Ep.121: Client Story - Sarah (Power of the Right Providers)
Apr 26, 2024Episode 121
Client, Sarah, joins me today to talk about her story of years long infertility and how working with the right providers along the way allowed her to welcome to her son last summer. She fully believes that if she had not had the supportive, knowledgable, and humble providers that she did, she would not be where she is today. Hear what tools her providers used, how she partnered with her providers (like through the Creighton Model System), issues diagnosed and treated (like endometriosis, ovarian cysts, uterine infection, scar tissue and adhesions, etc), and how she knew when it was time to begin working with someone new. Listen to the end, because she provides her main tip for other women fearful of unexplained infertility!
NOTE: This episode is does briefly discuss pregnancy loss, and is centered around a story of infertility that ends with a live birth.
This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health provider regarding a medical condition. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately. Neither Woven nor its staff, nor any contributor to this podcast, makes any representations, express or implied, with respect to the information provided herein or to its use.
Client, Sarah, joins me today to talk about her story of years long infertility and how working with the right providers along the way allowed her to welcome to her son last summer. She fully believes that if she had not had the supportive, knowledgable, and humble providers that she did, she would not be where she is today. Hear what tools her providers used, how she partnered with her providers (like through the Creighton Model System), issues diagnosed and treated (like endometriosis, ovarian cysts, uterine infection, scar tissue and adhesions, etc), and how she knew when it was time to begin working with someone new. Listen to the end, because she provides her main tip for other women fearful of unexplained infertility!
NOTE: This episode is does briefly discuss pregnancy loss, and is centered around a story of infertility that ends with a live birth.
This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health provider regarding a medical condition. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately. Neither Woven nor its staff, nor any contributor to this podcast, makes any representations, express or implied, with respect to the information provided herein or to its use.
Caitlin:
Welcome to the Woven Well podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Estes. I'm a certified fertility care practitioner with a master of divinity degree. Each episode will cover a topic that helps educate and empower you and your fertility while honoring the deep connection your fertility has with your faith. Let's get started. Welcome back to the Woven Well Podcast. I believe that a part of empowering and educating women is connecting them with other women who are on the same journey. That's why we have episodes devoted to hearing the fertility journey of a woman who is a part of Woven. Whatever your situation or your fertility goal, the fertility journey can feel isolating sometimes, but I assure you that there is a whole community out there asking the same questions you are. And that's true for today's guest. Sarah . Sarah and her husband have been married for seven years and welcomed their son last summer after many years of tests, surgeries, and searching for answers to their infertility. She's going to share a bit of her journey with us today. Sarah , welcome to the show.
Sarah:
Thank you for having me.
Caitlin:
I am so excited for you to be able to share a little bit. But first, why don't you share a little bit about yourself.
Sarah:
Yeah, like you said, we've been married for seven years. We live in Virginia. We're so happy to have our son who's almost one now, which is wild--time really flies. And yeah, we enjoy reading and playing board games and spending time with our friends and family,
Caitlin:
Man. Me too. Reading, board games, and family and friends. That's, I'm right there with you. So obviously we want to hear a little bit about your story today. Can you share about when you started trying to conceive and maybe when you suspected that there could be a problem?
Sarah:
Yeah, so when we first got married, we weren't particularly trying or not trying, I just kind of assumed I would get pregnant within the first year because that's what seems to happen to everybody else. And then about when, about a year had gone by, I started thinking there might be a problem. And then I first , uh, went to see a doctor about a year and a half in.
Caitlin:
So you were in that category of one year of trying, but loosely trying, just sort of open, not preventing in any way and thinking that it would happen.
Sarah:
Right.
Caitlin:
Okay. What did you do at that point?
Sarah:
So at that point I went to see a local OB who happened to be a Catholic practice, which was great because they were very respectful of our faith and weren't pushing IVF or anything like that. And the doctor who I saw was familiar with NaPro. She could read a chart , but not officially NaPro trained. So she was able to do blood work on certain days of my cycle to test for, you know, the right hormones at the right points of time, and I did, you know, the standard battery of tests with her. And then after about a year and a half with her, everything on paper looked good. So we figured we might as well do an exploratory surgery to see if there was endometriosis, which there was. And then after that, about six months after that, I did get pregnant, but then miscarried shortly thereafter.
Caitlin:
And I know that was a really difficult time to walk through that loss. It's so precious. So at that point, were you still working with that original OBGYN?
Sarah:
So after I miscarried, I moved to a different doctor , and this one is one that was NaPro trained , but not a surgeon. She was family practice , and she was fantastic. She took time to listen to my whole story and, you know, really, really work through , you know, okay, we can do these tests and these tests and these tests. And she was fantastic. And then after about a year with her, once again it was like, okay, everything looks great on paper. You know, something should be happening, but it wasn't happening. So at that point then she recommended that I go see Dr. Whittaker, who's a NaPro surgeon in Pennsylvania.
Caitlin:
So the first change in doctor was sort of from your own felt need of, maybe I should find someone who is specifically trained in this, you know, unexplained infertility, maybe. You know, you're trying to find an answer for why things are not working out. Now were you already familiar with NaProTechnology at that point? Was that something that you were specifically looking for?
Sarah:
Yes and no. I, I know it was kind of the golden ticket, right? Everyone speaks about it so highly. Like you have to go see a NaPro doctor, they'll fix everything. So I was familiar with it and with the Paul XI Institute; at the time though, I wasn't using Creighton; we were using the symptothermal method. And so I wasn't, you know, I knew about it. I knew it was probably something I should be doing, but I wasn't all in yet.
Caitlin:
Yeah. And that second doctor that you went to, the one who was NaPro trained , who was, I believe you said a family physician, she was able to specifically use NaPro training. But as you just mentioned, you weren't actually even charting with Creighton at that point. You were using symptothermal, which is a great method, but maybe not as specifically partnered with NaProTechnology.
Sarah:
Right.
Caitlin:
So she was offering you her best services with what she had, with what you had. And after a year of working with her, she felt like, or you felt like, ah , it's probably time to move on to something even more specific?
Sarah:
Yeah, that came from her, which I really respected that she knew the limits of her practice. She was like, you know, I've done everything I know how to do. And so she specifically recommended that I go see a NaPro surgeon who could then take the next steps from there.
Caitlin:
I really appreciate that, that you had a medical provider who was able to do what they could do with, like we said, with what you had. But as soon as they realized they were at their limit, and this is all I know, this is all I'm trained to do as a family physician, here's who you should see. This is the education and the training of the doctor that you need to see next. And so that's when you got connected with Dr. Naomi Whittaker. Now Dr. Whittaker is a NaPro trained surgical fellow. So not only did she complete the NaPro technology training for OBGYNs, but she also went on to complete the surgical fellowship as well. So how was she helpful to your journey at that point?
Sarah:
I mean, she was key. She was key. She was absolutely fantastic. I think, so we traveled from Virginia to Pennsylvania to go see her multiple times. Not, not too bad of a drive , but she was fantastic. Our first visit with her was over an hour. She really just went through listening to our whole story. She had so many ideas of further tests we could run. She had suggestions for supplements for me and for my husband, and we really left that first visit feeling really, really encouraged. Like, there was so much more we can do, and she had said like, okay, let's try some of these things. Let's do some of these tests and then maybe consider surgery in a couple months. But then I got a call from her scheduler a week later--totally divine intervention--and was able to get in for surgery the following week, which lined up with my Christmas break from school. It was absolutely fantastic. It happened so, so fast. So got in, had the surgery. It was supposed to be about four hours; it ended up being at least seven. She found so much stuff that was not supposed to be there. You know, she found endometriosis, she found cysts, she found scar tissue from my previous surgery. So I really, really got a good clean out, which was great. And the most important piece I think was she also did biopsies to test for infections. And I had a couple different infections kind of lurking around. And so my womb was just totally inhospitable, so pregnancy was really just never going to happen. So I'm so, so grateful that she, that she did that and found all those things that were wrong. And then after my surgery, I was on several rounds of antibiotics trying to clear out all the infections , and then ended up with a yeast infection because of all the antibiotics. It just seemed like one thing after another. But finally by the summer , we were cleared to try to conceive and conceived that next month. So it really was so, so miraculous once everything got fixed and, you know, the way it was supposed to be, it just, it just happened very quickly.
Caitlin:
Yes. Oh my goodness. And I so appreciate you saying that even though working with Dr. Whittaker immediately felt different, and I love that you said she had so many more ideas and more approaches and things that still needed to be tested, and like it really gave you a renewed hope. It still was a journey. It still was a challenge to get to that point where you were able to conceive and then bring your son into the world. There was still a lot that happened. As you mentioned, it felt like one thing after another. So there was still so much effort there with highs and lows, but you knew you were working with the right medical partner at that point, and I like to refer it as partnership because she also wanted you to participate in that aspect of healing. Right. So she needed you to start doing something at that point, which was begin using the Creighton system. Tell me a little bit about Creighton.
Sarah:
Yes. So like I said, we'd been using Symptothermal method up until that point. So then , we started, she said, you know, you've got to, you've got to learn Creighton. Symptothermal is fine , but this is, you know, Creighton's really the language of NaPro . So I started working with you in January of that year, and yeah, it, it really just provides so much information for any medical professional who knows what they're looking at. They can just get so much information just from a simple glance at your chart, which is wild.
Caitlin:
Yes. So the second doctor you worked with was NaPro trained , a family physician, and she did not push you to do Creighton because she was willing to work with you in whatever capacity that she could without the Creighton system. I appreciate that because these are medical providers who want to serve any woman that comes into their clinic. You know, any woman, no matter what method they're using, they want to serve them and provide them with the best service they can. But Creighton was key to your ability to see what was going on to Dr . Whittaker's ability to pinpoint what was going on, to do particular tests , to know if you needed that surgery and when to do it, etc. And I love so much that she encouraged you to do that, and you had a great experience with it too. I mean, of course, I loved working with you, but I loved you seeing all that was revealed about what was going on inside. It wasn't just when you've ovulated or you know, if you're fertile or infertile, but also you could look for hormone imbalances or the strength of estrogen versus progesterone and all these sort of things that just sort of fly off of the chart once we learn what everything means. And , I love that she encouraged you to do that because she's giving you the tools that you need in order to be successful.
Sarah:
Yes, definitely.
Caitlin:
So it sounds to me like with all of the providers that you worked with, you felt comfortable, you felt like they were providing you what you needed in that moment. Do you feel like your journey would've been significantly different if you hadn't worked with the providers that you worked with?
Sarah:
Oh, absolutely. I don't think I would have my son or, you know, ever been pregnant if it wasn't for these doctors who were really focused on the holistic approach to fertility and finding the root cause of our troubles in our infertility.
Caitlin:
Yeah, because I'm thinking even though they were all different and they all had different specialties. So you had the first OBGYN who wasn't NaPro trained , but she was fantastic and she provided you a lot of support in that early time. Then you had another doctor who was NaPro trained , but was a family physician, not an OBGYN. She also gave you great treatment. And then finally you worked with a NaPro-trained OBGYN, who's a surgical fellow. But each step along the way, they seem to be providing you with great services and also willing to encourage you to go to someone else when they felt like it was time. And I just, that's not a story that I hear all the time. A lot of times it's not having the support you need, having to advocate for yourself and find who you need. And it's not always a very supportive journey. But it sounds like maybe it did feel supportive for you, even though it took a long time to get to that final place.
Sarah:
Definitely.
Caitlin:
If you were to speak to other women who were on a similar journey, they were dealing with infertility, but not sure why. You mentioned several times everything looked great on paper, you know, you addressed so many things and it felt like, why is this happening with two different doctors? You got to that point where everything looked great on paper. What encouragement would you offer to those women who feel like they don't have answers?
Sarah:
I would say just keep searching for answers. Don't give up , and definitely find yourself a good NaPro doctor if you haven't already. You know, you'll probably have to travel, you'll probably have to get on a wait list for a while , but it's absolutely worth it. Just keep seeking answers because there really is no unexplained infertility. There's an answer and there's somewhere, but you've just got to find the right person to run the right test to get to the bottom of whatever the issue is.
Caitlin:
Man, I completely agree with you. I am more and more convinced all the time that there is no such thing as unexplained infertility. Just everybody that I work with, there's always an answer. There's always a reason why. And most of the time that's something that can be treated. And so it's important to work with someone who's willing to dig with you, investigate with you to get to those answers. I'm so glad you had that experience and now you're raising your son and it's just a beautiful thing, beautiful thing . Well, Sarah , thank you so much for being on the show, willing to share your story and your journey.
Sarah:
Thank you so much for having me.
Caitlin:
Our Woven community is made up of some pretty incredible people. We ask honest questions of our fertility and our faith. We believe that our bodies were made with beauty and purpose, that we are intimately designed and loved by our creator, and that fertility plays a meaningful role in our lives. We believe this matters for all of us, regardless of our marital status or pregnancy intentions. And I would love for you to be a part of that community. Maybe you'd like to learn the Creighton system just like Sarah did by attending an introductory session and then learning with myself as your certified fertility care practitioner. We have an opportunity for you to do that in the next few weeks. So make sure to go to wovenfertility.com to look up available dates that'll also be linked in the show notes for you. As always, thanks so much for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.