My Health Journey

 If you have read any posts previously you know that I have a large (by today’s standards) number of children—5. And that’s all well and good by itself but then you realize that I had them all within 7 years. And that makes it more interesting on my body. Then throw in the fact that I’ve bounced around each pregnancy with either being borderline diabetic, having nothing wrong, or having gestational diabetes. The last pregnancy I was only borderline diabetic but I had a massive amount of extra fluid—as if I was diabetic—and it was so concerning that they made me take the sugar test THREE times! And never figured out what was wrong or why I had so much fluid that I was basically carrying twins. It was only this last year (over three years later) that I discovered my thyroid had gone out. When I first started taking my thyroid medicine I was so amazed at how I actually felt like myself for the first time since before I got pregnant. Then about two weeks in the feeling was gone. I guess I still have energy but it doesn’t seem like enough, I still drag and get tired but can make it through the day. While discussing it with a friend she was talking about her low estrogen issues and I thought—maybe that’s what’s wrong! So I did what every woman who has an older sister does and I called my big sis. She just happens to be in medical school—I know, I’m lucky—and we discussed how I got my gallbladder removed before we had Gabby and it had been packed with stones. She told me that it was caused by my body not processing cholesterol correctly and that made sense because the thyroid hormone is a cholesterol based hormone. I was floored. I asked her what her opinion was on if I could have low estrogen and she said it was highly likely since that was also a cholesterol based hormone. 🫠 I immediately ordered an estrogen cream and an accompanying progesterone supplement to begin taking that in my daily routine so I can test my theory out. So far it’s working. My mood seems stable, I’m not rubber banding all over the place, my level head has returned. I have decent energy and motivation and I just feel more like myself. 🥰 but I’ll be honest, I’m still tired a lot. However, I feel like a big portion of that is due to my weight. Every pregnancy my weight has gone up, and then I loose it after the baby starts nursing—until about three months in and then I gain everything back plus more. After Gabby (#5) was born I was dedicated, we joined the YMCA and I did Zumba and weightlifting courses and was there 5 days a week. I lost about 27 lbs and then plateaued for a month. Then I gained every pound back after a holiday break turned into a longer break and us canceling our membership. As of right now I’m almost 300 lbs. 🫣😳 I have gained 100 lbs over the course of our 14 year marriage and I hate it. Don’t get me wrong, I still look mighty fine. But I can feel the toll it takes on my body. I had been walking at the park 3 days a week for 4 months with no significant change. But I haven’t been able to do it lately due to scheduling conflicts and haven’t seen any change from that either. This is where I am right now. I feel like I need some real help and don’t know where to look. My doctor caught my thyroid but hasn’t done anything else and it’s not helping. I want to drop my weight so my body can start properly processing the things it needs. I want to avoid diabetes and as many other health concerns as much as possible. So in that attempt I have signed up for a two week trial for Noom. I don’t receive any sort of compensation for using them, I’m just trying something different to hopefully jump start my weight loss. I get very discouraged if I don’t see significant change over a month. Let’s hope I see something happen in the next two weeks. 🤞🏼🤞🏼 I am always hopeful-I know I can do it, I just haven’t found the thing that works for my body. Hang in there with me, we can do this! 🥰