{"id":27468,"date":"2025-01-27T20:43:11","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T20:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/?post_type=podcast&p=27468"},"modified":"2025-01-27T20:49:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T20:49:27","slug":"episode-200","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/education\/podcast\/episode-200\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 200: How Laura Overcame Infertility and Postpartum Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"template":"","categories":[275,514,240],"tags":[261,523,590,490],"class_list":["post-27468","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","hentry","category-emotional-support-and-awareness","category-pregnancy","category-trying-to-conceive","tag-iui","tag-postpartum","tag-postpartum-depression","tag-unexplained-infertility"],"yoast_head":"\nEpisode 200: How Laura Overcame Infertility and Postpartum Depression | Progyny<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our guest shares the honest reality of facing postpartum 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guest shares the honest reality of facing postpartum depression after her first pregnancy, and welcoming a second child with fertility benefits through Progyny.","episode_intro_guest":"Laura","episode_intro_company":"Progyny Member","episode_banner_section_intro_text":"This is Infertility is a bi-weekly podcast where we fuse narrative storytelling with experience and science to give you a new perspective on what it\u2019s really like to go through a family building journey. Each episode dives into the emotional, physical, and financial burdens carried by those who experience infertility on their path to parenthood. Be it IVF, IUI, egg freezing, surrogacy, adoption, etc., the path is never the same and it can be long, painful, and lonely. It\u2019s our mission to give those struggling a platform to be heard, a community connection, and an opportunity to raise awareness of the 1 in 6 who, for many reasons, struggle with infertility.","episode_page_title":"Episode 200: How Laura Overcame Infertility and Postpartum Depression ","episode_embed_code":"<iframe style=\"border: medium;\" title=\"Embed Player\" src=\"https:\/\/play.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/34873440\/height\/128\/theme\/modern\/size\/standard\/thumbnail\/yes\/custom-color\/ffffff\/time-start\/00:00:00\/playlist-height\/200\/direction\/backward\/download\/yes\/stats-code\/landing200\/font-color\/000000\" width=\"100%\" height=\"128\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe>","episode_details":"<span data-contrast=\"auto\">What happens when the path to parenthood takes unexpected turns? For Laura, it meant navigating the heartbreak of unexplained infertility, the frustrations of multiple failed IUIs, and the surprising joy of a positive pregnancy test during the unlikeliest of cycles. But as her story unfolds, it becomes clear that getting pregnant was just the beginning.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">For our 200th episode, Laura shares the honest reality of facing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/progyny.com\/blog\/fertility-family-building\/parental-mental-health-from-pregnancy-through-postpartum\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">postpartum depression<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> after her first pregnancy\u2014an experience she never thought she would have after fighting to conceive. With fertility benefits through Progyny she welcomed a second child into her family a few years later. This time, Laura went into her second postpartum journey with the expectations, knowledge, and tools to manage her PPD symptoms effectively.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">This episode is a powerful reminder that family-building journeys are rarely straightforward. They\u2019re filled with highs, lows, and the moments that teach us the true meaning of resilience.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Guest: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Laura, Progyny Member<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"335559739":0}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Host: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Dan Bulger, Progyny<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"none\">For more information, visit Progyny\u2019s Podcast page and <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.progyny.com\/education\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Progyny\u2019s Education page<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\"> for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at <\/span><a href=\"mailto:thisisinfertility@progyny.com.%E2%80%AF\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">thisisinfertility@progyny.com.<\/span><\/a>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Here are some highlights from this episode:<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><b>Unexplained Infertility to Unexpected Success with IUI\r\n<\/b><\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">05:25 \u2013 07:55<\/span>\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">\r\n\r\n<b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Laura:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> There wasn't ever really a good explanation for why I wasn't getting pregnant, which is very frustrating. When I was 31, I did my first round of IUI in October 2015 and then that didn't result in a pregnancy... Of my three IUIs in that time period- It was my lowest chance of getting pregnant and the fertility doctor even said, like, maybe we skip this month, or do you want to keep going? And I'd already done all the work and was mentally there, and I was like, let's just do it. Let's just do the IUI. It's our third one.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">It was a Friday evening, and I was gonna make margaritas for John and I thought, well, you know, I should take a pregnancy test just in case. I probably shouldn't have a margarita if I'm pregnant. And I took a home pregnancy test and it came back positive, and I was shocked. I went and got my labs drawn, and sure enough, the IUI that had the worst chance of creating a pregnancy... actually, I got pregnant, and so I had a daughter nine months later.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Dan Bulger: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">They were trying <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">for about two years, if I have that math right, and it took around eight rounds of oral drugs and then three rounds of IUI to reach their goal. But of course, getting pregnant and having a baby isn't really where the story ends.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><b>Living with Postpartum Depression\r\n<\/b><\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">08:00 \u2013 11:38<\/span>\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">\r\n\r\n<b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Laura:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> I had really severe postpartum depression and anxiety that I was not expecting, and so family planning for another child just wasn't in the cards for a long time.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">I had the baby, I remember it was really interesting to me. So many women say, when they have the baby, the baby's put on their chest, and they instantly feel love, and they instantly feel this attachment and this wonderful miracle. And I vividly remember when my daughter came out of me, this baby that I had tried so hard to get, and I was so happy to be in my life. They put her on my chest, and my first thought was, what did we do? We just ruined our lives because we had freedom. We could do whatever we wanted. Now I have this tiny thing that I'm in charge of. I don't know how to keep it alive. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">But I was very fortunate. I work in healthcare, and I work with doctors who told me, you need to go see your doctor right now. And so, I actually ended up walking into my OBs office, and they recognized right away that I was dealing with anxiety and depression. And so, I got started on psychotropic medication, antidepressants and anxiety medicine, but it takes six to eight weeks for those medicines to become therapeutic in your system. So, if you start the week after you've had a baby, you're already behind. And so, it was a constant battle of trying to find the right balance of medications for two to three months before I started coming out of the darkness. But the worst of it was over within the first three to four months.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><b>Progyny, IVF, and Baby No. 2!\r\n<\/b><\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">14:18 \u2013 16:28<\/span>\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Laura:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> In August 2022 when I'd done the first two rounds of IUI, we really weren't sure what we wanted to do, because we were still trying to figure out, is this worth it? You know, do we want to go through the cost of IVF? Should we have another child? But then in September, I learned that my company was going to be receiving fertility benefits through Progyny, which was a game changer, because that is such a burden on your family journey, you know, having to pay for these costs. So, I was super excited, and I knew they were starting in January of 2023, so we took a little break, focused on the family that we do have. And then in February of 2023, we did our third IUI again, I did not get pregnant, and based on all of our numbers and everything, the doctor suggested that we moved to IVF. In September 2023, I had a positive flicker on the fetal heart. And it was shocking, because I just did not think, I just did not think it was going to work. I had read so many things online, and I was looking at the data, and I was trying so hard not to get my hopes up that I was almost pessimistic about it, but it worked, and we got pregnant, and then we had a baby.<\/span><\/div>","episode_host_image":22677,"episode_host_title":"Dan Bulger, Producer at Progyny","episode_host_bio":"Dan has been in the healthcare industry for the past ten plus years as a multimedia content producer. Better known as \u2018Video Dan\u2019 he has interviewed numerous doctors, patients and other experts in the world of fertility. He\u2019s also the producer for this podcast, This is Infertility and the producer behind the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/progyny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-uw-rm-brl=\"exc\" aria-label=\"Progyny YouTube Channel - opens in new tab\" data-uw-rm-ext-link=\"na\">\u00a0Progyny YouTube Channel<\/a>\u00a0which features interviews with dozens of the nation\u2019s leading fertility specialists. On a personal note Dan\u2019s parents started fostering kids when he was four years old, and he considers himself a proud older brother to over 100 foster children.","episode_guest_1_image":27250,"episode_guest_1_title":"Laura, Progyny member","episode_guest_1_bio":"Laura is a healthcare leader who never expected medical complications and infertility of unknown origins to cause so many twists and turns in her family planning journey. After utilizing reproductive technology to bring two wonderful daughters in the world, she was significantly impacted by Post Partum Depression and Post Partum Anxiety. Laura was incredibly fortunate to have allies in her professional life that helped her receive treatment early so that she could recover and bond with her daughters. She is an advocate for mental health and stresses the impact infertility has on wellbeing. 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