{"id":428,"date":"2013-05-28T17:21:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T17:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/28\/reversing-pof-and-getting-pregnant\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T21:45:35","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T21:45:35","slug":"reversing-pof-and-getting-pregnant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/28\/reversing-pof-and-getting-pregnant\/","title":{"rendered":"Reversing POF and Getting Pregnant!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/a><\/div>\n

Michelle Adams of Loving Heart Yoga<\/a> shares her amazing, inspiring fertility success story with us.<\/p>\n

When Michelle was 35, doctors diagnosed her with an assortment of ailments: hypothyroidism, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), interstitial cystitis (painful bladder syndrome), and, told on her birthday, Premature Ovarian Failure (POF). At the time Michelle had two daughters, ages 2 and 5, but, as she put it, \u201cThere was something in my heart that told me I wasn\u2019t done having kids.\u201d <\/p>\n

A doctor told her that the only way she could have another child is through adoption or surrogacy. \u201cI was told I wouldn\u2019t be able to carry a baby because of my hormones,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

At 35, Michelle had almost no eggs, and her FSH was over 100.<\/p>\n

She had to do something! And not only because she wanted another child. Besides the emotional pain of this shocking news, Michelle also suffered serious physical pain and discomfort from her ailments. \u201cI had to have a catheter placed in my urethra two to three times a week so that my urine didn\u2019t burn. It was awful!<\/p>\n

Michelle had already believed in a mind-body connection. In her 20\u2019s, she had read Andrew Weil\u2019s book, Spontaneous Healing<\/em>, and explored the subject further. <\/p>\n

\u201cI knew there was a possibility to heal, but I had to tap into it,\u201d she said. In response to her diagnoses, she started studying yoga, Tai Chi, and Chi gong. <\/p>\n

\u201cI went deep with the yoga because that\u2019s what resonated with me, and it had the tools for me to heal,\u201d she says. She started yoga therapy training at Loyola Marymount University and became certified to teach yoga to children. She also worked with U.C. Medical Center physicians as part of her training.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe body is meant to heal and finding the tools and ways to get the mind out of the way is what it\u2019s about,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Michelle became much cleaner with her diet. She had always eaten whole foods, but she began to eat more of it organic. She gave up alcohol and chocolate. She was still eating meat and gluten at the time, though. (She no longer does.)<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I stopped all those things, my body got lighter.\u201d <\/p>\n

With all her healing work, Michelle was able to get her stress response under control. By age 39, she no longer needed to be treated for interstitial cystitis and in fact had stopped all her medications except those to treat her thyroid condition. She was still on the Prometrium and Estrogen, though, and this gave her a kind of cycle: bleeding each month, but without ovulation. The way it works with your body, she explains, \u201cit\u2019s kind of like being on birth control.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, at 39 and a half, when she started feeling tired and her breasts were tender, she laughed at herself for buying a pregnancy test. \u201cI was just doing it for fun; I hadn\u2019t taken a pregnancy test for seven or eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine her shock when the test showed positive. Her doctor couldn\u2019t believe it and had her come in. \u201cMy doctor said this just doesn\u2019t happen. I\u2019m the only one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her daughters were 8 and 10 at the time, and she was pregnant with her son, Mathew. After learning she was pregnant, she went off the Estrogen and Prometrium, and her hormones improved overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe experience was the best blessing I could have asked for,\u201d Michelle says now. Through her work, not only did she achieve lasting peace, but it also gave her a sense of purpose and inspired her life\u2019s work: to share the healing benefits of yoga.<\/p>\n

At her fertility yoga practice in Southern California, 90% of the students in her \u201cHeartfully Breathing, Receiving and Conceiving\u201d program are pregnant in the first 12 weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny how things happen for a reason,\u201d Michelle says. <\/p>\n

Reflecting on why some of us have fertility issues, she adds, \u201cLessons don\u2019t come to us when we are handed all that we desire. For couples who are dealing with infertility, it is a chance to grow as a person and as a couple.<\/p>\n

\u201c…Yoga, in particular, gives students the tools to illicit the relaxation response which ultimately improves their chances for fertility.  But the tools we give them in class, carry them throughout their lives\u2026. It is all about being in an optimal space, both physically, emotionally and spiritually, the majority of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle also adds, \u201cYou can\u2019t get to that place without a super clean diet; you can\u2019t sit still in your body without it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the birth of her son, when her hormones dipped again, she says she had to boost the healthy fats in her diet, get off all sugars, eat organic, have just a few grains. \u201cIf I had done more [for this diet] sooner,\u201d she says, \u201cI would have been pregnant sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

What one piece of advice does she have for others struggling with fertility today?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never say never because you just don\u2019t know\u2026 There is always hope, there is always an option. You do the work\u2014the yoga, diet, and so on\u2014and then you release and let go. You leave it to a higher power. Because ultimately, it\u2019s not up to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle offers a phrase from yoga: \u201cIshvara-pranidhana,\u201d which means surrender to the divinity within you.<\/p>\n

To learn more about her yoga practice and philosophy, visit her website: www.lovingheartyoga.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michelle Adams of Loving Heart Yoga shares her amazing, inspiring fertility success story with us. When Michelle was 35, doctors diagnosed her with an assortment of ailments: hypothyroidism, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), interstitial cystitis (painful bladder syndrome), and, told on her birthday, Premature Ovarian Failure (POF). At the time Michelle had two daughters, ages 2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[158,89,157],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pof","category-success-story","category-yoga","entry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/900436166-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/900436166-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"baileycom","author_link":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/author\/baileycom\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":487,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions\/487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fertilekitchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}