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Story of Hope: 40 years & finally has baby in her arms after 4 years of TTC, multiple losses & a lot of trauma ❤️

I have another BRAND NEW Story of Hope for you! In this video, I talk through a case and share how we got to the root of my patient’s fertility struggles and overcame them.

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Hello everyone. How are you guys? Just my cameras. So, we are pretty much lined up. Let's see how that looks and goes. I can look at one place. Hi, how is everyone? Right. Hi. Come on computer. Sorry, my computer is being funny. What's going on here? Give me a second. A connection got lost in there, but I think Facebook can see me okay. Yeah. Hi. How is everyone? I am here for another story of hope. It's you guys all love these and I love doing them and it always is so much fun to bring a case to you guys, bring it all together, share their struggles and their successes with you so you feel less alone on this journey. Those of you that are new to me, I am Aimee Raupp of aimeeraupp.com. Hi, Karen. You guys are welcome to tell me where you're from and how long you've been doing this journey.

And I'm always here cheering you on. Even the ones who get mad at me if they don't feel like I'm as supportive as I could be or that I had someone recently say she feels like I'm giving false hope. And I was like, “I don't feel like I'm giving false hope. I don't think I'm selling snake oil.” I really see dramatic shifts in women even as they get older and yeah. Does my protocol work for every single person that I work with? No. Is that heartbreaking? Yes. Does every woman deserve her dream baby? She does. And will I stand by her side fighting for that dream baby? I sure as [inaudible 00:02:01] will if you'll have me. And so anyway, I've been doing this a long time and I'm going to stand up because my computer is acting funny. Okay, there we go. Of course, it knew I was going to threaten to reestablish its wires and now it's fine. Come on computer. Come on, stay with me. I'm going to do it. I'm going to reestablish the wires real fast.

Okay. Let's see if that worked. Okay. Let's see. So anyway, been doing this a long time, almost 20 years. I've written two bestselling books in the space of fertility. I've written four books altogether. I have a degree in traditional Chinese medicine. I have a degree in biology and in chemistry and I was a research scientist before I became an acupuncturist. And I'm now again, studying functional medicine, which is Western medicine with a twist if you will, little deeper dive into nutrigenomics and epigenetics and anti-aging protocols and the science is fascinating and it's real. But the basis of how I treat everything is that it's not just diet and it's not just supplement. There is a huge mental, emotional, spiritual component that not everyone is able to embrace. And that part is the hardest part, I do think. And trusting that we are enough, believing that we are enough, believing that we deserve the life of our dreams is a huge piece to this puzzle.

And one of my favorite pieces to help women step into their power, I did a fun TikTok video this morning on just that of like my favorite part is the belief shifting piece. My favorite part is the mindset shifting piece. That's my favorite part. And a lot of times though, I do see that the diet typically goes hand in hand with that because when we're start giving our body the nourishment it really needs and we improve digestion and absorption, it's like we just start filling up inside in this way that we never have before and we access our full potential and then allow ourselves to heal the old wounds or to look at them and to see the role they're playing. I also don't think you ever need to be perfect or perfectly healed to become a mama. I do think a huge part of the healing process happens when we get to be the mother and we have that baby in our arms. So anyway, without further ado, let's just get into this case.

So, she first came to me. She's now 40. She first came to me. She joined my group coaching in October of 2020. At the time she was 38. I have a bunch of different notes here, so forgive me. I'm looking at this screen to go back and forth. She said in the group coaching which we're about to bring back, I'm super excited there's going to be a mental health component to it because I now see how important that is. You can check out all the ways to work with me and my team. We have a lot of options, low price, high price, you name it, we got it. Go to aimeeraupp.com and see all the ways you can work with me and my team. But she did the group coaching program when we first launched it in October, 2020. And she said because I always ask emotional too like, “What do you think is blocking you?” She said, “I don't know. I don't know what's happening in my body. Unexplained infertility is the worst diagnosis ever. Something's not right. My window is closing on me. Everyone is pregnant around me. I feel really stuck.”

She joined this group because she is making a dedication to spend more time with herself and be in her body and taking better care of myself. She has a hard time sitting in silence. She doesn't like to be still with herself. Maybe that's the problem is what she said. She was really emotionally torn up. She has a child. So, this is secondary challenges. At the time, like I said, she was 38. She had been trying to conceive at that point for two years, she had done three IUIs, not a single pregnancy. And she started IVF in 2019 and she did not have a great response but they put one embryo back in at day three. So, it wasn't tested. It was a fresh transfer. She got pregnant, miscarried. I had to do a D&C at seven and a half weeks. The tissue samples showed that it was a normal baby girl. And so, right there, my antennas go up immediately. We miscarry a normal, there's something else going on. There's some kind of immune response. There's something else going on. I want a deeper look.

Not everybody's ready to take that deeper look because it is extensive testing. Typically, it's another couple $1000, but I push it. It's not my money and I respect that. But so then she switched clinics. She did another cycle, really strong stems. She got 11 eggs, half were immature. Did PGS testing, one was complex abnormal, one was complex mosaic. So, no normal. So, it's interesting, right? She did a fresh transfer. She gets a normal, miscarries it. She does an IVF test, she gets two abnormals. So, she was just starting a third cycle when I met her. I urged an endometrial biopsy and then she also… Oh, sorry. There was another miscarriage I know that I left out. She had before she started working with me, she had one. That's when she started working with me right after this one. So, she got one to transfer, got pregnant, miscarried again.

And then she didn't have a period since that pregnancy, which to me is obviously there's a physiological response going on there, like a hormonal response but I often see to an emotional response. Even myself after my miscarriage, took me a long time to reestablish my cycle and it wasn't until I really worked through the anger piece. I was so fucking angry and that was a huge growth opportunity for me. Not one that I ever wanted to sign up for. Thank you very much and none of you did, but with her, there was this piece where, and she knew it and she just didn't know how to access it, right? And how to. So, things I recommended right away taking a baby aspirin and the [inaudible 00:08:21] she's trying, she get a clotting factor panel. She was having this random swelling response. Has she seen an endocrinologist? What's her thyroid? I recommended herbs. Her vitamin D was low. We put her on CoQ10, vitamin D, fish oil, prenatal antioxidants, liver pills, [inaudible 00:08:47]. She wasn't eating breakfast. She wasn't eating organic. She wasn't eating enough.

So, we had a lot of changes. We also recommended caster oil packs. She had a lot of red flags, which is something I use that term a lot. She had skin problems, night sweating, swelling, overweight, weak appetite, hemorrhoids, nighttime urination, insomnia, poor memory, low libido and yeah. And so, here's another interesting rundown. So, eventually I get her to see a reproductive immunologist and I like this consult report because it kind of like sums up the case. So, she's trying to conceive for two and a half years at this point. Her BMI was a 26.5, which I think was perfectly fine for fertility, one life birth and then it was a spontaneous conception. Two losses, fresh and frozen transfers, one [inaudible 00:09:43] loss at seven weeks, three failed IUIs, history of swelling [inaudible 00:09:48] during pregnancy girls, that is a huge red flag from an immune response and it got worse with each pregnancy.

Another huge red flag, if you get flu-like symptoms, if you get rashes, if you get highs, if you get swelling when you are pregnant and then you miscarry, it is your body telling us it's having an immune reaction to the pregnancy. And this is not me making this up, this is scientifically driven. There are reproductive immunologists that are deep at work in this. It is a rare thing. So, some doctors don't know about it. Some doctors don't treat it very seriously. Some doctors think there's not enough data to treat it the way it should be treated, but that's only because it's not that common. So, it's hard to collect the data but I have been in clinical work for almost 20 years and I will tell you right now the immune reaction to pregnancies is legit and it's real and it should be treated.

If any of you have multiple losses without a live birth in between, especially losses of genetically normal babies, there is an immune system issue going on. She herself was in the medical field, had a hard time kind of receiving this information from me. It took me a while to get her to see these doctors that I wanted her to see, which is not uncommon and I don't judge and I meet women where they're at and I stand by their side. But when she finally went in to get this testing done, she had, my computer, she had a lot of immunological reactions going on in her body and she had anticardiolipin. She did not have ANAs. She had normal TH122, normal T regs, high TNF alpha which are TNF alpha cells which could be linked to the highs and the swelling and the losses. She had, like a lot of her stuff was normal, normal CBC, normal immunoglobulins.

She was positive for antiphospholipids which no one had tested, which I was appalled at because that's a very common test that should be done after just even one loss, especially two losses, especially a loss of a normal. Unlikely for endometriosis, she had high natural killer cells. So, this is a testing that's by Dr. Andrea Vidali at Pregmune Reproductive Immunology. You can look at some of their testing on pregmune.com, P-R-E-G-M-U-N-E. She was with them before. They had Pregmune but so they gave her an immune protocol for the next time that when she gets pregnant, prednisone, Lovenox, plaquenil, she has a progesterone hypersensitivity. So, and then repeat immune testing once she was pregnant, right? So, this is that. It still took us a while to get there guys. So, when I see her, she started coming to our clinic.

She had very regular periods, very fresh red blood, some clotting some cramping. She always had healthy ovulation. She noticed this extreme difference in her health and her life after having her first child. She had a lot of anxiety. She worked a lot. She doesn't feel hungry often, so she's not eating. She skips breakfast, just coffee on an empty stomach. More naturally does a fasting. Doesn't eat till noon and then she's eating bagels and cream cheese, microwave lunches, nothing organic. [inaudible 00:13:34] describing me. Well, I love you. So, my general recommendations, like I was saying, collagen and coffee. Make sure coffee's organic, larabars, nuts, [inaudible 00:13:43]. They did not start egg quality diet with this woman and I wouldn't in a case like this. I just slow and steady guys. So, just so you know, not everybody gets put right on the egg quality diet, even though she would've greatly benefited from it. I just wanted her to start nourishing herself again in a way that felt comfortable and safe for her.

And so, I think that's also really important to know that me and my whole team, we meet you where you're at and we help you figure out the best small steps you can do to then make these changes that will ultimately help your success in getting and staying pregnant. So, a lot of conversation about how am I nourishing me? How am I starting to take care of myself in a way that feels supportive and kind, I put her on Chinese herb, she started getting acupuncture regularly. And so, in December, 2020, she was still dealing with this swelling that kicked on after the last miscarriage. She was taking allergy medications, nothing was working. She was talking about doing steroids. I had urged all the blood with Vidali. She was awaiting a consult with him in January. And at that point, she had had another loss of a genetically healthy baby girl.

She was devastated and she just felt super fluid retention, like full and just generally unwell. And she was emotionally in a bad place. It was a real struggle which I know you guys know. And so, she has the consult with Vidali and I want to just go through emails here. She sends me a question. “I hope you're well. I know you've get it right away. I have a moment. I want to get your thoughts on my appointment Monday.” Oh yeah. So, she got it switched to Dr. Thornton. She wanted to make sure everything was okay there. I said he was a great doctor. I checked in with her in February. “Thank you for checking in. I haven't given you an update in part because there isn't one to share. I did meet with Vidali. He thinks I may have something called mass cell activation syndrome. I need to get more tests done. I'm taking two to three weeks off. I'm hoping to get more information next week then I can share and start IVF again.

I'm trying to be patient trying to envision myself pregnant, but it's so hard. For some reason lately, it feels more out of reach. Do you know anyone who has this had to cancel my next acupuncture appointment?” And so, I sent her information on what was going on. She then sends me the report. So, I already kind of went through this with you all. She's still coming in for acupuncture. And then in March, she sends me an email, “I just wanted you to know that all your support and guidance has paid off for me. I've never gotten this kind of quality and quantity from a retrieval.” She was working with Dr. Luke for her IVFs and she was seeing Vidali for the immune stuff. “Dr. Luke is amazed and so am I.” So, this is March 16th. She got, “We are able to freeze four embryos from your mature [inaudible 00:16:52] for you. They had the following grades.” So, they just froze at day three. She wasn't genetically testing because she kept miscarrying normal. So, we knew she was making normals.

And so, she got five frozen. They were all beautiful, eight cells, grade two, grade one, and super great results. So again, now she's still doing IVF. I don't necessarily think she needs it, but to her, it just feels the safest. So, she's now basically doing my diet like more, yes, you can get pregnant. Like I said, it was hard to put her through an elimination diet. We were trying everything. She went completely gluten and dairy free. She was eating more, eating more regularly, doing the supplements, getting the acupuncture, trying to get the emotional support and had a great retrieval, which was amazing. And so, she was getting ready for a transfer in April, “Crossing my fingers.”

And then let's see 41 emails we're going through them. “Since we emailed, the process is so grueling.” This is May 11th. “I'm having a tough week. This is me venting, so no pressure to respond right away. The waiting and speed bumps are breaking me down. I saw my doctor this morning. He really pumped me up about my transfer. I got two calls since then telling me my lining is thinner than they would like a 6.9 and they want me on more estrogen. I'm already taking three tablets. So, this will probably push my transfer out another three to four days. This is like torture for me. My second call was about a recent mammogram I had. They want me to come back for a sonogram. I'm not even sure if this is something or not.” So, she just said, “I'm terrified. I don't want the cycle to get canceled. So much money, blood, sweat, and tears. I literally have very little to show for it. Okay. I'm done. I hope you're doing better than me.”

And I think that could sum up a lot of you guys, right? So much blood money and tears and nothing to show for it. She was frustrated. I said, “Hi, my love. I hear you. I'm cheering for you.” That's the latest. And then her transfer was happening in mid-May and she saw my associate and my other coach, Heather. And I just want to give you an update. May 24th, “I was up all last night panicking. I'm now six days post a day, three transfer. I have no symptoms so far. My at-home tests are completely negative. It's hard for me to not go off the deep end here thinking that this failed in the past, I both had symptoms and BFPs at this time. My gut tells me this didn't work. I know I'm on a whole new protocol and this is different go around.”

Because now she's on the autoimmune protocol as well. “But I feel like I feel something. Have you had any miracles from your girls who don't have symptoms and test positive later? I feel like I did everything I could and this is such a blow.” I said, “This is stressful, but so early. I've had plenty of women knocking at positives this early, but I understand your devastation as you know your body and this precious responses. However, I don't think you can call it yet. When is the blood test?” And I checked in with her and she said, “It's hard for me to talk about me. I'm so sick of myself and the torture of this experience. I think I'm having a chemical. I went through the heartbreak right around the last email to you. Then I got a positive. I started bleeding and cramping.”

Come on computer. “I started bleeding and cramping. After that, my test lines aren't really progressing either. I did some blood work today and I have my HCG on Saturday. I'm prepared for the worst. I did everything I could put here. I don't know what went wrong. It's hard to not feel empty and completely hopeless. I can't wrap my head around why this is so hard and what is wrong with my body that this keeps happening. Thanks for checking in.” I said, “I hate this. This is so hard. I hate it so much. I'm holding space for you and I'm cheering, cheering, cheering for you. Keep me posted on the labs. Be easy on yourself because you're amazing.” You guys all hear this. “You are amazing and you were doing all that you can to support your beautiful body.”

The next email, few days later, “Thank you for continuing to check in and being so supportive. I got my first beta nine days, post three days transfer and it was a 20, my second beta two days later and it was a 100. I am shocked because my progression line at home was not progressing at all and I was very prepared for a chemical. After these labs, my bleeding kind of stopped. I still continue to spot and feel crampy. I had my third beta today, 339. I know these numbers are low, but they're not. That's actually a great third beta, even a great second beta. I can't help but have a bad feeling all the time just like waiting for this all to be over. I know it's at least in part the trauma from my previous losses, but I can't shake it. I'm going in for acupuncture tomorrow with your associate.

And I go back in for blood work and ultrasound on Tuesday, feels like a long time to wait is a mental torture.” Now mind you, this is also now she's two years into this, right? She's now 40 years old. I said, “Yes, it's the trauma. Call it what it is. You have every single right to be scared as hell. And mind you, this is a lot of the work that we've done too where she can identify her pain, she can label it. I think that's hugely important for all of you. I said, “You have been down this path. It's been rough, really rough. Be easy on yourself, but also leave the door open to the possibility that this time could be different because it can be. I believe in that for you.” And then let's see. “Thinking about you.” June 13, “I have a big [inaudible 00:22:35] appointment on Tuesday, super nervous but I think at this point I've surrendered to the process. I've done everything I could and the rest is out of my control.

I was planning on seeing you tomorrow, but unfortunately I had to cancel because I have labs to do and I couldn't make the time.” And I said, “You're amazing. Hang in there. So, I'm sending so much of enlightened baby desk. Keep me posted on all the things.” August. “Thank you so much for checking in. I'm sorry, I haven't been in touch. I've been quietly waiting for my 16 week ultrasound. It's so hard for me to say how I'm doing until I have these appointments. Thankfully, all went well, which I still cannot believe. Baby is on track and all is normal so far. I'm in shock that I've made it to this point though a big distraction for me is the fact that I don't feel great.

I've been struggling with side effects from the meds and I just feel awful which is not uncommon, and as bad as I'm feeling, I'm immensely grateful to be here and I'm incredibly appreciative of the part you played in my journey. I know without your support and by guidance, this would not be happening. There is no doubt. You pushed me to take care of my body, my heart, and down a path where I can finally get some answers about what's going on in my body. You make miracles happen, Aimee. There are not of words I can say to thank you.” And I saved that email and I just said, “I'm just so happy for you. I'm sorry you're feeling shitty but look at you.” And then a few weeks later she started taking tapering off the meds. She was feeling better.

And I heard from her in late January, 39 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby girl. She was going to have the baby the next week. It wasn't an easy pregnancy for her. She had lots of different health things that came up. Baby stayed healthy and safe, but there was scary stuff. The whole pregnancy was just traumatic and stressful and she's going to I'm sure do her work to unpack all of that. She said, “It's been a nerve wracking journey to say the least. I have a schedule C next week. Baby's looking big. It's amazing to have made it this far. I've been looking forward to share good news with you and we'll definitely reach out once we have more news.” And then baby girl is here now and in her arms. And yeah, it's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

So, there you have it. Another beautiful story of hope. I guess, her success came four years into the journey after a handful of losses, all genetically normals. We did do a lot of changes, diet, lifestyle, mental, emotional support. And then of course the immune protocol which was extremely important in this case. So, I hope that gave you guys insight and information on. Yeah. And also she put the process into words in a way that not many patients can do just how willing it is and painful, and even being very pregnant and still kind of being in the state of shock and trauma and how [inaudible 00:25:33] that is that it's not that you get the positive pregnancy test. For a lot of women, it's not positive pregnancy tests and then the happiest person in the world, right? So anyway, be easy on yourself, guys. I hope you enjoyed this and I love you all. I will talk to you very soon. Oh, I'm still live on Facebook. I'm sorry guys. I have a call and I'm posting the Instagram. Okay. Oh my God, my computer.

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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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