Episode 48: Miscarriage and Infertility with Karla Levit

Karla Levit

Intro: 

Welcome to the "Wellness in Every Season" podcast, where we embark on a transformative journey towards achieving total wellness, even in the midst of overwhelming moments. I'm your host, Autumn Carter, and I'm thrilled to have you here.

This podcast is a sanctuary for all mothers out there, and we extend a warm invitation to anyone seeking guidance and inspiration. We believe in fostering an inclusive community where we learn and grow together, supporting each other during life's challenging transitions.

Join us as we step out of survival mode and discover the path to thriving, embracing wellness in every season of motherhood. From sleepless nights to new beginnings, we'll explore practical strategies, share heartfelt stories, and uncover the transformative power of self-care and self-love.

Together, we'll unlock the wisdom, strength, and resilience within ourselves, reminding one another that we're never alone on this beautiful, yet demanding, journey. It's time to prioritize your well-being and reclaim your joy, one season at a time.

[Music]

Autumn Carter: Hello, welcome to wellness in every season. Today I have with me Karla Levit and she is going to be talking with us about pregnancy, miscarriage, PTSD, everything that happens with these child bearing years that can go wrong and everything in between and so much more. So please continue listening to hear what she has to say and I will let her further introduce herself.

Karla Levit: Hi thank you for having me and thanks for providing a space for us to talk about this because I know that a lot of us suffer in silence a bit of a taboo subject. So thank you for providing the space for us. So my name is Karla Levit. I am a mom of two rainbow babies. And I spent 20 years of my life in finance working on Wall Street and.

Karla Levit: About a year ago, I took a leap of faith to follow my soul's path, and I became a certified health and wellness coach with a focus on pregnancy. And the reason why I think I'm so passionate about this is because I've lived through this life for the past decade or so. My, path to motherhood wasn't the traditional one that you would think I met my husband, who I love dearly.

Karla Levit: We got married and we wanted to start a family and there was nothing more that I wanted than to be a mom. I was never really sure about what I wanted to do, but being a mom, 100 percent knew that. And our first pregnancy ended tragically. Our daughter, Paloma, was born still at 23 weeks.

Karla Levit: And, it was tragic. It was painful and We're still dealing with the repercussions of it nine years later my story has a happy ending. And I realized that Some people don't have that happy ending I'm grateful that I have my two living children, but I really want to use this work, use this time to help women process the trauma and break the silence of pregnancy loss and stillborn.

Karla Levit: And as you mentioned, PTSD, which is what I suffer through as well, even nine years later.

Autumn Carter: It's something that is super common and still not talked about enough. For me, it's hard for me to talk about it was, it's a lot easier now, because it was so painful. It was easier just to ignore it and pretend it wasn't there, but it's Something that does need to be discussed when we are ready for it, because we'll find such a connection.

Autumn Carter: I feel like it's like I'm discovering with breast cancer. Breast cancer is super common, right? And if I mention it, other people are like, I know this person, I know this person. It's the same thing with fertility issues. I had fertility issues for my first two and then I had, surprise, third pregnancy, not pregnancy, third child, fifth pregnancy, anyway.

Autumn Carter: And then the one after that, to even out my numbers, took just like three months of trying. It was so different from the two years of trying that it took with my other one and two years with My other child and two miscarriages and we've been married for five years before we had our first child And it sounds like you were married for a while.

Karla Levit: Actually we it was like our honeymoon baby our first pregnancy So we were so sweet.

Karla Levit: We knew we wanted to have a family but it happened so quickly and then You know, at 23 weeks, it ended so tragically. So and we went on. I rode this infertility roller coaster for close to a decade. We struggled with conceiving after we lost our daughter. Two years later, we were able to conceive our daughter, Isabella.

Karla Levit: She's seven years old now. And then we wanted to grow our family and we continued to struggle. We had two more early term miscarriages And so my OB, who we're bonded for life, I love him dearly, I respect him, he, but he was, I cannot see you suffer through any more pain. IVF was the shiny solution and it just, it didn't work for us it should have worked because everything was right I had plenty of eggs retrieved, we had genetically tested embryos, but it didn't work and yeah.

Karla Levit: My husband and I made the very difficult decision not knowing this could be the end of the road for us. We wanted to grow our family, but we just knew we could not stretch ourselves emotionally, mentally, physically, financially anymore and the doctors too the IVF industry is a billion dollar industry,

Karla Levit: I was at one of the best clinics in the country, and it just didn't work and I always intuitively knew that it wasn't going to work for me. And I think when the RE kind of gave us this No further options gave up us, gave up on us in a way is when I stood up for myself, when I took my power back in a way, and when my true healing started, I think, because for a very long time, I was carrying around a lot of guilt, a lot of shame, I felt that something was wrong with me, that my body had let me down, that my body had let my husband down, that we had suffered through so much pain,

Karla Levit: It's not that I didn't love myself, but I didn't trust my body. I didn't trust myself. And so when there were no more options for me, I learned again, how to trust my body, how to love my body. And that took a lot of work. That took a lot of healing. There's losing our daughter so tragically, was so painful.

Karla Levit: And it's very hard to deal with because society doesn't deal with. Death very well it's a very primal thing to, lose children and it goes against the natural order of life and there's a lot of silence around it because It's a very scary thing God forbid it happens to you, but then when it does happen to you, there's not much support there to guide you and help you.

Karla Levit: I felt so alone after this happened and there was a lot of people around me to support me and love me, but not in the way that I truly needed. I felt very alone because there was a lot of silence surrounding this and so much work to be done. a huge gap between healing and medicine and this is something that I've discussed with my OB as well.

Karla Levit: There just has to be more support there for women, for men for partners, for families in general to heal to keep moving forward.

Autumn Carter: Tell me more about the healing that you did and the work that you did to learn to trust your body again.

Karla Levit: There were decisions that were made unknowingly. Things I couldn't control when we lost our daughter things that happened in the hospital. It all happened. So so quickly had a central abruption. So a lot of decisions had to be made quickly in order to save my life and so I feel like. I didn't really have the proper tools to process anything or I didn't really have the information. I felt like a lot of things were kept from me. So I felt like I wasn't able to hold her for example I carry that with me as well. That was very traumatic for me.

Karla Levit: So I had to forgive myself of that because I hold her memory every day and her siblings now know her name, know her birthday. We keep her memory alive and I think that I always felt that we were going to forget her and so when I went back to do the work A lot of really interesting things happened I felt like the day that she died, a part of me died with her, but another part of me opened up and I realized that even though she wasn't here in the physical form, there are many ways to connect with her signs interesting things.

Karla Levit: Some people might say they're weird, some might say they're scary, but anytime I've really. Needed something from her and answer. She's always given that to me. She came to me in a dream that evening as well. And she told me everything was going to be okay, mommy. And I can hear that all the time in my head whenever I need comforting words, I think about that.

Karla Levit: I remember that. And I know that she's here guiding me in this work because this whole work becoming a coach, trying to help women process their trauma. To go on and continue on their journey to have Children. It's a leap of faith for me. This is all of this is very much out of my comfort zone.

Karla Levit: Even having discussion with you. It's it's a it's an act of vulnerability. I am telling you my darkest secrets, things I've kept him from. My closest family and here I am speaking with you tonight so that maybe someone out there hearing my words will feel less alone will feel supported will feel understood will hear those two important words me too.

Karla Levit: I know what that feels like. I'm so sorry that you've had to go through this but the work that I've done I had to in order to work through the trauma and the pain I had to feel it, and I had to sit with it. And I think a lot of yoga and breath work helped me with that. A lot of meditation meditation is, it's very difficult.

Karla Levit: I think it's very difficult for anyone, even in people who have been meditating for years and years, we'll say it's probably one of the hardest things to do to sit with your thoughts, to sit with your emotions, to sit with whatever it is that you're feeling and Not judge them, allow them and surrender to them in a way

Karla Levit: and like I mentioned to you, I, even though our IVF journey was over, my journey to try and conceive another child was not over. And so coupled with meditation, I did a lot of visualizations. I had mantras I think Subconsciously I was blocking my own blessings in a way because in my mind, I would say, okay, we're going to go in for this next IVF transfer.

Karla Levit: I'm not going to get my hopes up because maybe it's not going to work out or probably won't work out because this is what always happens. Like everything has to be so hard for me. Nothing ever comes easy. Everything that I truly want. It never comes so these were the programs I had in my mind, and this is how I had subconsciously my body was already protecting itself, right?

Karla Levit: And my body was in fight or flight my body was always going to protect itself and stress hormones are in direct conflict with the hormones needed to produce a pregnancy. So I never understood that. So understanding just that. I think was very important. But also, I had a friend of mine who I worked with in finance and she had left and started had opened up her own spin cycle and she had also studied yoga and had traveled all over the world and she said, okay, let's come up with a mantra.

Karla Levit: And I said, okay, my baby is coming. And she said, no reframe. Your baby is here. And that was really important for me because I began to think of it differently and I began to allow myself through these visualizations to let my mind wander, like what was my vision of the future? What did I truly want in my depths of my soul?

Karla Levit: I wanted another child. And so I allowed myself to picture it. What would this baby look like? What would my belly look like rubbing my belly? What would I want to eat? What would my baby look like? And I had the same visions come over and over. And it was always a boy, like it would come to my mind a boy and I didn't stop it or force it.

Karla Levit: I would just let it. And it was always a vision of a little baby boy in that pre toddler stage when they're just learning how to walk and they're little wobbly. And he was always walking through a big field and I would always have the same vision. And then it would be. Fast forwarding to when he was grown and he was getting married and we were walking down the aisle and instead of clenching and saying no don't think that because then it won't happen.

Karla Levit: No, I did the exact opposite. I began to let myself feel those emotions of what it would feel like I felt joy. I felt grateful. I felt excitement. And this is what I began to do, play these little mental movies. And it's so funny that. Maybe four or five months after we stopped IVF, I got pregnant naturally and we have a son.

Karla Levit: And it's even crazier that we moved out to the suburbs and we have a huge backyard. And a couple of months ago, I realized that vision that I had we have a huge backyard and he's doing that wobbling thing where you think he's going to fall over.

Karla Levit: And I had a moment of Oh my God, this work, like this happened, this is real and I have to credit myself yes, Karla you are powerful. Yes, Karla, you have this intuition. Yes, you were able to connect your mind, your body, and your soul. And yes, you were able to call this baby down and it's just so powerful.

Karla Levit: And I think that a lot of women want to address their fertility issues as it's only being something medical oh, okay, my FSH or my AMH or my hormones are off or I have endo or I have PCOS or, and those are all real problems. It's absolutely that that your doctors can prescribe medicine or even I believe more in a holistic route, but your mind.

Karla Levit: is, I think, almost equally as important if not more, really. Because your mind is so powerful. And I think we hold back for fear, I know I don't necessarily like to describe myself as a type A personality, but I felt like I could control the situation, and clearly I couldn't.

Karla Levit: I couldn't control what was going to happen. I could only surrender to it. I could do what I needed to do. Do my part. Wholeheartedly. And then I had to let the universe, or God, or whatever it is that you believe, do the rest and believe that I would be supported. And that my greater good, would be served.

Karla Levit: Absolutely.

Autumn Carter: I thought about the power of affirmations when you were talking. My baby is here instead of my baby is coming. That is such a shift right there. And then, there's so much power in positive thinking and there's so many times where when modern medicine can't figure out what's wrong with you, they're like, Oh it's just in your head.

Autumn Carter: People are like it's not in my head. Maybe part of it is. Maybe you should think of it that way and think about ways that you can influence that because we are spiritual beings. And we have this whole spiritual side that so many of us repress, right? And we don't fully take into account, we have religion, and I'm a religious person, but there's a spiritual side too, and , it's like a circle, and we need to fill all of it, not just the little pieces of it, right?

Autumn Carter: And, We are so much stronger and more capable, I'm trying not to quote movies here, than we think we are. And if we believe that something's not going to work, we will find a way to have it not work. If we believe that something is going to work, we find a way to make it work. And then I thought about how much we store emotions in our body.

Autumn Carter: And I was thinking that when you had your stillbirth, how many emotions you probably trapped right around All of this area where all of the birthing organs are, which made it a lot harder for subsequent pregnancies.

Autumn Carter: And taking that time to really dig in and do the emotional and the spiritual work. Look where you're at. Yeah. And that's amazing that you then had that realization, wait, this is my son and this is our backyard. That was just so beautiful.

Karla Levit: Yeah. I have it on video. Cause I was taking a video of him and then I was like, oh my God this was my vision.

Karla Levit: This was my vision come to life. We are so powerful. And I think. Maybe even as women, we're taught to dim our light in a way and not feel so powerful because powerful can come off as, I don't know, bossy or aggressive or all those negative words or characterizations, but going back to what you said, yes, there was a lot of stored trauma and That is actually your second chakra.

Karla Levit: Your second chakra is where you store trauma and guilt. And that is where your uterus is. When all of that energy is stuck, we're all energetic beings, right? So I did a lot of breathwork, specific for that area, like a lot of visualizing moving energy in that area.

Karla Levit: Then working on pulling it out and breathing it out but it was just simple meditation and it wasn't like I was doing anything specifically I would listen to random meditations on insight timer, which I think is great. It's free. I highly recommend it. They have so many wonderful free meditations on there.

Karla Levit: My children actually listen to meditations at night too. So we've been able to get our Children to have healthier sleeping habits as well through meditation.

Karla Levit: When I was going through all my struggles as well. I would ask my. Reproductive endocrinologist, my RE questions, I felt in a way that I was annoying him maybe it's a sense that when you're in that position, you want to be the perfect patient you want to ask questions, but not too many questions because you don't want to annoy them because they're very busy and they have another patient coming in right after you and you don't want to seem desperate, even if you are feeling desperate in that moment because you've literally pinned your hopes on thousands and thousands of dollars and hopes and dreams of a family on this process and I think that's to where, not where we go wrong, but where we need to tune in more to our intuition.

Karla Levit: As I mentioned yeah. In the beginning of our discussion, I intuitively knew that it wasn't going to work. I felt like it wasn't going to work. And I felt like I didn't have to do this. But I did because I trusted my doctors and I listened to my doctors. But doctors aren't all knowing. Doctors aren't God.

Karla Levit: Doctors don't really dive into your case so specifically. They have so many patients, right? And so I think it's. It's important for women to be their own best advocates in this position as well and to not feel like you're bothering your doctor or asking too many questions. This is your body. This is your life.

Karla Levit: This is your family. This is your future.

Autumn Carter: I think we know our bodies best, right? They don't know our bodies. We know our bodies. We know when something doesn't feel right.

Karla Levit: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that we have to. We have to trust more in ourselves, and we have to trust more in our intuition I think that once our analytical mind starts kicking in, which it does very young in age, we lose that but there's something very powerful of that.

Karla Levit: And I think that, at 41 was like a full circle for me. I wasn't going to stop until I was ready to stop and I wasn't going to let any diagnosis or what any doctor tell me that there was no other option for me until I came to a point where I said there's no more option for us, or we should stop trying or whatever it is.

Karla Levit: And it really it's. It's such a testament to this type of work, this mindset that it's a hope is such a powerful thing when you really hope and believe in hope, I think so many things are possible, really, in all different places in our life. But speaking right now of fertility or infertility, I think if you can keep hope alive, and I think that whatever it is that you really want and the life that you've always dreamed of, it can be yours.

Autumn Carter: Absolutely. Sounds like you need to show up and do the work though. You need to do the work to heal yourself if you are having issues, which for me, it's realizing my fertility issues came from past trauma and we all have trauma and we all store trauma in our bodies. And we all need to do the work to release that and there are so many different methodologies for releasing stored trauma.

Autumn Carter: I can do another podcast episode on that alone for any listeners out there, but taking the time to listen to yourself and to trust yourself is very important. It sounds like that was very pivotal for you in your journey.

Karla Levit: Yeah. Absolutely. I needed to reclaim my power, reclaim trust in myself and in my body.

Karla Levit: That, that took work it's a very difficult thing to, to do that work. It's painful. I think a lot of us are taught very young to not only suppress it, but not talk about it, not sit with it not feel it just to maybe push it aside or. Stuff it down. Or there's no one really to help you work through it or recognize it really.

Karla Levit: And it's a very difficult thing. It's it takes courage. It really does. But I think that when you can move through that and get to the other side, so many beautiful things can happen. My daughter has certainly brought her two siblings I think the pain that I've gone through has given me a new purpose in my life at 42 years old that, of course, I would have wanted.

Karla Levit: My daughter's here with us she would be nine years old and to even say that kind of chokes me up a little bit because she's not here. But I know that even holding her for such a short time, I would never take that back. She has taught me so many things. And she was only here for such a short time and I think about what life would have been like if she was here.

Karla Levit: And. Every year for her birthday, we, wherever we are, throw flowers into whatever body of water. First it was the Hudson River for a long time. Now we're out in the suburbs and we have this beautiful little stream in our backyard. And we went down on March 19th. And I went with our daughter, Isabella, because Leo, he's too young to go down, but he knows who she is.

Karla Levit: And we threw flowers for her. My daughter Isabella, the first time she spoke to her and she sent her a beautiful little message and I think that death is so scary, dealing with the pain of that, but if you give it its space and you have the courage to, I don't know, maybe to reframe it even if, like I said, even if she's not here in the physical, I still feel her very much around me and guiding me and supporting me.

Karla Levit: And I think that's a beautiful thing too but everybody's healing is very different like our daughter, she passed away nine years ago it's still It's still a scar that's easily opened it's still very raw, I don't think that will ever change but I do think there's a beauty in what she's taught me and I do think there's a lot of people who could use a helping hand through this I remember for a very long time feeling very low and I certainly think that there's no reason for people to suffer in silence.

Karla Levit: There's no reason for it. There's so many women like we discussed, one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage. One in eight couples suffer through infertility. So many people will suffer through PTSD. I have on my Instagram, my sister my younger sister and I are very close.

Karla Levit: She went to Morocco recently. And we couldn't find her. She was at a writing retreat. She's a writer. And she had told me she had a dream, a scary dream the night before. And we had been speaking through voice notes. And so she would check in with me every day. And I hadn't heard from her that day in her.

Karla Levit: Her boyfriend sent me a message like, I hadn't heard from your sister, and I immediately began to panic. I thought the worst. Because Underneath the healing there's still the trauma and this healing is a daily practice it's something that I work on constantly because something so traumatic happened, I feel like something else traumatic is going to happen so I have to work on that every day.

Karla Levit: To say, no, my past is not my present and my present is not my future we are okay and she was just fine. She just had spotty internet service that's how your brain can spiral when you've had trauma and you're still working on it I think everyone's healing process is it's different and it ebbs and flows and sometimes it hits you like a tidal wave and other times It's, manageable but I certainly feel like it's definitely a daily practice certainly.

Autumn Carter: I know that fertility, going through the fertility journey can tear couples apart. What held you guys together?

Karla Levit: Interesting question.

Autumn Carter: Sorry, I went a little deep there.

Karla Levit: No, that's great. That's great. I love deep. I think that, you know what they said it's funny that you brought that up because I remember.

Karla Levit: When we lost our daughter, someone said this to me in a very kind of I don't know, it just hit me very odd that they said don't let this Break you two apart. This person said to me and I was, and I just was like, so struck by that. Is that what you're telling me right now? I need to be concerned about my partner in this moment but absolutely grief can certainly do that.

Karla Levit: And I think that my husband and I have really learned how to communicate with one another and support one another. There were times Where I would be broken ball of mess and he would come home and literally pick me off the ground and there were times where he broke down and I would feel like, okay, now it's my time to step up and support him because he needs support as well.

Karla Levit: We really had a very good. support system for one another. We balance each other. We communicate with one another. He wrote this beautiful poem for her. He was there with me every step of the way and it only brought us closer and it only helps us to appreciate more what we have now, the family that we've built, the challenges that we face together, but always together there wasn't a decision that was made where both of us weren't in agreement, where both of us hadn't spoken about it, where both of us didn't feel loved and supported by one another I think that was very important.

Autumn Carter: How did you keep from becoming obsessive over fertility? It sounds like you were still making sure you had quality of life in other areas. I think that's also part of what breaks them apart is they become obsessive over IVF and they lose sight of everything else.

Karla Levit: Yeah, absolutely. I see on certain groups that I'm on that a lot of the emotional labor and the physical labor of IVF in particular is put on the woman, right? And I think my husband was awesome in the fact that he stepped in and he was like the nurse.

Karla Levit: I'm definitely afraid of needles. So me doing this. Two rounds was like, I would have never imagined but he went with me when they went through all the training, he did all the preparations of the medications, he gave me all the injections, like he was on top of it with me and he was there with me every step of the way.

Karla Levit: And I don't think I would have gone through it without him I think that was very important because you're going through so much emotionally, mentally, physically, the hormones you're just you're getting just shot up with tons of hormones. Can you imagine?

Karla Levit: I don't know. Have you been through IVF?

Autumn Carter: No, but I've been through the birth control and then the first part of pregnancy and the postpartum. I can't imagine going through that amount of hormones and my body's very sensitive to that stuff. I can tell the moment I'm pregnant. No, thank you.

Autumn Carter: I can't imagine what you went through with that.

Karla Levit: Yeah, and then to have it not work. Do you know what I mean? Go through all of that and then have it not work? Devastating. Absolutely devastating. I hate to say like all things happen for a reason, but I certainly think that there are lessons that we all have to learn in life, and I certainly don't think this trauma or whatever the challenges that we had to go through made me stronger, but it made me a different person and I think I'm a better person for it. I don't regret any of it and like I said I feel so lucky and grateful that we do have a happy ending we have our family complete with our dog, and I'm just so grateful, I'm really grateful.

Autumn Carter: I'm a dog lover too, so I smile at that. What would you tell your past self going through this?

Karla Levit: I would tell myself that it would all be worth it in the end. That you would find your way home back to yourself. That you're way more powerful than you could have ever imagined. That doctors aren't the be all that you will have the life that you are worthy of having in the life that you've always dreamed of, but you have to surrender to it.

Karla Levit: I used to surf when I was younger and didn't have kids and it was so much fun. And I've always been into yoga and surrendering. They say that a lot in yoga practice. And I was like what the hell does that mean?

Karla Levit: I'm like trying to like, analytically figure it out. I asked my a friend of mine and she said, surrender to me means let go or be dragged. And finally, clicked in my mind. In so many different ways in your life she was struggling with her yoga studio having to shut down during the pandemic.

Karla Levit: I was struggling with trying to force IVF to work and it wasn't going to work for me. I think it was meant to learn that and meant to find my way back to my own body and to my own self and to do the healing and do the work to bring me to this place of. To bring me to my new purpose, really, to take me down this path, to help other women, to feel, help women feel safe and heard, and to provide a safe space for us to talk about the things that most people don't want to talk about to break the silence, to give our pain a voice, so that we can heal collectively, really.

Karla Levit: Yeah, I think it's all about healing and supporting one another and I have to say, I've been talking about IVF very negatively and I know so many people that it's worked for. And I think that's fantastic. But I will say the one thing that I picked up from IVF, it was during the pandemic was the support group.

Karla Levit: I will never forget the women in the support group. It was amazing because the clinics would only allow you to do it in person. And then during the pandemic, of course everybody was stuck at home. So we did it on zoom and it was the most amazing, supportive thing. I didn't know I needed that. I desperately need it.

Karla Levit: I will remember these women forever. I was rooting for them. I was emotionally invested in their stories. There was a sharing of information, a sharing of stories. There was tears. There was celebrations. There was vulnerability. There was so much good stuff there that I think that we need more of.

Karla Levit: So that is Another goal of mine, to recreate that feeling of community that's so desperately needed.

Autumn Carter: I was wondering if that's what you were envisioning with your practice is having that kind of community group coaching.

Autumn Carter: That's beautiful.

Karla Levit: Absolutely. I'm doing one on one coaching. The group community is apparently that is the most important thing. Nothing helps me more to heal than to be surrounded by people who were struggling with exactly what I was struggling with.

Karla Levit: I went on a retreat and it was not a retreat for anything specific. It was a yoga retreat that my best friend took me to because I was suffering and she didn't know what to do to help me. It was amazing. It was so healing. So I'm really wanting to recreate that as well. To have These circles of healing is what I envision and also being out in nature doing yoga, maybe some surfing too. So that's what I'm working on in 2024, we got a lot of things we're cooking up.

Autumn Carter: Amazing. Tell me about your ideal client. Fertility issues. What else?

Karla Levit: There's a lot of fertility coaches out there that really specialize in helping you get pregnant. But like I said to you, I feel like the mental part, the mindset part is just as important.

Karla Levit: I don't really see many people speaking of that in the fertility space. So my ideal client would be someone who has suffered a miscarriage or is suffering through infertility. Or stillborn pregnancy loss and is still desperately wanting to conceive a child. I think it takes a special amount of courage to step out on that ledge and jump into the unknown again.

Karla Levit: You've felt the pain of losing a child and to gather up the courage again to step out onto ledge again and maybe feel that pain again. That's my ideal client. I want to be that hand for you to hold to support you in your journey to conceiving your rainbow baby.

Autumn Carter: I wish I knew about this when I was pregnant with my third kid. The one that was a surprise because there were so many times I was telling my husband, I don't know if I can handle another miscarriage. Yeah. We thought we were done with two children because I had postpartum depression. I wasn't mentally prepared to be pregnant again, especially that close together. They are 20 months apart.

Karla Levit: Oh my god. Wow. They're Irish twins!

Autumn Carter: The other one is 22 months apart. And it's such a relief to close that chapter because You have to surrender so much to getting pregnant, to everything that can happen with pregnancy.

Autumn Carter: Your body does all kinds of crazy things during pregnancy. It's doing, hopefully, the right things, but it doesn't feel right. And the worse you feel, the better things are going, apparently. That sounds counterintuitive. You don't know when you're going to give birth, when you're going to go into labor, there's so much you have to surrender to.

Autumn Carter: And I am a huge planner, so it's very stressful for me. And the times where all of a sudden you're hungry and you're like, but I just ate, I just left the house. What am I going to do? And you have to pack all the snacks for yourself. Like you're a toddler.

Autumn Carter: And there's so much surrender that needs to happen. So I really love that you talked about that. And then there's another part that I want to touch on from way in the beginning that you talked about us having so much power, because our bodies are the ones housing this fetus and giving life. The male gives so little compared to how much we give and we provide, and it shows how much nurturing and creative energy we naturally have and how much we should be tapping into those things.

Autumn Carter: Do you want to tell us any more about your programs and then how to find you if we would like to follow your work?

Karla Levit: LiKe I said, we have a lot of things coming in 2024, but you can follow me. It's Karla, K A R L A dot Leavitt. There's my Instagram where I've been pouring my heart out being very vulnerable, which is very new to me. I've shared some things I share my story and some other things about my family and I'm going to start putting stuff out about my program specifically, but right now we do one on one coaching.

Karla Levit: If you're interested, you can send me a private message or a dm. I'm working on putting together my support group on Facebook. It's actually You Are Not Alone. It has my name there too. So if you search on Facebook, you can find me there. And then there'll be more information about my online course and a retreat coming in 2024 too.

Karla Levit: Mostly Instagram is where you should find me.

It was an absolute pleasure having Karla on the show today. Her vulnerability, passion, and insights truly touched us all. For everyone wanting to stay connected with Karla and follow her inspiring journey, please make sure to follow her on her platforms. She continuously shares valuable content and offerings that are not to be missed. As we wrap up this episode, I'm already excited for next week's conversation. We'll be diving into the art of going with the flow as a mom, embracing mindfulness, and appreciating the things in life we've longed for and now have. It's going to be a deeply enriching episode, offering perspectives and practices that can transform our daily lives. Join us as we explore these heartfelt themes, tailored especially for moms looking to find balance and joy in their journey. Until then, keep nurturing your heart and the hearts of those you love. See you next week!

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Outro: 

Thank you for joining us on this week's refreshing wellness discussion. I'm Autumn Carter, your guide through the seasons of motherhood, and I hope you found inspiration and valuable insights during our time together.

If you resonate with the topics we explored today and want to continue your wellness journey, I invite you to follow me on Instagram at Moms Wellness in Every Season. There, you'll discover a wealth of ongoing wellness tips specifically curated for moms like you.

Sharing our podcast with others is an act of caring, and I invite you to spread the word by sharing, subscribing, and leaving a review wherever you enjoy your podcasts. Your support is deeply valuable to us and enables us to reach more mothers who are seeking transformation and empowerment.

If you have a specific topic you'd like us to cover in more detail or if you're interested in a free coaching consultation, don't hesitate to reach out. You can send me a direct message on Instagram or visit my website, wellnessineveryseason.com, to send an email. I'm here to support you on your wellness journey.

Thank you again for being a part of our vibrant community. I'm genuinely excited to connect with you, hear your stories, and continue this important discussion in the weeks to come.

Until next time, remember to prioritize your well-being, embrace every season with grace, and always strive for wellness in every aspect of your motherhood journey. Take care, and I can't wait to catch up with you soon.

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