Welcome to Stories of Hope: True tales of life, love, and perseverance from the Yes, You Can Get Pregnant community. Because we’re on the fertility journey together.

Grace started working with my team at the Aimee Raupp Wellness & Fertility Center two years ago. She was 40 and had been trying to conceive for more than a year without a single pregnancy. She had been diagnosed with unexplained infertility and was told by several reproductive endocrinologists that she was in the beginnings of menopause with a less than 1% chance of getting pregnant naturally and about a 5% chance with IVF. They all pushed her to do IVF with donor eggs. Grace was feeling pretty hopeless, but she was not ready to give up on her dream of becoming a mother. And, neither was my team and I.

We encouraged Grace to have her doctor to do an autoimmune panel, testing for things such as: clotting factor disorders, inflammatory markers, and the MTHFR genetic mutation. After her doctor nearly refused to do the testing, Grace got her request fulfilled, and sure enough, she came back with more than one autoimmune marker. Since my team and I work regularly with such autoimmune cases, we devised a dietary and supplement program for her, along with her regular acupuncture treatments and her Chinese herbs. As well, we had Grace set up a consultation with one of our favorite reproductive endocrinologist immunologists, Dr. Jeffrey Braverman. Dr Braverman did even more extensive testing on Grace, finding even more autoimmune factors contributing to her inability to conceive. His team and my team believed Grace could conceive on her own, naturally.

With all the test results Grace was overwhelmed, confused, and unsure how to proceed with the new information. As we always tell our patients at my clinics: fertility is an extension of health. In order to achieve optimal fertility, we must first achieve optimal health. And so, the first step that Grace took in transforming her fertility was to take back control over her health by following the dietary & lifestyle guidelines that I outline in my programs & book, Yes, You Can Get Pregnant. She learned how to naturally reduce inflammation in her body by committing to a dairy-free diet and reducing the amount of grains and sugar she ate.

As Grace made the adjustments, her health began to improve. She had less body aches, she felt more awake, and the weight she couldn't seem to drop began shifting. But she was still showing some irregular menstrual symptoms, and though Grace had been to many specialists, my team and I suspected that she might have undiagnosed PCOS. PCOS is one of the most common fertility challenges, and it is very often undiagnosed! Sure enough, after visiting her doctor and getting checked, she tested positive for PCOS and began medication to regulate her cycles after years of irregular periods.

As Grace’s physical health began to come into alignment, so did her mental and emotional health. She began have to hope again in her body and its ability to conceive, and when she faltered, she leaned on the support of our incredible online community. As Grace beautifully stated this week in our secret Facebook group, “Feeling like there are people who ‘get it’ I think is essential to persevering on any difficult journey. Knowing you ladies get it has given me the strength and determination to keep at it and know we will all have our babies in the long run. You all have given me so much emotional support just by letting me know that you feel all the things that I feel and you have been through many of the same experiences that I have been through. This is such a difficult topic for so many people to be open about and the fact that we have a safe space to be open with our feelings and questions is invaluable.”

Now 14 weeks pregnant at age 42, Grace is a source of inspiration for the others in the community. I am immensely proud of the work that she has done to take back the control over her health and transform her fertility.  She never needed IVF nor donor eggs. She conceived naturally, and through her first trimester she continued on our protocol, as well as one from Dr Braverman, to help her body hold her pregnancy. And, it's working! Her healthy baby (boy) in her belly is thriving!

If you are ready to take back the power over YOUR fertility, I can help you. Learn more about my books, my online workshops and guides and my amazing Yes, You Can Get Pregnant E-Course, which allow you to work with me from the comfort of your own home and receive support from an amazing group of women on the #TTC journey. I also offer private online fertility coaching in addition to my acupuncture & wellness services in my clinics, so if you want to work one-on-one with me to achieve all your health & fertility goals, I am here to help you.