The Egg Whisperer Show

Some people like mysteries and some don’t. When you’re going through IVF, I think it’s important to know as much as possible about the process — everything from how your body may react to each step to what exactly happens behind the scenes in the IVF lab. What happens after your eggs are retrieved? How are your eggs prepared for fertilization? How do embryologists perform assisted hatching? How are your eggs and embryos frozen? To read the full show notes, please tap here. To subscribe to Dr. Aimee's newsletter, tap or click here.

Have you ever used Google Maps and been redirected midway via a better route? Think about this show as your personalized navigation tool for fertility and IVF, as Dr. Aimee shares the five things you need to know about IVF. 1. Be Clear on Why You’re Considering IVF. Ask yourself these questions. Why are you doing IVF? What are the fertility factors that are playing a role in your case? Is there something else you can do to improve your chances? 2. Realize Your Relationships May Change This is something I ask my patients to think about before, during, and after IVF. 3. Develop a Plan for Unused Embryos When you’re going through IVF this is likely the last thing you want to think or talk about. When I meet patients I always ask them two questions. What do you think the problem is on why you’re not getting pregnant? How many kids do you want? 4. Know That Pregnancy Isn’t Always Easy When you’ve had a really hard struggle, most of us feel really guilty about complaining about pregnancy. But the reality is that pregnancy isn’t always enjoyable for people. I like to think that all of my patients look gorgeous pregnant, but my patients don’t always feel the same. For that reason, the depression or anxiety that people may have during treatment may carry over into pregnancy. It’s also why I think it’s really important to consider who’s on your team. Who will be your support? 5. Understand that Your Feelings May Linger The feelings you had when you had a hard time getting pregnant can sometimes continue during pregnancy, after pregnancy, and beyond. Even if you’ve gone through IVF and it doesn’t work the trauma of the treatment can continue. If you were successful with your IVF cycle you may still feel pain in your heart when you hear other people announce their pregnancies. Even if it’s a close friend. You can be happy, but you may also carry with you painful memories of how difficult your journey was to get pregnant. This is okay. You can have conflicting emotions and experience them both at once. You are normal. I want you to know that you’re not alone if you’re feeling any of this. To read the full show notes, please tap here. To subscribe to Dr. Aimee's newsletter, tap or click here.

To read the full article about this topic, visit Dr. Aimee's site by clicking or tapping here. Talking about your fertility when you’re old is not easy, but I want women to stop apologizing for desiring a family. Times have changed. It’s okay to want a baby over 40. It’s not crazy, nor selfish. Watch my show on this topic here. My approach is for all of my patients to be given their best chance at a healthy pregnancy in the shortest period of time. How do we do this? It starts by not believing everything you read. There’s an international headline I saw recently on BBC news that fertility doctors are exploiting older women and “dealing false hope”. Do I believe that fertility doctors deliver false hope? No way! I do not. Do I believe that it’s imperative to get a diagnosis before treatment, regardless of who you are and your age? Yes! Diagnosis before treatment. Please! I want my patients over 40 to understand their follicle count. Then I want them to decide if moving forward with treatment using their own eggs is the best path forward. There are so many ways to have a baby if your own body is not making it happen there are other creative paths to explore. Egg and embryo donation and adoption are a few examples. To subscribe to Dr. Aimee's newsletter, click or tap here.  

To read the full show notes for this episode, click or tap here. The holidays can prove to be challenging for those in fertility treatment. This episode is all about how to care for yourself, and includes loving tips on how family and friends can support someone in fertility treatment, too. Self-care is anything but selfish. It can come in the form of setting healthy boundaries in relationships, having clear communication or simply giving ourselves a break. As a fertility patient when we prioritize these things it helps us bring forward our best selves for every situation and makes the journey more supportive. In this Egg Whisperer show, I share suggestions for patients and friends and family members of patients to help their fertility journey be one where they feel supported and loved. My hope is that you’re able to apply this, no matter your situation, and find your fertility journey is better as a result. To subscribe to Dr. Aimee's newsletter, click here.

To read the full show notes, visit Dr. Aimee's blog by clicking or tapping here. I get asked questions about IVF daily. From my patients and from those seeking treatment elsewhere in the United States and beyond. While the steps involved in IVF are generally the same, the factors to consider and the patient’s needs are all unique. While I can’t cover all scenarios in a single show (or blog post), I do want to recap some of the most common questions I get and answer some specific inquiries that were emailed to me. There’s a chance you have the same question as someone else. To sign up for the newsletter, click or tap here.

Read the full article, and find out more about PCOS on my site - click or tap here. Polycystic ovary syndrome is a hormonal disorder that can make it difficult for women to get pregnant. Contrary to its name, having PCOS doesn’t mean your ovaries have cysts, but rather that your ovaries have a high number of follicles containing eggs that are often unable to mature. Symptoms of the condition include irregular or absent periods, high testosterone, excessive hair growth (hirsutism), and acne. PCOS definitely has it's challenges, but, having it does not mean you’ll never have children or that your eggs cannot produce a healthy, beautiful baby. Plus, if you have it, you're totally not alone. About 7% of women have PCOS. Want to get on my newsletter to get bi-weekly updates? click or tap here to sign up.

Regardless of who you see for fertility care, you deserve the best—personalized treatment. I realize that not everyone can come to see me, and I won’t be around forever. This information is a valuable resource as you begin your fertility journey, whoever it is with and whenever it takes place. The inspiration behind this topic? Well—it started with some snooping. Several times each day, I hear my receptionist answer the phone and new patients on the other end asking what they can expect at a new patient consult. Well, my friends. The mystery is about to be revealed! Let’s go through what the first visit to a fertility doctor entails and how you can get the most out of it. To read the full show notes, click or tap to visit my blog. To sign up for the newsletter, click here.  

If you know me, you know that I hate the word infertility. I believe that everyone who walks through my doors is fertile and can have the family they desire. Yet, fertility is often taken for granted. It’s precious. It declines over time, and there are some well studied factors, nine that I highlight here, that put it at risk. This topic is so important to me that I dedicated a show to it. To read the full show notes for this episode, click or tap here. To join Dr. Aimee's newsletter, click here.

To read the full show notes for this episode, click here. Dr. Alice Domar joins Dr. Aimee to talk about How to Deal with Pregnancy Anxiety after a Miscarriage or Infertility, how to create a support network, fertility psychology, and her apps: ferticalm and fertistrong To get on Dr. Aimee's newsletter, click or tap here.

Dr. Paul Turek joins Dr. Aimee to discuss sperm, fertility, and reproductive options. The topic is men's infertility and they answer the questions of when is a man infertile, and how it's defined. Read more about Male Fertility on Dr. Aimee's Blog by clicking here. Click or tap to get on Dr. Aimee's newsletter, and get updates via email.