Growing With Garrett
22 Episodes
Growing with Garrett is an intimate short-form video series following Garrett Kusmierz’s real-time pregnancy journey as she prepares for a more empowered second birth and postpartum experience. The series was inspired by Garrett’s guest appearance on The Informed Pregnancy Podcast where she shared her remarkable story: an easy conception, a traumatic birth, a challenging postpartum recovery, and an unexpected struggle with infertility leading up to her second pregnancy. We’ll follow Garrett through weekly checkins as she navigates this pregnancy differently, armed with lessons learned from her past and a deep commitment to making this experience better. Each episode features Garrett’s personal photos and videos to help bring her raw story to life, a visually dynamic guide through Garrett’s mental and physical experiences.
-
10:08Episode 1Growing With Garrett - Episode 1
Episode 1
Mother, entrepreneur, author, and former competitive bodybuilder Garrett Kusmierz is pregnant with her second child. She recounts her experience of life before motherhood, discovering herself through fitness, and her smooth first pregnancy during the pandemic. Determined to have a low-interventio...
-
13:52Episode 2Growing With Garrett - Episode 2
Episode 2
Despite an easy first pregnancy, Garrett's plans for an empowered, low-intervention birth are met with unexpected challenges. Induced at 41 weeks, she endures a cascade of interventions, and several days of labor. Garrett reflects on the physical toll, emotional disconnection, and loss of agency ...
-
12:33Episode 3Growing With Garrett - Episode 3
Episode 3
Garrett is exhausted after multiple days of labor and struggling to enjoy the "golden hour”, and her postpartum experience is marked by physical pain and emotional overwhelm. Breastfeeding introduces new challenges for Garrett as she navigates nipple pain and personal hygiene while working to bon...
-
13:02Episode 4Growing With Garrett - Episode 4
Episode 4
After conceiving her first child with ease, Garrett never imagined baby number two would be a struggle. But as the months passed with no positive test, she found herself deep in the world of fertility tracking, lifestyle changes, and unanswered questions. In this episode, Garrett opens up about t...
-
14:00Episode 5Growing With Garrett - Episode 5
Episode 5
After six months of trying, Garrett’s frustration grows as she is met with resistance after seeking medical answers. Garrett explores functional medicine, running independent lab tests, detoxing from mold, and addressing gut health. From frustrating medical and IVF roadblocks to her toddler’s inn...
-
12:46Episode 6Growing With Garrett - Episode 6
Episode 6
After six months of trying, Garrett’s frustration grows as she is met with resistance after seeking medical answers. Garrett explores functional medicine, running independent lab tests, detoxing from mold, and addressing gut health. From frustrating medical and IVF roadblocks to her toddler’s inn...
-
11:24Episode 7Growing With Garrett - Episode 7
Episode 7
After all the preparation and anticipation, Garrett gets into the thick of her IVF journey. But what was supposed to be a hopeful new chapter quickly turns into one of the hardest parts of the process. From the physical toll of OHSS (Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome) to a devastating surprise, G...
-
11:39Episode 8Growing With Garrett - Episode 8
Episode 8
With only three embryos left, Garrett begins her first transfer with cautious hope. She chose a medicated cycle, but her body reacted severely to a medication causing her pain, inflammation, and emotional strain. Despite her instincts, she moved forward. On the day of implantation, she woke with ...
-
14:10Episode 9Growing With Garrett - Episode 9
Episode 9
Determined to try again, Garrett weighed her options: medicated or natural cycle? But just as she prepared for her second transfer, an unexpected sign made her pause. Overcome with dread, she made the last-minute decision to cancel. Instead, she turned inward, slowly rebuilding trust in her body’...
-
11:18Episode 10Growing With Garrett - Episode 10
Episode 10
Garrett is finally pregnant, but after her long fertility journey, the positive test feels more like the start than the finish line. In this episode, she opens up about the anxiety that followed her blood test results, fear of a chemical pregnancy, the relentless mental math of HCG tracking, and ...
-
09:50Episode 11Growing With Garrett - Episode 11
Episode 11
At seven and a half weeks, Garrett faces the long-awaited ultrasound with nerves at their peak. Though outwardly calm, she fears what the screen might reveal. Then comes relief: a strong heartbeat. Graduating from her fertility clinic feels reassuring, yet new challenges emerge including fatigue,...
-
09:15Episode 12Growing With Garrett - Episode 12
Episode 12
At ten weeks, Garrett weans off IVF medication and adjusts to a new stage of pregnancy, one marked by gratitude, physical hurdles, and emotional shifts. With her sister-in-law helping with injections during a work trip to New York, the timing aligns with a major milestone: launching her new produ...
-
14:40Episode 13Growing With Garrett - Episode 13
Episode 13
At eleven weeks, Garrett faces a rough patch of pregnancy symptoms but a surprise OB visit brings unexpected sweetness. Worried about how she’s feeling, she schedules a Doppler check and brings her toddler along. Hearing the fast, steady heartbeat becomes a turning point, especially for her son, ...
-
13:03Episode 14Growing With Garrett - Episode 14
Episode 14
At twelve weeks, Garrett heads to the Bahamas with her family for a much-needed babymoon but it’s anything but easy. Intense symptoms and dehydration leave her battling pounding headaches and nausea, yet she keeps moving, logging 10,000+ steps a day, lifting twice, and even swimming with dolphins...
-
17:09Episode 15Growing With Garrett - Episode 15
Episode 15
As Garrett wraps up her first trimester, she reflects on the balance between gratitude and challenge. Persistent migraines and nausea make staying active tough, but moments like Pilates with her mom and celebrating her son’s 4th birthday bring joy and grounding. A moving 12-week ultrasound offers...
-
16:37Episode 16Growing With Garrett - Episode 16
Episode 16
Just as Garrett starts to settle into the sweet spot of her second trimester, things take an unexpected turn. A late-night toy mysteriously going off at home sparks a spiral of anxiety and even a call to the police. What begins as a calm, headache-free week quickly unravels into vomiting, crampin...
-
11:33Episode 17Growing With Garrett - Episode 17
Episode 17
Week 15 starts on a rough note. Garrett is knocked down by what seems like norovirus, leading to days of exhaustion, sleepless nights, and even a dramatic outdoor emergency during a traffic jam. Still, she rallies for her son’s checkup and shares a raw video about her HPV reactivation in pregnanc...
-
19:06Episode 18Growing With Garrett - Episode 18
Episode 18
At 17 weeks pregnant, Garrett officially hires doula HeHe Stewart, a longtime mentor who rarely attends births anymore, while still weighing a home versus hospital birth amid frustrations with her OB and memories of her first delivery. The week’s highlight was co-creating and MCing Indiana’s firs...
-
19:40Episode 19Growing With Garrett - Episode 19
Episode 19
Garrett recaps an intense week marked by recurring headaches, worries about elevated blood pressure, and a midweek OB visit that ultimately brought reassuring lab results. A breakthrough myofascial release session eased her symptoms and sparked a wave of calm, productivity, and early nesting. She...
-
20:02Episode 20Growing With Garrett - Episode 20
Episode 20
Garrett navigates an emotionally heavy week 18 marked by family stress, business pressure, and a health scare that culminates in a 911 call and diagnosis of a severe ear infection likely tied to her recent BP spikes. Amid stacked appointments, persistent headaches, and the push to keep going, she...
-
20:33Episode 21Growing With Garrett - Episode 21
Episode 21
A calm, restorative Week 20 of outdoor time, a head spa, sweet moments with Declan takes an emotional turn. After sharing her home birth plans on TikTok, Garrett faces harsh backlash that tests her confidence but ultimately reinforces her trust in her intuition and birth team. The biggest twist c...
-
24:37Episode 22Growing With Garrett - Episode 22
Episode 22
Garrett reflects on an emotional Week 20 marked by confusing blood pressure readings and uncertainty about her care. A transformative in-person session with Dr. Berlin in Los Angeles combining chiropractic work, massage, and energy healing brought major physical relief and emotional clarity, incl...