The Truth About Postpartum: What Every Mom Needs to Hear with Brittany Harris Ep. 34

Bringing home a new baby is often portrayed as one of life's happiest moments—but what happens after the visitors leave, the meals stop coming, and the reality of postpartum sets in?

In this episode of the MomsWork Podcast, Kristin sits down with Brittany Harris—wife, mom of five, and nurse practitioner—to have the honest conversation every parent needs to hear. Drawing from both her professional experience caring for women during the postpartum period and her own journey through motherhood, Brittany shares practical advice, reassurance, and hope for families navigating one of life's biggest transitions.

Together, they discuss what postpartum really looks like beyond the six-week checkup, including the physical recovery, emotional ups and downs, and mental health challenges that so many new moms experience—but few feel comfortable talking about.

They cover topics including:

• What the postpartum period really is—and why it lasts much longer than many people realize
• The difference between the "baby blues," postpartum depression, and postpartum anxiety
• Intrusive thoughts: why they're more common than you think and when to seek help
• Postpartum rage and the emotional overload many moms experience
• The realities of breastfeeding, hormones, weight changes, and body image
• Physical recovery after birth, sleep deprivation, nutrition, hydration, and returning to exercise
• How spouses, partners, grandparents, and friends can truly support a new mom
• Warning signs that it's time to reach out to a healthcare provider
• Why therapy, medication, support groups, and asking for help are signs of strength—not failure

Whether you're expecting your first baby, in the middle of postpartum recovery, or supporting someone who recently welcomed a child, this conversation is filled with compassion, expert guidance, and practical takeaways that every family can benefit from.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend or loved one who could use the reminder that caring for moms is just as important as caring for babies.

Connect with MomsWork Podcast:
📱 Instagram & Facebook: @MomsWorkPodcast
🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Connect with Brittany Harris @hernewchapterhealth on Instagram

Mentioned in the podcast

Atomic Habits book by James Clear: https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/0735211299 

Bilateral Music Stimulation Station (many to choose from on youtube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqMGI2WO2O0

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:14

Welcome to the Mom's Work Podcast, where career meets motherhood and real life happens in between. Hi, I'm Kristen Weinrich, a working mom navigating the chaos, the career, the cooking, and yes, the crying. Each week we get real with moms making it work from classrooms to boardrooms and everything in between. No fluff, no judgment, just honest talk, helpful hints, and the support we all need. Whether you're listening while commuting, catching a break, or buried in laundry, you're in the right place. Welcome. You belong here. Welcome back to Mom's Work Podcast. I'm Kristen Weinarch, mom of two, fourth grade teacher, and by the time this episode airs, I'll be a fourth grade teacher starting to think about going back to school. Uh, today we are diving into a conversation that every mother deserves to hear, but one that's often missing from traditional postpartum care. My guest today is Britney Monday Harris, a board-certified adult geriontology, acute, I hope I said that right. Geriontology, acute nurse, uh, acute care nurse practitioner. Woo! Stumbled over that one. She's also a wife and mother of five. Uh Brittany, so glad to have you here today. Thank you for having me. With more than 17 years of nursing experience and firsthand experience navigating motherhood herself, she has become passionate about helping women understand why so many continue to experience exhaustion, anxiety, brain fog, hormone changes, weight retention, and burnout long after giving birth. It's like having children is the gift that keeps on giving. Um, in this episode, we are exploring what happens after the baby arrives from nutrient depletion and hormonal changes to thyroid health, stress, metabolism, and why recovery is about so much more than just the six-week checkup. Brittany, I'm so glad to have you. Can you start us off by introducing us? Tell us whatever you want about your career, your family, your kids, your life outside of work, anything you'd like us to know?

SPEAKER_02 2:09

Sure. Thank you for having me. Uh I'm a mom of five kids. Uh, we have three boys, two girls. We had a surprise set of twins at the end. So that's how we got to the big number five. Um, ironically enough, I have a half sister. Um, so I really didn't grow up with a lot of siblings. So I think it's so fun that in my family, my kids are gonna have a lot of siblings. You've got a pack. We do. We always say, here's our basketball team. So your husband being six, seven, and my I'm not terribly small myself. So hopefully we will maybe. There you go.

SPEAKER_03 2:45

Maybe you will have a little something.

unknown 2:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:48

Um you know what's surprising? I'm sorry to interrupt you. You are like the third or fourth guest I have had with five children, which feels very uncommon these days. But yeah, I yeah, I've at least two or three have had five.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

So when I take them out in public, uh we get looks and people have said, These are all yours, you're not the name. No, they're all mine. All mine. You go to the grocery store, you have to find the store that has the two seater carts. Yeah. The twins both need to sit, or you have to wear one and put one in the grocery cart, you know, little things like that.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

And then keep track of the three other ones.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

They tend to climb around and they're good.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

They're like, that's fine, they're safe. I'm sorry, you continue. I'll I will stop talking.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Oh no, more. Um, I became a nurse uh right out of college. I first thought I wanted to go into design and merchandising. So I actually started at Drexel University, switched over to Harcombe College and got my associate's degree, started working at Hahneman in heart failure and found a passion for managing patients with chronic disease. Thought that that was my trajectory for a long time, did outpatient heart failure management, mechanical heart pumps, all that stuff at Hahneman Jefferson, got to Penn as an MP and said, I really love this, but what I love more is palliative and hospice. So then I really pick the you really pick the the good ones. Yes, no, failure and death. Okay. I've had a lot of uh death in our family. And so for me, I think I've been able to excel with teaching others how to manage it and navigate it. And it's a special person that does it.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

So, you know, good thank you for being that person for so many people.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

And I still do that as well. It's more in like a smaller role. Okay. Um, but then as I kept thinking about it and motherhood kept evolving, I kept searching for more questions of what is going on with me after going through four pregnancies. And I really stumbled into talking more about moms in the postpartum phase, learning more about micronutrient deficiencies and wanting to educate and kind of move past just um the conventional medicine that I learn and manage and deal with on a daily basis, and talk a little bit more about other um ideas and supplements and micronutrients and how can we meld them both together.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

And it's so interesting because I mean, you have this baby and it's just the way the system works, but you're like, nobody wants to see me for a month and a half, and nobody I'm good for a month and a half, and yeah, all these things are happening.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Yeah, you're lucky if you get the two-week visit just because you have like a blood pressure cut check. I had a pre-clampsale with a few of them, and so I got the blood pressure check, but it was a 15-minute your blood pressure's good, see you, not anything about how you're doing or anything else. And then that six-week comes if you're lucky. Sometimes in middle America, they may not have enough providers that can see you with the six-week visit. You just call and do a quick over-the-phone conversation.

SPEAKER_03 5:49

Yeah, and especially when you're a new mom. Like I feel like after the first one, you're kind of like, okay, you kind of know this the feelings and the symptoms and whatever. But as a new mom, there could be something happening to you that you don't realize is dangerous or really serious, and you just think, oh, this is how it is, and yikes. And I do think it's great that it feels like we're talking about postpartum depression and mother's mental health so much more. But I think this part, and I'm I'm interested to talk to you today because I think this part of it is kind of a mystery. I mean, I had my last baby seven years ago, and I don't think, and no fault, I you will hear me say over and over and over again on this podcast, I bow down to my OBGYN. I love her, I adore her. Every time I see her, I hug her. Like she is wonderful, and it's it's just the system. But like it's amazing that even seven years ago, it was like, how you doing? How you feeling? How's this? And and what you're gonna talk about today is something that I hope becomes routine in postpartum. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

So and where providers will be bringing this up and we can learn about this and really educate everybody as a whole would be amazing.

SPEAKER_03 6:58

Yeah, yeah. And I mean, you think about you always joke like in the 1800s, like, no wonder so many people were lost to childbirth. You know what I mean? There are so many things that happened to you before and after enduring, and it's a miracle when those babies come out and that everybody kind of makes it through. So absolutely. Um, and how has being a mom of five, including a set of twins, changed your perspective on healthcare?

SPEAKER_02 7:24

That's a good question. I think I I was always under the impression that these symptoms of um really extreme fatigue or brain fog, or you know, you lose your you have your mom brain, um, the shortness of breath after activity was just me being out of shape from not working as much, working out as much, or carrying too much weight after baby. And I'm coming to realize those symptoms should not be considered normal. They are not normal. And all of those symptoms, hair loss, hair thinning, hair shedding, that all comes from micronutrients being deficient and us going through postpartum depletion syndrome.

SPEAKER_03 8:02

Okay, that's really interesting. Um, and I guess you got to experience it four different times, four different ways with four pregnancies, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:09

You have quite extensive with the twins at the end because having two placentas come out and those are what the placenta pulls out all the micronutrients. Interesting. Suck you dry, literally, right? I had two placentas that took that that was taken out, and I was like, I really need to figure out something. And that's really when I started diving in the most because I felt the absolute worst after that postpartum period. I bet. I bet immediately after.

SPEAKER_03 8:35

Yeah. Wow, interesting. Um, and what did you notice was missing in the way that we care for mothers after birth? And maybe it was through your own experience or talking to friends or whatever. What what kind of is the was your big red flag?

SPEAKER_02 8:51

I think the big red flag is convincing that in general, we've all just accepted that having these symptoms are is okay. And this is just how we live for the next multiple decades to come of our life. And reality, it really shouldn't be that way. So for me, I think that was the most surprising. All my friends would come to me and say, I'm so tired. Oh, me too. Oh me too. It's because my infant isn't sleeping. Well, that makes sense. Right. But shouldn't there be more to understand as there are other things going on? And it was just heartening disheartening that the providers say, Yeah, you lose hair from four to six months, but it should grow back. But instead of it should grow back, can we grow it? How can we maybe prevent it from even falling out or from it from shedding?

SPEAKER_03 9:36

And is this one of those things like you don't know until you you don't know what you don't know? Like, is it new-ish? Like we did just take for granted that this is kind of what happened, and then all of a sudden new research was done, or like how are we coming in? Because, like I said, this is sort of news to me, and I have a seven-year-old.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

So, you know. I really think it just hasn't been talked about. I think that the idea of what's postpartum depletion syndrome is is not an actual registered diagnosis. Okay. It's the idea of multiple things and figuring out the root cause of symptoms that kind of combine together. And so to your point, yes, I think it's newish because we've now had this shift in healthcare where there's also wellness involved. And it's more looking at the wellness side and looking at things that can be preventative medicine and how much that can be very helpful. I mean, I will never take for granted the conventional medicine education that I have. I mean, right, for sure. It literally saves lives. It has without a doubt brought me to this place, but I really love the idea of the new space where you can also add in wellness and preventative medicine before you get to the disease symptoms.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

And it's like the whole person that it should be, you know, the prevent the reactive, the proactive, the, you know, whatever it is to care for the entire person. So and I think, like you were saying, a lot of moms just assume that, oh, I know what I was gonna say. Would you say that this depletion is almost like a buffet? Like everybody, there's a there's an array of food or symptoms that you can have, and everybody kind of just randomly ends up with this one and this one and this one. So there's a lot of different underlying causes and whatever.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

Yeah, not one pregnancy is the same, not one postpartum is the same, not one going into perimenopause is the same and then menopause journey, they come at different times, they come with different symptoms. So, yes, to your point, I think everything is different for every mom, but they all have a general idea that we know that when the placenta is delivered, micronutrients are pulled out. If mom is a breastfeeding mom, she also is losing micronutrients that way as well. And so, where can we help support mom after we do a thorough lab investigation through lab work to manage the root cause of those symptoms based off of the labs that are presented?

SPEAKER_03 12:01

Okay, and then kind of pinpoint what every person needs.

SPEAKER_02 12:04

Yep. Yeah, it's all based off of lab work. You have to get labs to be able to drive this the farthest. Okay, makes sense to be able to manage about what you're missing. And that's where the conventional medicine comes in. Like those labs are so important. Reference ranges on these lab work won't show that you have all of these low magnesium, low zinc, low vitamin D, because the reference range is what keeps you alive. But what the optimal range is that we know in the postpartum depletion syndrome world, that if your levels are below a certain optimal or above a certain optimal, it is going to affect you. It is going to cause the rage, the irritability, the anxiousness, the intrusive thoughts, all of those things.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

So you could be quote unquote in the normal range and still be suffering because you're too low or too high or whatever it is. Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. They just have to be interpreted correctly. That's really interesting. Who I mean, and it makes sense, I guess, when the placenta comes out, like of course everything's gonna deplete.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Like it's you know, it's it was a beautiful thing that we created a human, so yes, yeah. We have an organ, we have a human, the human's out, the organ's out. Right. We're left with a really big hole.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

And one more time, sucked dry. Yeah, but sucked dry. Um, and you were saying, you know, that many moms assume just feeling exhausted as part of motherhood. And while, yes, it I'm still I'm seven years, eight, nine and a half years in, I'm still tired. But I feel like, you know, it's it maybe there are again ranges. And so, yes, probably everybody's gonna be tired, but it doesn't have to be maybe what some people are feeling. So talk to us about that.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Yeah, well, I think in general, we've talked about what depletion syndrome, like postpartum depletion syndrome, is how it is affected by the placenta being delivered. Then what comes of that after everything is gone is this extreme fatigue, this extreme irritability, rage, all of these things. But when we look at this, we have to look at, sure, a lot of providers will check for iron levels, but are we looking at the iron stores in general? So your iron could be adequate, but is your ferritin level that isn't frequently drawn that tells us how much your body is absorbing the iron, is that within an optimal range? And if that is really low, that is going to cause similar symptoms to a low hemoglobin and a low iron, even if those other two labs are normal, quote normal.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

Going off quote unquote the script here, a person who is years past, could they still benefit from this information? Like, is there still work to be done, even if your youngest child is 15 years old? Like, is your could your body still be in need and could solve some of your pro not problems, issues or whatever it is that you're having?

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Yeah. So a lot of times we normally would say that postpartum is up till 10 years after delivery. Which is crazy. Isn't that crazy? Right? But it goes to show, I mean, a lot of some of the foods that we have nowadays aren't maybe as quite as nutrient-rich as they once were. So we're not getting in a lot of the nutrient foods. So all of these micronutrients that are causing the castated effect of these symptoms, we can take in through food. But as we slowly take them in, it takes a while to build it up. So that's why supplementation is sometimes helpful in the immediate uh phase and why is recommended. Okay. Um, and that's why from that point forward, um, you know, you kind of look at how 15 years postpartum probably have might be a little it's a little long, but it doesn't mean that during the first year of uh postpartum you go through four hormone shifts. Then let's say you go through more children, you're gonna go through four more hormone shifts of another child. Then you have one more child, four more hormone shifts, and then here you are heading into perimenopause, still depleted. Right. So if you're scraping from the bottom of the barrel without having repleted a lot of these micronutrients, it's a cascade effect to causing more issues for thyroid dysregulation, which then affects your metabolism and your energy and your mood. It goes into cortisol dysregulation and managing um our energy, our sleep cycles. A lot of moms and terry men and paws will start to talk about how their sleep becomes more disrupted and it can come from a dysregulated cortisol. And all of this is a cascade effect from our micronutrients not being improved from the very beginning.

SPEAKER_03 16:33

Wow, that's that's incredible. This is this is good that you're that we're getting this out there so that people know.

SPEAKER_02 16:39

You know, and it's actually I I did not, I sadly I didn't know about it for my other three pregnancies, and thankfully I have found out for this one, and it has it was the hardest postpartum period, but then the most rewarding coming out of it and seeing this all works. And what did you marry guinea pig? What did you say? You were the you were the younger. I'm the guinea pig, because I was the biggest skeptic.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

And what did you change? Like, did you start taking supplements or eating certain things, or what how did you? I might be jumping ahead here, but like how what was different about your recovery with the twins?

SPEAKER_02 17:12

So I got lab work done, and it's very extensive lab work. We're gonna get a uh CBC with differentials, so that's the complete blood count where you see hemoglobin and hematocrit. We look at gut function in that lab work as well. Then we also look at liver function and kidney function and electrolytes. Okay. Then we look at the six vital micronutrients. We look at B12, folate, which is also known as B9. We look at ferritin, vitamin D, magnesium, and I looked at my zinc levels. Those are the six vital micronutrients because when those are out of line, it highly affects the thyroid as well. Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 17:48

And then is that a blood test that just practically speaking, insurance companies are willing to do if you speak to a doctor about it? Like, is this just they kind of getting into the like nuts and bolts of it?

SPEAKER_02 17:59

No, it's a good question. Um, a lot of times insurance will do it if you can find the correct you know, ICD 10 code. So you basically need to find the right way to bill it. Okay. But because postpartum depletion syndrome doesn't fall into an ICD 10 code, you can't use that as the reasoning. Okay, you have to use like extreme fatigue for the vitamin D level. Okay, um, a CBC and a CMP are both very manageable to get through C uh ICD 10 codes. But sometimes providers, even if covered by insurance, don't feel comfortable ordering it because they don't know the correct way to interpret. Interesting. So that's where the the issue lies. Because then they're like, Well, I don't know really what I'm looking for, so why would I order that?

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Because and just because they don't have the education on it because it's not out there in the world yet. You're gonna change that. Okay. Oh, I am I am very excited. Okay, and I feel like I have interrupted and taken us in a million directions here. So I don't know if there was a thought you had that I I stopped that you can remember, but I know we were talking about nutrients and people feeling exhausted, yes, is part of it, but maybe not to the extreme that somebody's feeling, and it kind of starts with the nutrients and then goes from there. Does that some of that part of what?

SPEAKER_02 19:13

Yeah, exactly. Your micronutrients need to replenish, the micronutrients fall into also when our micronutrients are dysregulated, our sex hormones are dysregulated. That's estrogen, progesterone, testosterone. Um, when those are dysregulated, our mood is disbalanced. So we have anxiety, irritability, depression, intrusive thoughts, loss of motivation. And so if we can correct the vitamin D and zinc that really balance those sex hormones, that can really help to manage one's personality too in the postpartum phase when we feel all those thoughts.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

So it's almost like they were there with like, you know, the the powers that be are there with the postpartum depression, but again, maybe don't realize that it's this vitamin rather than Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

That supplements when we replenish our micronutrients, they're the spark plugs to get everything moving. So if you think about in the car analogy, if you don't have that spark, you're not gonna be able to turn over that engine, you're not gonna be able to get going. So if you're lacking on those micronutrients that keep everything ignited, then you're not gonna be able to move forward. So conventional medicine will be adding in um certain prescriptions. I mean, there is a place and a time for any type of antidepressants, any type of anti-anxiety medications. There's absolutely, I would never say not to take them if that is something that you and your provider think is warranted. However, there are places where if you manage the root cause and manage the low vitamin D, the low zinc, the low magnesium, then we can see where those symptoms of loss of motivation and anxiousness and depression will actually come out. And you will come above that and realize a lot of moms could come off of those medications. So sometimes you have to work together where you have a prescription and a supplement working well for a couple of months. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:08

I feel like I'm learning so much right now. Okay. Um, and you had sort of an analogy for that as your body being a savings account. Oh, yes. Yeah. To give us that.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

Yeah. So really, I mean, a big part of this is the your body's a savings account. You have a pregnancy that's the immediate withdrawal. It's a withdrawal for nine months, a withdrawal for the rest of your life. I mean, yes, exactly. At least 18 years. And every single day it is going to draw from you. That is why it's also really important to have really adequate uh prenatals when you're leading into this, or even before getting pregnant, getting lab work done to see how everything is looking and micronutrients are looking, so that we can then move into an easier conception potentially or an easier pregnancy because of that withdrawal. Then after the baby comes, that's a major. Withdrawal, of course. Then the placenta is delivered. Another huge withdrawal from your bank account and your savings account. And then you're breastfeeding. If you're a breastfeeding mom, that's a daily withdrawal as well for whatever amount of time that you breastfeed for. If it's two weeks or if it's two years, it's still withdrawal during that entire time.

SPEAKER_03 22:21

So you're just taking pulling away, pulling away, pulling away. You gotta make a deposit once in a while, right?

SPEAKER_02 22:27

Exactly. And how can you make a deposit if you have nothing left and everything's pulling out? Right. Or you don't know what you need to drop in. Exactly. And you look at Instagram and you think, or you look at social media, or you look just generally to the right at your friends and you think, well, that mom bounced back really well. And I'm supposed to be able to fit into my clothes potentially in let's say four months, or I'm supposed to lose all my weight if I am a breastfeeding mom within an X amount of time because breastfeeding loses you lose weight with that. But that's really to con like contrary to like popular belief, it's not true. Plus, bounce back is a terrible analogy. But yeah, it's moving on, right? We're like moving into our next version of ourselves.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

Yeah, the bounce back. I'm like, because I think no matter how you end up, quote unquote, after your baby's born, you're never exactly the same. I mean, how could you be? How could you be? I had a nine-pound child inside my belly. Like, how you know what I mean? And you know, of course, now my kids are like, Are you having another baby? I'm like, no, this is where you were stretching me out for any of them. My son's like, oh, I'm like, remember you, the nine pounds? He's like, Oh, sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for pointing it out. But yeah, I mean, I think no matter what, even if a person goes back to wearing the same size jeans or whatever, everything kind of gets moved and shifted and just a little funky. So yeah, bounce back. I don't, I don't, I don't appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 23:49

And you just want to start putting more deposits back in. So you start from the beginning getting root cause labs, lab work that is the micronutrients, the gut health, liver function, blood sugar balance, because we have a lot of insulin resistance and or blood sugar disbalance that is caused by cortisol dysregulation. Okay. Cortisol dysregulation comes from moms who aren't sleeping, who are then so depleted because they've been withdrawn from for so many months since delivery. Can they check cortisol with a blood with a blood test too? They can absolutely yes. Ideally, you would get the cortisol in the morning, so you would get your lab work done in the morning. But because we want to check blood sugar, fasting insulin, fasting glucose, and hemoglobin A1C, that is what the calculation you use to figure out insulin resistance, which is a trigger word that we've been hearing a lot uh in social media as well, that you want to get fasting labs done. So ideally get this between 6 and 9 a.m. So you have a good cortisol level uh assessment and also fasting labs.

SPEAKER_03 24:55

That's so funny. I had a physical a couple weeks ago and I went back today at 7:15 because they were just drawing my blood to do routine things. Maybe I'll send a message to my doctor and be like, by the way, can you also check? I'm in. Wonder if I can.

SPEAKER_04 25:07

A lot of that can.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

We'll talk after this, and I'll be like, what should I be asking for? But yeah, I was like, I haven't eaten. And um, yes, anyway. Um, and a lot of moms. So after we kind of get there and and you are being depleted from all ends when you have a baby and after you have a baby, and tired does seem to be the stereotypical number one thing that people say. Um, and then you kind of move into the I I just don't feel like myself. And what would you say are the symptoms that most moms are saying doesn't feel like them?

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Yeah, that's that's a huge one. I think a lot of moms come and they talk to me, or my friends' moms, or like the sisters of my friends will say, I I have this unexplained rage and irritability towards my partner or towards my toddler with the newborn now. And I feel so guilty about it. I don't even know why this is happening. The fatigue is a big one. I think hair loss and hair thinning is another one. Okay. Metabolism, in regards to most likely the inability or the struggle to lose weight, feeling like you still have a lot of weight in the midsection post-delivery. Um, I think that a lot of moms also come with um loss of motivation, intrusive thoughts. Like I woke up in the middle of the night and I can't get back to sleep. I'm awake from 2 to 4 a.m. every day. Why is this? That's my baby sleeping, my husband's sleeping, my toddler's sleeping, the dog's asleep, nothing's happening, but I am wide-eyed and bushy tail. What's going on?

SPEAKER_03 26:39

Right. And then I feel like that kind of creates this cycle of like if you go to bed and you know you're gonna wake up and you already know that you're gonna be up in the middle of the night because the baby's gonna wake up, it causes anxiety. And you, you know, it's just like this horrible like you you can't get away from it because you're there goes that mom brain, just always thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

And speaking about mom brain, another one is that moms come to you with the um, I forgot, I opened the fridge and I forgot what I was gonna get. But really, she really wanted to get milk because the toddler was begging for milk, you know, right? It is that simple, but that quickly it was gone. Yeah, and that's when our B12 is so low, we have this horrific mom brain fog and mom brain. And that can really affect that.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

And I think too, in another episode that I had with a woman who's a therapist, but not a medical quote, you know, a quote unquote medical professional, she was talking about um look at me, maybe my B12 is low. I just lost it. Um, oh, the what'd you say?

SPEAKER_02 27:40

She was talking about depression, right?

SPEAKER_03 27:42

She was talking about depression and anxiety and mom rage and um oh, oh, I know. We were talking about, I said the thing that stuck out to me, and I have mentioned several times on this podcast that I have diagnosed myself with postpartum anxiety. I just, but I I think part of that was, and she had a big fancy word for it that I'm not gonna be able to remember. And it's the process of becoming a mother. And I think that that is also like metrescence. Was it, is that does are you familiar with that? It's like how your brain changes and you literally go from not being a mother to being a caretaker of this person. And I think, you know, many nights, or not many nights, but when my son was like six months old, I would get in bed and I would just cry. And my husband was like, I don't know what's wrong. And I was like, You don't understand. And I think it was like my brain changing, and I was like, I have to think ahead all the time. If we're going to the store, I have to pack that. And not that he's a wonderful husband, a wonderful partner. None of that. None of that. It's just the literally like the biology of your brain. And I was like, I now think seven months in advance. I can't walk away without telling somebody that I'm walking away from the baby. You can go from room to room, you get to go to work. And it was just this like maybe three or six month period, and it kind of came and went and whatever. But and I was never depressed. It was never like I was able to do my thing. It was more just that, like, my whole life had changed. And I don't think, you know, we talk about what do you not know about when you become a mother, that maybe it's better that you don't know until you learn. But it was that, like, it was that process of like, I am now responsible for another human life and what that entails. And I think that then crashes with the nutrients and you know, maybe your shifts. I mean, all of those things. It's it is a scene and a half.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

Oh, yeah. Well, it's funny you mentioned that it was about the five to six month mark you said that happened, right? Yeah. So the four hormone shifts that happen is within the first two weeks after delivery because the whole system is delivered. At the four to six month mark is another big hormone shift. Okay. So at any point, moms will have three to four hormone shifts after delivery. And you falled in fell into that where your brain started telling you all these things because you were in such a depleted state. You had a big hormone shift, estrogen's moving, progesterone's moving, testosterone is adjusting. It's supposed to do that. That's what our bodies made to do. But it doesn't mean that it isn't hard. And if we aren't set up for success by getting the right micronutrients in the very beginning during that first hormone shift when we lost the placenta, how are we supposed to manage it now?

SPEAKER_03 30:34

Right. And it's these are these huge things. And you're right, you're pulling from nothing, and you know. Um, and so you would again recommend to a mom if she is feeling this way, to reach out to a provider. Um are most like mainstream OBGYNs kind of aware of this now, or would it be a more specialized person?

SPEAKER_02 30:56

I think it's more of a wellness health state still right now, where you see a lot of terms are coming through of functional medicine providers, okay, integrative medicine providers. Yes. Unfortunately, because there is not a textbook conversation of this, there is plenty of books written about it. There's plenty of studies done about this. Okay. However, it's still not hit into more of the conventional medicine space. So I think if you're fortunate enough to be with the provider, an OBGYN that has interest in mixing the two, and there are some in our area, that's great. But if not, there is at least functional integrative medicine nurse practitioners and physicians that do have this knowledge that can really work with you. But that does come with that a cost.

SPEAKER_03 31:41

And you would you would look for a person who specializes in like maternal health or just women's health, or would there be specific, like an integrate at the, you know, I'm gonna go see an integrative women's health specialist, or what's what I would be looking for. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

Yeah, like women's health, postpartum, um, uh, any type of uh one that a person that has knowledge of the woman's body in general and the shifts that happen. Because hormone shifts are different from us than males. It's just that's the fact, that's the way science works. Right. We do know this, it's just separating the two and having knowledge. Somebody can't necessarily, you can have all that knowledge, but you would I would always recommend to go to a specialist because they have they've taken given all this time to research and to knowledge of this topic.

SPEAKER_03 32:30

Yeah, yeah. So that's the way to go. And maybe even if your doctor doesn't know, they would know who to send you to. So it's worth some conversation, would you say? Like it's worth like nobody's gonna be against it. I mean some people would be, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:42

I mean, I think that it's always great when moms say, Well, what can I order, Bernie? What do I tell my OBGYM what to do? So I'll give them a list of these are the labs that I would highly recommend. This is what I worked with and had these labs drawn that really helped me. Okay. And then interpreting those. So I, you know, that that can be a really good starting place. It doesn't hurt to ask. What's the worst thing, right? Tell our kids this all the time. Just ask mom. If I say no, why do I say no? Ask me why. Always asking why curious question is a much better way than just brushing it off and thinking this is normal or getting frustrated and getting really bad.

SPEAKER_03 33:18

And if that person tells you no, perhaps that's giving you a message about that.

SPEAKER_02 33:23

Very good point.

SPEAKER_03 33:24

If that person is like, no, no, no, you don't need to, you're like, maybe you're not the one for me, or you know, but I I feel that all the doctors I have come across are there to help you. So if they can't, they're willing to pass you along to somebody else. Um so if we look at the whole person, which I feel like this is kind of moving towards in terms of medical and then also whole person and integrative. Um, what would you say is why is it important to look beyond just a single symptom? Like if there's something that's going on with a woman, and maybe you say, I'll just live with it, or you know, what what would be important? Why would it be important to look into it? Or how long do you give it before you look into it? Maybe is the question, or you know, very good.

SPEAKER_02 34:09

So for me, I always say symptoms are whispers. Okay, they're your body's way of saying something's off. So in a lot of times in conventional medicine, you look for the disease answer and the symptoms may lead you to that disease, but when you when you turn it around a little bit and you think this symptom, what could be the root cause of this symptom? So it's it's turning it around and saying, so fatigue isn't typical, it is longstanding. If it you are crashing every afternoon, you cannot survive without a nap, you cannot survive without coffee. Something is dysregulated. So it's what's the root cause of that? It's likely cortisol related, it could also be micronutrient related, and a big part likely thyroid, because thyroid goes very much undiagnosed in a lot of conventional spaces. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 35:01

So it's and that's a pretty easy blood test, too, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 35:04

Thyroid, like well, so it there's six or more thyroid tests that you can get. And a lot of providers will only check one, which is a TSH. That's the messenger that tells your thyroid when to release hormones. Okay. But if it's not greater than 4.5, no, most conventional providers will not move forward with any further assessment of what's going on. Okay. Occasionally they'll assess the free T4 and the free T3, which are the two hormones that the thyroid releases. That's also helpful because we need the thyroid hormone to help our body have energy and a good metabolism and manage our mood. Right. But then further down, you want to know is my thyroid feeling stressed? And that comes from another thyroid test called a reverse T3. And do I have any antibodies? Antibodies are a sign that my immune system is attacking my thyroid. You know, nobody wants that. Don't want that, right? Yeah. But if it isn't checked, you can't confirm that you don't have it. Because a lot of times, moms with those hormone shifts, there's so many shifts with our thyroid coming from those hormone shifts that we end up seeing moms going into an autoimmune flare occasionally with the thyroid.

SPEAKER_03 36:20

Okay. And yeah, you would think if your doctor says I checked your thyroid, you're thinking, okay, there's probably one test. There are five other things to look at.

SPEAKER_02 36:27

Six total. And I mean, that's like the that's like the very beginning of what does a thyroid look like. So there's a lot of ways the micronutrients, they support your thyroid. So if you are managing those micronutrients, there's a very good chance that your thyroid will not take as much of a hit if those micronutrients are repleted. But if you're going through multiple back-to-back pregnancies, pregnancy and deperimenopause within less than a 10-year timeline, your thyroid is going to be highly affected by that. And it deserves to be further managed. And that affects your metabolism, your mood, and your energy. So, like a lot of things that moms complain of, thyroid plays a big part in that.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

It's so interesting that you're saying this. Not that the need this needs to turn into like the Kristen Weinrich show, but this summer I said to my husband, I'm like, I feel tired all the time. And now I'm like, maybe I will get in touch with my doctor. Be like, so can we look like I do? And I'm usually like pretty high energy, but I'm like, I just want to go lay down. And he's like, Well, you know, and so it, yeah, it's your this conversation with you, though I have a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old, is making me think of a lot of things based on my own experience. And so I am hoping that other people who might be further away from postpartum, um, you know, it might be looking at it as well. It doesn't just mean because you have a newborn or whatever. And oh no, not at all.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

But to your point, that undescribable not like feeling of fatigue where you just can't keep going on.

SPEAKER_03 37:58

I just want to go lay in my bed. Can I conduct business from my bed?

SPEAKER_02 38:01

Like I'm happy that's that is a huge symptom, right? And that's a whisper. What else is going on? What's underneath of this? Is cortisol dysregulated? Is my thyroid a little dysfunctional? Do I have insulin resistance? Do I have any micronutrients that could be supported a little bit more? There is a lot of bigger root cause answers we could find from just that little whisper of the fatigue change.

SPEAKER_03 38:24

Yeah, no, I'm so I'm so glad we're having this conversation. And going back to, because I know when we had talked about doing this episode, I had said to you that I had had a traumatic birth with my son. And again, I idolized my doctor. So if she happens to hear this, she knows this. She had like it was nothing. He was nine pounds, he was sideways kind of and sunny side up. Like he was like a whole scene and he had to be pulled out with forceps. And when they used the forceps, pretty much I think to save all of our lives. Um I tore. And so there was a ton of bleeding. And I'm wondering, you know, taking it away from me, but a person, like I think I had 300 stitches or something. Like we, I even spoke to my doctor several weeks later. And I was like, you know, there was a minute there when I was laying there and I thought I was gonna see myself floating above my body. And she was like, Kristen, uh yeah. Like, I mean, literally, when I'm like, you almost killed me, my son. I don't tell you. No, you don't. He's like, you can't tell our son that. I'm like, but I mean, truly, there was a chance that I could have bled to death.

SPEAKER_02 39:30

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 39:31

Moving that away from not just me, but a person who has a birth like that too. Uh I guess we're starting from an even more depleted place than a person who has a quote unquote normal birth.

SPEAKER_02 39:45

So maybe that's an iron is incredibly hard. Ferritin specifically is incredibly hard to build up. And you probably lost an incredible. We know you lost a lot of blood. We know that you had a traumatic injury. We had a lot of inflammation because inflammation is a big part. If we have a lot of inflammation in our body, we can't absorb vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential to managing our estrogen and progesterone. If that's not managed, our our mood is way off. Our body aches more. Is that cascade effect? But going back to yes, you probably had high inflammation, significant ferritin iron loss, and the ability to rebuild ferritin just by food alone is going to be very difficult.

SPEAKER_03 40:29

So it is what about I back to me. I know I had two blood transfusions like that night. Does that help or not necessarily? It doesn't help. Oh, absolutely. I didn't know if you it kind of has to be from your own body or that does replenish a little. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 40:46

It does. Your body was given the ability to have iron through that blood. Okay. But then the question was, is your body going to absorb that iron into the elevating the ferritin that causes a lot of symptoms as well? Right. Right. So that's that's where, yes, uh, that is the conventional side of things. You would have died if they wouldn't view forceps potentially. You would had a significant traumatic birth, but you were able to be corrected. There was so many important things that that your OB did for you over alive, without a doubt. And then moving past that, yes, symptoms are gonna come from this. And it's kind of figuring out how you can manage all of that, you know, emotions that happened, because there's gonna be positives and negatives from that and incorporating the knowledge of managing symptoms that you now have.

SPEAKER_03 41:33

Right, right, right. Okay. This is this is so interesting to me. I'm glad we have this little chat about me. I hope everyone listening is enjoying me learning about myself.

SPEAKER_02 41:41

No, but I think oh, I was gonna say there's a lot of like mm uh micronutrients that are depleted through that, not just ferritin. But if whenever you go through a stressful state, magnesium is the first micronutrient you lose. And we all think, oh, magnesium, like can it be that big? But it's they call it the mama mineral for a reason because when you're stressed, you lose magnesium.

SPEAKER_03 42:03

No matter what, like pregnant, not pregnant, you lose it when you're when you're stressed.

SPEAKER_02 42:07

Okay, okay. And that is one of the biggest spark plugs, if low, then that that is not going to help your thyroid, right? You need that, you need adequate magnesium to manage your thyroid, to manage your cortisol level, to manage your blood sugar regulation. If you can't do that with not having the adequate magnesium that you lost during that very stressful time, everything else is going to be affected.

SPEAKER_03 42:30

And could take nine and a half years to replenish. Absolutely. And then and look, I turned around and did it again two years later. And that was a completely different situation. She was out in boom, like three minutes. But you know, you figure it still was, you know, I'm probably still in some way. My body is probably still quote unquote recovering. Um, now he's trying to kill me in other ways. Yeah. Like, man, sure, do that to you. Death by a thousand cuts, these kids, I'm telling you. Um and so talking about hormones, and I know that people kind of throw hormones around and oh, my hormones, my hormones. Um, is it that simple? Like you were talking about all the shifts that happen, and then I know as we get older our hormones shift again, right? Heading into perimenopause. And so talk to us a little about hormones and shifting hormones and what you know a person postpartum and after that might need.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

It's I think a lot of times people say, I just I need to get my hormones checked, and that will cure it all. If my estrogen is low, if my progesterone's low, if they're high, anything like that, that will be corrected. The biggest thing people need to realize is your hormones aren't root cause. What's root cause is that the micronutrients address your hormones. Okay. So during a hormone shift, up to two years postpartum, and if still breastfeeding, it would be farther past that. Hormones are going to go up and down, up and down, up and down because that's Just what our body is made to do. But when it when people are like, well, I just need to get my hormones checked, they they're not looking into the further aspect of things that are affecting it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:12

And if I can interrupt you for a minute, I did an episode with two OBGYNs in November, I think, where we talked about perimenopause, and they kind of said the same thing. They're like, people always want your hormones checked, but like you could check them at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday and they'd be too high. And you check them five hours later and they're too low. And they're like, that doesn't, that that social, they are saying that social media is saying, get your hormones checked. And they're like, it doesn't mean anything.

SPEAKER_02 44:37

It is so hard to interpret them. Yes. Yes. They are even more knowledgeable on all of that, given all of their medical education in that background. But I completely agree. Yeah. You're going to come to me and I would say, Well, so you think your hormones are off. There's a very good chance that's absolutely the case. But if those are off, why wouldn't we try correcting with vitamin D? Why wouldn't we try correcting with zinc? Why wouldn't we try correcting with magnesium and trying to balance things to then also balance our blood sugar, which also is hormone imbalances? There are supplements that can really help with that. And then also from there, how can we balance our thyroid? Because our thyroid plays a huge role in managing our hormones.

SPEAKER_03 45:20

So you're saying the hormones are like the last piece of the puzzle. There's so many before so much before it.

SPEAKER_02 45:26

So much that could be causing it.

SPEAKER_03 45:27

That if you fix that, quote unquote, fix that, you could fix the hormone issues.

SPEAKER_02 45:32

Absolutely. And that there's a big part, there's a big realm that once you're through the um postnatal period, postpartum period, and then going into perimenopause and menopause, that hormones do have a role. But you would know that best if you have your micronutrients addressed before you go into those uh different next chapters.

SPEAKER_03 45:53

Okay. So check into everything before you go to the big, like small picture before the big picture.

SPEAKER_02 45:58

Yeah. And who really wants to be on hormone replacement? I mean it could be on supplements and get, I mean, you can eat adequate amount of zinc. You can eat um an adequate amount of magnesium. Vitamin D is really hard, especially in Pennsylvania. We just don't have enough sunny days. Also, you gotta put on your SPF and you know. But even moms in California, the best way to absorb vitamin D is if your abdominal area or your upper thighs are exposed. And what mom wants to be walking around in the bikini?

SPEAKER_03 46:28

Let's put on my let's put on my tube top and go for a walk. Yeah, and I need to go lay outside.

SPEAKER_02 46:33

Who what mom can vertically or can excuse me, can horizontally parent? It doesn't happen for many years.

SPEAKER_03 46:40

Exactly. Yeah, let me go lay in the backyard and get my vitamin D.

SPEAKER_02 46:44

Yeah. And so that's one of the supplements that I always recommend that everyone should be on. You can get it through some salmon, you can get it through a couple of like fortified milk if you drink milk or anything like that. But uh vitamin D is good for your bones too, isn't it? Really good for your bones. Okay. You would want to do vitamin D with K too, because K having K present with your vitamin D helps with absorption of the vitamin D. So you aren't just taking in blanket vitamin D that can be absorbed.

SPEAKER_03 47:11

Okay, okay. Because my um daughter had, you know, like she goes to see an orthopedist just to kind of check all of her little muscles and everything. And orthopedist keeps trying to get rid of me. I love her. And she's like, You can't come back, she's fine. I'm like, no, I'm gonna come back. But she had said to me, I was like, No, we're gonna come next year. And she's like, Oh my god, Kristen. But she um she had said to me last year, she's like, you know, if you're worried about her keeping her bones strong, and she was like, You should be taking vitamin, she should be taking vitamin D. And I'm like, I didn't know that. She's like, actually, your whole fat, she's like, go buy vitamin D. You can all take it. She's like, it's not gonna hurt anybody. And I was like, oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 47:46

So that was and I give it to all my children. I did say that my kids are likely gonna be tall because of myself and my husband, but there's been a lot of studies that have come out that kids that do take in the adequate amount of vitamin D and K, vitamin K in the early adolescence actually tend to grow taller.

SPEAKER_03 48:05

Interesting. And is the K usually with the D? Like if you're taking a supplement that's like legit, it will, I'll have to go check our bottle, but it usually has the K in it as well.

SPEAKER_02 48:14

Yeah, D3 plus K2. Okay, I'll have to look that up, double check. Um the absorption, it doesn't mean your D3 is bad. It just will, you have to take, you don't have to take as much of it, which is Okay, gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 48:26

And it's it'll just help you absorb it. And how if your hormones, if you get everything checked and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and it is in fact your hormones that are the issue, or you know, if it is the issue before you fix other things, how does that affect your sleep and your nutrition and your stress and like hormones do play a part in that? I mean, like, you know, you look at a 13-year-old girl and you're like, oh, those hormones are affecting her for sure, or boy, and woo.

SPEAKER_02 48:49

You know, so oh yeah, I am worried about those middle school years.

SPEAKER_03 48:53

Well, fourth grade. They they it all kind of starts in fourth grade. Alrighty.

SPEAKER_02 48:57

My oldest baby going into second grade. I don't know if I'm ready for that in two years.

SPEAKER_03 49:01

Yeah, get ready. Like April comes, we're like, oh, the hormones are starting. Here we go.

SPEAKER_02 49:06

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 49:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:07

Oh no, I don't know. I that just made me sad for a moment, thinking of it. We'll walk you through it when you get there. Don't worry. I definitely am gonna need help from somebody else because I love my little boys being little boys.

SPEAKER_03 49:20

It just starts, and you're like, here they come, they're rolling their eyes, they're a little smelly after recess, they're crying a lot, you know, it's just all of those are like, here it goes. So yeah. So I guess it also affects us when we're when we're all the way through puberty, too. Still affecting us.

SPEAKER_02 49:36

Uh but the question was about hormones, right? And how Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:39

So if you do have a hormone issue, whether it's corrected with micro mo micronutrients or not, how can that contribute to you know, difficulties that you would have if your hormones were imbalanced?

SPEAKER_02 49:51

Yeah, so hormone imbalance really affects cortisol regulation. Okay. And so when we talk about cortisol, I think a lot of people say, well, my cortisol level was fine. It was nine or it was 12, because on Quest diagnostic labs or a lab core, whoever, like anywhere like that, that you go get labs drawn, there is a reference range, and I think it's like five to twenty five. So that's really easy to meet that range. Okay. But when our cortisol is dysregulated, there's a lot of symptoms that come in involved. And when our cortisol is dysregulated, then our hormones most likely are also affected. So that's where the sleep comes in. So if our a lot of dysregulated cortisol comes from um when moms are complaining of being wired but tired, um waking up in the middle of the night, sometime between maybe 2 and 4 a.m.

SPEAKER_03 50:39

I call it having a party in my brain. I'm like, I was thinking, my husband's like, Are you worried? I'm like, oh no, I was just like going through life, you know, having a party. Like, I wasn't worried. I was, I was just awake.

SPEAKER_02 50:48

Yeah. Well, you want to be waking up in the morning where you have the biggest cortisol spike of the day, then it should taper down very slowly without those big afternoon energy crashes that a lot of moms have when our hormones are dysregulated. Okay. Then you can be very low, get ready for bed, go to sleep. And then, as long as no environmental factors of the kids waking up, the animals waking up, thunderstorms coming through, you should those of us who get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom because we had nine mom babies.

SPEAKER_03 51:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:17

Exactly. You should be able to fall asleep. But when our cortisol is dysregulated and our hormones are dysregulated, we're going to wake up in the morning and we're gonna be like, where's our energy? I slept all night, but I have no energy. All of a sudden, maybe by the time lunchtime comes, you get a little bit of a spike. Then you have a pretty bad crash in the afternoon, and then we start to see sometimes moms have. I was a big one to this, was the um the uh like evening second wind. I could clear from nine 10 p.m. until 12 p.m. a.m. Oh, fine. I'd have all the energy in the world, and then I would crash and not wake up with any energy in the morning. And my husband's like, because you go to bed early enough. Yeah, like you couldn't fall asleep probably. No, right? Yeah. No, not at all. So that's where you need to start managing cortisol dysregulation, but it's not that easy, right? You can't just be like, all right, cortisol, let's jump in the and let's regulate. Let's in the line. So all of a sudden you're saying, All right, well, what can I do? How do I manage that? Well, the biggest thing is that your nervous system is dialed up super hot.

unknown 52:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 52:26

It's the feeling that you said earlier about you had to always think seven months ahead, seven steps ahead, seven days ahead, whatever it is. It's that it's that fight or flight being dialed up, constantly on the go.

SPEAKER_03 52:39

Or like a constant, I call it like a constant hum in the back of my brain. Like I'm like, I just am always, even if I don't realize it, thinking about something or worried about something, or you know, it's just always it doesn't have to be the big feelings of I'm so anxious, I'm so depressed.

SPEAKER_02 52:55

It doesn't be dramatic. It's that little hum of all right, something's dialed up, I gotta always think ahead. And then sometimes something will hit and you'll be like, Why doesn't anybody else think of anything? Why do I have to think of this? And that's where that unintentional rage and irritability comes towards your partner or towards your toddler or anything like that. And that's all stemming back to cortisol being dysregulated. Okay. So you need to take the the first steps is physically how are you going to calm the nervous system? Finding the there's this amazing book called The Atomic Habits. I love it. Okay. Um, it is all about stackable habits.

SPEAKER_03 53:32

You have to tell me uh the author of that. I'll put it in the show notes. So if anybody wants to read it, they can. We'll talk about that later. Yeah. And what's it called? The atomic habits.

SPEAKER_02 53:41

And you start small, um, intentional, consistent habits daily. Okay. So even if it's for two minutes a day, you're gonna say, Bernie, there's nothing worth doing for two minutes a day. But that to the contrary, con consistency, your body will recognize it and it will keep seeing it and it'll keep saying, You do the same thing every day. Doesn't have to be the same time, but every day I can expect this. This makes my nervous system feel better. Every day I can expect, so for maybe for two weeks, all you do is walk from your front door to the corner where your stop sign is and back. It's a four-minute round trip, but your body knows to expect it, it knows that it brings calm, it knows that it helps your nervous system, and slowly you see that nervous system dialing down. Okay. And that is what's so important to then managing your cortisol because your cortisol is on fight or flight. We need to calm the nervous system to bring the cortisol down.

SPEAKER_00 54:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 54:34

And I feel like there's so much again with like mental health and and mindfulness and all of these things that those are becoming you know, routine for a lot of people, taking the walk or doing uh whatever preventative medicine.

SPEAKER_02 54:50

That's exactly what this is. Preventative. If you take if you take three minutes a day to do guided breath and tell your nervous system, I'm calming down. This is what calm feels like. You are preventing an elevated cortisol level that then spawns into an extensive amount of stress that then affects your thyroid, and it's a cascade effect. So it's starting at the root cause and managing the nervous system and then working with it, bringing down your cortisol. The big thing is your cortisol comes from these cute little adrenal glands that sit on top of your kidneys, these cute little glands. Adorable. But if you they're so cute, they're these little triangles, and they're really not talked about, but they're so impactful. So if you if vitamin C is super important to adrenal glands to maintain adequate help to the cortisol. Okay. But if you're stressed, stress loves to eat vitamin C first.

SPEAKER_00 55:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 55:45

I always joke that in like Christmas time, why does everything I know that Florida makes the best oranges and around Christmas time and everyone gifts them. Right. But I swear there's like a reason that that's just the way it works because you just need it. Have an orange and calm down just a little bit. Calm down. So if your stress is eating up all your vitamin C, your adrenals have nothing to work off of. So then your adrenals decide to go dormant and they stop being able to spike your cortisol.

SPEAKER_04 56:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 56:15

And if you can't spike your cortisol, you can't regulate your cortisol, you can't calm down your nervous system.

SPEAKER_03 56:20

This is fascinating. It's it's fascinating. But really, what I'm taking from it is our children are really the root cause of all of our problems. It is their fault, actually. It all makes an adrenaline.

SPEAKER_02 56:33

Yeah, I make an adrenal cocktail for our whole family every week. And it's a picture of equal parts orange juice or high dose vitamin C juice. I love, am I allowed to say Trader Joe's lineade? It's like my favorite. So the two of them, one or the other, whichever the kids want that week, a whole equal parts coconut water because that's very good for electrolytes. Yes. And then very hefty pinch of like the real mineral salt. And um then we drink that. Well, my kids are a little dysregulated. Everyone needs a little vitamin C. We need to help those adrenal glands.

SPEAKER_03 57:07

Okay. I like that too.

SPEAKER_02 57:10

If they ever watch this, they're gonna know that there was alterative motive behind mommy's.

SPEAKER_03 57:16

We got this special juice. So just calm us that end.

SPEAKER_02 57:18

What's wrong with sun juice? I add spark. Sometimes I add seltzer water. I know you're supposed to only do seltzer water to protect your teeth during meals, so I always serve it during meals, but like you know, whatever. Some fun.

SPEAKER_03 57:29

Whatever, kids, just have a little sip. It's fine, you know? So we have good dental. We all need to regulate. But don't we? I mean, don't we? My gosh. All right, let's see. Uh, a couple more questions for you. Why is stress going back to having a baby? And I think I know what you're gonna say, but why is stress so powerful after you have a baby? And is it gonna be because we're all depleted? We're all depleted. Yeah, I mean, it makes complete sense.

SPEAKER_02 57:59

Yes, yeah, yeah. Stress starts so much of this. I mean, it we want to feel safe and secure. And so if we're stressed, we're not gonna feel that safe and secure. That the beginning parts is always our cortisol level because stress is going to affect our cortisol. And then in order to calm that down, we want to start managing our cortisol. So yeah, I mean, whenever our body is going to feel stressed whenever it doesn't have enough micronutrients, whenever it doesn't have um enough, like when our gut's inflamed and we can't absorb all this food, if there's general systemic inflammation, our belly feels a little bit more bloated, all of that sparks into our stress levels being higher because our body is saying something's not right. So not only do you feel stressed because you're managing a newborn and trying to calculate how many times they had a wet diaper or they were fed or were they burped, or did they sleep enough, or are they sitting right in the car seat? I mean, there's a million things.

SPEAKER_03 58:56

Am I gonna drop them down the staircase when I'm walking down the staircase? We all had that one, didn't we?

SPEAKER_02 59:01

That thought intrusive thought that comes from our low zinc levels. I mean, there are very real reasons that we feel this way that we can correct.

SPEAKER_03 59:09

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:11

That's the that's the amazing part, and it's so nice. I'm sad that I didn't know about it earlier. I'm sad that I I'm not learning this from somebody that's been doing it for decades, but I'm grateful that I can learn teach it now and I can be part of this change now, right? And my daughters hopefully won't experience any part of this. Right.

SPEAKER_03 59:29

Because and and by the time they're older, you know, maybe it'll be kind of universal knowledge and people will just know, you know, they gotta get on there.

SPEAKER_02 59:39

And you can start by taking the right post uh prenatal, you can start by knowing the right foods to eat after delivery because a lot of foods are micronutrient dense. Zinc is found in pumpkin seeds, um, magnesium.

SPEAKER_03 59:52

Not the Wawa Hoagie that I wanted for nine months. Yes. Well, you have the hoagie. It wasn't as good as I was like waiting. Not as good as I was waiting for it to be. I was like, oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:04

My OB was so old school. Maybe it's I don't know if that's rude of me to say about him, but he said, Brittany, if you want a hoagie, you eat it from somewhere that's constantly serving hoagies because they never have lunch meat sitting around. Don't trust the 7-Eleven, eat the Wawa Hoagie, right? I mean, there's they're gonna be fresh all the time. Exactly. The the bad bacteria grows because the lunch meat sits there, not because it's packaged, it was packaged fine. And if they're going through the turkey every day, yeah, it makes sense. It's only open once, it doesn't sit around, it's less than 24 hours open, you know, all those things. So I ate a lot of hoagies.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:41

Yeah, I had a friend who was like, the only thing I ate was turkey, and she was like, Everything else turned my stomach. And the nurse was like, then eat turkey, like eat a turkey sandwich every day. If that's what you're gonna eat, just eat it. And she's like, So that's what I ate. I'm like, your kids turned out fine.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:54

Yeah, capriotties. Every dime I got a good blood pressure report, and my um stress tests were fine, and I and I passed them. I went and got a capriotis. Go get a vogue.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:05

Okay, shout out to them. They made your kids, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:08

Every single one of them was made on capistram.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:11

Okay, fair enough. That's that's good. Now to sort of wrap this up, yes, and we a little bit talked about this, but so we we kind of know the the root causes, or we know how to find the root causes now. And I think you maybe touched a tiny bit on this, but at what point or how long do you, as a new mom who's also overwhelmed by everything else, or maybe let's say a support person or a friend or whatever, how long do you let a mom go through some of these things? Like, I know, you know, the crying is normal and the baby blues, and I always laugh that like I would say to my husband, I didn't cry today. And he's like, That's great. And I'd be like, but I'm just gonna cry now. And he's like, why? And I'm like, I don't know. And then I felt better. I'm like, and that lasted maybe two or three weeks. It was kind of funny. I was like, I just have to do it. And I knew that everything was okay, you know, inside of me. But at what point does a friend or a spouse or yourself do you say, you know, this feels more than what's normal? And I think it's time to talk to somebody about it. And is it before that six-week checkup or is it absolutely?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:16

I mean, sometimes it's gonna be before that six week. I think that we're fortunate that a lot of people in our area do have access to healthcare to be seen at that six-week visit. But if if you are seeing that the the crying may almost be that it can't stop within a few minutes, that maybe it's maybe it's once an hour, but then we notice that it is consistent, it doesn't stop, it's always persistent and we see it weeks and weeks on end. I would say within two weeks period, if there has been a consistent crying every hour, every couple hours, I would at least talk to someone because there needs to be a way to regulate those emotions. And that regulation isn't coming from the food that she's eating at that point. It's just not working. It's not coming from the um the support emotionally that she probably thankfully has. It's more than that. It's something internal. And that will then help conventional medicine figure out is this something that needs treated, that is severe, that needs some form of prescription to get through this? Or is their ability to alter some of the food that we're taking in and start some supplements to then regulate those emotions? Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:27

So you're saying if it if it's consistent for about two weeks or something.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:32

Something that I uh yeah, or to the point where the mom's like, I can't I can't do this anymore. I can't function. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:38

And before it gets to that scary point.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:41

If you're up all night and you're up 24 hours multiple times a week because the baby is not sleeping, because you can't sleep, because your cortisol is all dysregulated, there probably comes a time that you need to be seen even sooner.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:54

Right, right. Just to just to check in with everything. Yeah, and it really is. I say all the time, I'm like, it's amazing that the human race goes on, isn't it? Like, truly.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:05

Everybody says, why did you keep having kids? And I was like, I forgot. And generation after generation, we just keep doing it to ourselves. My husband consistently says, if it was up to me and most likely any other male, I don't think that there would be a race anymore. Right, I know. Well, but that's true too. Like maybe everybody would do it once, and there'd just be a lot of families. It's like a one-child rule. There you go. One child families everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:34

Well, but my uh my mom has a friend who, you know, is her age, so her kids are my age, 20. No, I'm just kidding, but her kids are in their 30s or 40s. And my grandma had said to this friend of my mom's when she was pregnant, she's like, Oh, you forget. Like, you don't worry about being in labor, you forget, and it's all wonderful. And you know, her son would be 15, 20, 25, and she would see my grandma and she'd be like, Mrs. Kerper, I haven't forgotten yet. And she's like, Well, you had another one, so I guess it wasn't that bad. And you're like, Yeah, but I I think we do, like, uh, you know, I I don't think I did just keep doing it, you know. I'm like, well, look at me, my first one. I almost died, and turned around and had another one. So, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:12

I had four C-sections and I still just kept walking back into the OR getting. You're like, Well, why not just keep you doing that?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:20

It's because they're just so cute when they're not like driving you crazy. They're so stinking cute that you're like, oh, it's okay. Let me have another squishy baby. And yeah, and then you know, we just just keep doing it. So uh I guess it's our own faults, right? But thank you so much. I mean, this truly I keep saying it. This is fascinating to me. So I think that it'll be helpful to a lot of new moms, a lot of expecting moms, but a lot of moms, you know, kind of in my place where with kids under 10, if we're still all postpartum, can I use that as an excuse? Oh, I'm postpartum. Oh, I can't postpartum.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:52

In reality, yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:53

And then my fourth grader still not, still recovering.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:58

Yes, absolutely. This is Something that brings gives me such joy to talk about because I've seen the investment of correcting these things for myself, and I've helped some moms along the way and some very good friends along the way. So I just want to keep getting the information out there.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:12

And you're seeing the you're seeing the results, and I'm sure that is egging you on to continue. Because you're like, no, it's real, like it's a real thing. It's just not well known. But you know, in 50 years, we'll say, Oh, you didn't know about micronutrients when you were having your children? I can't believe my grandma had children and didn't know. Like, we didn't know, we didn't know. It's all you pioneer.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:33

Oh, I mean, I'm I would happily do this because it's my friends come to me still and they talk to me about all these things. They always say, Brittany, you were the one that got me through those immediate moments. And it it isn't just because of managing, it's just the listening, the knowledge, the soft tone. And I do put that back to me being able to manage and learning how to manage chronically ill patients through heart failure, managing my palliative care patients, managing patients going through hospice care. I do attribute my ability to listen, you know, sit there, embrace the awkward, calm, like quiet moments, allowing for that space. And moms need that too. And I'm sure a lot of the um other people that have been on the podcast talking about moms and anxiety and postpartum depression and things like that, they just need a space to be listened. And then on top of that, and be heard, I guess is the better way to say it. But on top of that is how else can we help? And there's more that we can help with.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:31

Yeah, for sure. And I feel like you've got like that, like you said, like you have the gentle touch because of all the stages of life that you have dealt with. And, you know, I used to be like when somebody would cry, I'd be like, Oh, I don't know what to do. And then once I had a baby, I was like, I cry all the time just because of that, you know, it's like this special mom club. I feel like when you talk to a mom, you're like, hey, and everybody's like, Yeah, I've been there, yeah, I've been there, yeah, I understand. Yeah, you know, and it's not, I mean, what wouldn't a mom tell another mom? What do you want to know? I'll tell you anything you know, 300 stitches inside. What else do you want to know about listening? Like all about all my journeys, absolutely. All the things because you're like, what's the point of not? If it makes somebody feel better, or if it makes somebody realize something about themselves, or if they're like, oh, I'm not the only one, why wouldn't we share it? You know, that why not? So thank you. For sure. And even if you get nowhere, if you just say to a friend, hey, can we talk for a minute? And I, you know, not that I have any kind of anything, but I know some young teachers or yeah, you know, kids that kids who are now women who are having babies, and I'll text them and I'm like, hey, I know you have your mom and you have your friends. And I'm like, but this is you know, being a mom is a special kind of club. And if you ever need somebody to talk to or you want to reach out, or you're having a bad day, like you can always text me because nothing you're gonna say is gonna sound weird, nobody's gonna judge you. Like, if you've had a child, I feel like you're like, Yep, yep, get that. You get it. So um thank you for sharing this. Uh, I think hopefully it will be really helpful for a lot to a lot of people, and even just the aware, even if you're listening in Arkansas, just the awareness of knowing that it's it's a thing, and maybe you know, people can look into it in their area or I don't know, bring it to their area, something.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:14

Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:16

All right, let's do a couple quick fun ones before we before we sign off. Okay, so one thing we did not mention about you in your introduction is that you are quite the baker. Um, I have Britney to thank for a scone recipe that I make that hasn't doesn't have butter in it because I used to shave my butter with a cheese grater. And she's like, oh no, no, no, no, no, no. Well, I have a recipe for you. And the sourdough starter that I talk about on dophilia. Dophilia. Dophilia that I talk about on on the podcast from time to time came from Britney because we were talking about the scones, and she was like, Do you do sourdough? And I was like, Oh no, but it's on my New Year's resolution. So into my classroom came her son. He's like, This is from my mom. It's a starter.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:00

Oh, he was so proud. He's like, I got to go somewhere else.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:05

I mean, he went all the way up to fourth grade. It's probably the second graded. And with a glass jar, didn't drop it or anything. So I mean it was, I mean, that's a that's a win in and of itself. So tell us what is your I know your dad was a big cook baker and kind of got you started. What is your very favorite thing to bake?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:22

I would say chocolate chip cookies. Okay. Everybody loves them. They are just so they're so homey. They make you feel happy inside. It's like giving you, it's like an eating a hug. Yeah. And I just everybody loves a good chocolate chip cookie.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:36

And do you have your own? I know everybody's very like specific about their recipe. Do you have one that you have almost like tweaked to be yours, or do you have one that you use?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:44

Or oh, absolutely. And the big secret is you have to add cornstarch because it gets it just a little bit chewy, but also very soft and fluffy.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:53

How much? Very mild and you telling or not telling how much. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:56

I don't know the recipe off the top of my head, but I could definitely give it to you to put in the note. That's so fun. Okay. Oh yeah. I love my chocolate chip cookie recipe. And of course, sourdough because you can do so much with it. So I was gonna say barely blossomed into baking that.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:09

Although I do have to say, when we make it, I I do a little bit curse you because I'm like, we can take down two loaves of sourdough in a day and a half. My family from like, I have to, my husband's like, like, can you not make it now for like three or four weeks? I'm like, I know, right? It's so good.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:24

It is so usually when I make one.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:27

I'm sorry, go ahead. What'd you say? It's good for your gut. So right?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:30

I'm like, no, there's something good about this. It's fine that I'm eating it. He's like, How about the butter we're slathering on it? I'm like, that's fine too. It's it's dairy.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:38

Yeah, I tend to drizzle olive oil to feel better about my omega-3s. Yes, and help with inflammation. So I do olive oil and sc and like thick salt. Makes it healthy.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:49

Well, what I do now is I will make a loaf for us, and then I have in mind a person who is getting the second loaf. So I'm like, all we have is one, and then we're giving one away because I'm telling you, geez.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:59

You can freeze it, you can freeze it, and it's very good for it there and it smells good and it's warm.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:05

And I'm like, just get it out of my face. I love making it now. Get it out of my house, or I'm gonna be take it down. So thank you for that. Um, absolutely. And the scone recipe, also delicious. Absolutely. Um, what is your favorite? I know high protein is a big thing right now. Do you have a favorite high protein breakfast?

SPEAKER_02 1:12:23

Ooh, um, I like to make a high protein oatmeal. Okay. Um, I like a plant-based protein that I can put in there. A little bit of chia seeds to help with zinc and magnesium. Um, and also pumpkin seeds I add in there, some walnuts. Um, my kids, we if they put sprinkles on it, they'll eat the whole thing. Oh, okay. That's great. Um, or I do a chia seed pudding. I love chia seed puddings.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:50

Okay. I think I need to try one of those because people talk about them all the time. And the one I like made like 10 years ago was not something I would talk about. So maybe I need to, but the um, there's a woman I follow, she was on the podcast in the winter, Rachel Farnsworth. She's the stay-at-home chef, and she just did a reel today about her chia seed um cottage cheese pudding. And I was like, maybe I have to try that. She was like, We have it for breakfast every day. I was like, all right every day.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:14

I gotta I get those those big containers of yogurt, one plain one vanilla. I do halves on them so that it adds a little bit flavor. Yeah. Add the chia seeds and then either our and then for extra fiber, when the issue with raspberries and shredded lettuce is gone, I normally add a whole pint of raspberries as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:31

Okay. And then just mix it all together.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:33

And then just let it start and eat it throughout the week. Okay. I'm gonna try it.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:37

Maybe my children would eat it. Maybe, maybe not. You know, if it's not an ego waffle, it's really, really kind of a toss-up whether we're gonna have it or not. Like anybody want anything else? No, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:47

Okay. Whole Foods has a really good protein um ego style waffle that I get to my.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:51

I'd love to try that rather than just that. Yeah. Um, what is okay? If you I always like this question, if you could get rid of any genre of music, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02 1:14:02

Oh. Ooh, probably the genre like Lincoln Park. I just was never really into them.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:10

Okay, you're four for four. Every person I ask is like the music. I'm like, that's why I like to keep asking. Everybody says it. They're like the screening music.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:18

Yeah, it's just not for me. My kids have like stuff found stumbled upon like a kid's version. I'm like, oh no. But I have easy listening. Yeah, no, it's like going on while I'm trying to make dinner, and this just is not working.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:30

No, that I feel like that's the one I would get rid of too. I'm like, it's just screaming, it's just it's it's screaming.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:37

To the point of that to calm your nervous system, you can listen to bilateral music simulation. There's multiple channels all across different genres. Okay, the way that the music goes between your ears can actually calm your nervous system. So I tend to put on a bilateral music stimulation station during dinner time because that's the witching hour. And everyone here is more calming music, but you can pick different genres. It can be like country related, it can be just classical music, you could be Disney related, but it's so you just search that in like Amazon music, bilateral music stimulation, huh?

SPEAKER_03 1:15:10

Yeah is is Taylor part of that.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:12

Oh, I'm sure she has she's kind of her own genre of calm, I feel you just well, and it's not words, you'll never hear words, it's just the beat behind and the way that it that it filters it can really help to calm the nervous system, huh? Especially in the kids.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:26

I feel like a brand new person here after talking to you for an hour and 15 minutes. So well educated. Um, do you have along with your five children? And do you have any pets to add into the mix?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:36

We do. We have a little dog named not little, what am I saying? 85 pound um golden doodle named Declan. Okay, how old is he? Is he the oldest child or oh he falls in so one boy boy Declan are all twins? So he is four.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:53

Okay, so you just thought, let's just throw that in there too.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:56

Well before I found out I was pregnant with my third.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:00

Okay. So you know, just there he is. So now he's just you know, he's he just fits in there now. So I surprised my husband for Father's Day with the puppy. And then a baby.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:10

And then a baby, then a week now, then a month later, I was like, What do you want?

SPEAKER_03 1:16:15

A baby or a puppy? We're gonna have both. Oh, we got both. Uh, do you have a biggest fear?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:22

Biggest fear, something super silly. I cannot stand ivy climbing on walls. Like you'll never see ivy climbing on my wall, like my house. It just it seems so invasive when you see it coming in through the windows. And I just have these intrusive thoughts of the ivy coming around me.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:40

No way. Yeah, so no Princeton for your children because there's Ivy, no Harvard, no Ivies.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:47

Maybe it'll be a hard sell. I would have to take a lot of zinc to calm them in.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:52

And why didn't you go to the Ivy Leagues? Well, my mom's afraid of Ivy. My mom's afraid of Ivy. I'm sorry, what my mom has this thing. Uh, what is on the top of your bucket list?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:04

Um, I want to travel the world with my children now. My husband and I did a wonderful job prior to children traveling a lot of very unique places. And I just want, I don't necessarily have to take them all back to the place same places, but I really want to open up their minds and just take them all sorts of really cool places.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:22

Love it. What's your number one place to take them?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:24

I think I'm gonna start out by taking them to probably Switzerland. They have the most beautiful parks. Like they they're really cool hiking trails, built-in parks through the hiking trails so they can see the Alps, they can experience just nature in its true raw form. I think that would be really fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:41

What age are you saying the twins have to be before we're doing that?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:44

I was thinking three or older. Oh, you're adventurous, okay. A little adventurous, yeah, with five kids.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:52

Yeah. We'll have to talk about my travel anxiety sometimes.

unknown 1:17:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:56

I'm good, I'm getting better, I'm getting better.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:58

But a three-year-old and without as long as they're out of diapers, I think I'll feel good.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:03

Yeah. My sister's rule was always out of diapers and no stroller. And she just took her 10 year old, her almost 10 and almost 12-year-old to Disney World. She's like, should have had the should have taken the stroller. I'm like, stop it. She's like, and I think everybody was up in the middle of the night. She's like, but they were potty trained, so there's that. I'm like, there you go, there you go. I love her. And last question for you, what do you think the worst job is out there possible?

SPEAKER_02 1:18:25

Worst job? Oh. Um, I guess it's gonna be smells really get me. They I like quickly gag and hyper salvulate salvate. That's not even a word, but I have a lot of saliva that comes and I smell something so terrible. So I would have to say it would have to be something to do with trash.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:46

I was gonna say trash truck drive, like trash drive, trash drive in my trash. I just think I am so grateful for them because I cannot do this job. I wave to them, I try to give them things because I they don't even know that I have this thing about smells, but I'm so grateful for them.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:04

And even like when I put the trash bag like in the trash can, I'll turn my head away and throw it in and run away. I'm like, oh, okay, yeah, yeah. Yes, I agree. Thank you. Thankful for the for the trash people. All right. Well, on that note, Brittany, thank you so much for talking to us about the postpartum period and knowing that it's not just for caring for a newborn, it's up until 10 years, which that is news to me. Um, and caring for the woman who brought the baby into the world. Um, and as we know, that pregnancy changes every system in the body, and recovery deserves time, attention, and compassion. And while everyone's uh every woman's experience is different, feeling persistently unwell shouldn't simply be dismissed as part of motherhood, which I think is an important point that you made for people. Like, yeah, like we don't have to live like this, right? This is not normal. Let's talk about what can be normal. You don't have to suffer through it. Um by listening to our bodies, seeking appropriate medical evaluation when needed and supporting recovery with nutrition, movement, sleep, stress management, and individualized care. More women can move beyond surviving and beginning to thrive. So thank you. Um, thanks for being here and sharing all this information with us. And if this episode resonated with you, please be sure to share it with a friend who might also benefit from hearing it. Um, also be sure to follow the podcast on whatever platform you're listening to. So it's going to be a plus or a subscribe or a follow. It's really important for people to hit that button because that helps the podcast grow. Um, and of course, you can follow me at mom's work on Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube. Exciting. So, Brittany, thank you so much. This is wonderful.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:37

Love to be thanks.