How I Healed From Postpartum Depletion

I do my best to be open about my health journey and the struggles I’ve faced- especially as a mom- because I know it can help other women to know they’re not alone and find hope in what’s possible.

But I’ll be honest: as someone who works in the field of holistic wellness and practices nutrition for a living, it was hard not to feel ashamed of how depleted and out of balance I was postpartum.

I was surprised by how terrible I felt, especially because I’d been so intentional about nourishing myself through pregnancy, preparing for postpartum, and honoring my body as I recovered from birth.

However, I think it’s even more important to share because it shows that we can all be susceptible to depletion during this season of life. (I mean, pregnancy alone takes about 10% of our bodies’ mineral stores!) And that even when we’re doing everything “right” on paper, we can still be missing some major foundational puzzle pieces.

To make a long story short, about a year postpartum, I crashed. I had very little energy physically, but especially mentally and emotionally. I felt tapped out and always on edge. I had a feeling of overall heaviness- like I was stuck.

My body felt broken.

And my exhaustion went far beyond the effects of sleep deprivation. (In fact, by this point I was fortunately getting plenty of sleep.)

So I tried some new supplements. I weaned from pumping. I started therapy. But I didn’t really feel much better after months, so I knew something deeper must be going on.

Of course, the doctors I saw told me my labs look fine and everything I was experiencing was “normal” now that I was a mom. (Both which I knew were wrong).

I was understandably frustrated and kept thinking... “Why do I feel like this when I’m doing all of the things!?”

I was eating nourishing foods, moving my body daily, and taking my supplements consistently. I was working with a pelvic floor physical therapist, was going to therapy, had taken an extended maternity leave, and had great help at home.

What else could it be?!

So I did what I know how to do best- research. I went down a rabbit hole to find the deeper root causes. I began with a continuing education program on functional testing with a focus on digestive health.

That led me to exploring more about the metabolism which then inspired a deep dive into minerals, so I decided to pursue another program that focused on this area.

And then I ran mineral testing (via an HTMA or Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) and wow, there it was right on paper: my minerals were way out of balance.

My nervous system was in a forced state of shutdown (totally explaining why I felt so tired and immobilized).

My adrenals were nutritionally depleted, unable to keep up.

My thyroid was sluggish and clearly in need of support. My stress resilience was extremely low because I was so burnt out.

From that one test and the work it inspired, I learned more about myself and I made deeper connections- not only to my current symptoms but truly, my overall health history- than anything else I’d ever done before.

It all sent me on a new path.

I started prioritizing foods rich in the minerals my body needed and made eating enough a top priority to communicate safety to my body and support my blood sugar.

I got rid of the supplements I falsely believed were helping but truly weren’t.

I changed my exercise approach to one focused on building, not tearing down my body.

I gave my nervous system a lot more love, focusing on somatic healing.

And most importantly, I met myself where I was at- I respected what my body had gone through in the process of becoming a mom, I recognized that I needed to address my health differently in this season, and I had a roadmap for just how to do that based on what my body required.

And while I did change my views on many things, I wouldn’t say that what I had been doing before becoming a mom was “wrong.”

It just turned out that the demands of pregnancy and postpartum and the physical and emotional depletion I experienced as a new mom required a very different strategy.

My journey helped me realize that so many other moms out there are desperately in need of the same- not an approach that only scratches the surface, a bunch of influencers piling more on our plates for the sake of “wellness,” and surely not the infuriating “well, welcome to motherhood, this is just how it is now” lazy answer we’re too-often given.

And especially once I started running mineral testing in my practice, I started seeing so many of the same patterns arising amongst the moms I work with!

The reality is that we moms need a different approach to nourishment and health- one that digs deep.

One that actually discovers the underlying root causes of our symptoms.

One that helps us replenish the nutrients we need to function well, rebuild our metabolisms and nervous systems, and restore our vitality and resilience so we can show up fully, enjoy the gift of motherhood, and tackle all the demands we’re under every single day with ease.

I’ve taken what I’ve learned on my postpartum healing journey, my research into the world of minerals, and my clinical experience helping hundreds of other women reclaim their health in motherhood and turned it into a 6-week course called Reignite Your Spark.

I built this program because we all deserve to be thriving- not just surviving- in motherhood.

We all deserve to feel incredible- energized, balanced, strong, and resilient- in our bodies.

And we all deserve to have the right knowledge and tools to help us heal in a way that’s sustainable and doesn’t push unrealistic pressures or expectations.

Trust me when I say: I know what you’re going through. But I also know how to help you move forward.