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Same-Sex Couple Using IVF to TTC with PCOS

I have another BRAND NEW Story of Hope for you!

SEE THE FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW.

Aimee:

Hi guys, I'm back. And this cold of mine just keeps coming in waves. I feel good one minute and then kind of crappy again the next. So I'm in a not so great feeling wave at the moment. I got my hot water with lemon and ginger and honey, but I'm excited to be here with all of you because I have another live story of hope and I'm going to bring on the… hi… I'm going to bring you on. Let me just see. Kristyn, go live with [inaudible 00:00:47]. This is Kristyn, and I'm going to let her share with you a bit of her story and I'll just help you navigate.

Kristyn:

Hi.

Aimee:

Hi, how are you?

Kristyn:

Good. Let me put this down.

Aimee:

Oh, look at that baby.

Kristyn:

He's a sleeping guy.

Aimee:

Hi, sleepy bear.

Kristyn:

He might want to nurse on the live.

Aimee:

That's okay. I love that. Makes it all the more real. Hi baba. Wait, how old is he now? He's little.

Kristyn:

Almost three weeks.

Aimee:

Three weeks. I can't believe you had the courage to come live three weeks in. Thank you so much. It's quite interesting on the other side, isn't it?

Kristyn:

Yeah, totally.

Aimee:

So tell us everything. So you were right… you won the scholarship last year? Am I right?

Kristyn:

I did.

Aimee:

Yes.

Kristyn:

I did. I wanted to be-

Aimee:

Kristyn won the, yes, you can get pregnant E course scholarship last year, but you got intrigued by my work because of your good friend, Laura?

Kristyn:

Yes. I did. And I have PCOS and potentially endometriosis. And I had go through so many losses and I wanted to be proactive. I hadn't tried to conceive before, but I had been in a straight relationship for six years and I never got pregnant. And so I thought, that's something.

Aimee:

Yeah, something. You were curious about it.

Kristyn:

So I wanted to be proactive instead of go through a bunch of stuff before I decided to see how I could help myself.

Aimee:

And so tell us, what did the e-course do for you or just kind of studying the program if you would?

Kristyn:

It was the mental stuff because I really struggled with the mental mindset and that was huge for me. All of those tools in the e-course and in the body belief book, I did them over and over and over again. Because I was really struggling to have the trust in my body to do what I wanted it to do. And then the diet part was huge for me too, huge.

Aimee:

Because I remember we did… didn't we do a fertility hot seat together? Was that last year?

Kristyn:

It was.

Aimee:

I feel like… I forget what it was, but it was something, some kind of food that you were like, “Do I really have to give that up?” I think I remember it being something funny or was it [crosstalk 00:03:14]?

Kristyn:

I don't remember.

Aimee:

I don't remember what it was. So the dietary stuff and the mindset and then the community. You were pretty active or you-

Kristyn:

I was. Until I got pregnant then I had to step back because the loss talk was… I wanted to remain in a good state of mind.

Aimee:

I don't blame you. I don't blame you. Nice. Hi baba. So then how long after you started the program, then you got pregnant pretty quickly.

Kristyn:

Pretty quickly. I think four months later, four or five months later. I started the program and then we tried to get pregnant for the first time in October, I wanted to give myself more time on the program. I didn't get pregnant and then we decided to buy a house and so we didn't-

Aimee:

Oh yeah. Okay. You went. Yeah, you're here.

Kristyn:

I tried to get pregnant in November and I got pregnant. Or no, I'm sorry, we bought a house in November and then I tried to get pregnant in December and it worked.

Aimee:

And then with the PCOS did you have symptoms of PCOS? Was your period irregular?

Kristyn:

Yeah, my period was irregular. They were very painful. The blood was the wrong color. I would skip months.

Aimee:

Wow. And all that changed following the protocol?

Kristyn:

Completely.

Aimee:

Wow.

Kristyn:

Comp;etely changed.

Aimee:

Wow.

Kristyn:

Before I tried the first time, I think I had four regular cycles in a row.

Aimee:

Wow. That's amazing.

Kristyn:

Less pain, healthy amounts of blood, healthy color of blood. That was a humongous shift and I really think it definitely… I was worried about my egg quality. I was 35 trying to get pregnant.

Aimee:

How old?

Kristyn:

I was 35.

Aimee:

35.

Kristyn:

I turned 36 and I had him a couple weeks later.

Aimee:

There you go. There you go. And so now would you say you have faith in your body?

Kristyn:

I do. I do. My delivery has shifted that a little bit. After I delivered him, my uterus got tired after only an eight hour labor and I retained my placenta and I had a home birth and I had to go to the hospital. So I was like, oh, I had so much… all of this belief in my body this whole time and then in the finale, the grande finale-

Aimee:

It shut down.

Kristyn:

Yeah.

Aimee:

And so they had to go in and get it out.

Kristyn:

Yeah.

Aimee:

That's miserable. And everything's okay now?

Kristyn:

Totally fine. It wasn't an accreta, just my uterus got tired and wasn't responding to drugs to make it contract.

Aimee:

But the pregnancy felt good? You felt strong and healthy in your pregnancy?

Kristyn:

I did. I think all the belief stuff I worked on prior to getting pregnant helped a lot. I bled from eight to 12 weeks of pregnancy because of progesterone [crosstalk 00:06:14].

Aimee:

Oh, that's kind of why you were afraid of the loss too and why you-

Kristyn:

Yeah.

Aimee:

Yes. Gotcha.

Kristyn:

I bled from eight to 12 weeks because of the progesterone suppositories irritating my cervix.

Aimee:

That happens all the time. And doctors don't often tell women and you think you're miscarrying, but it's actually cervicitis from the progesterone.

Kristyn:

They didn't tell me. They didn't tell me until I went for an eight week, I think I'm having a miscarriage amount of blood. And they were like, oh no, it's probably just the progesterone suppositories.

Aimee:

So you did progesterone suppositories. Why? Was your progesterone low in the beginning of the pregnancy?

Kristyn:

The first IUI it was. And so they [crosstalk 00:06:52] progesterone and they decided to just have me take it for the second IUI.

Aimee:

Oh, so that was IUI? So you did an IUI in October and then another one in December. And that was that. And my goodness gracious. I just love it.

Kristyn:

I know. I'm glad that it worked so quickly and I really think I would've struggled had I not followed your stuff, absolutely.

Aimee:

Well also you said six years and no accidental pregnancies. I'm sure [crosstalk 00:07:23].

Kristyn:

And we weren't careful. So that always was in the back of my head.

Aimee:

And with PCOS too, your cycles were irregular. So you might not have been ovulating every month or skipping a round.

Kristyn:

I would skip three periods a year.

Aimee:

That's amazing. So then you think the biggest changes were the mindset and then the diet stuff.

Kristyn:

For sure.

Aimee:

I feel like you were pretty strict about the diet though. You really dove in and followed everything.

Kristyn:

Very strict. Very, very strict. My wife did it with me and we made this fun chart on the wall, every week, what we were removing and then what we were adding.

Aimee:

I love it.

Kristyn:

And we made it fun and did it together.

Aimee:

How did she feel on it?

Kristyn:

Amazing. She keeps… I had terrible food diversions in pregnancy and a lot of that… I had meat aversions. And for the first trimester I lived on hard boiled eggs, gluten free toast and avocados.

Aimee:

That was me.

Kristyn:

She keeps asking me, “When are we going to go back to that?” And I'm like, “As soon as I can we're going back.”

Aimee:

Wrap your head around it.

Kristyn:

She felt amazing. She talks about it all the time.

Aimee:

Wow. And then did you stay on the diet through the first trimester and then kind of start to deviate?

Kristyn:

As much as I could.

Aimee:

Because you weren't feeling good.

Kristyn:

Meats were really hard. Vegetables were too gross. I think I only gained a few pounds in my first trimester because eating… I did bone broth until it started to gross me out.

Aimee:

It happens. It happens. But you went in with balanced hormones, which is great. And then the food diversions tell us, yeah, maybe there was some still deficiencies, but everybody's body is so different. You could have another pregnancy in a year or two from now and have a completely different first trimester.

Kristyn:

Totally. Totally.

Aimee:

That's amazing. And so what would you share then with women that are out there right now that… because I love your approach too, that you did it to really get ahead of your fertility so that when you were ready to try, you were just ready.

Kristyn:

Yes.

Aimee:

And so, that's almost how, if I had to say what I wished, that is it. The preconception plan, most women make it to me they've already been trying for some time. But I think also you were exposed through Laura to a lot of her trauma.

Kristyn:

I was.

Aimee:

And all her losses and her fertility challenges. Have you guys missed that? Laura and I did I think two stories of hope over the last year and a half. And you can watch. She's very public about her name, Laura Fletcher, and the work that she's done with me. And Kristyn was one of Laura's good friends. And so you witnessed that kind of firsthand. So I'm sure that triggered a little bit of worry in you?

Kristyn:

It did. It really did. And I thought if I could learn from her learning from you and then learn from you directly, that that would be the best thing that I could do for myself around fertility and trying to conceive and have a healthy pregnancy and all of that.

Aimee:

So it was like empowerment. That's probably what you chose.

Kristyn:

Super sonic empowerment. I would tell women, if you're on the fence to do it, join the e-course and read your book. I didn't read the, ‘Yes you can get pregnant' because of the autoimmune factor. So I just stuck with ‘Body belief' and it was huge. It sat on my coffee table until I got pregnant.

Aimee:

That's amazing.

Kristyn:

As a reference.

Aimee:

And now I have the ‘Egg quality diet' which is basically ‘Body belief' diet wise, but geared a little more towards fertility with the macros and stuff. But then you were working with us in the group, so adjusted things. But obviously it worked really well for your PCOS?

Kristyn:

It worked amazing. It fixed it. It fixed it.

Aimee:

Amazing. And then obviously you're only three weeks out. So we'll see what your cycles do in 6 to 9 months or something like that.

Kristyn:

When I start being able to cook again more. I did buy the ‘Egg quality diet' and we actually might do reciprocal IVF for the second baby. So I'm going to put my wife and I again, back on-

Aimee:

That'll be nice.

Kristyn:

… the ‘Egg quality diet' to work on [crosstalk 00:11:29].

Aimee:

What's a reciprocal IVF? What does that mean?

Kristyn:

Where I am essentially her surrogate.

Aimee:

Oh, I love that. I love that. Because I was going to ask, will she do the next pregnancy? Because I've had a handful of same sex couples and mostly it's just the one woman carries. I had one that they both took turns, which I thought was super awesome too. But that I love, using her eggs. I love that.

Kristyn:

She doesn't want to carry and that's okay.

Aimee:

So how long did you do ‘Body believe diet' for? Someone's asking.

Kristyn:

I did two spurts of it. I did one spurt for… I only made it about halfway through the first 90 days. Maybe a couple of years ago, when I first bought the book and then I did it for six months.

Aimee:

Because you started it before the e-course. Because I remember you being, this time last year you were super active in all of my lives and asking all questions and all that, which is why you got picked for the scholarship. I always pick the girls that are just like… you can just tell. They're so in it and eager.

Kristyn:

I was super in it.

Aimee:

And you were doing the diet easily, I think three months before because September is when we do the rollout of the course. So I feel like you were about six months into the diet, which is easily… the three month window is what we say at the minimum. But so you did it for about 200 days, I'd say. And I'm sure you learned stuff from the first time you did it of things that you didn't fully reintroduce?

Kristyn:

I did. But then I did reintroduce.

Aimee:

Then you deviated. We're all human.

Kristyn:

Yep. And being able to work entirely from home, made it a huge difference to going to work and having to carry that much food and pre prepare that much food was really challenging. That's what got me the first time. Preparation. But the second time it was COVID time so I was working from home.

Aimee:

Wow. It must have made such a difference.

Kristyn:

Huge difference.

Aimee:

Yeah. I agree.

Kristyn:

Huge difference.

Aimee:

We're going to have a visitor in a second. He's supposed to be at baseball till 2:30, but here we go. Hi, beautiful. How did it go? Oh, you got a shirt? Come on. Come and say hi.

James:

Hi.

Kristyn:

Hi cutie.

Aimee:

He just came from baseball. Look at the little baby. Do you see the little baby?

James:

No.

Aimee:

No? She's got him right there. You see his little tiny hands?

James:

No.

Aimee:

Oh really? You don't see the baby?

James:

He's sleeping?

Kristyn:

He's sleeping.

Aimee:

He's sleeping.

Kristyn:

He's almost three weeks old.

Aimee:

He's only three weeks old. He's a little tiny new bear. Mommy's just going to finish this conversation. You want to sit with me or you want to go play?

James:

I want to sit with you for the whole thing.

Aimee:

Okay. So just have a seat and get cozy.

James:

When you going to be done with work?

Aimee:

In just a few minutes. Because she has a baby in her arms and now I have one in mine. I think that's a great question of like, it was about six months and you were fully committed and your partner was fully committed. Even in a same sex couple, I think it is so important whether… you know what I mean… we're not necessarily only doing it for sperm health, but just for commitment. Support.

Kristyn:

It made me feel really supported and every time we tried it's so expensive too. From even a financial perspective was like, let's go all in because-

James:

What is this one?

Kristyn:

[crosstalk 00:14:52] spend extra thousands of dollars that we may not have needed to spend.

Aimee:

That's it. I agree. Mommy's lip gloss. Three different ones. Our own beauty counter with our favorites. And so then you guys will just… that's the other thing that's awesome about the e-course is we never kick you out. So you'll just jump back in when you're ready to start trying again. I love that. And we'll see you. That's like one of my favorites when I get to see my girls come back for another. It's always so fun.

Kristyn:

When I started getting-

Aimee:

And Laura I always say is like our TA in the group. She's always… go ahead.

Kristyn:

I was going to say I'm probably going to jump back in when I start being more engaged with the diet. After I feel [crosstalk 00:15:35].

Aimee:

Yeah that's it. And don't forget to use the new mama group too. I feel like that's so useful just for asking questions. There's a handful of women that just gave birth in the group too, which I think is always nice to have those new mamas that you can have a little tribe with.

Kristyn:

Totally. And I think four of my girlfriends just had babies within three weeks of me too.

Aimee:

Wow.

Kristyn:

Which is the one… one of them was due on the same day as me.

Aimee:

That's amazing. So you have a little posse.

Kristyn:

Yeah. The groups are fantastic though. Especially because we can have access to each other when we don't have access to you. Which is really nice.

Aimee:

I agree. The community, you just don't feel alone. You feel understood. You feel heard. It feels more doable because other people are doing it too. Even when the diet feels overwhelming.

Kristyn:

Oh, completely. Having the support, you're having people that fully get what you're doing and you have the common goal, all of that makes a big, big difference.

Aimee:

How do I access the new mama group? So we have… It's free access when you're in the, ‘Yes you can get pregnant' e-course. Otherwise, I forget. My team's going to have to… DM us Carolina, if there's another way to access it, but I'm not remembering. Isn't that crazy. “Do you think COVID is what helped women get pregnant? Being at home it's made extra anxious as I try to and I've had previous losses.” Everybody's different. I think it depends on the level of stress, but for a lot of women, I agree. I think the diet has become very easy. We're less tempted to go out and especially when we were in lockdown, it was easy for a lot of people.

Kristyn:

Also ordering your groceries online. You're not perusing the aisles of the grocery store, being tempted by garbage. You just literally get on and order the stuff that you need for that week for whatever you're eliminating.

Aimee:

That's what I love. I always go to my previously ordered and just reorder.

Kristyn:

That's what I do.

Aimee:

Same thing. I don't get tempted. I don't need to get tempted. I go to the grocery store I'm always like, oh, I'm going to try those gluten free pretzels stuffed with almond butter. That sounds delicious. My stomach's like, ah.

Kristyn:

That potato starch. [crosstalk 00:17:54].

Aimee:

Can't do it. I should know better. All right. Well let me let you get back to your baby. But do you have any final words of wisdom for anybody out there who's in that prep phase like you are or worried about their fertility before they actually really started trying?

Kristyn:

I would just say dive into believing in yourself. I really think that that's almost more important than the diet, because if you don't believe in yourself, you won't commit to the diet.

Aimee:

I agree.

Kristyn:

So I really think that just believe… like feel the fear and go. That's kind of one of my life mottos. [crosstalk 00:18:29] It's hard to believe when you are scared. But I think, just feel the fear and go, believe in yourself, just choose to do it. And then fake it till you make it. And [crosstalk 00:18:43] because it's so worth it.

Aimee:

It is worth it. It is worth it. Even when they're insane.

Kristyn:

Yes. [crosstalk 00:18:53] struggled to conceive it still would've would've felt worth it because I was making such an investment in myself, which felt like an investment in my future baby and my future family.

Aimee:

And I will say too, I think there's a sense of pride when you see your child thriving.

Kristyn:

Totally.

Aimee:

It's just like the immune system, their strength, their agility. Their mental acuity. And I do, I always think back to, that's the fat, that's the protein, that's the omegas. I gave him everything he would need to succeed. And I feel very proud of that. And also that he then can pass that on to his children. We know that from the data and that feels very empowering and I agree. It's beautiful.

Kristyn:

Totally. Absolutely. The supplements, that was… take the supplements. [crosstalk 00:19:46].

Aimee:

Take all the supplements. They work.

Kristyn:

They helped me so much postpartum. He was up from nine to one cluster feeding and then he was up again, two to five. He slept [crosstalk 00:19:57].

Aimee:

Okay, James, honey.

Kristyn:

And I took the liver and the spirulina this morning and it's making a huge difference in how I feel pretty much [crosstalk 00:20:05].

Aimee:

Even for me. Right now I'm fighting this cold. The liver and the spirulina are still part of my arsenal. They are so good for the immune system. They're good for our resiliency.

James:

Beauty mark.

Aimee:

Beauty mark. How resilient is James Temple? How resilient?

James:

Beauty marks.

Aimee:

We talk about your resiliency all the time. Okay let's not write with the pen. You don't write on people's spaces. You want to write on paper? Here you go. Here you go. You can write checks. Why don't you go write a check?

Kristyn:

Life skills.

Aimee:

Spend a whole lot of money. Let's see. “True that with the diet you were creating tons of better quality eggs for your future. It's a great investment. I got pregnant instantly at 38 and started on the diet supplement six months ago.” There you go. I love it, Carolina. So I'm going to give away a scholarship. Since we're honoring a scholarship winner here, I think maybe I'll let you pick it. Let's see everybody start commenting that you're still on. And maybe give us a quick why, a one sentence why you deserve the scholarship. Let's just see. Let's see.

Aimee:

We have people joining. We'll make it fun. So if you're still watching and you want to win a scholarship to the ‘Yes you can get pregnancy' course like Kristyn did last year and now she has a baby in her arms, start commenting so we know you guys are here. And if you feel like it add one sentence as to why you are worthy of this scholarship. Let's see. “I do have PCOS as well.” Okay. Bushra. Almya. How do I… Alma. “I am here.” Anyone else? I see there's a lot of people live, but only two people are commenting. “Help and guidance for someone based in London.”

Aimee:

“I am here and worthy.”

Kristyn:

I love that.

Aimee:

I know. I like that one. That's Michelle MC23. “I've been trying so long. Want to get the scholarship to be a success story and inspiration to others.” “Still here. I've tried everything and I feel like I can still do this. I'm having a hard time finding support through my RE.” Oh my gosh. Now all of a sudden my heart's cracked open. “Congratulations on your new baby. I'd love a scholarship. I've endo and role. I need to do this. Trying to conceive. 12 years. Would love some hope.” Beautiful story. “Would dearly love to connect with others while on this journey.” All right.

Kristyn:

What do we choose?

Aimee:

I know it's hard.

Kristyn:

It is hard. One in particular tugged on my [crosstalk 00:22:39].

Aimee:

Go ahead. That's the one then.

Kristyn:

The person struggling to find support through their RE. Because after you can't find support through your RE you feel a little hopeless, I think.

Aimee:

Okay. So that's, ePad get 1026. So you are going to win. I always get emotional when we give these away [crosstalk 00:22:57].

Kristyn:

I know, me too.

Aimee:

It's so amazing. So ePad get 1026, just DM us and we will get you set up for the scholarship. And thank you, Kristyn, for helping pick. I always like that. We're sharing the love. And then you and Kristyn can maybe become friends in the group when she resurfaces after breastfeeding her little one. What is this? I have this beautiful clip in my hair right now.

James:

No don't.

Aimee:

Okay. I have more than one in my hair. Ooh. I have a lot. Going to put one here.

Kristyn:

Beautiful.

Aimee:

See. See when they get more agile this is what you get and it's fun. It's fun. So we chose our winner. You're going to go breastfeed your baby. Thank you so much for taking the time, Kristyn.

Kristyn:

Of course.

Aimee:

We love you-

Kristyn:

Love you too.

Aimee:

… and we will see you again.

James:

Her name is Kristyn?

Aimee:

Yeah. Her name is Kristyn. Who's your favorite… his favorite sitter is named Kristyn so he's very, very, very into Kristyn. You guys go and ePad get 1026, you are going to DM us. She said, “Oh my God. I can't believe it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I've been hoping to get this program since I found you.” Well, there we go. All right. You go, Kristyn. I will see you soon. Everybody have a lovely, lovely day. Goodbye.

Kristyn:

Bye.

END TRANSCRIPT.

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About Aimee Raupp, MS, LAc

Aimee Raupp, MS, LAc, is a renowned women’s health & wellness expert and the best- selling author of the books Chill Out & Get Healthy, Yes, You Can Get Pregnant, and Body Belief. A licensed acupuncturist and herbalist in private practice in New York, she holds a Master of Science degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and a Bachelor’s degree in biology from Rutgers University. Aimee is also the founder of the Aimee Raupp Beauty line of hand-crafted, organic skincare products. This article was reviewed AimeeRaupp.com's editorial team and is in compliance with our editorial policy.

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