UNEXPECTING Podcast with Tara Lipinski Episode 1
Ok, I am a podcast junkie. I like murder mysteries & I have always been a nerd for biography.
Fun Fact- in 7th grade we had to read a biography and dress up as that person for a presentation. Guess who I chose?
Not Tara Lipinski. Rosie O'Donnell. A little insight to 12-year-old Katy.
Anyways, like many children of the nineties, I loved the Olympics. The Magnificant Seven probably piqued my interest. As a tall & less than coordinated child (which followed me into adulthood) I was quickly redirected by the instructors of gymnastics & ballet that maybe these sports were not my athletic strengths. Nonetheless, I was always intrigued by the strength & coordination of the gymnasts, swimmers, and figure skaters during the Olympics. So when my mom told me Tara Lipinski had a new podcast on infertility (Unexpecting) I had to check it out. I would say most podcasts lose my attention rather quickly so I was less than optimistic; however, I have listened and relistened- wow!!!
Because just like her triple loop + triple loop, she nails it.
She has verbalized so many of the thoughts and feelings associated with the struggle of infertility. Not only that, but her husband Todd Kapstasy also talks about how he feels about the issue. Admittedly, I had not considered how men often feel during the battle of infertility. I usually am approached by women who want to be mothers (or grandmothers) on what can be done to create the family they want. So many partners are supportive of their significant others, but the non-childbearing partner often gets neglected as they are in the shadow of the person getting shots, attending appointments, & peeing on sticks. So I am grateful for the perspective shift I have gained by listening thus far.
Some of the main takeaways
- It does not matter how 'healthy' you are, you may still struggle with infertility.
- You often do not know you are going to struggle with infertility until you are in the middle of it.
- Healthcare providers don't warn you that your fertility clock is ticking- at 35 it rapidly declines then drops off a cliff at 40.
- Men may feel insecure about fertility as well, it can be a gut punch to the ego for them.
- Supporting a partner through IVF is not for the faint of heart.
- The more we talk about the struggles of infertility the less alone we may feel!
Here are some of the quotes that I really identified with:
Tara: “It’s crazy that I just thought, ‘Oh, I’m an athlete, this should be easy’ and I think I was just so used to my body working for me. My body did not fail me for most of my life. Until it failed me. ”
Tara: “If you’re struggling with infertility, it is the loneliest club there is. I think I am just at the point now, where I am tired of being lonely and I realized there is a bigger conversation of yes we’re hearing more people talk about IVF & and infertility, but not to the extent it should be.”
Tara: "For good fertility, you don't want to smoke, you don't want to drink, you want to have good nutrition but that is not always what fertility is about. There are some real markers for infertility that have nothing to do with that."
Todd: “We started applauding women, oh they are 40 years old, and they had their career and now they are having kids, which is great, but Maybe with this ignorance, fertility falls off a ledge when you are 40.”
Todd: "There is an ego thing too, associated with this, you just come home and say we're doing infertility stuff and my reaction like a Neanderthal was pst, my sperm is amazing. I have super sperm. I'm going to populate the entire earth with my sperm. Don't tell me we need to see a fertility doctor. Which is just so dumb, ignorance. But there is that sort of, it feels like you're just taking a small shot at me. Which is not what you're doing."
Todd: "These retrievals are no joke to prepare for, right?"
Tara: "It's a long process especially depending on your protocol. At my clinic, it was 2 months. I would come in they would do a scan twice, I would do blood work twice, then I would come in and we would start patches, estrogen patches for ovulation where I would change them every other day, and then my cycle would start the next month and Iw ould come in and then it would be every few days I am in the office doing ultrasounds and blood work and they were monitoring me and then 2-2.5 weeks later you do the retrieval. so it's a long process and a lot can happen during that time. Things can not go well. "
Todd:
"And they leave a lot to you too, which is crazy to me, the first time I had to give you that shot was horrifying. I mean you jabbing it, I mean how long are those needles? I was like I don't think I can physically do it. You're asking me to jab a needle into someone I love's stomach. "
So check out Unexpecting - I have been listening on Spotify! I will try and keep you in the loop (pun intended) on some of the golden tidbits!
