Messy in the Middle: The Journey of Infertility Podcast

Jessica Leigh
  • 5.0 (2)
  • PARENTING
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

We are led to believe that falling pregnant is just a matter of having unprotected sex and voila! Reality hits hard. Recurrent miscarriage and infertility are unfortunately a truth so many of us face, and Jessica Leigh is right there in the trenches with you – struggling with secondary infertility, 2 losses - which could have been many more if she didn’t advocate for herself and fight to get answers before continuing to try again. Messy in the Middle is a podcast featuring real women’s stories about their journey, the messy part, the trials and tribulations to get from recurrent miscarriage and infertility to baby. Join us as we talk, cry, laugh and get unbelievably vulnerable to feel less alone in the gang that no one wanted to be a part of.

  1. Negative tests became a regular part of life with Katrina (ectopic pregnancy, mental health, IVF, male factor infertility)

    03/03/2024

    Negative tests became a regular part of life with Katrina (ectopic pregnancy, mental health, IVF, male factor infertility)

    Katrina’s first pregnancy devastatingly ended up being ectopic, resulting in emergent surgery. After 18 months trying to conceive naturally, Katrina and her husband discovered after further testing that his sperm wasn’t optimal. It was a shock to them both, especially when Katrina had blamed herself for so long that they weren’t getting a positive pregnancy test. It was then they decided that IVF was their best chance to conceive. After struggling mentally for some time around this decision, Katrina shares her positive IVF story, resulting in the birth of a healthy baby girl.  Make sure you follow the Messy in the Middle Instagram page: https://instagram.com/_messyinthemiddle_?igshid=NTdlMDg3MTY=  And if you want to share your story, please get in contact with me either through the Instagram page or email me at messyinthemiddle.fertility@gmail.com

    1h 37m
  2. Your Host, Jessica Leigh’s Birth Story (PPROM, Incompetent Cervix, Postpartum Hemorrhage)

    12/13/2023

    Your Host, Jessica Leigh’s Birth Story (PPROM, Incompetent Cervix, Postpartum Hemorrhage)

    Jessica Leigh shares the story of her son’s birth and it was nothing like she could have planned or ever imagined. It was found that her cervix was starting to shorten at 28 weeks, then with funneling at 32 weeks. This ultimately resulted in the premature rupture of membranes at 35 weeks. The birth of her son was fast and the story doesn’t end there – what followed was a postpartum hemorrhage, surgery…then more surgery at 3 weeks postpartum. Make sure you follow the Messy in the Middle Instagram page: https://instagram.com/_messyinthemiddle_?igshid=NTdlMDg3MTY= And if you want to share your story, please get in contact with me either through the Instagram page or email me at messyinthemiddle.fertility@gmail.com

    1h 9m
  3. Medically Infertile at 29 – with Liss (IVF, unexplained infertility, endometriosis, fibroids)

    10/02/2023

    Medically Infertile at 29 – with Liss (IVF, unexplained infertility, endometriosis, fibroids)

    Liss is a 30 year old woman who shares her long journey of trying to conceive. After trying and not succeeding to fall pregnant naturally over a 2 year time period, she finally sought help from a fertility specialist and at 29 years of age was classified as medically infertile and had no choice but to proceed with IVF. After another 3 years and 5 transfers, she is currently pregnant with her first child.Make sure you follow the Messy in the Middle Instagram page: https://instagram.com/_messyinthemiddle_?igshid=NTdlMDg3MTY=And if you want to share your story, please get in contact with me either through the Instagram page or email me at messyinthemiddle.fertility@gmail.com New Messy in the Middle Facebook Support Groups:Community Grouphttps://m.facebook.com/groups/260521623533545/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBTIVF Support Group https://m.facebook.com/groups/986956492386520/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBTTrying to Conceivehttps://m.facebook.com/groups/6579163665499384/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBTPregnancy Support Grouphttps://m.facebook.com/groups/816231440230130/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBTMiscarriage & Baby Loss Support Grouphttps://m.facebook.com/groups/2033246727024390/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT

    56 min
  4. Supporting women so they can lean into hope - With Jen Fertility Coach and Founder of Your Pregnancy Haven (unexplained infertility, surrogacy, pregnancy after loss)

    08/30/2023

    Supporting women so they can lean into hope - With Jen Fertility Coach and Founder of Your Pregnancy Haven (unexplained infertility, surrogacy, pregnancy after loss)

    I had a lovely chat with Jen, who is not only a Fertility Coach and founder of Your Pregnancy Haven - but she also has her own story of infertility and the struggles it took to conceive her two children. Jen and her husband tried for many years, with no found explanation to their infertility struggles and it got a point where her sister-in-law offered to be a surrogate for them. This resulted in the birth of their son. Amazingly, 4 weeks after his birth, Jen fell pregnant naturally, but unfortunately this pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage. 6 months later, she fell pregnant again and this resulted in the birth of their daughter.We go on to discuss how to manage anxiety during pregnancy after loss, how important it is to have a goal outside of your fertility and pregnancy journey and how it helps to break the pregnancy down into milestones.Jen is a wealth of knowledge and such a really is a valuable pillar of support to her coaching clients – she teaches effective strategies to not only see you through what ever stage in your journey that you’re at, but they are invaluable life skills that you will take with you long into your journey as a parent.Jen has a book available to purchase from all major online outlets called - The Injustice of Infertility and offers both 1:1 coaching and online programs.Make sure you follow Jen on the socials below:Ms Jennifer Robertsonhttps://instagram.com/msjenniferrobertson?igshid=MmU2YjMzNjRlOQ==Your Pregnancy Havenhttps://instagram.com/yourpregnancyhaven?igshid=MmU2YjMzNjRlOQ==Make sure you follow the Messy in the Middle Instagram page: https://instagram.com/_messyinthemiddle_?igshid=NTdlMDg3MTY=And if you want to share your story, please get in contact with me either through the Instagram page or email me at messyinthemiddle.fertility@gmail.com New Messy in the Middle Facebook Support Groups:Community Grouphttps://m.facebook.com/groups/260521623533545/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBTIVF Support Group https://m.facebook.com/groups/986956492386520/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBTTrying to Conceive Support Group https://m.facebook.com/groups/6579163665499384/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBTPregnancy Support Grouphttps://m.facebook.com/groups/816231440230130/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBTMiscarriage & Baby Loss Support Grouphttps://m.facebook.com/groups/2033246727024390/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT

    53 min
  5. I was at risk of catastrophic hemorrhage – Bringing Awareness to AVM’s - With Ashley (AVM, miscarriage, missed miscarriage)

    08/16/2023

    I was at risk of catastrophic hemorrhage – Bringing Awareness to AVM’s - With Ashley (AVM, miscarriage, missed miscarriage)

    Ashley is still in her messy middle. She is coming up to the year mark of when she was last pregnant and in that time, has had to come to terms with a diagnosis she never even knew existed. Ashley tried for 7 months to fall pregnant, she wasn’t sure that she was consistently ovulating. After being referred to a fertility specialist to do formal ovulation tracking, she confirmed ovulation, went through her TWW and was surprised to find out she was pregnant. Unfortunately, this pregnancy was not meant to last. She had a scan at 6.5 weeks and there was a fetal pole, a heartbeat, but there wasn’t a yolk sac. She had a gut feeling that she may have had a missed miscarriage, as she did slightly lose symptoms at 9 weeks. At 11 weeks went to first OB appt and it was during that scan she was told that the pregnancy wasn’t viable and was booked in for a D&C that same day.If only her heartache ended there. Ashley goes on to tell her story of how it took over 5 months to get her period back, she had an abnormal ultrasound which showed retained products as well as an enlarged uterus with abnormal vascularity. Her OB at the time completely disregarded her concerns and it took seeing a new OB and an interventional radiologist for her to finally be diagnosed with an AVM. As much as it is a rare condition and no one can definitely confirm how she came to have one, Ashley felt it was so important to bring awareness to the condition, which anyone could possibly get as a result of a D&C or retained products. Make sure you follow the Messy in the Middle Instagram page: https://instagram.com/_messyinthemiddle_?igshid=NTdlMDg3MTY= And if you want to share your story, please get in contact with me either through the Instagram page or email me at messyinthemiddle.fertility@gmail.com

    1h 29m
  6. Why your mindset matters – with Fertility Coach Louise Siwicki

    08/01/2023

    Why your mindset matters – with Fertility Coach Louise Siwicki

    Louise is a Fertility Coach who has her own background of struggling to conceive. After years of negative tests and failed IUI and IVF cycles, Louise was told by her fertility specialist to take 6 months off to focus on healing her mental and physical health. As hard as it was for her to “take a break”, that’s exactly what she did. She enlisted the help from acupuncturists, hypnotherapists and energy healers. She took the time and did the inner work to heal her mind and her body and once the 6 months was up, she returned to her fertility specialist only to find out that she had fallen pregnant naturally.Her journey was the catalyst for her career path – she discovered how your mindset is a powerful asset when it comes to fertility and your success when trying to conceive.Through her work as a coach, she supports women through psychological blocks and limiting beliefs that may be affecting their ability to conceive.She also highlights why it is so important to learn the tools to work on your mindset – to not only get through the trying to conceive journey, but also to be better emotionally and mentally prepared to go through the really hard stages of parenting.She is a wealth of knowledge and a true asset to all women struggling to conceive.Be sure to follow Louise on Instagram -https://instagram.com/louise.siwicki?igshid=MmU2YjMzNjRlOQ==Make sure you follow the Messy in the Middle Instagram page: https://instagram.com/_messyinthemiddle_?igshid=NTdlMDg3MTY=And if you want to share your story, please get in contact with me either through the Instagram page or email me at messyinthemiddle.fertility@gmail.com

    1 hr
  7. We started young and it still took us 5 years to conceive our first child - With Leticia (unexplained infertility, miscarriage, IVF)

    07/12/2023

    We started young and it still took us 5 years to conceive our first child - With Leticia (unexplained infertility, miscarriage, IVF)

    Leticia and her husband did all the right things, even started pre-conception care where her doctor told her that she is young and will fall pregnant in a flash.Yet after 12 months of trying, with no positive pregnancy tests, they decided to enlist the help of a fertility specialist. After the general fertility testing, where nothing showed of concern, Leticia started on letrozole and fell pregnant after her second month of trying. Unfortunately, after 5 days, she started bleeding and had a spontaneous miscarriage.Another 2 years pass and there are no positive pregnancy tests to be found. The letrozole was proving ineffective, so their fertility specialist conducted more testing and it was found that the morphology and motility of the sperm was less than ideal. It was at this time they decided to move onto IVF.Her first cycle produced 2 embryos, both resulting in failed cycles.After moving to a private IVF clinic in 2020, they gave Leticia a more tailored approach to her protocol and her body responded really well, they got 9 embryo’s from that found and after the first transfer, she fell pregnant with her daughter.Leticia was diagnosed with post-natal anxiety and it’s so brave of her to share, but it’s also so common within the infertility community that our fear and anxiety can carry through to after the baby is born.Once Leticia got her period back after the birth of her daughter, it was coming every 2 weeks. When she had it investigated, her ovaries looked textbook polycystic.In late 2022, they did another embryo transfer, but sadly it didn’t take and all the feelings of disappointment came flooding back from all those years of trying.What I love about Leticia, is that it took her 4 years to fall pregnant and have a baby, yet she felt so lucky and grateful that she fell pregnant on her third cycle of IVF.Be sure to check out Leticia’s newly released workbook “Tired of Trying to Conceive” An interactive workbook filled with writing, drawing and colouring exercises.https://instagram.com/tiredoftryingtoconceive?igshid=MmU2YjMzNjRloQ==https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0C9S7K125/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=2DH3K37A6HSQI&keywords=leticia+robers&qid=1688281423&sprefix=leticia+roberts%2Caps%2C264&sr=8-1Make sure you follow the Messy in the Middle Instagram page: https://instagram.com/_messyinthemiddle_?igshid=NTdlMDg3MTY=And if you want to share your story, please get in contact with me either through the Instagram page or email me at messyinthemiddle.fertility@gmail.com

    1h 1m
  8. There are no words to describe this journey of 14 consecutive losses– with Samantha (stillbirth, second trimester loss, recurrent miscarriage, IVF, donor eggs, surrogacy)

    06/21/2023

    There are no words to describe this journey of 14 consecutive losses– with Samantha (stillbirth, second trimester loss, recurrent miscarriage, IVF, donor eggs, surrogacy)

    In this episode I chat with Samantha – she is the epitome of the quote “You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it”. Samantha’s first pregnancy ended in a tragic second trimester loss at 22 weeks due to placental abruption and due to retained products, she contracted a severe infection that left her in ICU. Samantha’s coping mechanism was to create a plan and start taking action on how to move forward. Unfortunately, her second pregnancy ended at 20 weeks due to premature rupture of waters and it was found that her infection had returned. Her third pregnancy miraculously turned out to be twins…after her first scan only showed 1 baby and heartbeat. Her second scan though showed that there were actually 2 babies in there and as her luck would have it, they were the most high-risk twins below conjoined twins and they had a 75% mortality rate. Samantha and her partner were advised to terminate due to the high risk and her history, but they decided to ride it out and see how it went. The twins passed at 15 weeks due to cord entanglement. After the birth of the twins, Samantha spent 3 years trying with no success. She then fell pregnant a fourth time with her son Noah and devastatingly went into active labour at 22 weeks. Despite all the tragic loss that she has endured, Samantha was still determined to have a living child. As they had spent so long without any luck, it was decided they would try donor eggs, which they got from the Ukraine. This was her first experience with IVF. They implanted 2 embryos and did fall pregnant, but then miscarried 7 days later. By now, we are into COVID days and it was difficult to make the trip to Canberra from Melbourne, where she was getting the IVF treatment and made the decision to look into surrogacy. Shortly after, her and her partner separated and this left Samantha in a really dark hole and she described this loss as being harder than losing the babies – because now in her 40’s, she felt as though all hope of her dreams of having a living child left when he did. She did end up transferring the last embryo they had and when it didn’t take, she decided that IVF wasn’t for her and it was time to seriously explore her surrogacy options. Australia was out of the question, simply as it was going to take too much time – so it was off to Greece! She used an organisation that only take on people that have tried all other avenues and have been unsuccessful in birthing a live child. At the time of recording in February 2023, her surrogate was pregnant – with twins!! Unfortunately, twin A – Baby Grace, passed due to a heart condition and there was a real chance she could lose both babies if the surrogates body recognised that one of the twins had died. Some good news though! Twin B, who is a baby boy is thriving and at the time of release, Samantha is on her way to Greece for the birth of her baby boy. This is an incredibly devastating and heart-wrenching journey that spanned 10 years and I’m so overjoyed to follow Samantha’s journey and watch her bring her baby home.If you want to follow Samantha, she has a page on Facebook – Memories of an Angel – https://www.facebook.com/MemoriesofanAngelMake sure you follow the Messy in the Middle Instagram page: https://instagram.com/_messyinthemiddle_?igshid=NTdlMDg3MTY=And if you want to share your story, please get in contact with me either through the Instagram page or email me at messyinthemiddle.fertility@gmail.com

    2h 20m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

We are led to believe that falling pregnant is just a matter of having unprotected sex and voila! Reality hits hard. Recurrent miscarriage and infertility are unfortunately a truth so many of us face, and Jessica Leigh is right there in the trenches with you – struggling with secondary infertility, 2 losses - which could have been many more if she didn’t advocate for herself and fight to get answers before continuing to try again. Messy in the Middle is a podcast featuring real women’s stories about their journey, the messy part, the trials and tribulations to get from recurrent miscarriage and infertility to baby. Join us as we talk, cry, laugh and get unbelievably vulnerable to feel less alone in the gang that no one wanted to be a part of.

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