National Infertility Awareness Week 2022

It's National Infertility Awareness Week and it has taken me all seven days of the week to find my voice.

You see, infertility is dark and lonely. No one is with you day in and day out as you analyze every cramp, mood shift or *new* symptom you feel in your body.

No one is with you when you dread going to the bathroom to determine if what you felt was the start of another monthly cycle or the loss of an early pregnancy.

Everyone gives you advice and tells you not to stress. It comes from a place of love, no denying that. At the same time, when you are spinning in all directions it is hard to even know how to stop stressing.

When I was diagnosed with infertility in 2014, I channeled that stress by researching for my root cause. I questioned why my body was failing me at 30 years of age. It was the exact same age my mother’s health started to decline. She would visit doctor after doctor with no answers to her symptoms and eventually take 16 different daily prescriptions. Watching her health decline during my teens and twenty’s created a fierce drive in me that I’ve actually had to learn to tame in my late 30’s.

It took 3 years of advocating for my health, asking questions and thinking outside of Western medicine to heal my infertility and conceive naturally. After a year of working with my OBGYN and being labeled a habitual aborter, I began my journey with acupuncture. This was my gateway into living a more nontoxic, sustainable lifestyle.

My acupuncturist recommended I read the The Infertility Cure by Dr. Randine Lewis. She’s a doctor trained in both Western and Eastern medicine sharing natural ways to support your body while trying to conceive. The book guides you on how to improve your overall health, strengthen your organs and their systems, heal specific conditions that may be related to infertility and even how acupuncture supports Western-based reproductive techniques such as IVF and hormone therapy.

Here I am in 2021 during my 3rd and final pregnancy, unless the vasectomy misfires. I feel that God has used me as a true testament that our bodies are designed to heal. What I found was I had food sensitivities, lacked stress management skills, struggled with vitamin & mineral deficiencies, and practiced some more not so great daily habits. After incorporating lifestyle changes specific to my bio-individuality, my body was now thriving.

Your journey may look different from mine and what worked for me may not work for you. At the same time, I share my story with hope that it gives you aspiration and motivates you to search for your root cause. And most of all, remember you are not alone.