When the Plan Changes: A Gentle Pause on the Fertility Path

Today, I was supposed to be one step closer. Last night I got my fertility massage, I have been steeping my preconception tea daily, and my heart was wide open for insemination this week. This morning I had my appointment to get my follicle ultrasound hoping for good news - and instead, I was told I have a uterine polyp. One more hurdle. One more pause. 

My first thought was: “Damn, this fertility clinic is trying to take every penny I have.” My wife is currently recovering from a major surgery and was not able to come to the appointment today. I was with my sister, my wife and her best friend on facetime, and while everyone else was saying: “Have the polyp removed before you move forward.” I was thinking: “Roll the dice, let's just do this and see if it works.” I sat with the news quietly at first, my sister and my wife asking questions about procedure downtime and likelihood of getting pregnant without having it removed. And then it hit me, the disappointment. The grief of momentum lost. The part of me that wants to keep moving forward, even when my body says, not yet. 

My wife is recovering not only from a major surgery, but also a surgery complication and a second surgery. We also had some issues with the genetic testing a few weeks ago that I felt was trying to present a setback. I asked my wife before her surgery 3 weeks ago, should we wait? She said, no, let's just keep moving forward. The universe was clearly trying to tell us: not now. 

If you have ever had to delay your cycle, your IUI, or your dreams - this is for you. 

Although this is painful, this doesn’t mean you are broken. It doesn’t mean your body failed. It means your womb is still writing its story - and it is asking for a little more preparation before welcoming life. 

Polyps are common. They can be removed. And from what I have learned today, this pause may be the very thing that increases my chances later. I’m choosing to believe that. Slowly. Gently. 

And I won’t lie - I’m hurting through this. 

I am deeply sad. 

I’m walking through waves of grief, disappointment, fear. 

But I’m talking myself through the pain with as much love as I can find. 

I am choosing to keep my head up - not because it’s easy, but because I still believe the best is yet to come. 

Because I still believe she’s coming. 

So tonight, instead of tracking ovulation, I’m tracking trust. 

Instead of asking why now? I’m whispering to myself when you’re ready. 

To the woman who had to pivot this month - you are still on the path. And you don’t have to be “positive” to be powerful. You just have to keep loving yourself through it. 

I’m with you. 

Sydney

Creating a Non-Toxic, Baby Ready Home: My Favorite Swaps for a Healthier Nest

One thing I did not consider when I started my fertility journey was how my household products could be impacting my fertility. As I continue to prepare my body for pregnancy and dream of welcoming a healthy little one into the world, I have been gradually changing my home into a more non-toxic environment. This week on the Womb & Wellness blog, I’m going to share some of my favorite swaps - and why creating a baby-ready home starts well before you get a positive pregnancy test. 

In Heng Ou’s book Awakening Fertility, she reminds us that fertility is not just about ovulation tracking and prenatal vitamins - it is about creating a whole-life ecosystem that nurtures new life. She says,

“the space around us influences the energy within us. Creating a calm, clean, and toxic-reduced home helps your body feel safe enough to conceive and sustain life.”

When we reduce our body’s toxic burden it can support hormone balance, protect egg quality and sperm health, and create a more welcoming environment for pregnancy. Think of this as laying the foundation. 

My very first swap was multi-purpose cleaning spray. I swapped my chlorine bleach, ammonia-based sprays, and disinfectant wipes for simple DIY cleaners like vinegar and baking soda, before I found the Branch Basics cleaning concentrate, this really does not have to be an expensive swap, DIY works great too. Although I will say, Branch Basic concentrate is hands down my favorite cleaning product, it is great as a multiple surface spray, toilet bowl cleaner, and concentrate for mopping the floors. Switching out your daily cleaning products helps reduce the VOCs (Volatile Organic Compound) in your cleaning routine, which lightens the detox load on your liver. When you are cleaning your counters every night after dinner or wiping up messes and spills, you are breathing in those toxins. 

Next was laundry detergent, conventional laundry detergents with synthetic fragrances and harsh surfactants were swapped with fragrance free, plant based brands. My favorite is Truly Free, but Branch Basics and Molly Sud’s also have great laundry detergent options as well. We also swapped fabric softener with vinegar, this was actually my wife’s idea, her purpose was to extend the life of our washing machine, but it fit into the purpose of my goals. This swap matters because our clothes are in constant contact with our skin, so reducing residue from endocrine-disrupting chemicals is a simple way to protect your fertility and a baby’s sensitive system. 

Then came indoor air quality. The first swap was candles and air fresheners. I removed all wall plug-ins and paraffin wax candles and swapped them with natural beeswax candles, essential oil diffusers, and simmer pots with citrus peels and cinnamon sticks. My favorite brand for candles and room sprays is Primally Pure, the sage floral citrus fragrance is delicious. A little ways into this journey and in making swaps I also bought air purifiers. These are pricey and a big commitment to changing your air quality. I love my AirDoctor purifiers, I have one in my room and a large one downstairs in the main area of my house. Indoor air quality has a huge impact on hormonal balance. Synthetic fragrances often contain phthalates - chemicals linked to  reproductive toxicity. When we made these swaps I noticed that now strong fragrances give me a migraine and make me feel nauseous. My brother and his girlfriend are allergic to my animals and when they come over they have even noted that the pet dander does not bother them as much anymore. 

You don’t have to throw out everything overnight, and I certainly did not. Once I had my eye on what I wanted my next swap to be I would wait until I was out of surface cleaner or laundry detergent to make the swap. Awakening Fertility encourages us to approach this process with compassion and intention. “The energy of your home is felt in every breath. Start small, be kind to yourself, and make space for what nurtures you.” Creating a non-toxic, baby-ready home is not just about products - it’s a ritual of care.

5 Daily Rituals to Support Your Fertility Naturally

Hi there, welcome back! Let’s start with this week's update on my fertility journey. 

This past week I had to do two different tests for my next IUI journey. In October of 2024 we had talked with a fertility specialist to see how we were going to move forward in our journey to motherhood. We put it off during the holidays and then picked it back up in March of 2025. After I had gotten my bloodwork and transvaginal ultrasound, and everything came back perfect, we decided to try IUI at home one last time before moving forward with the clinic, because they told us everything looked really good and I had good egg quality. They had told me that I had to get an HSG scan. An HSG, or hysterosalpingogram, is a fallopian tube test where they ensure that your fallopian tubes are open and that your uterus looks normal. I had heard that it was incredibly painful, but I still didn’t feel prepared. Hearing how painful this test was was truly the reason I decided to try at home one more time. I just did NOT want to do it. 

Well, this week I did. If you have not had an HSG, this is done by using a speculum to open everything up, insert a catheter, and then putting dye into your uterus through your cervix, then taking x-rays to see how the dye flows through the fallopian tubes. If the dye goes through and spills out, good news, it's open. If it gets stuck,  there may be a blockage. It is a really quick test, 10-15 minutes, that feels like 45 minutes. The insertion of the catheter is painful but tolerable, although I did take a 600 mg ibuprofen before the test. Then the dye goes in, which I didn’t think would be the worst part, but most definitely is, the pressure is unreal! Imagine you are on a road trip, and you drink your entire 40 oz Dr. Pepper from the gas station, and the bathroom isn’t for 2 hours and you can’t stop. The pressure in your lower abdomen is so intense and so uncomfortable. I had heard that this test makes people fly off the table. Thank you to my genetics for a high pain tolerance, but it was still awful. All of that to say, I didn’t have any blockages. Thank goodness! The second test was genetic testing for when we choose our donor. That was a quick and painless blood draw and I should know more in 2 weeks. 

Now I want to share with you 5 Daily Rituals to Support Your Fertility Naturally!

I have become a firm believer in book ending your day. There is so much research behind the benefits of this. Some of the books I have read and podcasts I have listened to are listed below if you want to learn more.  

Books:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear

• Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

Podcasts:

• The Mel Robbins Podcasts

• Transform

• The Huberman Lab

• The Skinny Confidential

So here is what I have found to be the most beneficial for me. 

1. First thing when I wake up (after I brush my teeth and let my dogs out), I come downstairs and start my day with either warm lemon water with celtic sea salt or a glass of Beauty Salt (from the Skinny Confidential) with either lemon, lime, or an orange wedge. Hydrating first thing in the morning with electrolytes helps support your liver function and hormone balance. This is a gentle detox that helps your body process excess estrogen and support a healthy cycle. I can be a bit of a busy body, so stack this with unloading my dishwasher so I feel like I am being productive. 

   2. Next, I eat a fertility focused breakfast. I am a creature of habit, so I can truly eat the same thing every single day. But I do try to mix it up depending on what phase of my cycle I am in. For more information on cycle-syncing, I suggest reading In the Flo or WomanCode by Alisa Vittti. I like to include healthy fats (like eggs or avocado), protein, and fiber to balance my blood sugar. A stable blood sugar helps keep your hormones in sync. I used to skip breakfast all together, and now I couldn’t imagine it. On busy days when I need to get out the door I enjoy a protein shake, it is honestly my favorite breakfast. 

   My Go-To Protein Shake:

- ⅓ scoop of Ritual pregnancy/postpartum vanilla protein powder

-½ cup frozen wild blueberries (antioxidants to support healthy egg health)

  -½ of a banana

-1 cup unsweetened almond milk 

-¼ tsp of cinnamon (helps stabilize blood sugar)

-1 spoonful of either flaxseed or chia seeds for omega-3s and fiber

My Go-To breakfast:

-2 soft boil eggs (rich in choline - which is important for egg quality and early fetal development)

-½ cup cottage cheese

-½ avocado for extra folate and fiber

-drizzle of hot honey or chili onion crunch oil from Trader Joe’s

3. Everyday I like to get at least 30 minutes of daily movement. In the cooler months, I start my morning with an outdoor walk and then do a strength training workout. Now that it is getting warmer, I usually do my strength training first and then walk on my treadmill. During windows of my menstrual cycle or when we are in an insemination window, I focus on more low impact workouts. This is often walking, yoga, and stretching. I love the FORM and the PVolve apps for guided workouts. I also am currently training with Coach Ariana with Liza Marie Fit for all my strength training workouts. Even 20 minutes a day makes a big difference. Daily movement helps increase blood flow to your reproductive organs, reduces stress, and supports regular ovulation. 

4. When it comes to supporting my fertility journey, I am intentional about what I am putting in my body. Ritual’s prenatal is one of the few supplements I fully trust. I take their essential prenatal, omega-3 DHA and Choline. Their supplements have an evidence based formulation, the prenatal includes 12 key nutrients for preconception, pregnancy, and beyond - which is backed by science not fluff. It also has methylated folate (not folic acid), which is its most bioavailable form, which is important if you have an MTHFR gene mutation. My favorite part of all of their supplements is that it is gentle on the stomach and tastes like citrus. They are vegan, non-GMO, and traceable, you can truly trace each nutrient to its source. Omega-3s are important for supporting brain health for both me and baby (to-be), balances inflammation, and improves egg quality. Choline is a must for fetal brain development and neural tube health. Taking quality supplements has helped me fill the nutritional gaps while also focusing on eating whole, real foods. Additionally, I also take  Her Package by Heart & Soil. This supplement is made from desiccated grass-fed ovary, uterus, fallopian tube, liver, and kidney organs. This supports women's hormonal balance, menstrual wellness, and fertility. It also provides naturally bioavailable peptides, growth factors, and nutrients like zinc, B-vitamins, and selenium. 

5. Lastly, I like to end my day with a screen-free self-care routine. Lowering stress is key for fertility. Creating a calming bedtime routine about an hour before bed helps support your natural melatonin and hormonal balance. This is what my bedtime routine looks like. Between 8:30 pm and 9pm I make myself a cup of either peppermint or sleepy time tea, then I go upstairs, turn down all the lights and light a non-toxic candle. I take a hot shower and use lavender scented body wash. I then do my non-toxic, pregnancy safe, skincare routine and brush my teeth. I am not always in the mood to read or meditate. But I always do one or the other, not always both, for about 20-30 minutes. If I eat a heavy dinner I will do a tummy massage and do some stretching. By then I am starting to feel tired. Sometimes I will put on the Harry Styles  bedtime story of the Calm app and I’m out in at most 15 minutes. My Oura ring says it typically takes me 7 minutes to fall asleep. 

By now, you can probably sense that each of these rituals reflects a deeper intention - I am treating my body as if I am already pregnant. This mindset shift is more than symbolic; it is a way to align my choices with the future I am trying to create in motherhood. In the book 9 Months Isn’t Enough, we are reminded that the environment we create before conception - nutritionally, emotionally, and physically - has a lasting impact on the health of our future child. I don’t garden, in fact, I have a brown thumb. But here is what I do know, preparing the soil before the seed is planted matters. Whether it is sipping lemon water at sunrise or winding down screen-free at night, these rituals are not just about fertility - they are about honoring this sacred season and supporting the life I hope to welcome one day.

Welcome to Womb & Wellness: The Beginning of My Holistic TTC Journey

If you would’ve told my 18 year old self that I would be writing a blog about fertility, pregnancy, and motherhood, I would’ve laughed in your face. I never saw myself being a mother. 10 years ago I moved back to my hometown in Arizona and met my, now, wife. And even then we both said we just wanted to be aunties, we spent so much time with our niece and we just loved the role we got to play in her life. After we got married and settled into life together, the idea of expanding our family seemed like the next best thing. 

Around that time one of my brothers had a baby. When she was about 6 months old he asked if we wanted to babysit, immediately I thought, this is so overwhelming, maybe this isn’t for me. So I leaned back and forth for a while on the idea. My wife was leaning heavily off, at that time she wasn’t ready to be a mom. About 5 years ago we finally found the same page, the baby fever was constant, and I was itching for something more out of my life. 

A friend of ours is a nurse practitioner, and her and her wife had successfully done an in-home insemination. I went to her and asked her how she did it, where they ordered from, and what were her tips for success. We tried 8 times in 2 years. Which brings me here. 

Every time I got a negative pregnancy test or started my period, I would find a new book, listen to a new podcast, and spend time doing endless research on what we could have done wrong and what we should do better next time. There have been many moments on this journey where I have asked myself and the powers that be if I am meant to be a mom. The problem I continued to find in reading and listening is that it is often targeted to those trying to get pregnant naturally in a heterosexual relationship. Which is not my experience. I would have friends and family members tell me that if we “stop trying” we will get pregnant, the stress is impacting my ability to conceive. Well, I can’t stop taking my body temperature, peeing on LH strips, tracking my cervical mucus, taking TTC supplements and eating fertility friendly meals, because I have to order our donor sperm at a certain time, and ensure it gets here timely and that we do the insemination on the right day. So just not trying anymore would be giving up on motherhood completely. 

After failure number 8, we decided to go to a fertility specialist to see if there were any reasons why I wasn’t getting pregnant. We had one appointment where I had a transvaginal ultrasound and got my bloodwork done. My ultrasound was perfect, no concerns with my uterus, really good egg quality (for someone in their 30’s), and my bloodwork was on that same note, perfect. I was frustrated. If everything is perfect, why am I not getting pregnant. 

Let’s step back for one second, before we tried for the first time I had gone to get a pap smear by my local OB/GYN to ensure I was good to start trying. I was given a green light. The doctor had told me to order IUI because it was “clean” sperm, and quite literally you just get the swimmers in a tube that looks like coffee straw. He said that it was safer for me, that it may take longer to get pregnant, but it was the better option. This is what we did 8 times. Unsuccessfully. 

Now fast forward, the fertility doctor told us that IUI is meant for in clinic use only, for home inseminations you should order ICI. Frustrated would be an understatement thinking about the thousands of dollars we had spent on donor sperm. So after some thought, we decided that we wanted to try ICI at home one  time to see if it worked, mostly because it was cheaper, and then we would try IUI or IVF. We have even considered adoption. Which has always been in the plan, have one, adopt one. And I have thought many times that maybe we just switch which one comes first. 

Last month we did the ICI in-home insemination with no luck. So now, we are in the middle of lots of testing to do our first IUI with the fertility doctor. I know I will become a mom when I am meant to be a mom, this entire journey is teaching me the patience I know I will need to be a parent. 

I have found that finding groups, books, and podcasts that speak about motherhood help me in the waiting periods. It makes me feel like I am working towards my goal. My wife probably gets tired of all the weird things that come up, eating organ meat is probably at the top, but she is a good sport and knows we are changing our lives in order to bring a healthy baby into this world.

This is the shortest picture of the last two years and what has brought me here. In posts to come you will find daily rituals, non-toxic swaps in your home and beauty products, affirmations in the hard times, emotional support, yummy fertility friendly meals, and all the prenatal and pregnancy safe supplements I have tried. Now you will find below book and podcast recommendations that I have learned a lot from and have truly enjoyed learning from. Recommendations I wish I would’ve known about from the start. 

Book Recommendations:

Awakening Fertility - The Essential Art of Preparing for Pregnancy - Heng Ou

9 month isn’t Enough - The Ultimate Pre-Pregnancy Checklist to Create a Baby-Ready Body and Build Generational Health - Alexandria DeVito 

The Zen Mama Guide to Finding Rhythm in Pregnancy, Birth, and Beyond - Sarah Wright Olsen and Theresa Palmer 

How We Heal - Alexandra Elle

Podcast Recommendations:

Mindful in Minutes - Kelly Smith

Perelel Lives - Alex Taylor

The Mother Daze with Sarah Wright Olsen and Theresa Palmer 

The Great Birth Rebellion - Dr. Melanie Jackson

Grounded Wellness by Primally Pure

Coming Soon..

Welcome to the Womb & Wisdom blog - a cozy little corner of the internet where hopeful hearts, holistic rituals, and the sacred journey to motherhood come together.

I’m Sydney, and I can’t wait to share everything I have learned (and am still learning) on this path toward bringing a healthy baby into the world - mind, body, and spirit first.

The first post is warming up like a cup of raspberry leaf tea - check back soon, or subscribe below so you don’t miss a thing.

Big Love,

Sydney