I know it’s been awhile, this stage of babyhood has been a wild ride! Blair is now 11 months old, walking, and getting into trouble pretty much every day. We’ve been so crazy busy with the summer, vacations, family trips, and just spending time with our girl who had the sweetest personality.

I’ve taken a few steps back from social media and it has truly been a blessing for my mental health and being present and active with Blair every day. While I try to be 100% present with her each and every day I have still continued my journey with health and wellness. It is of course my goal to feel my best so I can be my best for Blair. I’ve continued to go to Burn Bootcamp which has changed my physical health tremendously. I can finally do a push up since probably high school and I am lighting more and more every day and constantly surprising myself on what I can accomplish.

I have also been focusing a lot on my health and wellness and turning inward. I recently saw a functional medicine practitioner and it truly opened my eyes to what imbalances I have been experiencing postpartum.

Of course we all know about the huge hormonal transition and drop immediately postpartum and most women are told to wait at least a year to have hormone levels checked. This can be for multiple reasons due to breast feeding, oral contraceptive usage, and just the overall time it takes for our body to naturally balance out.

I stopped breast feeding around 6 months and I wanted to take control of the issues I was still experiencing postpartum. Through this process I have learned that just because something is common does NOT mean it is normal. Unfortunately women are conditioned to believe that dealing with issues postpartum is just the card they have been dealt and something they must now live with and deal with. This is a completely backwards way of thinking and it’s unfortunate that moms don’t believe they are important enough to take care of themselves.

The postpartum period is wildly under researched and misunderstood among most. I was recently cleaning out our attic and found my old maternal/infant health textbook from nursing school. When I tell you the postpartum section of the textbook was so small, it was only about 3 pages of text describing the immediate postpartum period and what to do while the patient is still in the hospital. We have truly missed the mark on supporting moms through postpartum and motherhood.

I have been encouraging so many of my friends to seek out functional medicine. It has opened my eyes and attention to what I need to do for myself.

So the initial process starts with lab work (CBC, CMP, hormone panel). In some cases you can do additional lab work that focuses on gut health or cortisol levels but at the time these were not an issue for me. After lab work you meet with a practitioner to discuss labs and discuss treatment plans.

At my initial consultation my lab work showed I was deficient in folic acid, vitamin b12, and testosterone. A lot of these deficiencies made sense to me because of the symptoms I was experiencing.

Low testosterone in women can look like fatigue, depression, irregular menstrual cycle, thinning hair, and trouble sleeping. All of which I was experiencing. The great thing about functional medicine is that they look at the whole picture and give you options and different treatment plans. With hormonal imbalances they can obviously take time to balance out. Functional medicine is a gradual plan and it is focused on overall health. It is continuous and ever changing based on your stage of life. It is so refreshing to have a medical professional validate your feelings, understand treatment options, and not force unnecessary medication or dismiss your concerns.

While still being within a year of postpartum it can be tricky because your hormones truly go out of whack after having a baby. But why not take control now? Why not try anything you possibly can to feel your best every day and be the best version of yourself. I’m not only doing this to be the best mom to Blair but I am doing this for ME. To be the healthiest, happiest, fittest version of myself.

My follow ups are appointments and lab work every three months to see where all my levels are at. Right now I am on different supplements to help increase my testosterone production as well as a new multivitamin to help fully absorb folic acid and vitamin b12.

Right now I am feeling great. Along with the supplements I am getting consistent sleep with a normal bedtime and bedtime routine. I exercise at least 4-5 times a week and try to eat as many whole food single ingredient foods as possible.

If you are still in your postpartum journey or just want yo feel your best whole self I highly encourage you to seek out functional medicine care. I promise you whatever your symptoms may be you are not the only woman who has gone through this, but also just because that’s the case does not mean it’s normal for you to go through this. You are not alone in your journey, ever!