one of the Aimee Raupp Wellness Centers NYC. https://aimeeraupp.com/wellness-centers-nyc-manhattan-nyack/

WORK WITH ME WORLDWIDE VIA ONLINE COACHING: Aimee's Fertility Coaching Programs offer personal guidance along your fertility journey. If you are trying to get pregnant naturally, this program is for you! https://aimeeraupp.com/natural-fertility-coaching-program/

CHECK OUT MY BOOKS: Aimee Raupp offers holistic, wellness and natural fertility books. Learn how to enhance your fertility and get pregnant naturally with Aimee’s cookbooks and diet guides! Shop Aimee Raupp's natural fertility shop with online workshops, videos, consultation and coaching on fertility, meditation and healthy nutrition! https://aimeeraupp.com/how-to-get-pregnant-natural-fertility-books/

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