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 red flag symptoms, worked with her autoimmune conditions, and assisted with the emotional heaviness of this journey to a healthy pregnancy.
Enroll in my YES, You Can Get Pregnant eCourse here: aimeeraupp.com/yes
SEE THE FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW.
Aimee:
All right. Hello, everyone. We are here with another live story of hope, which is always… I know, I'm getting emotional already. Isn't that funny? Which is always such an honor, but seeing your beautiful belly, Jamie, it's always such an honor that not only do these women, like Jamie, choose to work with me, but then when they achieve success on any capacity on their path to motherhood, that they're willing to come live with me on video and share their story with all of you in the hopes of being another path of light for you on your journey to motherhood.
Aimee:
So I want to introduce you to Jamie. I don't know why I'm getting so emotional, but it's kind of funny. We were just, before we started recording, we were talking about her case, and she actually started working with myself and my team.
Aimee:
So you signed up for the group coaching program, correct? Right. And that was in June of 2020. And so we are now currently in September of 2021. And you can see… do you want to stand up and show that beautiful belly? She is 38 weeks pregnant. Look at that baby in there.
Aimee:
And so that was… what is that, 16 months of working together to… basically it'd be 18, 16 months, two more weeks, so 16-and-a-half months from working together until birth, which is crazy, because she's due in two weeks, which is amazing.
Aimee:
So I would love for you to share your story and what led you to working with me and choosing the group coaching program and how it all started for you.
Jamie:
Sure. Well, let's see, I met my husband later in life, and so I got married when I was 39 and was feeling a lot of pressure from people telling me, “Oh, you better start trying right away to have a baby.” And you know, in hindsight, if I had been just following my own guidance, we might've waited a little bit longer, but we just started trying right off the bat and got pregnant right away, third try. And we were so excited. My husband was definitely nervous. I think I was a little bit more ready than he was. And I had been doing this anti-inflammatory diet, and we had started training for a marathon. So I didn't know that I had inflammation in my system at the time, but I was doing that because I had chronic reflux, and I was trying to figure it out and go off the medication while I was pregnant.
Jamie:
And so we were just really thrilled, but I was like, “This diet is not sustainable while I'm pregnant.” So I started going off the diet, and then we went in for our ultrasound at nine weeks, a little bit more than nine weeks, and there was no heartbeat. So we had a missed miscarriage and that was really devastating and really hard. And the doctors were like, “This happens, it's fine. Just keep trying.”
Aimee:
How old were you at this point? You were 38?
Jamie:
I was 39. I miscarried a few weeks before I turned 40.
Aimee:
Okay.
Jamie:
Yeah.
Aimee:
And then we were heading in… after that, so you miscarried, then how long before you started trying again?
Jamie:
Almost right away. I miscarried in April, and I mean, I was definitely trying by June.
Aimee:
Yeah.
Jamie:
And that was in 2019.
Aimee:
Right.
Jamie:
So started trying right away. After three months when it didn't happen again, and I was reading all this stuff [crosstalk 00:04:13].
Aimee:
Because now you're 40, and the pressures on.
Jamie:
Right. The pressure was on. So I was freaking out. So I was like, “All right, let's get checked out, go to a fertility clinic, and see what's going on.” And I mean, there wasn't a whole lot. They found chronic endometritis.
Aimee:
So how did they find that? You did a hysteroscopy?
Jamie:
I did a hysteroscopy with an endometrial biopsy.
Aimee:
And who recommended that? What prompted you to get that done?
Jamie:
That was just part of the testing. The clinic [crosstalk 00:04:46].
Aimee:
That's really good testing. That's not always standard.
Jamie:
I know, I found that out later. I didn't realize that. And a lot of places were like, “Oh no, we don't do that until you have three failed IVFs.” And I'm like, “Well, that doesn't make any sense at all.” Especially if it can affect implantation. Right?
Jamie:
So that was just part of their standard workup. And I found out I had it, and they also were concerned about insulin resistance.
Aimee:
Right. I remember that.
Jamie:
Yeah. And so they [crosstalk 00:05:15].
Aimee:
And not necessarily PCOS. They were classifying you with insulin resistance based on your A1C was high. Right?
Jamie:
Right. Well, my A1C was elevated, not hugely elevated, but they were looking at my glucose. And so they had me do a glucose tolerance test, and things didn't go back down, or they dropped too low, maybe. I feel they said I had reactive hypoglycemia.
Aimee:
Yeah, that's what it was, reactive hypoglycemia.
Jamie:
That's what it was.
Aimee:
Right.
Jamie:
And so they wanted me to do a low carb diet. And I think that one of the practitioners there thought I had PCOS. It's funny you bring that up because I feel that has been… some doctors are adamant that I don't have it. And others suspect I may.
Aimee:
Yeah. You were ovulating and menstruating regularly.
Jamie:
Very regularly.
Aimee:
So if you had it, it wasn't impacting your cycles.
Jamie:
Exactly. Yeah, exactly.
Aimee:
You didn't have any of the facial hair symptoms, but your weight was up, right? Your weight was heavier than you had been. Is that correct? [crosstalk 00:06:26].
Jamie:
My weight had been up… I mean, weight has been up and down my whole life, but it had been up for a while. And so of course they wanted me to lose weight. Interestingly, I will say, after weight loss, my inflammation was not affected. It was definitely based on diet and supplements that I think really helped the systemic inflammation.
Jamie:
But yeah, they wanted me to lose weight, which I ended up doing, but not because they told me to. It was just a side effect of all the changes I had made.
Aimee:
Right. And so you did that elimination diet, you were training for the half marathon, you got pregnant, then you went off of it, and then stayed on your normal diet and routine while trying again. Right?
Jamie:
While trying again. And then I started trying to do a little bit more protein after that testing, which was in the fall at this point. They treated me with antibiotics for the chronic endometritis, and it didn't work because they did another biopsy and it was still there. So they did a different round of antibiotics. And one of the things I learned was I need to read the interaction effects and not rely on the pharmacist to tell me, because I had had… when I did the… when I had the miscarriage, I induced that on my own with medication. I didn't do a D&C, and there was some tissue that hadn't cleared out. And so they were worried about infection. They put me on antibiotics at that time, back in April, but I didn't take them properly. I was taking them with things that interfere with them. So that may have also contributed.
Aimee:
Right, might not have gotten the right treatment.
Jamie:
Right. So I re-went on that same antibiotic as the second one, and that did it. They did a third biopsy, and they looked at all sorts of stuff. And then I was clear. So that was one hurdle that had jumped that fall.
Aimee:
And then the pandemic hit.
Jamie:
Yes.
Aimee:
And so fertility treatments were on hold at that point.
Jamie:
Right. And so I think that fall, though, is when I first found you, because I was obsessive reading about miscarriage and what causes it and what I could do to help prevent it from happening in the future. And so I found an interview that you had done on YouTube, and you were just talking about things that I never heard anyone speaking about before, and I was very intrigued.
Jamie:
And I'm not a big social media person, but it was just through searches. And then I started listening to you more in that fall as well. And then, right, we had actually decided we were going to go ahead and start fertility treatments in the spring. So we didn't want to wait. I was going to be turning 41. And we just thought, let's go ahead and start with at least some IUIs. And then we both got the flu and that delayed things, and then the pandemic hit, and then that delayed things.
Aimee:
Right. And so then I want to talk to about, because you know, your profession is mental health, right. And you're a trained psychotherapist?
Jamie:
Yeah.
Aimee:
And so how was the mental, emotional piece for you? I mean, having this be a job for you to help others manage mental health, what was the toll it took on you? How did you manage it?
Jamie:
That's a great question. And I remember when I started the group coaching with you, you asked each of us like, “Do you think this is emotional or physical?” And my bias is that it's emotional, even though there's obviously a physical component. And I actually think a lot of the physical changes I made really helped.
Aimee:
Well, we know when we improve gut health, which we're going to get into, what we do with your gut, when we improve gut health, mental health improves, we know that for a fact.
Jamie:
They're just intertwined, right? There's just that connection there. And so, I mean, it was hard for a period of time, and I would be implementing the strategies that I teach to my clients to help myself cope with the emotions of it. And sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn't. And you know, one of the things that I talk a lot about is self-compassion. And so I was practicing that as much as I could and trying to channel thoughts and energy that felt supportive instead of dragging me down. But I definitely have my own inner critics that I have to work with on the regular.
Aimee:
Yeah. We all do, right? I mean, that's our human [crosstalk 00:11:16].
Jamie:
We're not immune to that.
Aimee:
And so I want to go… I have your new patient paperwork that we collected. It was… I just told you. You were 41 at the time. It was June 2nd, 2020. And at that point, you had had the miscarriage a year and change prior, 14 months prior. So you're now on this path.
Jamie:
And had not been pregnant since. Had not had a positive pregnancy test since then.
Aimee:
And so when she came to us, she had GERD. What is it? Gastro esophageal reflux disorder. Right?
Jamie:
Yeah.
Aimee:
And you were taking Zantex and Zantac. Did I say Zantex?
Aimee:
And then some of the other red flag symptoms which, for me, were… they jumped out of the page, if you will, that I felt there was an inflammatory slash potential autoimmune condition going on. Migraines, eczema. Eczema was the big one for me, easily sweats, allergies, frequent sore throat, fatigue, overweight, heartburn, reflux, indigestion, flatulence, diarrhea, constipation, nighttime urination, insomnia, restlessness, and low libido.
Aimee:
And so for me, the missed miscarriage, not to downplay it or the trauma of it, not that uncommon, right? Twenty percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. So I didn't have like, “Okay, is she having a habitual miscarriage situation going on,” which we can get to kind of through the work up that you did wind up doing.
Aimee:
But more that it was very clear that her body or her gut health was compromised, especially when I look at the GI symptoms, but also the skin symptoms. And then some of the insomnia, restlessness, the allergies, there was stuff going on, the migraines, even, that were signs of inflammation in your body.
Aimee:
And so when we first met… so you started doing the group coaching, which is a program that I ran. It'll be different, actually, come 2022. We're going to change it a little bit and make it more mindset coaching, but just as an aside. But when we were running the group, you were doing two sessions with one of my coaches, and then three group sessions with you and seven other women where we had hot seats, and I was chiming in on all of that.
Jamie:
Co-coaching, yeah.
Aimee:
And so when you first started the group… what was that?
Jamie:
And co-coaching.
Aimee:
Yeah. Co… I was, yeah, of course. Yeah. I had my eyes on the case. And so when we first started the program, you had just done an IUI. So we didn't make a lot of adjustments right then and there because we wanted to see the success of the IUI, if we were thinking maybe the endometriosis was playing the role the whole time, and now it's treated. And so we didn't do anything. We just talked about… I'm just looking at our original follow-up email, 6/28, our plan to you, if you will, we had made some recommendations, basically a quality diet style recommendations slash body belief. I hadn't yet written Equality Diet. It was still up here brewing. It came out a year later.
Aimee:
We talked about your Chinese medicine, but we also noticed… we talked about MTHFR with you, some of your supplements. You were on good supplements at the time though, too, when you came to us. You were already on the Thorne prenatal and some good DHA, so we had you double that. The Ovasitol… then we told you about castor oil packs. This is all after we found out you weren't pregnant from that IUI.
Aimee:
And then we also noticed that you didn't have thorough testing of your thyroid. So we'd asked you to get a complete thyroid panel, including thyroid antibodies, vitamin D, check for MTHFR. And it did come back that you had Hashimoto's. And so that had gone undetected, untreated.
Jamie:
Yeah. You were the first practitioner that I had worked with that picked up on that, that suggested that I have that testing. And that was really pivotal for me because my TSH was always in the normal range. So no one looked at it. It was always between one and two. And so it was just a lot of the doctors are like, “Well, if you have normal [crosstalk 00:15:49]-
Aimee:
Normal TSH, then they don't care.
Jamie:
Then it's like, “We can't treat you.”
Aimee:
They don't treat autoimmune thyroid disease or Hashimoto's until it actually becomes a problem where it attacks the thyroid enough that it stops functioning. But for us, and especially in inflammatory slash auto-immune perspective, it's assigned to me that there's… the body's hostile, it's inflamed. It's not absorbing all the nutrition it needs. And you know, you know this. As I always say when I see thyroid antibodies, I do strongly urge that all my clients treat gluten, dairy, and soy as an allergy, which you didn't love, but you dove into it.
Jamie:
Yeah. I had given up the gluten.
Aimee:
Yes.
Jamie:
I'd actually done that before I started the coaching, but I was so not excited to give up the dairy. And once I had the testing and found out… and you had said I wouldn't be surprised if you have Hashimoto's. And so I got the testing. I got the testing for MTHFR. I had that too. And luckily the clinic I was working with was really great because I'd say, “Hey, can you run this?” And they would.
Aimee:
Yeah, which is so great.
Jamie:
I know that can be a barrier for a lot of women and getting that testing that they need so they can have a clear path to move forward.
Jamie:
So I did, I jumped into Body Belief. I gave up dairy, and soy, and a lot of other things.
Aimee:
Yes. And we did basically an elimination diet. But so here's an interesting twist, so I want you to share. So you dive in full force, we're in August at this point where you're like, “I'm doing the AIP,” you were hesitant about avoiding the beans and the nuts and grains, and how can we do this? But, so yeah. Talk to me about that process for you.
Jamie:
Yeah. I mean, it was just so different. I had done that short term elimination diet the year prior, but I knew it was like, “This is very short-term, and then I'm going to add stuff back in.” And it's not that you don't add stuff back in, but given the Hashimoto's, there were things that I knew I wasn't going to be able to add back in.
Aimee:
Ever.
Jamie:
Right. So that was a psychological piece that I had to work with. And I had some resistance to that, and I had some grief around that. And then I got on board, and I started following the diet, and I remember reading in your book, “Oh, after this part of the [crosstalk 00:18:29].”
Aimee:
Yeah, you were in phase, we'll call it Phase Three. You entered into what we call in Body Belief, the early reawakened, but Phase Three in the egg quality diet.
Jamie:
Phase Three, okay.
Aimee:
So you were three to four weeks in, I want to say.
Jamie:
Yes. And it said you should be feeling good by now, or at least noticing a significant improvement. And in some ways I did feel better. It wasn't [crosstalk 00:18:49].
Aimee:
Yeah, and you'd lost weight at that point too.
Jamie:
Yeah.
Aimee:
How much weight had you dropped?
Jamie:
Yeah. I started a little bit before I met you, but then it just started really falling off.
Aimee:
Falling off. I remember at one point when we talked, you were like, “Yeah, I'm down 20 or 30 pounds,” or something.
Jamie:
I was going to say, I think at that point I might've been down 20, 25, something that. So that sounds right. But I was still having bloating and indigestion and constipation, and I was like, “Something still isn't right.” And so went to get checked out, ruled out H. pylori and then looked at SIBO, got referred to an integrative medicine doctor who did a breath test, and it came back that I had SIBO.
Aimee:
Which is small intestinal bacteria overgrowth. So I talk about that in the Equality Diet. I'd mentioned it, as well, in Body Belief, I believe. Or maybe… so at this point, too, you're also, we should add this in, you're also in the Yes, You Can Get Pregnant e-course, you're utilizing office hours, or we'll call them my weekly live Q&A's, my weekly Q&A's. You're utilizing those on a weekly basis. So with the group coaching program, you get access to the e-course. So you came right into the e-course. And so I think it was during the weekly Q&A that we discussed, too, or maybe I brought up about SIBO. I can't remember if you read about it in the books or…
Jamie:
I think I read about it and I emailed you about it.
Aimee:
Yes.
Jamie:
Because I hadn't quite joined the e-course yet at that point. I joined in September.
Aimee:
Oh right, Okay.
Jamie:
Yeah. Yeah.
Aimee:
But you were in the group where you guys could add it on if you wanted.
Jamie:
Yes, we added it on.
Aimee:
Then we changed it that it was automatic. That's right. That's right. You joined the group in September.
Jamie:
Right.
Aimee:
So June through August, you were not in the group and then you joined. Yeah.
Jamie:
And then I joined. But I did email you, and you were like, “Yeah, definitely worth checking out.”
Aimee:
And you heard an interview, or it was Gabby Bernstein talking about it, wasn't it?
Jamie:
Yes. I found her talking about it and the things that she did to help treat it, which I think was part of her own journey as well. That was helpful.
Aimee:
A hundred percent her journey of motherhood. We healed that. [crosstalk 00:21:03].
Jamie:
And I remember reading about it in the e-course, just looking through posts of what other women had done. I mean, that's another great resources, besides the modules, which are extremely informative, and I think a lot of us find them meditative, listening to you. Just that resource of what other people have done, because people have done so much. And there are people that are so, so knowledgeable. And being able to read about that and get some information, you know, [crosstalk 00:21:36].
Aimee:
Yeah. And then those weekly Q&A's I mean, sometimes-
Jamie:
Oh, they're huge.
Aimee:
…it's like, I don't always know the answers, but you guys do. And everybody chimes in and helps each other. It's an amazing source of support.
Aimee:
But so anyway, that led you down the path of SIBO.
Jamie:
Yes.
Aimee:
You worked, I can say, with Dr. Cicerone at Spark Health, who we do believe is one of the leaders.
Jamie:
I was like, “I want to do this. [crosstalk 00:21:57].”
Aimee:
Yeah. You went right to the best of the best. No bullshit. “Let's do this. Let's get it done.” And then you decided to do additional coaching with me.
Jamie:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Aimee:
And so by the time you came to me, 10/25, 2020, you had some supplement updates, you were on low FODMAP. So basically still on the elimination diet, it just… there's certain foods and vegetables in particular that are high FODMAP and will exacerbate the SIBO symptoms that you were having, which was… you were still having your GERD, you were still having your bloat, your indigestion, even though a lot of the other symptoms had gone away, right?
Jamie:
Yeah. I couldn't eat sweet potatoes on the low FODMAP, but I had been eating them every day.
Aimee:
Yeah, I know. Everyday.
Jamie:
Yeah. And so that was another thing I had to cut. So it was just more cutting. And I actually ran into a lot of challenges finding… because Dr. C's in California and I'm in Florida. So finding a doctor who would prescribe her protocol here was a huge challenge.
Aimee:
Yeah, it was hard. And did you do the antibiotics. Or did you do herbal antibiotics? You did the actual ones [crosstalk 00:23:08].
Jamie:
I did both. I did them both because the antibiotics didn't work. So I did that [crosstalk 00:23:15]-
Aimee:
Right, because I remember you had a positive SIBO in what, September or [crosstalk 00:23:20] number.
Jamie:
Yep, August.
Aimee:
And then you tested positive again in November, if I remember it right.
Jamie:
Yeah. I think I tested positive twice and then the third test was… so then I did the herbal antibiotics, and those seemed to work better for my body.
Aimee:
And what would you say, from the dietary changes… I mean, it was not easy of course, but talk to me from a psychotherapy perspective too. So you work through the grief around it, you worked through, I'm sure, some anger of like, “Why me? Why do I have to do this?” And then did you start to at some point feel empowered by the diet?
Jamie:
Yeah, absolutely, because I was feeling better. It was the first time my eczema had gone away. The constipation and the bloat had gone away.
Aimee:
What about the migraines?
Jamie:
Yeah. I mean-
Aimee:
They decreased, right?
Jamie:
…they were never horrible, but I did… well, I was having ocular migraines.
Aimee:
I remember, yeah.
Jamie:
I definitely think those are impacted by stress as well. And so it's interesting to watch them come and go because I've had them a little bit in my pregnancy, but not throughout, and it's been at particularly stressful times.
Jamie:
But yes, those got better too, but I think it's also because of all the things I was doing to manage my stress… I was moving my body more.
Aimee:
Yeah. We got you back to walking and moving. I remember that.
Jamie:
I was walking an hour to an hour and a half every day, just part of my routine. It was helping my mental health because we were pretty isolated because of COVID.
Aimee:
And then I think the group in the e-course group, the community support there. Because you made some friends in there too.
Jamie:
I did.
Aimee:
I mean, there's a little posse. Yeah, which is some nice. And us still being connected, even though obviously community was so lacking during the pandemic.
Jamie:
Yeah. And the flip side is that the pandemic made it easier for me to access resources with Telehealth or Telemedicine, and then it made it easier to follow the diet because we weren't going out to eat. So I didn't have to navigate all of that. It was just everything we were cooking at home. And interestingly, because we were following the diet so well… and my husband, I will say, was instrumental in helping me with that because he was on board and invested.
Aimee:
He was so onboard. Yeah. [crosstalk 00:25:55].
Jamie:
[crosstalk 00:25:55].
Aimee:
I remember you would email and be like, “So he found this. What do you think about that?” Yeah. “Is this approved?”
Jamie:
Yeah. And so interestingly, my thyroid ended up going up above two.
Aimee:
Yes.
Jamie:
But I think it was all the kale and no iodized salt, and you know, it wasn't balanced either, but it was doing what it needed to do to heal my gut.
Aimee:
Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. And then mental, emotional part. So now you have another diagnosis. You have Hashimoto's, you get SIBO, you're still not pregnant. Talk about that. So we're now in, I'd say, almost… so when we do our first call, 10/26… since I started working with my team in June, she's lost 20. June, she had lost 24 pounds. She's now down 34 pounds since the beginning of March. Wants to lose 10 more. Feels good. Low FODMAP is working, [inaudible 00:26:54], energy, constipation, diarrhea, off antibiotics for three weeks.
Aimee:
And then you started low dose naltrexone as well, which we think would definitely help with inflammation and auto-immunity. And then, so her typical diet in October: eggs, kale, arugula, a lot of zucchini, yellow squash, chicken, beef, coconut oil, olive oil, coconut milkshakes, collagen peptides, tahini, pumpkin bread with chestnut flour, olives, bone broth, homemade, not any pre-packaged, sleeping is better, digestion is better, eczema better.
Aimee:
Let's see… allergies were somewhat present still, fatigue better but still groggy in the morning, heartburn reflux almost entirely gone. All your GI symptoms were coming and going, but we thought that was the antibiotics at the time for the SIBO. Urination at night was better, insomnia better. Well, libido was better when you were managing your stress and your fatigue. We really saw that as more of an emotional thing. And then what you said to me here was, “Why is it not happening again? It was so fast last time.” Maybe you felt like you had a chemical in July, remember? Felt all the things, but then bleeding started. You were frustrated.
Aimee:
And then your CRP was elevated. So we were still trying to figure out this inflammation piece. And then at that point, I had recommended getting on Dr. Vidali's schedule, who runs Braverman Reproductive Immunology, who is an auto-immune… oh, sorry, a reproductive immunologist. So we could just see if there was any other auto-immune piece going on here that we were missing.
Aimee:
Typically I see in this situation that women are getting pregnant, they're just… their mis… not just… they're miscarrying. So you weren't in that case in particular, but it was knowing that you, too, in your head of like, “Should I rule this out? Should I…” And then we talked about trying to conceive for six months after finishing all the SIBO stuff. And then maybe going back to fertility treatments. Correct?
Jamie:
Yeah, you had said to me in July, “Give the diet six months.” Because I was really eager to go ahead and jump back into fertility treatments. And you were like, “Three to six months at least. Let it have a chance to work.” And I think that was interesting because I had not had a positive pregnancy test. And then that month when I started-
Aimee:
[crosstalk 00:29:26].
Jamie:
…essentially, the egg quality diet, I had the faintest positive test and then got my period the next day.
Jamie:
But it did make me feel more hopeful that something was working. And then that was the other thing with the mental and emotional pieces. While I was doing the protocol for the SIBO, I was advised not to try.
Aimee:
Yes, I remember that. And you were frustrated over that.
Jamie:
Yeah. When I got that advice, it just went against everything that I had… all of this momentum I had built up around trying, and I remember questioning, yeah, “Why isn't it happening? What's wrong?”
Jamie:
And in the group you had also recommended Is Your Body Baby Friendly, that book.
Aimee:
Yes.
Jamie:
And I read it, and the thing that I held on to was that our bodies are overly designed to get pregnant. And so if it isn't happening, then something is out of alignment. And so I was like, “Okay, well, something is still out of alignment, but what is it?” And the “what is it piece” was hard emotionally to-
Aimee:
To figure that out and all the pressure.
Jamie:
…manage that. I was reading stuff constantly, almost obsessively. And it wasn't necessarily always serving me.
Aimee:
Yeah. Yeah. I can remember too. And coming to the group with questions and, “Oh, I found this,” and the CRP was like, I remember that, when it went up again, it was very frustrating to you because you're like, “Why is my body still so inflamed? What the ef is going on? And is this why I'm not getting pregnant?” And let's see…
Jamie:
And I felt dismissed by all of my other providers around that, except you.
Aimee:
Yeah. In November, you'd said, “Symptomatically was feeling discouraged. Straight from the diet, ordered sushi on a Sunday and had spicy mayo, got reflux, diarrhea, belching. Had a bad reaction. So today I'm back on it.”
Aimee:
But yeah, we talked on 11/18, and you had a negative test that morning. And you were on the LDN. Let's see, you felt so over the diet, you said. “Feels like I'm not eating enough. I'm frustrated.” Like I said, too, her weight was down a total of 34 pounds. Feel so proud of what she's done. A random neighbor told her she was skinny. You told me about that. “WTF with the CRP.” I said to increase the omegas. I thought maybe that would help. “What about a sauna or running?” We talked all about the typical things of like, “What else can I do? What am I missing? What else am I doing wrong?” So then that was November 2020. And I just want to pull up… let's see, your emails here because then we email.
Aimee:
Let's see… quick question. Here we go… let's see. Oh right. I connected you with another girl in the group: Remember to talk about BRI. Oh the doctor down in Florida, McNichol. Do remember connecting you with them. So November 30th, “I'm in the process of having testing done to prepare for IVF in the new year. I had a saline sono today. Everything looks good. Just got my blood work back. Overall I think they look great. Definitely some marked improvements from last year, although my FSH went up a little bit. My AMH went from 2.64 to 3.18.” So you always had a great AMH. “My biggest concern was my TSH. It went from 1.4 to a 2.9. I do have the thyroid antibodies and we know that it can swing.” So then just some questions about… lastly, she says, November 30th, lastly, “I'm having some really great cm this month. Best I've had.” So cervical mucus, “the best I've had in a very long time. Got a positive OBK today. So definitely will be trying naturally this month. I'll do the UVA on the days we discussed.”
Aimee:
And so then you sent me the UVA app about what your progesterone… oh yeah. I had to use… You were… that's right. I had you force the read so we could see what your progesterone was, right?
Jamie:
Yeah. I was concerned that maybe it wasn't high enough. I connected you with Amy from UVA. So we could see… “Here are my three, six, and nine days post ovulation.” Your progesterone was at a hundred percent every day, all three. So that means she had an awesome ovulation, having an awesome luteal phase. I said, “I'm psyched for these levels.” And let's see… December 10th.
Jamie:
Okay. So then December 15th, “I'm spotting more heavily today. Guessing my period flow will start tomorrow. I'm planning to do caster oil packs tonight. It helps to focus on my body being ready. I actually got some results from Dr. Vidali slash Braverman Reproductive Immunology today. And I'm in the high risk category for inflammation. So their recommending omega-3s for six weeks and then retest. I'm glad they have the information and focus on the plan. I'll have my TSH and T4 checked again.”
Jamie:
And let's see… So that was December 15th. Let's see… And I said, “Yes, focus on how ready your body is. And yet so many women with high inflammation have been successfully treated and have gone on to have healthy pregnancies and babies.” And let's see… So you were doing six grams for two weeks and four grams for two weeks and three grams for two weeks on the fish oils. Right?
Aimee:
And my husband had to do it too.
Jamie:
That's right.
Aimee:
He [crosstalk 00:35:37]. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jamie:
Okay. So let's see… Then you asked me to look at your UVA, this was… [inaudible 00:35:48] I see my date here. Jan seven. So you had messaged me, “Happy New Year. I didn't realize you were out of the office when I sent the below email. I have some updates. I spoke with the nurse at my RE's office. Because of clotting factors, they're going to put me on Lupron instead of birth control pills for the cyst.”
Jamie:
So this is your prepping now for an IVF cycle or you're discussing what they're going to do.
Jamie:
I had interviewed six RE's.
Aimee:
Six RE's. Wow.
Jamie:
And chose one, Dr. Chamoun in Melbourne, and was getting ready to go.
Aimee:
Yeah. And then you said to me, “As for my current cycle, I did the UVA again on four days post ovulation. My progesterone was already at a hundred percent. Eight days post ovulation, it was still at a hundred percent.”
Aimee:
And so you had asked me in the email, “I know last month I had a good luteal phase with a hundred percent progesterone each time. However, I had progesterone present at each scan before ovulation. I'm not sure what to make of it. Is this common? Could it be interfering with pregnancy?” And it's actually definitely common. And as you guys will soon find out, not interfering with pregnancy, especially in this case. “Is this something that IVF can bypass? Could this indicate PCOS?” So she'd had a lot of questions, and she was concerned. And so I feel like I put them at bay.
Aimee:
And so I said… I answered a lot of your questions in the weekly Q&A, in our Facebook group, which will now be our Mighty Networks Group. So she was wondering whether or not she ovulated. And I had also said, “I think your UVA missed your full surge, but I do you think you've ovulated based on the ovulation.” Then we set up another call for February.
Aimee:
And then January 14th, “I wanted to let you know that you were right. I ovulated. How do I know? Because I'm pregnant. I'm a bit in shock, really happy.” I want to see your face right now. “I'm a bit in shock, pretty happy and pretty nervous. We were preparing to start our first IVF cycle this week, and instead I've been having blood work drawn. My first beta on Monday was 73 and two days later, it was 205. I'm converting my immune management appointment on the 23rd with VRI to a pregnancy management. They've already had me do blood work this week and I'm waiting…”
Aimee:
And so they had you on Lovenox, 10 milligrams of prednisone, baby aspirin, correct?
Jamie:
Yeah. Once I found out I was pregnant. I had been doing the baby aspirin prior to, so then they just said stay on that. They actually recommended to stop the LDN, or somebody did. But I added in the Lovenox and…
Aimee:
The prednisone.
Jamie:
The prednisone, right, after they-
Aimee:
Ten milligrams.
Jamie:
Right, 10 milligrams.
Aimee:
You were already at that point, what, six or seven weeks pregnant when you added it in, right? Or right away, when you find out.
Jamie:
I think I must have at least been… I was probably not quite six weeks when they had me add it in. It was early.
Aimee:
[crosstalk 00:38:56].
Jamie:
Because I found out right away because I took a test because I was like, “I'm going to order these meds. They're expensive. Let me just make sure.”
Aimee:
You were about to start IVF.
Jamie:
But I was a hundred percent sure it was not going to be positive. And my legs were trembling. I was in shock, and then had to call… and actually the person that I called to say, “Hey, I don't need the meds,” said, “Well, this happens. You're not the only person this happens for.”
Jamie:
So that was a lovely surprise and everything changed. And yes, they put me on prednisone, which they did have to up because I still had a good amount of inflammation. And the Lovenox was actually prescribed by the RE until I switched over to working with my maternal fetal medicine doctor. So it was good that I had that in place because I wanted to do that differently this pregnancy.
Aimee:
Yeah. And who knows, obviously, but it doesn't matter, I'm such a fan of the “throw everything at the wall and to make sure that sticks.”
Jamie:
Yeah. And I also have clotting factors in addition to the MTHFR. I have Factor II. [crosstalk 00:40:01].
Aimee:
And so we knew about that even before-
Jamie:
Yeah, way before.
Aimee:
So the blood thinner made the most sense, but then with the level of inflammation, it was like… and the LDN, I think, does do a good job on the inflammation. And a lot of functional docs will prescribe that, and it does seem to work, but I think the prednisone is just next level and then the fish oil as well.
Jamie:
Yeah. It was next level. And the Lovenox helps with the inflammation too. And so I was on that. I was on the omega-3.
Aimee:
Yeah. And so, yeah. So tell… I guess I would love… I don't know, in summary or whatever, what were some of your biggest takeaways through the process? Because at this point now it was, like we said, it was from that first pregnancy or first… from the miscarriage was a year and a half, basically, until the next pregnancy almost [crosstalk 00:40:56].
Jamie:
Almost two years. I think it had been 20 months, but I had gotten a positive pregnancy test in February of 2019 and then January of 2021.
Aimee:
February of 2021. [crosstalk 00:41:09] two years.
Jamie:
So it was really almost two years. And so it felt forever.
Aimee:
And at this point, now, you were 41 and a half? You were almost 42 when you got pregnant?
Jamie:
Right. I got pregnant in January and I turned 42 in April.
Aimee:
Right. Yeah. And so what would you say about the process? And now you're about to give birth to this healthy baby. I mean, all of that, too, we had to wait for the testing, know the baby was healthy, we're in the middle of a pandemic, all the shit. I mean, it was pretty intense.
Jamie:
Yeah. It was. And I was definitely nervous. And there was a lot that I was having to manage. Work was really busy for me at that time. A lot of people have been struggling with their mental health during the pandemic, and I wanted to be able to support them. I also had to support me. And all the things I had been doing were harder once I got pregnant.
Aimee:
Yeah, they were.
Jamie:
It was harder to go on my walks because I had morning sickness, and it was harder to follow the diet because greens were very unappealing in [inaudible 00:42:19] trimester.
Aimee:
Yeah. We were doing gluten-free bagels, gluten-free granola, super nauseous. That was seven weeks when we talked, and you were, yeah, weren't feeling awesome.
Jamie:
I think one of my biggest takeaways that just was really reinforced is trusting myself, listening to my own guidance. I remember part of the reason I hadn't done an IUI sooner, because they had started doing them again in May and I did mine in June, is because I ovulated early that cycle. And I had taken some medication that I think interfered with my ovulation.
Jamie:
I had been tracking my ovulation for however long, 12 months at that point. I knew my body, and the doctors just kept saying, “Oh, it's your age.” And I was like, “I don't think it's my age,” but I couldn't articulate why at the time. It was like, “No, because I have all this data.”
Aimee:
You have a healthy cycle, yeah.
Jamie:
This is actually an anomaly. Right? And I remember saying to you at the first group coaching call that I had thought that I wouldn't have problems getting pregnant, that some women in my family got pregnant in their forties. But then there was all this stuff that started getting in my head and messing with that belief system. And so it was really having to shut out the noise and reorient to trusting myself and also finding the answers because I do think the Hashimoto's, the diet change, hearing the SIBO, all of that obviously played a role. And then I still had inflammation.
Aimee:
Yeah. And so we needed some more assistance. Yeah. And it was, I mean, it was all perfect timing, too, of when you set up that appointment and getting the information and perhaps, I don't know, knowing IVF was around the corner and that you looked under every rock that there was. I don't know if you felt this way, but a bit of surrender in there of like, “Okay, I have now explored every possible nook and cranny of this conversation, and I'm going to hand this over.” And then you get pregnant. I think UVA helps too with the confidence. It's seeing like, “Oh, my progesterone is beautiful in my luteal phase. Oh, I had a great ovulation.”
Aimee:
And then what about with all kind of the information out there, how do you feel the office… we call them office hours in the group, but the weekly Q&A's with me and the community, how do you feel that helped you navigate all the things?
Jamie:
Well, that was a great place to ask all of the specific questions, like, “What dose of this do you recommend? And in what combination?” And it's like, “Oh, well, if you get a positive pregnancy test, stop taking the ubiquinol.” And just things that that made me feel more confident in the choices that I was making.
Aimee:
Yeah, the protocol.
Jamie:
And that they were putting me on the path. And there were so many women in there that were really encouraging and supportive and said, “I chose Aimee, and I'm going with Aimee's advice. And I'm not going to take advice that competes with that because I need to pick a path and stay on that path.” And I think that the office hours supports that.
Aimee:
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And so now, on the brink of becoming a mama for the first time, how are you feeling?
Jamie:
I feel pretty good. I've got two weeks until my due date and I've really appreciated being pregnant. I wasn't sure it would happen. And I think that gratitude has been a big thing, you know? And I will say I wasn't in the most perfect place when I got pregnant. It's not about perfection.
Aimee:
No, you were frustrated.
Jamie:
I was.
Aimee:
You had just had a deviation of the diet in November, you have the case of what we call the fuck-its. And you're like, “I'm over this shit.”
Jamie:
Yeah.
Aimee:
You definitely… So I think, too, that really speaks to you don't have to be perfect to get pregnant. I really think it's consistency and frequency. For you, it had been at that point, what, seven, six, seven solid months of doing everything.
Jamie:
Yeah, exactly.
Aimee:
Oh, it's consistency. It was [crosstalk 00:46:46].
Jamie:
And I was very consistent until around Christmas when I was like, “I'm eating pizza, I'm done.” I needed to have a break. But you know, I was even consistent with my physical activity, consistent with the ways I was tending to my mental health. And it didn't mean it wasn't hard. And I had a lot of that to work through in the first trimester. I started being able to let go a bit more come the second trimester.
Aimee:
And we had coaching sessions still together. So that was nice to support you through. I do always love that. Just support you through the beginning parts of the pregnancy too. And then we have the New Mama group [crosstalk 00:47:26].
Jamie:
I was just about to say. Yeah. And then I've been taking advantage of those office hours and asking questions in there. That's been really helpful [crosstalk 00:47:33].
Aimee:
So once you guys get pregnant, we move you into the New Mama group where I go monthly for my Q&A's and ask questions. But you have access to the community all the time. And so we have women in there who those babies are three or four years old or other ones who are pregnant with you. And it's really nice to like… so we take you out of the Yes, You Can Get Pregnant community, only because, you know, it can be hurtful to other women's hearts that someone is pregnant in the community. So we take, then, the pregnancy questions in another group. And yeah, you've always been active in the New Mama group, too, which has been so nice.
Jamie:
And interestingly, I would still go back to the Yes, You Can Get Pregnant group and search things that I needed because I was on thyroid meds. And then I went off of them, but I was worried about things interfering. And I found a wealth of information in there that I could write to my doctor and say, “I'm worried, this is interfering. Can we really make sure that I can go off these meds before you just take me off of them?” And he was okay with that. And so it's just been helpful in gathering information and being able to advocate for myself. I think that's another thing that came out of this too. I'm a big proponent of improving women's health. There are just so many ways that women get disregarded by the healthcare system. I felt that during my miscarriage.
Aimee:
And knowing your process. It was just being blamed on your age constantly.
Jamie:
Right.
Aimee:
No one was looking deeper.
Jamie:
Yeah. And even now I still think they're just like, “Well, she got lucky.” No one asks me about what I did. No one asks me about my diet, what I do to take care of myself, you know?
Aimee:
And they just think it's luck of the draw.
Jamie:
Right. I just got lucky. Because I did have one RE tell me, like, “You need to start IVF yesterday. And you have a 15% chance that this will ever work. All of your eggs are deformed.”
Aimee:
Bad. Deformed?
Jamie:
And I was like, “Take them out and look at them under a microscope, but you don't know anything about my body.” And it just made me angry, which I think fueled me to… when someone tells me I can't do something, then I'm going to try really hard to do it.
Aimee:
That's me too. Yeah. It's determination. I mean, I think that's it too. I did my fertility hot seat yesterday and the one woman said she's pretty crushed by the process. She's five years into trying to conceive. But she said, “All I have left is determination and hope.” And I thought that's all you need, girl. You know what I mean? I know five years is a long-ass time and it is crappy and shitty, but determination and hope.
Aimee:
And I think, too, what you've alluded to a lot of times is education, empowerment. You really used it to your advantage to empower yourself, not necessarily paralyze yourself. And then kind of kept in check, like, “These are the people I'm going to go to to bounce these ideas off of versus just take every single supplement that I find on the internet.”
Jamie:
And anytime I felt dismissed by a provider, I didn't go back to them. So that was part of that empowerment piece, too, is like, I need people on my team who I feel at least believe this is possible for me. Obviously it helps if they're warm and caring and can listen and not interrupt me or dismiss me. But it's at a bare minimum, are taking me seriously and want to support me. And so that can take a lot of tenacity because not every provider is going to be that way.
Aimee:
Right. And so what would you send off the girls watching right now? Also, I want to know… you watch Stories of Hope, too, before you became pregnant.
Jamie:
Yeah.
Aimee:
So what did they do for you and what are you hoping to do for others right now?
Jamie:
I mean, I remember crying and feeling inspired and actually reached out to a couple of the women.
Aimee:
Yeah, because they're all in your group. Right? [crosstalk 00:51:38].
Jamie:
Yeah, they've been great cheerleaders. They're so kind and supportive, and I didn't know them from anyone. And actually one of them was one who encouraged me to do the e-course because I wasn't sure about it. And it was a hands down recommendation. And so I just decided to commit and dive in.
Jamie:
But I think that every person has their own story and their own path. And I really hope that my story can inspire someone to keep going.
Aimee:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm so grateful to be on your path with you and I can't wait to meet that little nugget.
Jamie:
I'm so grateful too.
Aimee:
Virtually now, but maybe one day in person, you never know.
Jamie:
It's in my vision for my future, so I think it will happen.
Aimee:
Good, good. Same.
Jamie:
We'll come to New York.
Aimee:
Yeah, that sounds good. Or I'll come down there too.
Jamie:
And my husband [crosstalk 00:52:38].
Aimee:
More friends moving your way.
Jamie:
My husband, Michael, wanted me to tell you thank you, also. He said, “Tell Aimee ‘hi,' and tell her, ‘Thank you for everything.'”
Aimee:
Well, you're welcome, but thank you so much for coming and sharing. I'm so emotional. But I'm just so excited for you and impressed with your tenacity. Because I don't think it's easy. It's not. It's not easy and how to separate out what's in your head from what's in your heart, you know? And that it's a balance every single day. It's not, again, perfection. It's just trying to remind yourself to come back home. And like, okay, “What do I believe? What do I believe. What's right for me?”
Jamie:
And I hung on to you saying something like, “You just need to hold it 55% of the time.” I was like, “Well, that's just a little bit more than half.”
Aimee:
That's not hard.
Jamie:
It's so much more achievable. So I was like, “Okay.” So when I'd have those thoughts that I knew weren't supporting me, I tried really hard to just say, “Okay, can I shift into ones that are, and not beat myself up?” And just say, “As long as it's just a little bit tilted in the direction of hope and…”
Aimee:
Of hope. Kindness, compassion, right?
Jamie:
And then eventually, right? Yeah. But that's all you need.
Aimee:
That's it. That's it. And then time. Twenty months is a long… or two years, 23 months, is a long time to have been on the path to baby, you know?
Jamie:
Yeah. It really is. And you know, in total I ended up losing 45 pounds and…
Aimee:
Have a fixed gut.
Jamie:
And fixed my gut. And you know, it was something that I had never managed to accomplish before, even though I had wanted to. But it was funny because it was a side effect of just wanting to heal my gut and wanting to prepare my body and knowing that my health was emblematic of my fertility. And then I was just like, “Okay, I can do this. I can commit to my health and…”
Aimee:
[crosstalk 00:54:44] fertility flourish as a side effect.
Jamie:
And that's exactly what happened, Aimee.
Aimee:
Which is what I drill into your heads every single week.
Jamie:
It is. It works.
Aimee:
I'm sick of hearing myself say it sometimes. Here I go again, I'm going to say it again. “Your fertility is an extension of your health.”
Jamie:
It is, and I think that people need to hear that over and over again.
Aimee:
I know. I know. And that mental health is a huge role in there, too, which I know you see clinically and that you saw personally as well, you know?
Jamie:
Yeah.
Aimee:
All right. Well, I think this was a beautiful story of hope, and I thank you so much for sharing, Jamie, and to all of you, I hope this, like Jamie said, inspired you to have hope or to continue on. I think with… tenacity is a good word for today's story and empowerment and just letting your heart lead more than your head.
Jamie:
Yeah. Trust listening to yourself, that little voice, that inner voice.
Aimee:
Yeah. And here you are. And it'll be fun to see you turn around and do it again in a couple of years. Right?
Aimee:
All right, everyone. Thank you for tuning in and I will see you soon. We'll keep you posted on Jamie and her beautiful baby.
Jamie:
Bye.
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-fertil…
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…
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-cente…
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-fertil…
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-pre…
CHECK OUT MY SKINCARE LINE: Shop Aimee Raupp Beauty – Natural Hormone Balancing Skincare. Achieve natural hormone balancing with the Aimee Raupp Beauty Line of organic, gluten-free, dairy-free & cruelty-free skincare products! FREE US shipping! Natural Oils, Creams & Balms for Face And Body. Unbeatable anti-aging results! AimeeRauppBeauty.com
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA Follow me on social media so you don't miss these sessions live! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bodybeliefex… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aimeeraupp/… Enter your email at www.aimeeraupp.com to get my latest tips on living your healthiest life!
0 comments