See How Erin Took Charge of Her Fertility and Built The Family of Her Dreams

When Erin started at Conceivable, we didn't simply see someone with PCOS, but instead, looked deeper to understand how Erin's menstrual cycle, BBT temperatures, and lifestyle were affecting her fertility. 

What The Doctor said:

Erin's fertility workup was unremarkable, but she'd been trying for a long time without success. Erin's doctor diagnosed her with PCOS and recommended a high protein "paleo" diet and an intensive exercise regimen. Erin complied, but her digestive symptoms and fatigue only got worse and she started to lose hope that she would get pregnant.

What we saw at Conceivable:

When Erin started at Conceivable, we didn't simply see someone with PCOS, but instead, looked deeper to understand what was affecting Erin's fertility. Erin had irregular menstrual cycles, PMS, irritability, headaches, exhaustion, low progesterone, scanty bleeding, menstrual cramping with clotting, digestive issues like GIRD, gas, bloating, and food cravings, and felt cold all the time.

What was really going on:

Erin's digestive system was dropping the ball. Even though Erin was eating a healthy diet, her digestive system was having a hard time breaking food down into the nutrients her body needed to support a healthy reproductive system. Reproduction is a tough job, and requires a surplus of nutrients to support a healthy uterine lining, placenta, and nutrition for a developing baby.

In Erin's case, trouble breaking down food into usable nutrients was key to understanding why she wasn't getting pregnant. Every time she ate, she would suffer from uncomfortable symptoms like gas and bloating — big clues that her digestive symptom wasn't working at 100%. The lack of usable nutrition also meant that Erin felt cold and tired all the time.

Erin’s luteal phase basal body temperatures (BBT's) were averaging 97.1°F — more than a full degree below optimal. She couldn’t generate enough heat to even keep her body feeling warm! When BBT's are this low, progesterone production also tends to suffer, making it extremely difficult for implantation to occur and for pregnancy to be maintained. 

The last key clue to Erin's situation was her menstrual bleeding. Short, irregular cycles, especially cycles that involved clotting and cramping, let us know that Erin's nutrient deficiency was affecting her uterine lining. Without an excess of usable nutrition, Erin's body couldn't produce the thick, healthy uterine lining she needed to get and stay pregnant. 

How Conceivable worked to fix it:  

• The first step to helping Erin get and stay pregnant was to identify the issues impacting her fertility, and help her understand how they were related and what to do about them. Erin met with her Conceivable Coach over the phone where they worked together to help understand her personal fertility struggles and built a road map to fix them. 

• Erin got a systematic plan that helped her make simple, daily changes over 12 weeks. As Erin made progress and her fertility started to improve, her plan was continually adapted to keep her fertility moving forward. Erin's personal plan included:

  • Menu Planning: Erin's digestion was suffering, so that's the first thing we needed to fix. Instead of the high-protein diet Erin's doctor recommended, we gave Erin weekly meal plans, shopping lists, and recipes that were specifically designed to strengthen her digestion and get her the nutrients she needed.

  • Customized Supplements: Erin received three different Conceivable Supplements, each specially formulated to make a difference in her cycle at the appropriate time. Erin took Release during her bleeding phase to reduce cramping and clotting, and to build a healthy, fertile uterine lining. During her follicular phase, Erin received Enrich to help provide her with the nutrients her body needed to support pregnancy. Finally, during her luteal phase, Erin's formula was Unwind, which helped to decrease stress and troubling PMS symptoms like headaches and irritability, all while improving basal body temperatures, progesterone production, and digestion. 

  • Behavior Change Strategies: We know change can be hard, that's why Conceivable helps improve fertile habits (think things like sleep, meditation, exercise, and hydration) by making little changes that are easy to accomplish everyday. Erin was suffering from fatigue, so we recommended that she start going to bed just a few minutes earlier each day. Over time, that made a huge difference!

  • Stress Management: Erin received Conceivable's complete program on how to manage everyday stress, especially stress related to trying to conceive. Stress is like kryptonite for your fertility, and for Erin in particular, it complicated several problems. The stress hormone cortisol can inhibit progesterone production, which can affect body temperature and your ability to stay pregnant. Stress can also take a toll on the digestive system, further limiting Erin's ability to break down and assimilate the nutrients she needed.

• Erin stayed engaged with her program and kept up with regular appointments with her coach. Conceivable's program made it easy for her to stay inspired and make progress every day until she got pregnant.

What Happened: 

Within a month of beginning the program, Erin’s headaches and exhaustion disappeared. Shortly thereafter, she noticed all of her troubling digestive issues had completely subsided.

By the third month, Erin started recording appropriately high BBT temperatures in her luteal phase, and had experienced two regular menstrual cycles, both of which were free PMS symptoms like headaches and irritability. Her periods increased to a regular 3-4 days in length, and consisted of the ideal amount of fresh red blood, a really good sign that her uterine lining had improved and was ready for implantation and baby making. 

In less than 12 weeks, Erin called to let us know that she was pregnant — completely 100% naturally!!!

She's now the proud mother of a happy, healthy baby boy.