I was just like you once. I was told in 2011, that getting pregnant would be a difficult journey for me because my uterus was a “funny shape” and “in the wrong spot”… She gave me little information on this. And my brain was spiraling.

As a Naturopathic medical student, I spent the next 4 years making some pretty big changes to my health game. In 2015, when my husband and I began trying for our family, I got pregnant pretty quickly.

But it didn’t start out simple or easy. Like most people, I tried to out-supplement the problem.

I researched as much as I could around what I “should be taking” to increase my chances, improve egg quality and balance my hormones. In my mind, these pills were my golden ticket.

I’m someone, very much like you (cause Hi, you’re here) that chooses to be proactive. I scheduled an appointment with a Naturopathic Doctor to confirm that the supplements I was taking and the plan I was thinking would “work”.

… and her process changed everything for me. Thank goodness I reached out to her when I did because my fertility journey would have been a lot longer.

She made it very clear that I couldn’t out-supplement or out-google my hormone health. Instead of her recommending the 12 supplements I already bought, she had me work on my lifestyle:

Less commuting

More meal planning

Earlier bedtime

Regular exercise

Continuing to track my BBT but stop OPKs because they were stressing me right out

… the kicker, she recommended I only continue 2 of the 12 supplements I purchased. 

This experience led to me growing my family but it also led me down this path. I realized how much information around women’s health is lacking. I see so many women having these conversations when they’re 6 months+ into their fertility journey, when we should be having these conversations 6 months PRIOR to even considering growing our family.

The foundations of fertility - specifically understanding hormones and cycle syncing through a fertility lens - is lacking.

What most doctors deem “normal” is actually just common: like heavy periods, irregular cycles, hormonal acne, PMS, painful periods - these symptoms aren’t something you just live with, they need to be dealt with and properly managed.

Understanding the impact of your lifestyle: (maybe you’re like me) working long hours, eating out for convenience, not having a consistent movement / workout routine, scrolling social media instead of getting your 8hrs of sleep in and carrying the day-to-day stress of your job and environment.

Ignoring what your cycle is telling you and how it’s impacting your fertility: low progesterone, no LH surge, estrogen dominance, signs of hypothyroidism, experiencing long, short or non-existent periods or simply missing your fertile window.

Now I know what my ND was doing… She was getting me to lay the foundational groundwork for success FIRST instead of last.

She was literally saving me time.

I got pregnant with my son shortly after this appointment.