Ep. 159: Nagging uncertainty about birth control revealed undiagnosed health issues, Courtney's story

Courtney was on birth control to prevent pregnancy when she and her husband got married, but had a nagging suspicion that it may not be the best choice for her health or her marriage. After her friend shared with her about Woven Natural Fertility Care, she began a new journey -- but had no idea all that she would discover! Courtney was surprised by all that there was to discover about her health and quality of life, and thanks the Creighton Model System for empowering her and restoring her health! 

00:00 Empowering Women Through Connection
01:46 Courtney's Journey with Creighton
04:11 Health Discoveries and Challenges
07:35 The Importance of Understanding Fertility
10:04 A Message to Women Everywhere
11:33 Recognizing the Miracle of Life

NOTE: This episode is appropriate for all audiences. 

If you loved this episode here are similar episodes you might enjoy!

Ep. 149: Fertility journey transformation with the Creighton system

Ep. 141: Healing after Birth Control - Grace's Story

Ep. 135: Can I trust Natural Birth Control?

We have a special discount available to Woven Well listeners! If you'd like to begin using the Creighton Model System, leave a review on the podcast (wherever you listen) and send a photo to hello@wovenfertility.com for a special promo code! 

Transcript

Caitlin Estes (00:23)
Welcome back to the Woven Well podcast. I truly believe that a key part in empowering and educating women is connecting them with other women walking the same journey. It's so important that we know that we're not alone because it can really feel that way. So because of that, we frequently have episodes with real clients of woven natural fertility care to hear their stories and gain insight and encouragement from our community of women.

So today we get to talk with Courtney, a long time client who began working with us back in 2020. And she has used it through multiple reproductive stages of life, which is great because that's exactly the point. That's what we want every woman to be able to do. So Courtney, welcome to the show.

Courtney Thomas (01:05)
Hey, thanks for having me.

Caitlin Estes (01:07)
I would love listeners to get to know you a little bit more before we go into all that Creighton has done for you. So will you share a little bit about yourself?

Courtney Thomas (01:17)
Sure, so my name is Courtney. I've been married to my husband Jake for five years and we just celebrated our daughter's first birthday this past week.

been living overseas in Thailand for the past few years but we're about to move back to the States and I have been using Creighton for four years now and it's been wonderful and we haven't looked back.

Caitlin Estes (01:37)
Yeah, and like you said, through lots of transitions, moves and family growth and all sorts of things.

Courtney Thomas (01:41)
Yes.

Caitlin Estes (01:44)
brought

to work with us?

Courtney Thomas (01:46)
Yeah, so when I first got married, I didn't think there were any options really besides getting on hormone of birth control. I'd heard stories of people getting pregnant on their honeymoon and we did not want to deal with that. We weren't just, we weren't in the stage of life to have a pregnancy at that time. So I got on the pill and didn't think much of it, but a few months into marriage, I started to question what the pill was doing to my health.

Caitlin Estes (01:58)
Mmm.

Courtney Thomas (02:12)
It was sort of just like a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. And so I knew a friend who was using Creighton. So I asked her a few questions about it and she made me feel confident that I could pursue it as an option. And so after my husband and I talked it through, I decided to start working with you and doing Creighton.

Caitlin Estes (02:33)
By the way, I love that it was community that brought you into this. It was a friend who let you know you can do it. And that's the whole point of these episodes is to empower the listeners out there who think, I don't know if it's for me. I don't know if I can do it. And you had that friend who was already working with us and could give you that confirmation. So.

Courtney Thomas (02:41)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin Estes (02:55)
Hopefully this episode will be that to others who maybe don't have a friend doing it, but listeners, you can do it. so. Well, what was it like learning the Creighton system and how did that impact your journey at all?

Courtney Thomas (03:11)
Yeah, so working with you was great. It was really clear. I feel like from the beginning, there was a lot to learn, but I felt confident, I feel like from the beginning. But I stopped taking the pill and I started using Creighton and we waited for my cycles to come back. And charting is really weird when you're not having cycles. And so I was just waiting and watching my chart and it kept not coming back. And then eventually it was longer than.

Caitlin Estes (03:33)
you

Courtney Thomas (03:41)
it normally takes someone to get their cycles back after going off the pill. And so that was when you recommended seeing an aprodotor. And so I was nervous about all of that, but I took that step. And then we did a bunch of testing. I still wasn't getting my cycles back. So I went on progesterone and through blood work, we found that I was having blood sugar issues and thyroid issues that I had no idea was going on. And so started treating that.

which was great, but I still wasn't getting my cycles back naturally. And so through lots of other tests, we actually found a cyst on one of my ovaries. And so then I worked with a napro surgeon and did laparoscopic surgery and we were able to remove that cyst. And while he was in there, he also found endometriosis and removed that as well, which I have no idea if a non-napro doctor would have even done that. I don't think that they would have.

Caitlin Estes (04:21)
Hmm.

Hmm.

Courtney Thomas (04:41)
And I had no idea it was like silent endometriosis. I had no symptoms beyond not having my cycles. But after all of that and moving overseas, I finally a couple of months later was able to get my cycles back naturally and then a couple of months after that we conceived our baby girl. Yeah, and it's just crazy to think about our journey because if I had stayed on hormonal birth control, if I

Caitlin Estes (04:50)
Hmm.

Courtney Thomas (05:10)
had waited until we were ready to start a family, this would be a very different story. And so I just, think all the time about the provision it was of the Lord to just give me that, that instinct that something wasn't right and that friend to recommend this as an option. So.

Caitlin Estes (05:25)
Hmm.

Absolutely. And I love that openness that you had to even consider it and to look into it. And like you said, when we first started working together and you were learning the Creighton system, you were feeling confident about that, but you were nervous or uncertain about moving forward with NABRA technology. And I respect that so much. I really appreciate you sharing that because sometimes it does feel scary or overwhelming to try something new, especially if it feels different than what you've always learned.

Courtney Thomas (05:45)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin Estes (05:57)
and the approach that you've always had from maybe your standard OB-GYN. But wow, you've learned so much. I mean, there was so much health information that you discovered through your work with them.

Courtney Thomas (06:08)
Yes.

Yes, I had all of these health issues that were silently impacting my fertility and I had no idea. And even my energy and things like none of it was big enough for me to seek a different doctor's opinion or help. I was just living with it and had no idea. And so I was able to treat all of that through Creighton and through working with these NAPRA doctors.

Caitlin Estes (06:35)
Wow, and you expressed that so well that if we think that if we can just push through it or if it's not significantly hindering our lives, then we should just deal with it. But there is more and I truly believe that God wants us to pursue healing and not that...

Courtney Thomas (06:43)
Bye bye.

Caitlin Estes (06:56)
everyone will be fully healed. That is not everyone's story, but there shouldn't be unnecessary delay or you know on our healing if it's available to us. And so getting that word out about options that are available like in your situation, being able to discover so much information that's not only going to be relevant to your reproductive health, which obviously it was and you were able to conceive soon after all of that.

but also your overall health. mean our quality of lives as women, know, it matters and that's certainly true for you as well.

Courtney Thomas (07:28)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, I think it's really amazing and beautiful that God designed our bodies that way, our fertility is actually the first signpost that something is going wrong or something needs to be addressed in our health. Because how can we give nutrients and energy and more of us to a baby when we need to address something and take care of our own bodies and selves first? So I'm grateful for that.

Caitlin Estes (08:01)
Absolutely. Yeah, it's so

I'll start working with clients and we'll begin charting and they kind of expect to see this quote unquote regular cycle that looks like all the examples and then they'll be surprised that it does not match that.

Courtney Thomas (08:10)
Yes.

Caitlin Estes (08:18)
And then they think, well, maybe next month. And it continues to look different. we start, then we can explore why that's different and what could be going on behind the scenes that could cause that. Because you're right. You can see so much information on a Creighton chart because our reproductive system does give us valuable information for our overall health. And I feel like that's a very practical gift that Creighton gives to us.

and our ability to see these underlying issues. Have you had other benefits or other things that you've been surprised that it benefits you in different areas of life with your Creighton use?

Courtney Thomas (08:59)
Yeah, mean, truthfully, in moving overseas, not having to worry about where am I going to find hormonal birth control. When I first got here, I was able to just keep charting and move on and deal with all of the transition, moving here, moving back.

beyond that, think

just knowing that I'll always be able to see what's going on with my fertility, with my health, and you know, if I'm going through a stressful

it might reflect on my chart or just give me useful information of when I need to take a step back or even adjust my thyroid medication. That has come up on my chart. And so, yeah, it's been very valuable.

to me and my health.

Caitlin Estes (09:42)
Fantastic. Well, if you could say one thing to our listeners, I always love to ask this question because I find that a lot of women, once they've had a transformative experience, they want other women to have this too. So if you could say one thing to our listeners, what would you want it to be?

Courtney Thomas (10:04)
I would say that whether you are married or not married, whether you are trying to conceive or trying to avoid a pregnancy, working with Creighton is so valuable for your health and your fertility is a sign of health beyond just whether or not you can conceive a pregnancy. So I think it is so important for every woman to know what's going on with their fertility so that they can live healthier, more

whole lives.

Caitlin Estes (10:35)
Yes, I totally agree. Every single woman on the face of the planet deserves to have access to this information. It is so valuable. It's so critical and we want to make it available to everyone. So certainly

People can learn the Creighton model system, which obviously you and I love. We feel like it's very, very valuable. But there are also so many free resources available out there. We've got obviously this podcast and podcasts like this that focus on natural fertility topics.

Our website has free resources that are available that anybody can download at any time. And we try to have some strategic webinars and things, but we want to make sure this information is out there to others because it is something that everybody deserves to have access to, I agree.

One question that I didn't ask you Courtney, but I'm curious about is, there been, has God met you in a unique way throughout this process of learning about your cycles and your fertility and your health?

Courtney Thomas (11:36)
you

think that the fact that we have our daughter is a gift from the Lord and I already would have known that she was a gift, but I think that because of the way that my fertility has gone, the journey I went through, I see her as even more of a miracle and a gift from God. And so I think he's met me in that just to show me like he really is.

the author and creator of life and that everyone is a walking miracle. So I feel like that's one way that God has met me in all of this.

Caitlin Estes (12:29)
man, that is so true. When you start to understand how crazy impossible it seems that every single tiny little thing would go right to create a new life, it does also impact, I think, how we just engage with other people that we meet. You know, we see them as these miracles from God, these image bearers of God.

And it really helps us to respect and love and honor these other people because they are miracles. They proclaim the goodness of God just in their being here on the planet. And that really does affect the reproductive approach to like our understanding of our own fertility. And so often it's easy to sort of take it for granted. Like,

Courtney Thomas (13:08)
Absolutely.

Caitlin Estes (13:20)
Hey, we can turn it on when we're ready. We can turn it off when we don't want it. It's like, no, this is miraculous. This is something that God does, but we get the privilege to partake in it, to participate in it, to collaborate with God and that God would trust us with that, would invite us to be a part of that is still mind blowing to me. And I've been doing this for over eight years now. You know, it's just, really speaks to the goodness of God, I think.

Courtney Thomas (13:41)
Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Caitlin Estes (13:52)
Well, Courtney, thank you so much for being willing to be on the show for sharing a little bit of your story and what the Creighton system and Napro technology have meant to you.

Courtney Thomas (14:02)
Thank you so much for having me.

Caitlin Estes (14:05)
Listeners, our woven community is made up of some pretty incredible people. We do our best to ask honest questions of our fertility and of our faith because we believe that our bodies were made with beauty and with purpose, that we're intimately designed and loved by our Creator, and that our fertility plays a meaningful role in our lives.

So we believe that this matters for all of us, just like Courtney said, regardless of our marital status or our pregnancy intentions, every single woman matters. And so I would love to invite you to be a part of our community, whatever that looks like. Maybe you want to learn the Creighton system like Courtney did and attend an upcoming introductory session. Maybe you want to learn more information and download one of those free resources that I mentioned on the website.

Maybe you just want to go back and listen to more client stories like Courtney's. You are welcome here. We really want you to feel like you are part of this community because you are. All right. Well, thanks for listening as always, as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.