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And Babies Make Four – An Inspiring Pregnancy Story from a Beli Fan

We’re fortunate to get so many wonderful messages and updates from our Beli community. Recently, someone reached out to share the following: “I am so grateful for your product. I have such peace of mind knowing Beli obviously helped me get pregnant and will also help throughout the pregnancy journey as well to make sure the little one is as healthy as can be.”

We love these stories, and we love knowing that Beli has helped another couple on their journey to parenthood. We reached out to Jamie* to hear more about her story, and we’re so appreciative that she opened up about the highs and lows of her fertility journey and experience. This is why we do what we do!

Jamie is a planner. It’s how she’s been her whole life, and when it came time to start a family, she did what she’s always done — she started planning. “I thought I would be married with kids by the time I was 26, 27,” she says, and you know what they say about the best-laid plans. She tied the knot in late 2020 before she turned 28 and the happy couple was open to kids right away. But the months went by with no luck. “We really actively started trying around September 2021, when just being ‘open’ to the idea wasn’t doing much,” she says.

First, the Research Phase

For years, Jamie had suspected that she might find it challenging to conceive. Call it a hunch — in addition to her self-described “crazy cycles,” a family history of likewise crazy cycles, and what her OB/GYN dubbed a “little bit of PCOS,” Jamie also has a thyroid condition. Maybe that’s what motivated her to do her homework, or maybe it’s a character trait. “Someone might spend five minutes looking into something, and I’m the one spending six hours,” she laughs. Either way, by late October of 2021, she had channeled her clinical research experience — it’s her profession, after all — and was current on all things fertility, from ovulation testing kits to fertility monitoring to prenatal vitamins not just for her, but for her husband too.

“It was probably in November of 2021 that I realized nobody had told me I should have started prenatal vitamins months before we even started trying,” she says. “You don’t really get education on the specifics of women’s health, even though we kind of go through all these biology classes, and you see your OBGYN. The conversation that should help prepare you for when you want to have kids is never really there until you’re suddenly having trouble trying to get pregnant.”

Then, A Deep Dive into Prenatals – And Drugstore Versions Weren’t Cutting It

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Once she realized the huge role prenatal vitamins play in the preconception stage, Jamie began researching her options. “The first thing I did was go to the drugstore — this is just me being me — and I was looking at the different brands and seeing what was on the label and trying to compare. I was really surprised at how different they were — none of them were consistent. That was my first clue that there was a big range out there, especially since what’s at the drugstore is usually the bare minimum.” Of course, Jamie was also spending hours online, researching recommendations for specific nutrients and quantities. She took a chance on a popular prenatal. “I mean, it smells amazing and I know people love it because it looks really nice and it feels clean, and the company is transparent about the ingredients,” she says.

But the more she researched, the more concerns she had that it wasn’t really as great as that compelling marketing copy made it seem. “One of their claims is that they don’t put more than what they feel your body absolutely needs. But just because they say I don’t need it doesn’t make it true.” It was particularly true for Jamie, since she doesn’t absorb vitamin D well and needs to take a pretty significant amount just to maintain normal levels. “You also need to take into account the recommendation. Your body is going to absorb whatever it absorbs according to its own composition, but you don’t want the bare minimum because if you aren’t absorbing it, you’ll end up with less than what you need.”

But Where’s the Choline?

There was another red flag. The prenatal had a nominal amount of choline, and the company promoted a separate protein powder containing this key nutrient — something Jamie didn’t want to take. So she went back to researching ingredients, and that’s when she found Beli. It ticked all the boxes, from its vegan formulation — Jamie was born and raised vegetarian — to the list of clean, recommended ingredients and company transparency.

“The biggest thing to me was that there was very little out there for men. When I realized that Beli had both women’s and men’s prenatal vitamins, I was sold. If a company can do that and understand that it takes not just the woman but also the man to successfully conceive, I want to support them and use their products.”

The more she verified the ingredients in Beli’s prenatals, the more excited she became. “As I was looking into it, I could tell it was very wholesome, just by looking at the ingredients, looking at the dosages, looking up the recommendations,” she says. “That was kind of my journey to deciding that Beli was a better fit than the other ones I’d come across. It means a lot when a company just off the bat realizes that it really does take two people to conceive, and it’s not just one person who can be the problem.”

By the time Jamie saw her OBGYN in December of 2021, she was on a mission. Armed with her recent research, she had no problem advocating for herself, requesting an ultrasound, bloodwork, and a semen analysis for her husband. It all looked normal, and her OB advised her just to keep trying. Notably, the OB told Jamie she couldn’t do much for her because she was ovulating, albeit irregularly. “My cycle would be 30 days, 45 days, 55 days, and I just remember thinking, is that how it’s supposed to be?”

That’s when Jamie decided to take things a step further. “In January, that’s when I was like, obviously me advocating for myself is helpful, but I’m not where I want to be. The standard advice is to wait 12 months, but if you don’t have a normal cycle, I don’t see why there’s no extra assistance. There doesn’t have to be intervention, but there could be guidance on what else can be done to help track your cycle better and time things better. Those resources aren’t available through normal healthcare avenues.”

In addition to fertility monitoring kits and his-and-hers prenatals, Jamie and her husband were using LH tests. She had also scheduled a visit with her endocrinologist, an expert she saw for her hypothyroidism. After a little medication adjustment, Jamie began going in for bloodwork every time she ovulated. She started taking a small dose of metformin under the guidance of her endocrinologist and gave herself three months to see how well it was working. “Sure enough, my cycle still wasn’t regular, but I noticed that when I was ovulating, my LH was much higher than any of the other cycles I had tracked before. So I knew something was working, and all I had really changed was adding the Beli vitamins.”

A New Plan

But she still wasn’t pregnant, which meant changing the game plan. “If I wasn’t pregnant by the end of April, the plan was to go to a fertility clinic.” That dovetailed with her most recent visit to the OB. “She had kind of just looked at my bloodwork and the semen analysis, and told us we might want a little help from the clinic,” Jamie remembers. “ It was a total 360 from what I’d heard from her in December.

After the introductions and preliminary appointments, Jamie was waiting for her period to begin so she could go in for the multitude of tests to come. The couple had a trip planned to Cancun, and Jamie woke up one morning just a few days before their flight out — it was day 14 — and decided to take a pregnancy test. The timing is significant — it was one of the ground rules she had laid out for herself. “Just to not drive myself crazy, I never tested until at least day 12,” she says. "And then as I got months and months in, I pushed it out to day 14. I think so much of the mental stress comes from testing before there’s even a high likelihood that you’re going to see something.”

And Then…

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“I was so shocked because I had seen so many negatives by that point. I was convinced — and so was the fertility clinic! — that I’d need ovulation induction assistance because my cycles were so crazy and I have a family history of crazy cycles and all of this stuff.”

Jamie was shocked enough to rummage through the cabinets to find all the pregnancy tests she had. Six tests later, she was coming around to the possibility that she was indeed pregnant and shaking her husband awake to share the news. “I ran over to him and was like, I think my test is positive. Actually, all six are positive. He was in total shock too.

Immediately, she called the fertility clinic, and the staff there was likewise stunned. “I was literally there just seven days prior saying that we did the ultrasound and the bloodwork and they agreed that we should start treatment to give me a better chance at getting pregnant, and here I am, calling them to tell them I’m pregnant. It was a very surreal moment. I was shaking because I couldn’t really believe it was happening.”

During a very conservative trip to Cancun — “we didn’t actually go anywhere because the doctor scared the crap out of me about the Zika virus!” — and a few days after her positive test, Jamie started getting a weird feeling that she was carrying twins. “I know that sounds absurd, because how can you know? But we landed, and we went in at 6 am the next day for an ultrasound. Sure enough, there were two.”

Nauseous and Loving It

These days, at the tail end of her first trimester, Jamie is reveling in it all — maybe minus the morning sickness. “I’m throwing up all types of food, but I haven’t had any issues with Beli, not once. Honestly, I think that minty smell helps.” And while the idea of twins is, well, pretty mind-blowing, it tracks for this planner. “I always used to say I wanted two kids before I turned 30, so I’m just taking this as a blessing. Everything’s been great so far.”

Jamie, thank you so much for sitting down with us to share your story. We love having a part in your journey to twins (ahhh!) and we can’t wait for all the excitement to come. From everyone at Beli, congratulations and enjoy the ride!

*name has been changed to maintain privacy

Additional Resources

Somewhere between the “let’s have a baby!” conversation and seeing those two pink lines, you’re going to end up researching prenatal vitamins. And trust us when we say you’re going to have a ton of options to wade through. Consider this your handy guide to the best prenatal vitamins for men and women in 2024.

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Here at Beli, we’re working hard to raise awareness of the important role men play in the baby-making equation, which brings us to today’s topic of men’s preconception health and specifically, sperm health. Knowing what you’re working with can save you a lot of time, but is at-home sperm testing considered an important part of men’s preconception health? Let’s break it down.

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Most births occur between June and early November. Count back nine months, and you’ll see that places most conceptions in the fall and winter. So what’s the deal? Is it the cold weather, all the festivities, or something else driving us between the sheets? That ugly sweater is pretty cute, but you can chalk this up to reproductive seasonality. Here’s what that means, why it matters, and what to do to use it to your advantage.

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There’s a certain magic to the holiday season, whether you’re all-in on the decorations and the family time or a self-proclaimed Scrooge from mid-November to the New Year. But when you’re trying to conceive, it can be a challenging time.  We’re sharing five tips for managing the holidays when you’re trying to conceive.

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Everyone knows that alcohol and pregnancy don’t mix. But what about before you’re pregnant, during the trying-to-conceive stage? There’s no evidence that the occasional drink—i.e. one or two a week—is going to torpedo your chances of parenthood. But it is true that the more you drink, the greater the likelihood it will have an effect on your health. Here’s what the research says about alcohol and your fertility.

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You’re clear on the mechanics of making a baby, but how much do you really know about conception and fertility? There are a lot of wild stories, downright falsehoods and notions that are actually rooted in a kernel of truth out there. In the interest of sticking to the facts, we’re debunking 15 of the most common myths about conception and fertility.

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When you’re knocking boots in an effort to get knocked up, timing is everything. Your best chance of conceiving is during the most fertile time of your menstrual cycle—when you ovulate. The key is figuring out exactly when that happens. Fortunately, you have a few ways of detecting ovulation. Here’s what to know about understanding ovulation and timing sex for pregnancy.

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You have big plans for parenthood in 2024, which means this is the time to start laying the groundwork for everything to come. While so much of conception is beyond our control, there are actionable steps you and your partner can take right now to support and nourish your fertility.

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Is there anything worse than the two-week wait? All the listicles out there sensibly advise keeping busy and journaling and talking it out, but we’re sharing more specific recommendations collected from the Beli community. Read on for seven tips for surviving the two-week wait without losing your mind.

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Heard the one about ice baths and testosterone? Spoiler: there's little to no research behind that idea. Here’s what to know about cold plunges and male fertility, according to the research, plus where you should really focus your efforts if you’re trying to improve sperm health.

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As a society, we’re an impatient bunch, and that applies to pregnancy, too. The second you decide it’s time to try for a baby, you’re ready to see those two pink lines. If you’ve recently tossed the birth control and you’re wondering how long it should take to get pregnant, here's what to know.

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Jimmy Fallon. Hugh Jackman. Mark Zuckerberg. Keith Urban. Gordon Ramsey. Kyle Busch. Besides immediate name recognition, what else do these men have in common? They’ve all struggled with infertility issues—and it’s something they’re all talking about publicly. Here's why that matters.

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There’s a persistent misconception that a woman’s egg quality is largely untouchable—you get what you get, and the rest is out of your hands. But for women actively planning on becoming mothers, there are a handful of best practices that can go a very long way. So, can you improve egg quality in 90 days?

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Can weight loss improve your fertility? That depends on what you read. In today’s post, we’re running through all the latest data on weight loss and fertility, and clarifying why the focus should be less on pounds lost and more on prioritizing habits that support your health as a whole.

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Perimenopause is a transitional time that’s pretty wild in its own right, with hormonal changes similar to a roller coaster and major changes to your cycle. Balanced hormones are, of course, key to successfully becoming pregnant and it’s certainly reasonable to wonder whether it’s possible to get pregnant during perimenopause. The short answer is oh yes. 

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While it’s true that popular hair loss meds work minor miracles on that receding hairline and back-of-the-head bald patch, it’s also true that it can come with side effects—some of them sexual. So, what does that mean in terms of male fertility? Here’s what couples should understand about the effects of popular hair-loss medications on sperm health.

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A few years ago, the keto diet was all the rage—a high-fat, low-carb way to shed pounds quickly. While it’s lost a bit of its luster, as all diet trends do, interest in the keto diet remains. Specifically, those hoping to become parents wonder whether following this way of eating could support fertility. Is a diet high in fat and low in carbs the answer? It’s possible. Here’s what to know about the keto diet and whether it might help support fertility.

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When you’re pregnant, of course, you’re told to limit your caffeine consumption. But what about when you’re trying to conceive? Can too much caffeine affect your chances of conception as a couple? It's a good idea to cut back—which means you need to be really clear about sneaky sources of caffeine in your diet.

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Here at Beli, we’re staunch advocates of supporting men's fertility health in anticipation of fatherhood. In fact, our men’s prenatal vitamin, Beli Vitality for Men, is actually our flagship product. Today, we’re diving into the obvious and unexpected benefits of prenatal vitamins for men, starting with what actually happens when you start taking them.

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Forbes Health recently reviewed our men's prenatal vitamins and we love author Leigh Weingus' take: "Beli Men Vitality Multivitamins first caught my eye because while I often see supplements that claim to improve fertility outcomes for women, I rarely see the same thing for men." We hear you, Leigh! Check out the full review here and read on for some highlights.

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Everyone responds to supplementation (not to mention pregnancy!) differently, which is one reason that how you feel isn’t a clue into whether or not your prenatal vitamin is actually working. Instead, you need to be confident about the prenatal vitamin itself, and there are a few things you’ll want to look for.

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We’re back with our second post in our “It Starts With The Sperm” mini series on the key roles sperm plays in conception, pregnancy and baby, and this time, we’re talking DNA. When it comes to male fertility, it’s not enough to have a high sperm count and top marks for motility and morphology. Without low levels of DNA fragmentation, a man’s fertility—along with his ability to successfully conceive with a partner—is affected.

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In this three-part mini series, we’re covering all the ways sperm seals the deal for a healthy conception, pregnancy and baby, with a deep dive into three key functions. First up is how a man’s sperm affects placental development. Spoiler: sperm carries what amounts to the architect’s rendering of the placenta, so it’s no small thing!

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Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, affects 1 in every 10 women of childbearing age, which adds up to a lot of women. Sure, they’re not all actively trying to conceive, but those who are will find PCOS poses a hurdle. The good news—it’s a hurdle that can be managed

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There’s an essential connection between our minds and our bodies, and when we neglect one, it inevitably catches up with us through the other. For women becoming mothers especially, the body-mind connection is worth paying close attention to. Here's how prenatal vitamins can help.

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The role of a prenatal vitamin is to support the healthy growth and development of growing babies, and minimizing the risk of birth defects is front and center. But can your prenatal vitamins really reduce the risk of birth defects? Absolutely!

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