Mercier Therapy and Fertility: Angela's Journey

In this episode, Jacqueline welcomes back Angela LeBlanc, a pelvic floor physical therapist, who returns to share insights on the interconnectedness of physical, mental, and emotional health, focusing particularly on Mercier Therapy. Angela discusses her own fertility journey, involving issues like ovulation problems, low progesterone, and dealing with ineffective treatments. She shares how Mercier Therapy became a pivotal part of her journey and elaborates on the importance of individualized care, the impact of trauma on pelvic health, and the role of alternative treatments. Angela emphasizes the significance of trusting one's gut and provides comprehensive advice on how women can educate themselves and find support through the fertility process. The episode serves as a valuable resource for those looking for deeper understanding and alternative approaches to women's health and fertility.

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EPISODE BREAKDOWN:

03:53 Understanding Mercier Therapy

06:16 Angela's Personal Fertility Journey

25:56 The Emotional Impact of Infertility

30:49 Holistic Approaches to Fertility

31:38 The Emotional and Physical Toll of IVF

31:49 Empowerment Through Education

38:31 The Importance of Mental Health

49:16 Building a Supportive Community

Transcript

 Hey friends, welcome to Motherhood Intended. If this is your first time finding the podcast, thanks for hitting play on this episode. I'm so glad you're here. The fact that you're tuning in today tells me a few things. Either you are a woman who is trying to conceive, maybe you're navigating infertility, or maybe you're already a mom, regardless, I'm hoping you're here because you're wanting to educate yourself on so many different topics that don't get talked about enough.

Whether it's in regards to women's health, infertility, or motherhood, you best believe we're going to be talking about it here on Motherhood Intended. So thanks for joining me on this podcast episode, a couple of things before we get to our guest today.

So for starters, happy February, right? January felt so incredibly long. I don't know if it's just me, but, I'm happy to see February. I'm happy. We're here. Happy. We're in a new month. A short month, which is nice, and it means we're getting closer to spring. So I am here for it. To celebrate a little bit this month, you know, it's the month of love, Valentine's Day, all that fun stuff, here on the podcast, I am going to be sending some fun surprise mail to anybody who writes a review for the podcast.

Now, if you've already written a review for the podcast. Maybe you listen on Apple podcast, maybe you're on Spotify, give a review on a different podcast site. And you know what? If you've already done both of that, because we have so many incredible listeners, instead, you can send the podcast over to a friend, a family member, somebody else in your life that might be interested in the show. And just send me a little screenshot that you did that for me because I would absolutely love to spread the word even more about Motherhood Intended and connect with more women and provide support for any women out there who are navigating infertility or feel alone in motherhood. And if you do that and send me a screenshot of your review, send me a screenshot of you sharing the podcast with somebody else. Then I will send you something fun in the mail to say thanks. 

And of course, if you haven't yet, join us in the motherhood intended community group on Facebook. We're going to be starting a book club in there, which should be fun. It's a great place to ask for advice, support each other through your pregnancies and IVF cycles. Ask those like mom questions for validation, you know, like, is it just me or does your kid hate dinners as well? You know, just anything you want. The community's there for you. We have almost 600 women in there, all different backgrounds and stages of motherhood. So yeah, be sure to join us there. 

Okay. So today's guest is my cousin, Angela. I'm very excited to welcome her back on the show. If you haven't yet listened to the previous episode that she was on, we talk about everything a woman should know about your pelvic floor. She explains how the pelvic floor functions. She debunks common myths and highlights the importance of individualized care. And then we also kind of delve into various conditions that pelvic floor therapy can help with. Angela also shared some insights on the interconnectedness of the body, the impact of stress and trauma on pelvic health, and then she gave some practical advice for those considering pelvic floor therapy. It is an episode that is packed with so much valuable information and tips to help listeners better understand and care for your pelvic floor health.

If this is your first episode, hearing me chat with. Angela.  Let me tell you a little bit about her before she joins us on the show. So Angela LeBlanc is a pelvic floor physical therapist who is passionate about collaborative and compassionate care to meet. client's needs. She works alongside women going through pregnancy, postpartum, menopause, and infertility, as well as women dealing with pelvic pain, constipation, incontinence, prolapse, and more. She strives to help women gain confidence on their unique journeys, helping them navigate challenges and discover solutions that empower them to live their fullest lives. 

In this episode, Angela talks about Mercier therapy specifically for fertility patients. And she shares her own journey to motherhood and what led her to being pregnant today. Take a listen. 

Hey Angela, welcome back to the podcast. I'm so excited to have you on again.  So I know what Mercier therapy is, but I already know that you're going to just enlighten me even more because I only know like It's about the very surface level of what it is.

So for everybody listening, including myself, what is Mercier Therapy? 

Yeah, so Mercier Therapy is essentially a manual therapy technique. Mercier therapy was discovered by, Jennifer Mercier, back when, she was going through her own kind of fertility and pelvic health. Journey. but what it is, it's, it's a manual therapy that works very deep. So it's, it's a deep visceral manipulation, not the most comfortable thing. But it really works on our reproductive organs or our lower abdomen, to help promote blood flow, and mobility to those organs. To help them to work optimally, which is why it's so great with fertility because we want our ovaries and our uterus to work the way they need to,  to help conceive and carry a pregnancy.

So that's kind of a short bout of what Mercier.  Essentially is it's just a type of manual or conservative therapy that is used a lot with fertility. Something that I think is cool and how dr. Mercier kind of discovered it was she had? Endometriosis or has I guess endometriosis. I can't remember what stage either stage four or stage five um, but pretty severe endometriosis and she Was one day just kind of massaging her ovaries just from like over her skin.

And the next time she got her cycle, which she normally had a ton of pain with before menstruation, she didn't have the pain. Um, and so she started researching and digging deeper into that and that's how it was discovered. So kind of super cool, but, Dr. Mercier Now, she's been a midwife, a naturopathic doctor, a doula, and also worked in, an REI clinic, a reproductive endocrinology clinic. So she knew a lot about all of those things and actually used Mercier to conceive her children. 

That's so cool. 

Um, so yeah, so that's how it was discovered, but. 

Yeah. That's cool. I didn't know that. I, I know her name. I know of Mercier therapy, but I didn't realize that's how it came about. I didn't realize it was so personal to her. I didn't understand that. 

Yeah. 

Cool. What made you get certified in Mercier therapy or what introduced you to this?

Yeah. So  I was kind of going through my own fertility journey, which we can get into detail. But I was at the point where. nothing kind of felt right. Um, I was going to reproductive endocrinologist, you know, they were saying I had unknown infertility. I was trying the meds doing IUIs and nothing made sense to me on to why I was doing the treatments I was doing and my coworkers actually. Knew of Mercier therapy and said hey like as a way to support you through this fertility journey We're gonna send you to get certified in this which honestly was I'm so so grateful for them and this is why I love well core physical therapy, so many reasons to but I went and got certified in it and I learned so much At this certification course, not only how to do the Mercier therapy technique, but also just learned a lot about how.

Not only does it help physically, but it can help with hormone regulation because if we're getting blood flow and mobility to our reproductive organs, it allows them to work more optimally, which helps them communicate with our pituitary gland, which releases our hormones. And so it can help with that.

And it also was very empowering learning Mercier about their personal journeys and how. Mercier also can help with mental and emotional things too. I know in the last episode, we talk a lot about how, pelvic floor isn't just a physical therapy, but also a mental and emotional therapy and,  and we hold a lot of anxiety and emotions in our pelvic floor, but Mercier therapy can also help release that. I know Dr. Mercier in our course talked a lot about, you know, when we have trauma, whether that's birth trauma or  infertility can be traumatic. That Mercier therapy can almost. Turn that light switch back on. We turn the switch off. We disassociate with our organs and with that area of our body and the Mercier therapy, even though it's a physical therapy, it can help flip that switch back on and turn everything back on and reconnect our body to help those organs optimally work.

That is so cool.  I wish I understood that when it was mentioned to me, like I mentioned this in the last episode, but  it was my acupuncturist who mentioned it and she was certified, but she didn't  go into detail. And I think at the time too, I was just like. Way in over my head with IVF already and overwhelmed and, I didn't ask the questions and she didn't really press it.

But if I would have understood all of this, I mean, it would have, I don't know, it would have been eye opening just to know that, like what you just said about your body and, just how everything's connected.  And what a unique experience for you to be learning, how to help other people while also learning. learning about your own body. And I remember having conversation with you, throughout your fertility journey. But you really, I could tell you were like, and you know, more than the average, just, I feel like you are so in tune with your body, just by the work you do. And like, you're just, it's just ingrained in you,  because you were asking so many good questions and you were just on top of it. You weren't accepting that doctors were just telling you like, okay, this is the next step and then you're going to do this and this. You were always like, well, why are we doing this? Um, and I think that's important too, for listeners to hear that everything, including fertility treatments, aren't a one size fit all.

You should never feel like a number. The protocol is not everyone's protocol. So just know that. And you absolutely can and should question your doctors. And figure out the why behind your treatments because, in my past, I accepted way too much, whatever a doctor would tell me, I was like, well, they're the doctor, they know, and it wasn't until  I got that  gut feeling. I was like, I'm, I don't think this is the right move for us. And  something's not right. I don't know what it is, but something's not right. 

Right.  So I just thought that was important to say for anyone listening, because I was so proud of you for  following your gut and digging deeper and,  it was beneficial for you, but so then you got certified,  and out of curiosity and for those listening, like, what did that training 

consist of? 

Yeah. 

Yeah. So, , it was, I want to say a four day training. And we learned,  the technique itself. So Mercier is very structured. Dr. Mercier did a lot of research. on exactly what you need, how much of it you need, how often you need it. And so it's very structured. And so we learned that manual technique and we practiced it quite a bit, but we also learned fertility treatments. We learned specifics of IUIs,  IVF cycles and, embryo transfers and egg retrieval.

And we learned all about that just because Dr. Mercier knows a lot about it working in those clinics.  And all the research on that. And then we learned a lot about how, Mercier can help. Other, dysfunctions in the body. So whether you have back pain or endometriosis pain or post C section issues or abdominal surgeries, or things like that, we kind of went through specifics into those diagnosis and how Mercier could help.

But we also learned just like anatomy and physiology of that area of the body. You don't realize that there's so many like ligaments that attach our organs to our bony prominences and kind of suspend them in our pelvis,  that can be affected, and cause, immobility to these organs. And  cause reduced blood flow because remember our organs are living things and living things want movement and they want blood flow.

And so we learned a lot about that in, the course, but something really cool that was unique about this course. That is different than any other course is we dug down deep and like really got to know each other on a different level, like very emotional. And everyone had a story that was there. And Dr. Mercier, told each one of us, like you were meant to be here. Like you. Are put here for a reason. And,  it was a very spiritual course too, which is really cool. 

Wow. 

Yeah. 

That is cool.  Literally all angles. It sounds amazing. Like personal, professional, spiritual. 

Yes.

Amazing. 

Yeah. 

That's so cool. And now that I think about it too, my doctor that was my, yeah, chiropractic acupuncture, she had her own, I don't know all the details, but she had her own fertility journey too. And I'm. pretty positive. That's what led her to getting certified. And,  I know she went on to have two children and without IVF or anything like that. I mean, it wasn't on the timeline that she had anticipated, but she learned a lot and, you know, worked on her body from the inside out. So 

In that course, we also learned about like nutrition and environmental things. And, Supplements and meditations and all other things that can help with fertility too, which is really neat and something that we can put into practice when we are treating someone with Mercier for a fertility treatment.

Interesting. I know you mentioned endometriosis, and then obviously, undetermined, infertility, which, that was me for a while, too, which is so annoying, like, I remember thinking, like,  I know, like, it's,  I had mixed feelings. I was like, well, I guess it's not okay. Well, that's good. I don't have x, y, or z, but also it's worse. Cause I'm like, how do I fix it?   So aside from like those two things, are there specific infertility patients that you see, or do people do this before trying treatments or in conjunction with them? Or is it a combination? 

There's a lot of different. Ways you could do it. I've seen women that are like, you know what? I have a history of say fibroids or PCOS or something and they're like I'm just gonna come get Mercier before we even start to try to build or have a family 

Yeah,

and so they'll come kind of before To prepare their bodies the best way they can. I've had women come who are kind of in the middle of it They've done five IUIs, or they've even had a couple unsuccessful embryo transfers, or I've had people that have come in between transfers, for Mercier, and then I've also had people come that have tried for a long time and then stopped because they couldn't handle the medical treatments anymore, and then they came and tried.

So people have come in different parts of their journey, and  so you can come at any point. I mean, I came. I did Mercier or had it done on myself after our IUIs. But you can really come at any point and it's going to be beneficial. But you can use it in conjunction with any like medical interventions, which is really awesome.

Because it can help make those successful because like I say, like, you know, and. I could go on about this. And if we get into my personal journey, I will go on about this, but you're not a number you're an individualized. Person with a different history and different experiences than someone else. So you might need, the medication, you might need the IUI, you might need IVF, you might need acupuncture, and so Mercier is great because it can be used in conjunction with all of it or on its own. 

Yeah. 

If you don't need those things, um, and we can work with your doctors on when's the best time to do it,  in your fertility journey.

That's so cool. And I, it's so great that that's an option too, because like you said, you're not a number and,  I remember going through my fertility journey, at that point, this, you know, 2015, my God, we're 2025. 

That's wild. 

That is so wild. Literally like a decade ago. Weird. I didn't know anybody going through fertility treatments and I just really trusted like, okay, you do three to four IOIs and then you do this. And if that doesn't work, you do IVF.  It was just so matter of fact, the way it was explained to me, at least at the doctors and like my circle at the time.  But that's not true at all. IVF isn't like, Oh,  this failed. Now you do this. Now, again, everyone's story is different if you're 42 and  maybe you need to move things along, you know, a little different scenario.

But again, I was 27, like when we started fertility treatments. And now what I know about the body and just all these different things that can help you, in so many different ways, you know, as a 27 year old, maybe I could have, maybe I needed it, but maybe I didn't. I didn't, you know, now there was plenty of other things in my journey that are medically needed. And I think it all played out how it was supposed to play out, but, it's awesome that it's an option to do alongside because like you said everyone needs different things, 

right

so I would like to get into your personal journey if you'd like to share 

Yeah, 

I'm just kind of you know, what led you to fertility treatments and down the path and eventually Mercier therapy And then where you're at today, and yeah, let's talk about it.

Yes, so my husband and I Let's see We're trying to conceive for, you know, not too long, maybe like, let's say six months when I was like, you know what? I feel like something's wrong. I feel like, you know, I need to dive deeper into something. And so I was having some issues. So I went to the OB and they tested my progesterone and It was low. It was very low. It was like 0. 07, which I believe and what they've taught me in the past is it needs to be like between five and 10 to get pregnant. 

Okay. That sounds about right. I was trying to remember too. Yeah. 

Yeah. They want it closer to 10 they say. and so I was like, okay, that's the issue. I was also having my cycles were all over the place, anywhere from 20 Five to 82 days,  which shout out to my acupuncturist. I believe that she helped me normalize my cycle. 

That's so cool. 

Which is super cool. So I was working with the acupuncturist. I was, taking medications from the OB. So like a lot of the medications they'll start you on is like letrozole or clomid, to help with ovulation, because if you don't have. High enough progesterone like that means you're not ovulating. Um, and so I wasn't ovulating for a while So we did and I don't remember the exact number, but we did maybe seven or eight Medicated cycles  with and without triggers. 

Yeah, 

and things just weren't My numbers were going up, but nothing was happening. And, I don't know if any of y'all have been on Clomid, but, when you're on 150 milligrams for that many cycles, uh, it really gets to you. The side effects are very rough. 

And I'm trying to remember, so was that over the course of a year? Or 

so at that point it had been, we started medicated cycles, maybe eight months in, and then it, Um,  and then within that, you know, we've got an HSG, which they do a lot, which is, when they clear your tubes or make sure your tubes are cleared, because that can be an issue, for conceiving, And I was kind of like, I can't do this anymore.

I can't take this clomid anymore. I can't do the triggers anymore. Like I,  I just, I couldn't do the side effects anymore. It was getting too hard. And I also had gone between two different, I had done medicated cycles with my OB actually. And then I went to the REI doctor and they were like, well, here we do four medicated cycles or something. And I'm like, but I already did three. 

Oh, yeah. 

And they're like, well, you didn't do it with us. And I'm like, but, but I'm me. 

Yeah. 

I had to go by their protocol. So unfortunately, even though you started 10 years ago and they went through a protocol, A lot of them still are doing that protocol, which is frustrating. Cause I'm like, I'm different though. I'm not starting from scratch  anyways. So then I did medicated cycles with them after the HSG. And they say, you know, I don't like when people throw out statistics all the time, but the doctor that did the HSG is like, you have an 80 percent chance of getting pregnant after this, you know, and then you don't. And you're like, okay, what's wrong with me? I'm 20%. 

The 20%, right. 

Right. And so then they said, okay, we can try, I said, well, is it time to try an IUI?  Cause I can't do this, Clomid anymore. 

Yeah, seriously. 

And they were like, if you want to try an IUI, you're going to have to make an appointment with your doctor. And I was like, wait, what?  It's already, like, established? So I got kind of frustrated, and so I was like, I'm going to find a new doctor. Because I just wasn't getting the education that I needed. Like you said,  I don't know everything, but I know a lot about the body and I ask a lot of questions and my questions weren't getting answered.

And it's important to ask questions  I mean, this is your body. Like  everybody should be asking questions about what's being put in your body and 

why, 

and why.  I wish I would have known to do that too, because Clomid was terrible for me after a while. At first it was felt like no big deal, but again, I did, I did four and then there was a break and then I did three more. And by the time I got to my IVF doctor that I  really liked and she.  Just approach things differently. She was like, I would have never had you on Clomid that much.  I was like crawling out of my skin. I hated that feeling. I just, I remember telling my mom, I'm like. I don't know what it is, but I literally feel like I'm crawling out of my body. That's how much I hate it.  

I think within like two minutes I cried, laughed, yelled. 

Oh my gosh. 

Got really high libido and then cried again. 

Yeah. 

Within two minutes. 

All the things, all the things.

It was, and it's funny because that was, My seventh cycle. You said you did about seven. So I'm like, I don't know, maybe 

there's a threshold. 

There's a threshold. Yeah. 

Yeah. 

So I moved on to a different doctor and,  I liked this doctor a little bit more. They, sat us down and went. Through education and our profile. And like, you know, it also takes two to tango. So look at your partner too, which I've heard a lot of things, people aren't looking at their partners.  But anyways, so we got more education.  This doctor did an ultrasound, which many of the doctors do. And this time found something abnormal in the ultrasound that the other doctor didn't, And so I ended up getting, one of those saline sonograms, , and they found a polyp, and so I ended up getting a hysteroscopy, and they removed the polyp, but they also found fibrotic tissue, And then ended up doing a biopsy, which everything was clear, but removed all of that.

So then you're like, okay, that was the problem, right? This is great. 

Check fixed it. 

Check fixed it. And so, ended up doing, I think, I don't know if we did. Just a triggered cycle or an IUI, but,  either way, 

and for those listening, like the triggered cycle versus not triggered, the trigger is what's telling your body to ovulate at that specific time. Right. And it's a shot. 

Yes. 

And yeah. 

Yeah. So really, so what a medicated cycle is, is, You usually take, or what we did at least, our medicated cycles,  I took a medication like clomid or letrozole to grow a follicle. And then once that follicle is mature, it releases an egg, which is ovulation. And so the trigger shot. tells that mature follicle to release the egg so that you can time intercourse at the right time so that the sperm can meet the egg and you can conceive. 

Okay, that's exactly what I was thinking. I was trying to remember back. I only did medicated cycles with IUIs. 

Ah. 

So like  I never did anything through my OB,  it was just the REI and then, I did the same thing you did with the, and I'm forgetting if it's with the ink or the saline, but I had block fallopian too with polyps and maybe fibroids too. Whatever it was. Maybe that's why they went straight to that instead of timing it first, I don't know, I can't remember, but, that's exactly right I'm just making sure I'm remembering correctly that the trigger shot. And for those listening, who didn't know is what's timing it. Exactly to release the egg. 

And a lot of times too, at least for our IUIs, they had us do a trigger shot for the IUI too. But that's why they're doing ultrasounds to monitor like are your follicles mature enough and when should you trigger, because there is a correct time to trigger and an incorrect time to trigger and you want to make sure. That follicle is mature enough to release that egg. Otherwise it can be a failed cycle. 

And for some people you could have a canceled cycle if you have too many mature follicles, cause then your risk of multiples is super high. Or yeah, on the flip side, you know, you don't have any mature and you might not do an IUI and then they'll send you home and that might have actually happened to us once where They were like we're not gonna do an IUI, but 

heartbreaking 

you should you feel free to try is basically what they said 

Yeah, 

but then again, it's like okay Well, I already know I mean never say never but I already knew I didn't have like a mature follicle.

Right? 

Yeah Cancel cycle, for any reason, is never fun. 

No, and it's, you get all the hype up, you take all the meds, you do all the things, and I mean, everything costs something. 

Yes. 

So it's really tough to say no, but, 

Yeah. 

So, another thing too, IUI or intrauterine insemination, essentially, And this is something I kind of learned at the Mercier course. What it does is it puts the sperm in the uterus. So they kind of clean it. If it's a really great thing for any male factor in fertility. But we didn't have male factor at all. Lucky for me, my, you know, we were A plus on that. So I kind of was like, well, why? Why am I doing an IUI? 

Yeah, 

why am I paying all that?

And is it really increasing your chance that much more?

Right? 

I feel like it doesn't. 

Right, it doesn't. 

Yeah, 

and so I was kind of Questioning that, but it was kind of like, well, this is our protocol and this is what we do next. I don't know what your situation is, but this is what we do. And so I was kind of irked by that. And so something just didn't feel right. And the IUI failed.  It doesn't feel right to me. No one is explaining to me why these treatments are good for me. 

Right.

Like, what is it that I need? You know, in the beginning it's like, okay, the medication makes sense because I'm not ovulating, but I was at that point. And so why are these treatments? For me, and no one was able to explain that. It was kind of just like, well, this is our protocol. And so I was kind of at a loss, which is exactly when my coworkers came to me about Mercier. And when I went to this Mercier therapy course and Dr. Mercier, and I mean, I might like get emotional, literally looked at me and said, there is a reason you're here.

I like lost it because I felt for the first time in my journey, like this is where I'm supposed to be. Somebody, I was like, Sound like this feels right. And for the first time in a year and a half, and I know many other people's journeys are longer and, you know, this is just my personal journey, but for the first time in a year and a half, I felt like I was in the right place and someone was listening to me and this was the right thing for me and the right steps for me. It was so cool to just feel that way 

shoulders too, because I don't care if it's a year and a half or eight and a half years, when you can't conceive and you want to so bad, like you're carrying this weight around with you on top of. Hormones and you know, the physical toll and your emotional toll, the financial toll, your relationship. I mean  infertility, no matter how long you go through it impacts every aspect of your life. So I can only imagine like you walking in there, I mean, just hearing you tell this story, I'm like, I literally got chills. But what a weight lifted, feeling like this feels right.

Right. 

Yeah. 

And so, I got certified and I came back to Kansas city. And, I was like, man, I just learned so much. And Dr. Mercier, you know, she looked at my hormone levels. And she kind of was like, Hey, next time you talk to your REI doctor, you know, try this,  mention this new thing. I don't think that you need X, Y, and Z. I think this is what you should try. And so I was like, okay, great. So I came back to Kansas city and, we had an appointment with a new doctor that was very sought out, very well liked, and I talked to him and, I wanted to throw up the whole time. You know, there was no eye contact.

Yeah. 

He said, you are the definition of unknown infertility. He said, you have an 11 percent chance of conceiving on your own after this amount of time.  IVF is your answer.  And in my head, I'm like, okay, so then I brought up some of the things that Dr. Mercier said to try and he said, no, those are just going to end up being canceled cycles. But if you want to try it, I will. But IVF is your answer. And in my head, I'm thinking, okay, if IVF is my answer, then why? 

Yeah. 

Right. Why is IVF going to work? If you're telling me that I'm the definition of unknown, then how do you know, right, IVF is going to work. Because IVF isn't just a couple, couple dollars, you know?

Yeah, and it doesn't work for everyone. And if you have unknown factors, you can't guarantee it's going to work. 

Right. And so I was like, I don't know what to do. And so, I spoke to a lot of friends that have done IVF and he, you know, he said, you better put your deposit in now because  looking at the holidays and we don't do that many embryo transfers.

Gross. Yeah. 

And so I was like, oh my gosh, what do we do? I had talked to a lot of my friends who have gone through IVF. , and they said, you know, You need to be ready. If you're going to do IVF, you need to feel ready. And I was like, I don't feel ready. And they said, well, then you need to wait. You can't do it until you're ready, to do it.  I thought that was amazing advice. And so my husband and I decided like, Hey, let's take the rest of the year off. Like let's take six months off and. And not do it. And then, you know, come next year, maybe we'll look into it.  After going to the Mercier course and learning about Mercier and other conservative measures, and things to try with fertility, I was like, you know, I want to dig deeper into my health. I want to figure out the why. I don't believe in the diagnosis of unknown. There's something causing something. 

Yeah. 

So I did a lot of research. I listened to a lot of podcasts with, naturopathic doctors. I learned about  the menstrual cycle, the woman's just hormone cycle. I dug really deep into that. I dug really deep into nutrition. I took all the supplements. Dr. Mercier told me to take,  I dug a lot into mindfulness, which is huge and difficult going through infertility.  And, you know, inflammation, and I,  sought out functional med doctors and, I felt heard. I had a phone consult with a naturopathic doctor and it was an hour and 15 minutes long.

And she asked me so many questions that none of the doctors have ever asked. For example, she asked, how long is your luteal phase?  You know, and I, I told her and she was like, well, that's not long enough for implantation.  I'm like, well, how, why hasn't anybody else asked me this? 

That is so funny because it was my acupuncturist who was the very first person to explain to me. She literally drew it on paper and was like, this is the luteal phase. This is this phase. And I was like, didn't know this. And at this point I had already done four or five IUIs. 

Right. 

Like.  

And so I was like, Oh my gosh. And then after learning about all these other things, there's so many ways you can lengthen your luteal phase by nutrition, by reducing cortisol, just by all these things, and I'm thinking about my lifestyle and my habits and things that I can change to help that. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, for the first, for the second time ever, I feel like. Someone's listening to me and this is the right way to go.  This person is trying to figure out my story and looking at me as an individual and trying to figure out my unknown.  I have hope  there could be answers,  you know, 

and they're explaining the why behind it. Which is so huge, especially when you are undiagnosed . It's like, I'm just not gonna throw shit at the wall and hope for the best. Or do the one option you've given me, which is IVF, which is no light thing to do. That has always bothered me when people are just like, Well, just do IVF. We'll just do IVF. 

But we don't know if it's gonna work. 

Yeah. Also, the emotional toll, the physical toll, the financial toll. 

Right. 

All the things. 

Right. 

Really big. 

And the other thing too is like, whether it's changing my diet or doing IVF, if someone would explain, this is why this would work for you.

Right. 

Then I'm bought in. 

Right. 

But no one was explaining that as far as the medical treatments go. And so that's why I looked at these other doctors. And so I felt so hopeful. And ready. And, um, and within all of that time, I was actually getting Mercier done on myself by a fellow classmate. And we went on a trip to Canada, which is hilarious. We originally weren't going to go because my husband was like, well, what if, what if we're doing IVF? And I said, you know what? Like we can't stop our lives because of this. 

Which is very great advice because 

we need to continue.  

I think I remember talking about this, but I did that, you know, we were always  waiting. And  for a lot of people, I mean, the waiting is a year, it's two years, it's three. I mean, you don't know how long the wait's going to be and you cannot put your life on hold. It's only going to make things worse because you're going to be stressed, unfulfilled, like all the things. So,  

yeah. And so I was like, you know, it was kind of going to BAMF was one of our like top. Things that we wanted to do in our life and I was like and if we don't have kids right now So 

let's do it. 

Let's do it. Yeah And so we ended up going on our trip and when we got back I had my appointment with the doctor that I had the consult with I was like feeling really hopeful and ready  And we were pregnant. 

So great. It was like wild. It was like, I had my tampons out ready to go for the next cycle. I was like, I'm going to do this. We're going to try this. Like, I felt a good excitement almost anxious to start confident,  confident to start the next cycle and, and to figure out my health.

And it happened and it's just, it's funny because I reached out to dr. Mercier cause she knew my story and I was like, Hey, I sent her the ultrasound. I was like, look at this 11 percent chance. 

Oh yes. 

So it's just, it was pretty amazing.  I believe wholeheartedly in Mercier, but I also think that it's such an all encompassing thing, you know, um, during our appointments, especially if someone comes to see us for, fertility in general for Mercier. It's not just the physical part. Like, yes, we do the physical mercy aid treatment, but we give a, well, we just made it actually this week. So we'll start giving out a cycle tracking handout and really educate these women. Like, this is what your cycle is. This is what you want to look for. These are your hormones. This is when they're high. This is when they should be tested throughout your cycle. These are the things that you should look at to track your cycle. So really getting these women to understand their own bodies so that they can advocate for themselves when they're seeing other medical professionals.

Which is so, so important and I talk about this all the time. These are things that we should be taught as young women.  Before we're even thinking about having a family because I was so mad like when I started learning these things like in my 30s And I'm like, oh my gosh now. I feel like I'm trying to educate myself  Handle whatever treatments I'm throwing myself into and start a family when really I could have been empowered This whole time with like the simple knowledge of  my hormones and my cycle, 

right?

Oh, that's so cool that you guys give that to your patients. 

I feel like everyone starts to figure that out when they want to start having a family. 

And it's so sad because I've also watched so many of my friends not realize their timelines and everything and not think about it. Until now they are kind of doing an uphill battle because their advanced maternal age, you know, and it's like that's such a ripoff, too It's like okay It's not our fault that we weren't this wasn't even on our radar  we were told like go to college get a job right further your career like we're Millennials. Let's do this 

Yeah, 

and now we're 35 just diving into 

our own bodies. 

Yeah, it's like  

Yeah. And I, I also get frustrated with it because there's so many simple things that we experience as women on our month to month basis, like, you might get headaches every month. Well, you know what those headaches might be during ovulation or something, or like, so you would know if we tracked our own bodies and our own cycle and had different.

Hormone things like acne or headaches or increased fatigue or certain things. We would understand why, because sometimes a lot of those symptoms are related to where we're at in our cycle. So not only for fertility reasons, but just understanding our own bodies and knowing like, Hey, maybe during this part of my cycle, I should try this type of diet or this type of exercise because. I don't have a high energy and that's okay. 

Yeah. 

And I should maybe take it easy during this part of my cycle or, you know, just like learning about our own bodies. It's just 

knowing, like you said, like knowing that that's okay to feel that way and knowing that there's a very natural, normal reason, like give yourself grace. We all just power through. I feel like so many things as women and our bodies are like every month,  depending on where we're at in the month, like our bodies are doing. So many different things and it could be something as simple as yeah, you're getting headaches around the same time and  maybe now I know that that's coming. So I'm going to take it easy. I'm not going to plan a big work project that week or you know, whatever it is. Just more knowledge to better take care of ourselves 

and if they're teaching us how our bodies work and our cycles work from a young age, then we wouldn't have to be on birth control as much as our generation was because we would know when we would. We would just have so much more knowledge. So we wouldn't need the drugs and all of that. So teaching women about their cycles is like a huge part of something that we'll do and talk through in our appointments. Something else we'll do is, we'll do a handout of recommended supplements by Dr. Mercier. And I always tell people like, you know, if you're going to a functional med or naturopath doctor, like maybe run these by them to make sure they're right for you individually, just cause that's not my personal scope of practice. And then we have a nutrition handout that was made by, Lindsay O'Reilly. She's one of our nutritionists in the office who, has done a lot of work with fertility. And then, Yeah, just talking through like your individual plan and how to advocate for yourself and, who we might want to refer you to, whether it's acupuncture, chiropractor, functional med to take more blood tests and really hone in on what are your hormone levels and why, or even,  a dietician, because they can also look into your hormone levels and, and help you figure out how to get those to the optimal, like, we don't want to be in normal range. We want to be optimal. Yeah. 

Yeah. Yeah. 

So it's kind of like a whole encompassing journey and also mental health, you know, like we talked about, Mercier can really help with trauma if you have any trauma in that area. And yes, the physical part can sometimes help release the mental and emotional part, but, maybe going to a mental health therapist might help. Help you reconnect to that area of your body and turn on those organs again, to help work optimally to conceive. That could be a big barrier. 

For sure. And I mean, think about just your own story, right? Like, I think it's so cool that yes, you did start Mercier therapy, but you also, and I say this a lot on the podcast,  I love the phrase and I forget who I heard it from, but I've like taken it on as my own. Cause I love it so much, but there's power in the pause and the fact that you guys took off six months really to just like, Take a pause and know that you're not stressing about this every single month. You have a plan, like, okay, we'll circle back in the new year. You know, you went on the vacation, you started diving into different things.

At that point, like you said, like, you were feeling confident, you were feeling hopeful.  Like, you've said time and time again, everything is connected. You know, your mind, your body, like, all of it. it's still surprising that  hearing your story, I still get chills when you're like, and then I was going to go to this appointment and I was actually pregnant.

But it still went to the appointment. 

You never know. You never know. Might as well. No, that's surgery. Oh, never canceled those. Cause those are hard to get to.  But it's just amazing that like, I'm, I'm not surprised because you were in such a good mental, physical state that like. Sometimes, for those people listening who are just powering through these fertility treatments, like  I felt this way, I felt like if I took a month off or  took a pause or something that I would just be prolonging, wasting time, prolonging the dream that I knew I wanted that wasn't going to change.

But there is power when you pause because you can educate yourself. You can relax. I mean, it's just so stressful like keep powering through things and yeah I think when you are in the thick of infertility and you want something so bad It's hard to kind of turn around and be like wait, why am I doing this or is this right for me?

Right, 

you know it's so important to have that perspective and always kind of check in with yourself because It could be the best thing that you do for your journey 

and honestly like you say like pause which yeah We did pause medical treatments, but like, yeah, being someone that is experienced the fertility journey, it's, you're never really pausing your brain off.

You're like, Hey, this could be an opportunity. I'm not going to miss it. So using that pause to educate yourself to like help your body to continue trying to conceive, but in a different way, you know, like instead of taking Clomid, I was doing yoga, you know,  I wasn't necessarily pausing. I was still trying because I'm never going to pause, but I was, I was doing things that felt right and I know, 

I guess you're like, you're coming at it from a different angle. 

Yes. 

Pause, stop the track you were on 

yeah, and I know we talked about this and it's so funny because something I've learned throughout this journey that I should have done my whole life with anything.  And I, when I talked to you and reached out to you and going through all this, you said the same thing to me. And I was like, it brought me to tears because I was like, Oh my gosh, that's like exactly right, was trust your gut.

Because most of my life. I'm a very, like, type A planner, high anxiety, I go with what I should do, not what feels right. 

Oh my gosh, it's like we're related. 

Yeah. Interesting. We had the same last name at one point. But I, I always did what I felt like I should do, not maybe what felt right. 

Yeah. 

And I still struggle with that, but. During this whole fertility journey when I was doing all of those treatments and not feeling heard I felt the stomach ache like it did not feel right in my gut and Then when I did Mercier and when I did all this other stuff and it felt right, I was like man This feels right to me, or, or when I was with the new practitioner that found the polyps, like, when she was educating me, like, that felt right. 

But going through all of those.  Medical treatments, it just didn't feel right, but my brain was saying, these are the doctors, this is what they do, I should trust them, right?

And do what they say, even though deep down it didn't feel right to me. And so for the first time ever, like. You know, once we actually were successful, I felt like I was doing the right thing and my gut felt right. And so something I learned throughout this journey, which I think everyone should do  most things is trust your gut because.

I didn't. And when I started to is when I was successful. And that's why I thought it was just so special because I wish I, I mean, I could probably look up the message you sent to me when you checked on me, but you said something along the lines of trust your gut. And I just kind of lost it because I was like, You're so right.

Yeah, 

and I just now figured that out after however many years I mean however many years of my life, but however many years of this journey 

Well, and the only reason I knew to even share that with you is because I had the same experience you did I mean it took me so long to figure that out  Like I said, like we're the same person. I'm very type a hi anxiety. I always have a plan And if I know I want something, I go after it and I kind of get tunnel vision, which I've had to learn not to do over the years because the moment in my journey, I was able to.  Kind of widen my vision and think of different options and different avenues.

We completed our family at the beginning of our journey. Never would I have ever been like, yeah, I can see somebody else carrying my baby for me.  No way. I was on  this one track, that's not how it's supposed to happen. And the second I like leaned into my faith, opened my mind to other options and trusted my gut.

Literally knowing that . This isn't what's right for me. I can't keep powering through with my own body. And then even earlier in the journey, same thing. I was like, this just doesn't feel right. I feel like a number. I feel like we keep plugging away.  I don't like how this doctor is just. Pushing IVF on me. 

Mm-hmm. 

I wasn't ready either. 

Mm-hmm . 

I mean, when I look back, IVF was the right path for us. 

Mm-hmm . 

At the time that we did it. 

Yeah. Which was a year after it was brought up by another doctor. And what I didn't have looking back, which is why I'm so glad we're having these kinds of conversations, is I didn't know of any other options in between. 

Right. 

So  aside from taking a break and just like  healing from our loss and  just mentally preparing to get back into it, like I didn't know what else to do in the meantime. I didn't know anything about my body. I didn't know anything about this. So we chugged ahead with three more failed IUIs.

And it was almost like, The doctor was being just not empathetic at all. And I know that like everyone has their lane. Like he's a reproductive endocrinologist. He's not a therapist. He's not this or that, but that's why I think the work that you're doing is so amazing because it is all encompassing. Like you're dealing with a human at the end of the day. I don't care what field you're in or what specialty, it's a human that you're working with. and so yeah, my gut was just like, this is not the person that's going to happily get me to where I want to be and safely. They  just want me to keep plugging away. And it wasn't until, my next doctor that was like, you've been through enough. I want to hear your whole story. And I've looked at all your journey and everything. And she  was like, this is why in your situation I would choose. IVF for you. And for me, there was just too many unknowns, even with carrying a pregnancy once I got pregnant.

So her opinion, it was like, we want to control as much as we can in this situation. And what's crazy is that at that point I, I knew in my gut that that was the route and it wasn't because it was pushed on me. It wasn't because of anything. It was because I felt seen, like you said, I felt heard. I felt hopeful.

Yes. 

And it ended up being the best option because that wasn't the end of our journey, you know, IVF got us pregnant, but I needed interventions to stay pregnant. 

Right. 

And then I got pregnant again and there was other complications, and without IVF, like we're so grateful because I wouldn't have the embryos to grow our family. Without even knowing that the case would be that I couldn't carry a pregnancy on my own. So.  I swear, the universe and faith in God and everything, like, you'll feel it. You'll feel it when it's right and you'll feel it when it's not right. 

Yeah, for sure. 

So I'm glad that that advice resonated with you because  I don't even know if I figured out on my own or someone told it to me, but it was just something I felt and it's never steered me wrong since, like, like you said, it's great advice for any point in life, your career, your relationships, like, trust your gut.

Absolutely. And I think too, with my clients, especially my Mercier clients, you know, I, I hold them very dear to my heart because even whether you're going through endometriosis or fertility, but especially my fertility patients, it's like, Mercier isn't necessarily the end all be all. There's so many things we need to heal, whether it's mental, emotional, or physical.

And. There's so many avenues and options that are right for people and not right for people. You know, we're all different. We all have a different journey. Like IU eyes might be great for someone. IVF might be great for someone. Surrogacy might be great for someone and alternative medicine might be great for someone.

We all are different. And so advocating for them, but helping them find. Providers that will continue to work alongside them and their journey and look at them as an individual like the doctor you trusted day And work alongside those other practitioners to help you grow your family No matter what your journey looks like and I think it's been really cool treating these women and seeing different ways they all grow, like how they change physically, but also like mentally and emotionally.

I know I had a, a client post a loss and, doing Mercier was very difficult because of the area of, um, you know, pregnancy and remembering that. And in the beginning of our sessions, cause our sessions are hour long. 

Okay. 

And so. We can talk for an hour. We can be silent for an hour.

It's whatever the patient feels like they need. And throughout our sessions, she opened up more and more. And by the end, we were talking about her son.  You know, I could just see her grow as an individual.  Not only helping her body heal and helping her reconnect, but seeing that from her was just really cool.

Yeah. So absolutely that, that can be healing in so many ways and. Someone in that situation too, that could be so triggering, but taking it head on and just trusting the process and I just love the way you guys do things. Like you said, we can talk, we can do this, we can not talk. It's all connected and it's full body healing, which is so cool. 

Yeah. And just having the,  opportunity to refer out to,  I'm like, you know, obviously you've gone through a lot. Like I think mental health would be great too. 

Yeah. 

And being able to have practitioners and not only in our office, but in the area that we trust, and can work alongside with to help, our patients and clients just reach their goals.

Yeah. That's amazing. 

Yeah. Something else too, like if we do have somebody come, and do  Mercier therapy for fertility, something cool that we have, we have our own app. It's called circle, but we have a well core circle. And so we have a private Mercier therapy group, in that well core circle, which we just started. And that's where some webinars and handouts are in. But I also wanted to have an opportunity in there to allow people to talk to one another. I know the fertility journey is difficult and it's different for everyone, whether different timing or different, ways to conceive. And we all have different experiences, but we're all trying to grow a family and we're all needing support. And I know. You don't understand what somebody needs unless you're going through something similar. Now, like I said, we're not going through all the same thing. 

Yeah. 

But you don't know what you need until you're going through it. 

Yeah. 

So I want to have that open conversation with people, to ask questions, to vent.

Yeah. 

And to just be there for one another, almost like a support group.  Because I know when I was going through it, like, not only you, but so many other women, even women like, That I barely knew my friend's sister's friend or a girl from my sorority that I hadn't talked to in years, you know, we connected or a girl from middle school that is going through IVF, the infertility community sucks to be a part of, but it's one of the best supportive communities. And I want to create that for my clients because that. Support is so important. And so that's something really cool too, that,  we're trying to do. 

Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, gosh, yes, I agree. A community is such a big part of it. Like you said, I I've heard this before. It's like the best club you never want to be in is like the infertility club, because it's true.

It's like, no one wants to. Um, that's what I try and do here with the podcast too, is just like bring women together to have these conversations and support each other. And like you said, it might not be the exact same experience, but the desired goal is the same. It's a very unique experience that women going through infertility, have to carry these emotions with them.

I remember when we were going through it, I mean, I, Um, I remember talking to my mom and I was one of the first of my friends to like, try to get pregnant and there was just no one around and it wasn't until I opened up about our first miscarriages that people started coming out of the woodwork again, like someone from middle school. I mean, like I've had a miscarriage too and then that kind of  opened the door to like being more open about it. And then people come together because  I had women be like, I've never shared this, but I've actually had two miscarriages or I've never shared this with anyone. And I was like, Oh my gosh. I didn't know that.  From the outside,  I would have never known that this person is dealing with all of this. So that's so awesome that you guys have that in the app and everything. That's so great. 

Yeah. 

What an awesome resource. Well, this has been so inspiring, and I really appreciate you sharing your own personal story. That's so huge. You've been such a great resource for information, regarding pelvic floor therapy and. So many things that I didn't even know were related to this, so this has just been so insightful, but, your own personal story too, is so impactful. So thank you for sharing that. 

Yeah, you're welcome. It's my pleasure. If I can help anyone in any way through their journey, I want to, so 

awesome. Thank you for joining me for not one, but two episodes. This was so fun. 

Yeah. 

I have no doubt that I'm sure we'll do this again. 

Yeah. 

Um, so I can't wait. 

And if you want to find us, 

Yes, please.

The physical therapy company that I work under is called Wellcore Physical Therapy. I think our Instagram is wellcorept, same with TikTok. And I, I tell people too, like, if you're not from Kansas City, you could still book a phone consult and we can talk about, What's best for you, and you can find practitioners in other states too but we could also see people from out of state and do like a Treatment that's kind of closer together. Yeah time and so a lot of different options But feel free to reach out or ask questions or you know lean on us and lean on me Just for support. 

Absolutely. Yeah, and I will include all of this information in the show notes. You can easily Find the website Instagram tick tock all those things and I mentioned this before but I like the reels so much  They're not only funny, but they're informative  And they brighten my day.\

So you should just if anything else just Follow them on Instagram. 

Oh my gosh.  You're like, no, no, no more Reels and TikTok.  Don't judge me based on my Reels.  

Don't judge anyone based on their Reels. I mean, anyone putting their self out there, I'm saying you're doing it 

scary thing.

It is. And it takes time.

That's hilarious. 

Oh my goodness. Well, thank you again for joining me. This was so much fun. 

Yeah. Anytime.

Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. If you have any questions at all about Mercier therapy, pelvic floor health, or anything else we talked about today, feel free to reach out to myself, or you can reach out to   Wellcore Physical Therapy.

Everything is linked in the show notes. Don't forget, before you click out of your podcast sure to hit the fifth star, leave a quick review if you enjoyed what you listened to, and then if you send me a screenshot of your review, or send me a screenshot of Messaging an episode over to a friend or family member, send that screenshot to me and then I will send you something fun in the mail.

That's all I have for you for today. Next week you'll hear from me again with a quick village chat episode, and then I will also be welcoming on author and creator of Olea the Magical Sleep Fairy, Amy Wiebe. She is committed to disrupting the notion that parents of young children should accept disrupted sleep as their norm. So tune in next week because we're going to be talking about the magical sleep fairy that she created, which offers a new mindset for approaching tricky sleep situations with your children. Thanks to the power of. storytelling this fairy offers a chance for families to reclaim the rest they need while making magical memories together.

I'm very excited for you to hear this conversation. So be sure to follow the podcast. So all new episodes pop up in your queue. Have a great weekend. Be kind to yourself. And I will talk to you again next week. Bye for now.