Why Your Exhaustion Isn't Normal Mom Life

Something IS off, you feel it, and you're not wrong.

You're beyond exhausted - your tired is tired. You've tried every supplement, done the bloodwork dance only to be told "everything's normal," and accepted that this must just be "mom life."

But what if it's not?

After 20 years as a labor and delivery nurse, Amy Hellmers is witnessing a maternal health crisis that's connected to the exhaustion epidemic no one's talking about. Whether your baby is 2 months or 10 years old, your body may still be telling the story of incomplete postpartum recovery.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why the 6-week appointment isn’t the end of Postpartum
• What Amy calls the "Postpartum Recovery Matrix"
• Why your exhaustion is information, not a character flaw
• How to write a new normal that won't require a snooze alarm every morning

Your body was designed to heal. You're not broken - you're just not finished healing yet.

Transcript

Beyond Exhausted Episode 1: 

Hey there, friend. If you’re a mom who’s ever stared at the ceiling at night, exhausted but wide awake, wondering why no amount of coffee cuts through the fog… this is for you. Welcome to Beyond Exhausted: The Mom Recovery Podcast—where we dive into why your body might still be recovering from pregnancy, years later, and how to finally heal. I’m Amy Hellmers, a labor and delivery nurse with over 20 years in the trenches, catching thousands of babies and holding moms through it all. But more importantly, I’m a mom of four who’s been exactly where you are. Let’s get into it.

Something is off, right? You feel it deep down—it’s not just in your head. You go to bed bone-tired, but sleep evades you. No wonder you wake up dragging. And that coffee? It might perk you up for a couple hours, but by afternoon, even the cold tile floor starts looking like a nap spot. Sound familiar? You’re beyond exhausted; your tired is tired. You know in your gut this isn’t right. You’ve Googled your symptoms, stocked your cabinet with every TikTok and Instagram supplement under the sun… but here you are, still searching.

Let me guess—you’ve done the bloodwork dance too? Shelled out the cash, endured the pokes, waited anxiously for results… only to hear “everything’s normal.” Frustrating, isn’t it? I see this every day in my practice. The issue isn’t that your labs are wrong—it’s that we’re not asking the right questions or checking the deeper markers. Even ChatGPT might shrug and say it’s just “mom life.” Welcome to the so-called “new normal.”

But pause for a second: What if I told you this isn’t normal? What if, just because exhaustion is common among moms, that doesn’t make it okay? Feel that little spark of relief? Yeah, me too—because it means there’s hope.

Here’s the truth: Constant exhaustion isn’t your destiny. You shouldn’t need that caffeine crutch to function. Deep down, you know that’s right. That fatigue? It’s your body waving a red flag, saying something’s off. You can trust yourself—and trust your body. So, what’s really going on? Let’s unpack it together.

My Wake-Up Call in the Delivery Room

First, a bit about me: I’ve been a labor and delivery nurse for over 20 years—catching thousands of babies, supporting moms through every high and low. But nothing prepared me for what I saw when I returned to the floor in 2022 after a seven-year break. It horrified me, and honestly, it broke my heart.

In my first 15 years, I witnessed just two postpartum hemorrhages—rare events we talked about for weeks. I still remember one patient’s name, and she wasn’t even mine! That’s how uncommon it was.

Fast forward to 2022: Hemorrhages were happening weekly, sometimes multiple times. And it’s not just my hospital—nurses across units confirm it. We’ve got new devices for uterine bleeding, and we run drills like never before. Preeclampsia rates? Skyrocketing. Gestational diabetes? Once uncommon, now routine. Moms are sicker during pregnancy, birth, and beyond.

Why am I sharing this? Because this maternal health crisis isn’t isolated—it’s connected to the exhaustion you’re feeling right now. We’re so laser-focused on getting babies out safely (which is vital, don’t get me wrong), but we’re overlooking mom’s long-term metabolic health. We act like delivery flips a switch, and poof—everything resets. But your body? It doesn’t work that way.

The Hidden Ripple Effects of Pregnancy

Here’s the connection no one’s making: Pregnancy and birth are metabolically demanding—some might even say traumatic—events, with effects that can linger for years, even decades. Whether your youngest is 2 months or 20 years old (like mine), or you’re navigating mom life through blending families, adoption, or other paths, that metabolic shift doesn’t vanish at six weeks postpartum.

Think about it: Have you noticed changes beyond just shoe size or sleep? Pregnancy reprograms how your body handles iron, thyroid function, gut health, and hormones. Those shifts don’t auto-reverse. Conventional medicine often misses this because docs care—they do!—but they’re trained for symptoms, not root causes. (Heck, they seek me out at work for functional medicine chats.)

This is where what I call the Postpartum Recovery Matrix comes in. Imagine a web: Iron deficiency from blood loss links to thyroid slowdown, which ties to gut inflammation from stress or antibiotics, all looping back to hormonal chaos. When one piece falters, the whole system struggles—explaining why “eating right” or popping supplements doesn’t fix the brain fog, weight stubbornness, or that afternoon crash. Even if labs look “normal,” you’re not imagining it.

From the Delivery Room to My Own Chaos

This crisis didn’t stay in the hospital for me—it hit home as a mom of four in a blended family. I remember those back-to-school mornings vividly: Alarm blares, house quiet, but I’m already doing mental math—how long can I lie here before chaos erupts? Outfits ready? Lunches packed? What am I forgetting? Before I could finish the thought, cries or footsteps upstairs—game on.

Stumbling to the coffee pot (again), I’d wonder: When did I become this person? Someone who dreads her kids’ wake-up sounds? Who can’t function without caffeine? I used to have energy, wake up ready. What happened?

Years later, I know: It was pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding times four—the metabolic overhaul no one warned me about or taught me to recover from. But here’s the good news—that exhausted woman wasn’t broken. She was depleted. And depletion? It can be reversed.

My youngest is about to be 21 and I can tell you: You don’t have to settle for this “new normal.” Your body remembers energy, restful sleep, feeling like yourself. It just needs the right support—whether from pregnancies long ago or the ongoing demands of mom life.

Tying It All Together

Are you seeing the thread? The sicker moms I’m seeing on the L&D floor lead to tougher recoveries, which snowball into years of dismissed symptoms like yours. But I’ve also witnessed transformations: Moms who tackle root metabolic issues wake up energized, no mental math required.

That’s what Beyond Exhausted is about—for moms refusing dysfunction as destiny, whether from pregnancy or the full spectrum of motherhood.

What’s Next and Your First Step

I’m Amy Hellmers, blending my L&D expertise with my own recovery journey to create the RESTORE Method—a roadmap for healing those lingering pregnancy effects.

In this series, we’ll bust the six-week “all clear” myth, unpack the Recovery Matrix, and sort what’s truly a “new normal” (like deeper love for your kids) from treatable issues (like chronic fatigue).

Remember: Your body was designed to heal and thrive. You’re not broken—you’re just not done healing yet.

Next week: My full story—why I left L&D, what pulled me back to a changed world, and how functional medicine became my mission.

For now, here’s what I want you to do- starting TODAY: Stop apologizing for your tiredness. Ditch the “mom life” excuses. Join my “friends of the show” group on BFF ( link in the show notes)  Join the conversation and let’s start feeling better together! OH and don’t forget to  subscribe to the show so you don’t miss a beat.

That vibrant, energized you? She’s still there. Let’s uncover her together.