The hardest part of going through a miscarriage or infertility is not having friends who can relate to this experience. How many of you had to distance yourself from your friends or friendships ended or shifted as a result of your loss or diagosis? Well, I have been blessed that this was not the case for me and my BFFs. If anything we have learned that our friendship can endure the best of times and the worse of times. In today’s episode we have my BFF of over 15 years on the show Amber Smith-St. Louis. Amber and I met in college at Virginia Commonwealth University in our first Chemical Engineering course and have been thick as thieves since. In this episode we just have girl chat and talk about how our friendship has evolved over the years. How we have supported each other through dark times, and how I am supporting her now in her new season trying to conceive after a miscarriage and Endometriosis diagnosis. This episode is for you if you have a BFF or girlfriends and want some inspiration on how I have maintained my friendships through my losses and infertility.

There is a new webseries that has been all the buzz on Instagram, and its called Black Girls Guide to Fertility, created, written, and based on Sonhara’ Eastman’s own battle with infertility. Black Girls Guide to Fertility tackles infertility in a profoundly intimate way that’s both dramatic and comedic without ever feeling rigid. It focuses on Ava, a 37-year old romance novelist, who faded into obscurity after finding love–and now finds herself on the rise again after self-publishing a diary detailing her fertility woes. Each episode is a recreation of Ava’s diary entry, adding a unique and compelling touch to the everyday struggle of infertility. I had the pleasure of prescreening the first two episodes and when I tell you, you do not want to miss this webseries. In this episode we discuss Sonhara’s vision, her personal infertility battle, and what is next with Black Girls Guide to Fertility. The webseries premires on Friday, January 18, 2019 and if you are listening to this in real time that is two days away. Be sure to subscribe to their youtube page, and join us in the private Sisters in Loss community at sistersinloss.com for our Watch party on Tuesday, January 22 at 8pm EST.

Have you heard of the prolactin hormone? This hormone comes from your pituitary gland and is what causes your body to produce breast milk. When this hormone’s levels are elevated it causes your body to think it is pregnant and is producing milk. This was the case for today’s guest Courtney Shorter. In June 2015, Courtney delivered twin girls Ryan and Morgan 4 months early, both weighing one pound each. Three days later Morgan received her angel wings, and three weeks later Ryan joined her sister in heaven. Courtney shares in this episode how high prolactin hormone levels caused her infertility due to a brain tumor on her pituitary gland. How she took medicine to reduce her prolactin levels, her IVF journey with her rainbow baby boy Hendrix, and her inspiration for starting Ryan Morgan Events. This episode is for you to listen to if you have been diagnosed infertile due to high prolactin levels.

Have you heard of blocked fallopian tubes?

In today’s episode we have Chanay Bank’s who share’s her secondary infertility diagnosis due to blocked fallopian tubes and her IVF journey. Chanay was diagnosed with secondary infertility at 26 years old after already having a child from a previous relationship. She ended up having both her tubes removed resulting in IVF being the option for her and her husband to grow their family. She is currently going through her second round of IVF and is documenting her journey on instagram. This episode is for you if you have experienced secondary infertility or have been diagnosed with blocked fallopian tubes.

Have you heard of Endometriosis? Do you know of someone with this diagnosis? In today’s episode Nicole Clark shares her infertility journey due endometriosis, miscarriage healing journey, and what led her to start her non profit organization called Twelve 12 Ministries. Twelve 12 Ministries is a non-profit organization created to support women who are struggling to conceive with infertility being barren, or suffering a loss through miscarriage, stillbirth or abortion. The name is Inspired by Romans 12:12 “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer”. Nicole shares in this episode how she struggled with infertility due to endometriosis for years, how her miscarriage empowered her to help other women, and how she believed God for her rainbow baby girl after months of hope, prayers, tears, surgeries, supplements, and remedies.

In today’s episode we have Sanita Mitchell who shares her infertility journey, infant loss story of daughter Anaya, and starting the Anaya’s Project foundation.  Sanita is a wife, business owner, non-profit CEO of Anaya’s project, and the mom of 4 children (3 boys and 1 princess) and 1 Angel Baby named Anaya.  Sanita shares in this episode how having her tubes removed gave her 10-12% chance of becoming pregnant on her own, how she naturally conceived her rainbow baby, and now that pregnancy as well as her second rainbow baby pregnancy was met with challenges including high risk pregnancy, gestational diabetes, and uterine rupture.  She also shares how she was led to start Anaya’s project which serves couple’s or individuals who have experienced the painful experience of pregnancy and infant loss as well as those who are experiencing infertility challenges.  This episode is for you to listen to if you have had one of you tubes removed and if you have had pregnancy challenges like gestational diabetes or being considered high risk.

July is Fibroids Awareness Month and over 90% of black women are affected by fibroids by the age of 50.  In today’s episode we have Fibroids Activist and Health Coach, Gessie Thompson who shares her Uterine Fibroid Journey and Eliminating Fibroids through Diet and Detox.  Gessie Thompson is one of the 90% of Black Women affected by fibroids by age 50. She personally battled the epidemic for 14 years and the resulting infertility for 10 of those years to have her miracle baby Nia. Her grueling journey included 10 surgeries, five IVF cycles, a devastating miscarriage and even her heart stopping on the delivery table.  In this episode Gessie takes us back on her healing journey spiritually and physically, we both share how our hysterectomy’s led to us eating a plant based diet, and how she is helping other women eliminate estrogen dominance and inflammation through her DetoxNow and Fibroid Elimination program.

In today’s episode we catch up with Episode 15 guest Dareshia Ervin also known as Dee who experienced five miscarriages and lost both her fallopian tubes leaving her completely infertile.  Back in Episode 15 she shared how she planned to go through IVF and in today’s episode she share’s how God fulfilled his promises to her.  Dee is currently 29 weeks pregnant with her rainbow baby girl named Zuri, and shares how her IVF experience went, from the daily shots to being declared a normal pregnancy.  Dee also shares how she plans to celebrate Zuri and how she is preparing for her birth and motherhood.  Today’s episode is for your if you are diagnosed infertile and are on the fence about going through IVF or infertility treatments.  Dee’s story will inspire you on how God will fulfill the promises of your heart if you believe and have faith that it will come to past.

For the month of June we are talking about infertility and IVF success stories on the Sisters in Loss podcast. In today’s episode we have Parijat Deshpande a High Risk Pregnancy Expert who shares her miscarriage and IVF journey.  She discusses her high risk pregnancy and how she ended up on bedrest after going into early labor at 22 weeks.  She was able to deliver her son at 24 weeks, after managing the emotional stress of preterm labor, birth, and being on bedrest.  Parijat hosts the Delivering Miracles podcast where they discuss the real, raw side of fertility, pregnancy, prematurity and the postpartum period.  In this episode Parijat and I share our journey’s being preemie moms and spending time in the NICU, how she used mindful techniques to reduce stress while being on bedrest, and her inspiration for the work she is doing to help other women have Healthy High Risk Pregnancies.  Parijat has a new book coming out on June 25th called Pregnancy Brain be sure to check it out on Amazon or her website pregnancybrain.com