Getting to this point has been quite the journey for me. If you read My Journey to Gratitude you know about my struggles with misdiagnosis from doctors (with words like perimenopausal being thrown around), pelvic pain/pain with sex, hormone imbalances and finally, a accurate diagnosis of Endometriosis. I wasn't sure if having kids was ever going to be in my future, but did everything in my power to try and prep my mind and body for when we were ready to start trying. So if you're interested – you can follow along with my fertility journey below! I understand that this may be a sensitive subject for some, but I believe that the more we talk about what we are going through (our challenges and our successes), especially when it comes to our bodies, the more we can connect, learn and grow from one another. *This is by no means is meant to be medical advice, I am just sharing with you my personal experience and what I found worked for me and my body.
Let me start by saying that this has been about a 3+ year process for me. While I've been trying to get answers about my body and hormones since 2010, the real work didn't truly begin until I was in the middle of nutrition school in 2017/2018. I really can't emphasize enough to my clients, the importance of prepping your body for pregnancy. Even if you are not ready to have children now or if you don't think they will ever be in your future, getting your hormone health under control is a necessity for all women. With all the environmental toxins we are exposed to today, the increase in GMO/processed foods, our decision to have children later in adulthood, and most importantly, the extra stressors in our day-to-day lives, it is becoming more difficult for women to get pregnant. And it's not to say that your journey will also need to be 3 yrs. Luckily, our hormones can bounce back relatively quickly, so please don't feel discouraged by that timeline. Of course, you will still hear stories of women who weren't even trying and got pregnant right away, but unfortunately, that is no longer the norm. Those women still need to make sure they are prepared, because as Dr. Jolene Brighten clearly states, "Growing a human is kind of a big deal, and it requires nutrients, energy, balanced hormones, and a healthy gut. If you enter into pregnancy nutrient depleted, you are going to have a difficult time building sufficient nutrient stores. You'll be at a disadvantage."
During nutrition school we put a lot of emphasis on importance of knowing and understanding what we were putting in our bodies. While food may be an obvious one, environmental toxins and prescribed or over-the-counter medications, were ones that I felt a little more duped about. My first decision was to get off of adderall and birth control (both of which I was taking on and off for about 15 years). The fact that doctors were so willing to put me on both of these pills when I was 16 years old without any concern or education regarding the side effects, is still mind-blowing to me. It took 15 year later, after I enrolled myself in a holistic nutrition program, to truly start questioning it all and get REAL answers which is not OK. If you are taking prescribed medications, I would highly recommend talking to your healthcare professional about your options, as many of them can not be taken once you get pregnant. Especially if you are taking something for mental health, it is really scary to have to go cold turkey once you find out you are pregnant, especially since your hormones will be surging at the same time. I know it can be daunting, but the good news is, all the work you will be doing to support your hormones, in-turn ,supports your gut, liver, and brain which play a major role in our mental health. Getting off of birth control is also a process and not something that should be done cold turkey either. I recommend working with a healthcare professional on this (I am more than happy to help as this is a big part of my program!). Another great resource for this is Beyond the Pill by Dr. Brighten. Other things to consider limiting or removing altogether? NSAIDs (ibprofen, advil, midol, etc.) and antibiotics -- if you do have to take them make sure you are counteracting with a quality probiotic.
Once getting off the pill, I started tracking my cycle for the first time and started to really nerd out about my period/cycle instead of dreading it. I used the myFLO app by Alissa Vitta who wrote Women Code + In the Flo (two other hormone books that I recommend). This was huge step for me to be able to change my mindset and start viewing my body as something powerful, rather than thinking "woe is me" or "men have it so much easier". Our cycles are now considered our fifth vital sign and for good reason -- if our cycle is off, our body is physically giving us a warning sign that something is wrong. This is when you should start looking at your life holistically and find the areas that could use improvement. I talked a lot about the five steps to support your hormones in last month's blog, all of which I followed, but will give a few more details here in regards to my specific journey.
Started reading labels before I put things in my body and really started to learn what was in food (my focus switched from calories & macronutrients to ingredients & sugars).
Stopped purchasing anything with gluten or unhealthy gluten alternatives and made it something I consume on special occasions.
Limited my dairy intake and switched to mainly consuming goat/sheep milk.
Started eating full fat items and steered clear of anything that says fat free, non-fat, or low-fat.
Swapped egg whites (which I was convinced were healthier) for whole, organic, pasture raised eggs.
Starting eating more dark leafy greens & fatty fish.
Reviewed the dirty dozen + clean fifteen lists and purchased organic when necessary/possible.
Invested in quality supplements. Learned that at a very minimum, I should be taking a prenatal 6 months to 1 year before trying to conceive. Many doctors are now saying we should be on them for as long as we are fertile. (Click the link to read more).
Removed/reduced my daily environmental toxins exposures from tap water and cleaning supplies to laundry detergent/dryer sheets and skin/hair products.
Increased water intake, sweat/moved (for me that meant really getting into yoga).
Started to value my sleep more and turned it into a non-negotiable.
It wasn't all about limiting and removing things however, it was about getting answers. I am a huge believer that knowledge is power, so I wanted to do everything to learn about my body. I say this all the time, but this is when I truly learned -- just because something is common, does not make it normal. My hormonal acne, low sex drive, pelvic pain, bloating, irregular periods, and stubborn weight gain, were all signs of hormonal imbalances. I started testing my hormones on a regular basis and used a company called Modern Fertility that allows for at home hormone blood tests. While my results were not ideal, I was able to find nutrition and lifestyle adjustments to help balance my hormones. Specifically, I was looking to stop my spotting, increase my testosterone levels, lower my estrogen and FSH levels, and extend/regulate my cycle. So I made changes that were specific to my individual needs. In addition to my prenatal and probiotic, I started taking adaptogens, vitex, b complex, vitamin d3 with k2, seed cycling, drinking green juice every morning, and eating a mainly plant based diet with a lot of fruits and vegetables. And it started working! I was finally understanding the power of food as medicine.
After having surgery for Endometriosis in November 2019, I was told that my tissue would start growing back in about 1-5 years, so this was my time to try and get pregnant -- my body finally felt prepared! As 2020 taught us however, you can't truly plan for anything -- so much is out of our control. That being said, Haj and I always had previously discussed that once we were ready, all the big life changes would happen for us all at once. We'd get engaged/married, ideally buy a house and have kids in a very short period of time. We wanted to live up our twenties as much a possible and having already been together for 10+ years, there was no need to space the rest out. So when we got engaged at the very end of 2019 and quickly planned two weddings for 2020, we thought we were on track -- and well, everyone knows how that story ends. If you read our elopement story, you know that we ended up getting married in September of last year and since we didn't have a clear vision of when we'd be able to celebrate with the rest of our friends and family, decided it was time for us to try and start a family. So that was our new plan...but then we got COVID! That is an entirely different story that I am happy to share at another time, if you are interested. Luckily, we didn't have severe symptoms and were able to recover quickly, however, it ended up wreaking havoc on my hormones and cycle and I ended up with extreme gut issues for months later. So now was my time to put in the extra work.
I reached out to my naturopathic doctor in Seattle who prescribed me a list of foods, supplements and lifestyle recommendations to help my body recover from COVID. Luckily, a lot of them overlapped with what can be typically recommended for fertility, but she did make it clear that I needed to let me body recoup for a couple of months. During that time, I found an entire new team of healthcare professionals in Santa Cruz as I knew this is where we would be eventually moving. This included a new ND - Dr. Aimee Shunney, a fertility acupuncturist - Deva Laggner , a general practicer - Dr. Andrew Symthe, an OBGYN - Dr. Laetitia Oderman, and a pelvic floor specialist - Dr. Sara Tanza. I cannot stress enough the importance of creating a personalized care team for yourself. This is the first time in my entire life that I have truly felt cared for and supported by all of my practitioners and they are all actually working TOGETHER to make sure I AM BEING HEARD.
With the guidance of these practitioners, I completed a 21-day hormone test through DUTCH labs, a 3-day stool test through Genova Diagnostics, began acupuncture therapy, continued tracking my cycle/ovulation (using the Modern Fertility app + ovulation sticks), focused on fertility boosting foods, and tried not to stress too much (which was much easier said than done). While extensive hormone and stool testing may not be necessary for you, I do highly recommend acupuncture, tracking ovulation, and consuming fertility boosting foods. What do those entail? It's pretty simple actually --quality proteins (grass-fed meat, organic turkey/chicken, salmon, and pasture raised eggs), healthy fats (avocado, olive oil, ghee, coconut milk/oil, nuts/seeds, full fat dairy/butter), unprocessed carbs (sweet potatoes, bean/lentils, quinoa), and organic fruits/veggies (kale, spinach, cabbage, bell peppers, and berries). Ideally, you want to eat most of these foods in their cooked state rather than raw. When trying to conceive you want as much as much blood flow within your body as possible, so that means eating warming foods. Make them into soups, stews, bone broths, etc and try and avoid smoothies, sushi, cold salads etc. Warming spices are also beneficial - think cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic, black pepper. cayenne, etc. There are specific teas/adaptogens that can also help but should be recommended on a per case basis.
Looking back now, I can see that I did ALOT and sometimes doing too much can be counteractive. I always think of one of my first clients who was struggling for months to get her period back. She was doing ALL THE RIGHT THINGS and still, it wasn't returning. In one of our final sessions together we talked about her just letting loose for a bit. Going out with some friends, dancing, having a few drinks, etc. And even though she hadn't even gotten the chance to do all of those things, I think just talking about them and allowing herself to know it was OK, released some of the pressure she was holding on to. And guess what?! 2 days later it came back!
For my particular situation, I had been driving to and from Santa Cruz on a weekly basis, working late hours, overindulging on the weekends and was on what felt like a never ending cycle of testing/tracking. My naturopath/therapist both gave me the advice I needed, which was, take some time for yourself. So during the Christmas/New Years holiday time, I did just that. I cut back on the work hours, spent time walking around the city, cooking, playing games, getting to bed early/sleeping in and took a relaxing trip up the coast. It was exactly what I needed and, in turn, lead to successful conception. Don't get me wrong, the work I put it was necessary -- I was able to regulate my cycle again, learned that I actually ovulate a week earlier than the average woman, improved my gut health, and filled my body with all the proper nutrients needed to develop a mature egg and start growing a healthy human! It's truly is all about balance.
So now that I am pregnant, the next step is to try and focus on having a healthy and successful first trimester, which of course doesn't come without its hiccups. I am learning how much can go wrong during pregnancy but have try to keep a positive mindset which is half the battle. If you're interested in continuing to follow my pregnancy journey, tune in next month when I talk about my first trimester! Of course, if you aren't (which is completely valid) I will still be continuing to share other health tips and tricks unrelated to pregnancy!
Are you wanting to get off of birth control, balance your hormones or prep your body for pregnancy? I have two client openings starting in April and I would love to work with you! Sign up now for a Free 30 minute Nutrition Assessment to see if we are a good match!
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