Very Beginning Anastasia Epshtein
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- Education
Welcome to my podcast Very Beginning!
My name is Anastasia and through personal hardships, I made it my mission to help women feel less alone on their personal women's health & fertility journey. By talking about taboo topics, sharing my personal story, and having conversations with experts in the field my goal is to educate & inspire women and couples dealing with fertility challenges.
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Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @verybeginningofficial
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S2 Episode 13: "Infertility is a symptom not a diagnosis" - Alexandria DeVito
This week I had the honor to sit down with founder, author & functional nutritionist Alexandria DeVito. Alexandria is the CEO and founder of Poplin- the first pre-pregnancy wellness company. She is also the author of the book "9 Months Is Not Enough: The Ultimate Pre-pregnancy Checklist to Create a Baby-Ready Body and Build Generational Health".
In her book, Alexandria debunks several fertility myths and aims to educate women and couples on how they can identify underlying health issues that can impair fertility, prepare for a preconception visit with their doctor, and adopt an overall fertility-friendly diet, supplementation, and lifestyle plan.
In this episode:
00:00 Intro
01:23 From McKinsey consultant to nutritionist
05:13 Preparing for pregnancy like you would prepare for a wedding or job interview
08:29 Optimizing nutrient needs before you are even pregnant
11:47 How the male partner can optimize their health
15:06 Sperm quality and quantity declined by over 60% in recent years
17:55 Optimizing overall health: in with the good & out with the bad
24:16 Reproductive Anxiety: the fear of not being able to conceive
31:17 Biggest fertility myth: age is the main fertility predictor
35:08 Advocating for your health to be personalized & individualized
39:22 Does running more tests only increase our anxiety levels?
45:40 How can IVF patients optimize their chances to conceive?
48:30 Unexplained Infertility: "infertility diagnosis is similar in mental health impact to cancer diagnosis"
55:10 Closing
If you liked this episode it would mean the world if you follow & leave a review♥
Follow Very Beginning on Instagram & TikTok: @verybeginningofficial
Learn more about Alexandria's company Poplin: https://getpoplin.com/ -
S2 Episode 12: “Just relax and don’t stress”- realistic ways to deal with stress & anxiety when TTC
"Go on a vacation, have fun with your partner, and simply don't stress"- these are some of the most common things I heard from people when sharing my struggles to get pregnant. And while these might work for some, I found stress not to be something I could easily switch off. Even more so while being in the midst of TTC hardship I would find myself being stressed about feeling stressed leading to a vicious cycle of ever growing stress levels.
So in this week's episode I share my top realistic tips that have helped me to reduce some of the stress fertility and even work has caused my over the years.
00:00 Intro
02:11 Why stress cannot be simply turned off
03:13 Feeling stressed about being stressed
04:11 Realistic tips to reduce stress levels
05:36 Tip #1: Serenity Prayer "I accept the things I cannot change..."
12:12 Tip #2: Putting things in perspective
17:12 Tip #3 Define what drains & gives you energy
21:50 Closing
If you liked this episode it would mean the world if you follow & leave a review♥
Follow Very Beginning on Instagram & TikTok: @verybeginningofficial
#fertility #ivf #podcast #ttc #stressrelief #stress #stressmanagement -
S2 Episode 11: How To Stop Comparing Yourself To Others I Fertility & Life Milestones
No matter if it's a career milestone, getting married, or having a baby- we tend to always compare ourselves to others and start feeling like we are a failure if we see our peers reaching their goals seemingly easier or faster.
In this episode I talk candidly about the things I struggled with over the years when it came to comparing myself to others- including the challenges I encountered on my fertility journey.
I share what helped me to start embracing every chapter of my life instead of constantly longing for that one thing that seemed to be missing.
In this episode:
00:00 Intro
04:25 Having It All Figured Out By Age 30?
06:55 When Our Goals & Fertility Challenges Misalign
09:00 Feeling Like A Failure Compared To Peers
09:53 Tip 1: Taking One Step At Time
13:01 Why A Positive Pregnancy Test Is Not My End Goal Anymore
14:32 Tip 2: Everyone Is On Their Own Timeline & Journey
19:46 Why My IVF Experience Might Be Completely Different From Yours
21:07 Tip 3: Remember Where You Are Today Is What You Dreamed About 5 Years Ago
27:14 Closing
If you liked this episode it would mean the world if you follow & leave a review ♥
Follow Very Beginning on Instagram & TikTok: @verybeginningofficial
#fertility #ivf #podcast #ttc #mentalhealth #stopcomparingyourself -
Episode 10: IVF & TTC Mental Health Challenges
Trigger warning: this episode discusses sensitive mental health topics and pregnancy loss.
Today's episode is dedicated entirely to the taboo topic of mental health. While the physical aspect of IVF is certainly tough, I found the mental health struggles to be a whole different beast. In this episode I talk super openly about the main feelings and emotions I struggled with the most during my IVF cycles and my TTC time and try to give some helpful tips that have helped me to deal with some of these challenging emotions.
In this episode:
00:00 Intro
03:03 Societal Expectations To Power Through
06:00 Trigger Warning
07:10 Feeling Like Desire To Get Pregnant Is Taking Over Entire Life
14:10 Feeling Like I Am Not Good Enough
21:36 Fearing That My Body Is Not Able To Get/Stay Pregnant
27:46 Closing
If you liked this episode it would mean the world if you follow & leave a review ♥
Follow Very Beginning on Instagram & TikTok: @verybeginningofficial
#fertility #ivf #podcast #ttc #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness -
S2 Episode 9: IVF Frozen Embryo Transfer
Today's episode is the third and last part of my experience with an entire IVF cycle. The day of the transfer was probably one of the most exciting days in my life followed by the dreaded waiting game to find out whether the transfer was successful or not.
In this episode:
00:00 Intro
03:22 First Cycle Following Egg Retrieval
05:17 Medicine Schedule & Monitoring
13:03 Day of the Embryo Transfer
20:32 Next Steps After Transfer
21:54 Trying Not To Take Home Pregnancy Test
23:22 Blood Test To Find Out If Transfer Was A Success
26:37 Closing
Download my free Fertility Clinic Key Questions Guide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v48c1qmYCcT9yZQzhnvjVQ4geRO0SIjX/view?usp=sharing
If you liked this episode it would mean the world if you leave a review ♥
Follow Very Beginning on Instagram & TikTok: @verybeginningofficial
#fertility #ivf #podcast #ttc -
S2 Episode 8: IVF Egg Retrieval, Embryo Development & PGT-A Testing
In today's episode, I continue breaking down my IVF journey focusing on my egg retrieval experience. This part of the process was probably the biggest emotional roller coaster, having to wait anxiously by the phone in the days following the egg retrieval to find out how many embryos we would be able to freeze.
In this episode:
00:00 Intro
03:57 The Morning Of The Egg Retrieval
06:38 Fears Before Egg Retrieval
07:45 Egg Retrieval Procedure
10:38 How I Was Feeling Post Egg Retrieval
11:53 Partner's Role During Egg Retrieval
12:45 Receiving Disappointing News
15:49 Recovery Process
18:00 Fresh vs Frozen Embryo Transfer
19:21 What is PGT-A Testing?
22:45 Daily Updates On Fertilized Eggs & Embryo Development
32:00 PGT-A Results & Embryo Grading
36:31 Closing
Download my free Fertility Clinic Key Questions Guide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v48c1qmYCcT9yZQzhnvjVQ4geRO0SIjX/view?usp=sharing
If you liked this episode it would mean the world if you leave a review ♥
Follow Very Beginning on Instagram & TikTok: @verybeginningofficial
#fertility #ivf #podcast #ttc