Wellness with Vanda
A women's health podcast where we'll be talking about hormones, mindset, motherhood, & everything in between. The host, Vanda, is a functional medicine nurse coach that helps women overcome hormone imbalance so that they can achieve optimal wellness. In her private practice she specializes in HTMA testing and DUTCH testing. Throughout this podcast she shares tips for boosting energy naturally, improve mood, recover from mom burnout, ways to increase fertility, ways to improve sleep quality, tips for pregnancy, tips for navigating postpartum and the fourth trimester, and more!
Wellness with Vanda
Pregnancy Update, HTMA Testing Availability, & Decreasing Inputs for Stress Relief
In this episode I'm sharing a pregnancy and life update, chatting through the HTMA testing process, and giving a sneak peek of what's coming for next week's episode.
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Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast. I was unexpectedly and not planned out for an episode last week because I had a sick kiddo and you know when you're a mom and you have multiple children and they just sometimes they get sick sometimes, so that just happens. But I just like he was sick from Thursday until like Wednesday-ish of the following week and there my husband was out of town for part of that and there was just like no way for me to sit down and record a podcast. So it just didn't happen and if you guys follow me on Instagram then you already knew that. But this is going to be probably a somewhat short episode. I just kind of wanted to give some updates on life things, pregnancy things, because I set up wood after my first doctor's appointment and that's been like three weeks ago now, and then also wanted to talk about HTML testing, because when you guys are hearing this, I'm recording this on Monday afternoon and you guys are going to hear it tomorrow morning, on Tuesday, and the doors officially will open for HTML testing spots to 10 people tomorrow morning. So I want to talk about that a little bit and just kind of break down like what the process is and answer some of like the common questions that I've been getting. And then I want to tell you about what I have planned for next week's podcast episode and email, because I'm excited about it and I think that it will be really helpful. I hope it will be anyway. So pregnancy updates I am in the second trimester and finally feeling more human, feeling not tired all the time.
Speaker 1:I am still having some intermittent nausea, like some days it's there, some days it's not. It usually goes away pretty easily after I eat breakfast, but then I had a day over the weekend where it kind of like popped back up mid afternoon. It hadn't done that in several days, but I mean, that's just like you know, the name of the game with pregnancy. So I'm very thankful to be feeling better overall because, honestly, the first trimester was rough. I felt pretty terrible and I try to not complain throughout pregnancy because nobody wants to hear me complain for nine months and you know I'm very thankful and feel very blessed to be pregnant and be able to carry a child. I know that's something that's so many like long for and I know for them it can be very irritating to hear pregnant women complain about their pregnancy and I try to be sensitive to that. But at the same time I think that we have to also remember that you can feel two things at once, like you can be very thankful to be pregnant and have you know just the miracle of life growing inside of you and be like, yeah, today I feel like shit and it sucks. I think those two things absolutely can coexist and moms pregnant moms shouldn't be shamed for sharing their feelings on how they are truly feeling and if they are struggling through pregnancy. So think of that's just, you know, something that we need to normalize a little bit and maybe not be so I don't know judgmental of.
Speaker 1:So I did finally have my first doctor's visit. I was 13 weeks when I went. I went on a Monday. My week changed sober on Tuesday. So I was almost 13 weeks when I went for my first appointment and that felt like an eternity, because with my other pregnancies I've been seen really early on and had like ultrasounds early on and different things. And you know, this time I hadn't had anything and if I was a first time mom that would have been extremely nerve wracking to me to have to wait and wonder and not know if everything was okay. So I still, even though it's my third pregnancy. It was a long time to wait and there were parts of like being pregnant that didn't really like I don't know, didn't really feel real until we had that first visit. And now I'm like, holy crap, I'm 15 weeks, like we're almost halfway through, like we're so close to 20 weeks now, and so now it feels like it's kind of flying by.
Speaker 1:But I Went that Monday for my appointment and they did, like you know, bedside ultrasound and and prior to that, at home. Thankfully I have a Doppler that I've had since my first pregnancy and me and one of my friends have like passed it back and forth between our pregnancies, but I had it, and Several weeks ago I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat. So that's always nice, you know, because if there's like ever a doubt or like I had some days where I did have some spotting and it was reassuring to me to be able to like find the heartbeat here, it'd be like okay, we're okay, um, but nothing compares to being able to see that first ultrasound. It is just like such a relief. So they did the bedside ultrasound and they don't consider that an official ultrasound.
Speaker 1:So the following Monday I had to go back for another one and it was at that appointment that I was like watching the screen and I am by no means familiar with like ultrasound and stuff but I was like, hey, isn't that my placenta? And she was like, yep, you're gonna have an anterior one this time. And of course I'm a nurse. I think most of you guys know that, but I you know, of course had a whole semester on OB care and Then, when I was still working on the floor as a nurse, I worked on a pediatric unit and we cross-trained to the OB department, meaning that like when we either weren't busy or they were super busy, we would get pulled to work and help on that floor. So like I have a little bit of OB background in my back pocket and Could remember that you know, most of the time your placenta is posterior, meaning that like the placenta is between the baby and your back, but when it's interior the placenta is between your belly and the baby, so it's like in front, and I was like man, I'm kind of a little disappointed about that because the first thing that I remembered and knew about it was that you don't feel the baby move as much and you know that's like one of the best parts of pregnancy.
Speaker 1:I love feeling my babies move and I was like Already kind of thinking like any time now I could maybe start feeling the baby move, because I was 13, going in 14 weeks, and I was really looking forward to it. So that was a little bit of a of a bummer. And then, you know, I did what probably anybody does I got to the car and I googled the rest of the things that I couldn't pull from my memory about having an anterior placenta. And you know it, it can be like no big deal. It can put you at higher risk for a few different things, like one of them being gestational, not gestational diabetes. And if you guys listened to my podcast episode on the CGM, you'll know that, like I was borderline gestational diabetes with my last pregnancy and in my first pregnancy I failed my one hour glucose test and Refused it in my second one and decided to just check my sugars instead, and so that was also like a little bit of a bummer.
Speaker 1:I was like man, I wonder if this will like be the thing that pushes me over the edge of actually having it this time. But you know, if I do, I do. It's something that I feel confident I can manage and even if, like, it turns out that I need help of medication to manage it like it's no, I'm gonna do what's best for me and help of my baby and you know, it'll just be part of this journey. I'm not gonna freak out about it, I'm not gonna have like, I'm not gonna let myself have a bunch of anxiety about it because it's it's either gonna happen or it's not. And there's only certain things that I can do to like influence that, and I'm already doing them, you know, already trying to make wise food choices.
Speaker 1:Now that I'm feeling better, I'm getting back into being more active Do, admittedly, need to like start back to a like workout routine. I really want to do yoga Consistently this time, so hopefully I will start that back this week and anyway and there's other like there's other things involved. There's other risks that they'll have to monitor as I like move along in this pregnancy, just like check in the positioning of the placenta, because if I'm not gonna get in all the specific state but, like if it grows down instead of growing up, it can Harshly or fully cover your cervix, which makes delivery risky, which means you probably have to have a C-section, and that's not something that I want, but I'm not going to dwell on all of those things. I'm just going to hope that I'm one of the many people that have an anterior placenta, and it's really like turns out to be no big deal, and they really most people would not really be any any the wiser. Otherwise, like, my appointment went really good.
Speaker 1:I was nervous going into it, because I was seeing a provider that I had never seen before and had not really heard a whole lot about. I had one friend, finally, that I found, that had seen this provider throughout her pregnancy and she had great things to say about her, and that made me feel so much better, because I was. I was just nervous, like I'd had to wait until I was nearly 13 weeks anyway, and I was like what if I like Really go and I don't like this provider, and I feel like they're gonna push me into things I don't want to do, and then I have to switch providers that I'm already so far along, and I was just having a lot of like Totally what I feel like our normal thoughts and feelings About that. So I really liked her, though, and I'm gonna see her again next time. I think I'm gonna go back to that. Um. So that's kind of pregnancy update.
Speaker 1:I don't think I have anything else to share about pregnancy stuff right now. I got back, you know, like on my my prenatal and I think I shared previously that like I started back on vitamin B6 when I was feeling so nauseous because that had been prescribed to me in a previous pregnancy by my provider To help with the nausea and that helped a lot. So, yeah, all that stuff is going good and I'm feeling feeling good. Like I said, like last week was was a Beast of a week because Blake was out of town for basically four days and our two younger kids are especially like they are both big, big daddy's kids, especially lately and Of course, they missed him and Paul has been having trouble with his sleep since December and that's still kind of like an ongoing thing. So thank goodness, my mom was here with me every afternoon that Blake was not home and my dad came a couple of the nights too and that was a huge help to me and I just wanted to share that because I want it to be a plug for you, remembering that sometimes, when you need help, number one, it's okay to need help and number two, it's okay to ask for help. And like number three, sometimes you have to be willing to say this is specifically what I need in order to get the help that you need.
Speaker 1:Because when I was still feeling so sick, I knew that this work trip for Blake was coming up and I knew that like some Afternoons when I would get off work and like be done for the day, that I was literally just done, like I didn't feel it cooking dinner, I didn't feel like chasing kids, I didn't feel like doing their baths or their bedtime routine, and Blake was handling a lot of that. And I knew that if I was here for four days by myself to figure out food, homework, baths, bedtime, all of it completely on my own, but I just was like, just literally, I don't know that I can do it, like I just I don't know. And thankfully it worked out that I was feeling better by the time the trip came and I still like I just don't know that I could have gotten through those few days Without my mom being here because, with Hollis being sick, he wanted me to hold him and you know he's a big boy, he weighs like 35, 36 pounds. So to pack him around on one side plus I'm pregnant, got this belly already I'm can't, you know, only have one arm really to do other things with. Like it was just hard to do other things. And you know I've got Kimley that still needs a lot of help with certain things. Anthony needs help with certain things. You know, it's just like you need two hands, and every time I would sit Hollis down To do something, he would cry and he just wanted to be held and he needed snuggles and this is part of him being sick.
Speaker 1:But I had told my mom I was like I like it's gonna be out of town these days and I really need you to be here with me every afternoon and Help me get through from dinner to bedtime, because I just like I'm still feeling so bad and I don't know how I'm gonna do without you. And I mean even with me, her and my dad being here on some days we would get to that like bed tom-tom and we would all just be wiped out Because between him being sick so he was like extra Kenley was really missing her daddy, which makes her like clingier and a little whiner and busier. And then Anthony was kind of having an off week. It was just like so much. So we were very, very thankful when Blake got home On Wednesday night and life felt like it went back to normal a little bit on Thursday. Okay, I talked about all that way longer than I thought I was going to. So if you were not interested in all those life updates but you're still here to hear what I really have to say, thanks, thanks for hanging out.
Speaker 1:So, like I said initially when I started the episode, htma testing spots open today. If you're on my email list, you've probably already gotten an email about it, you've already seen it. But if not, go check your email. If you're not on my email list number one you should be, but number two, you can find links and stuff like on my Instagram. But then what I just kind of wanted to break down, like how this whole process works for htma testing, because I got some questions about it and then I got some questions about the check-ins afterwards and how those work. So, basically, if you decide that you want to do an htma test and if you're like undecided, there are previous episodes that you can go back to where I'm talking through, like the benefits of htma testing.
Speaker 1:Who might need an htma test, why you would want to get one. There's really not that many people out there that I don't think would benefit from an htma test. So you know, if you're sitting there like Wondering should I get one of these? Could I learn something about myself and my body from this test? Yes, you get so much data that it's like it would be next to impossible For you to have an htma test done and not learn something new about your body and your body's needs.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, the way the process works is that you sign up to Get the test you like, purchase the test. Then you're going to activate a practice better account. Practice better is the platform that I use. That is like HIPAA, secured To deliver, like communicate with you guys, deliver things like. It's just it's the platform that I use. It's like where you would log in, you activate that account and then you have two forms that you would fill out. One of them is a consent form. The other is an intake form where I get to learn about, like Kind of what's going on with you, what your symptoms are, asks several different questions. You, Once those two forms are completed, one of them asks for your address, I would mail you out your testing kit.
Speaker 1:When you receive the testing kit, you can take your hair sample, you pop it back into your regular mailbox at home with a stamp on the envelope and it goes to the lab. And then there's a waiting period and, to be honest, that waiting period is different depending on the volume of tests that the lab is receiving at that time, because they obviously like process them one by one. So sometimes that waiting period is like two weeks. Honestly, I've had it be as long as six weeks. Now that was during a time when they had had, like this snowstorm and one of their pieces of equipment went down and that was wild. It does not normally take that long, but it has happened.
Speaker 1:So in that waiting period of time right now, if you sign up through this current offer here in March, one of the bonuses that you're getting as part of like opting in and signing up is free access to my hormone reset mini course, where I'm teaching foundational things about good hormonal health and just like health overall. So while we're waiting for you to get your results, you can go ahead and work through those modules. There's like six of them. They're not very lengthy or anything, because I try to keep things pretty like straight and to the point. You can be working through those and go ahead to implement some of the foundational things that you may or may not already have as part of, like, your current practice.
Speaker 1:So then, once I receive your results from the lab, I review them and within a week I send you a recording of me walking through the test. I like screen share so that you can see and I point out different things. I walk through the test and I explain everything and then I share with you your customized care plan and like I kind of talk through some of the specifics of that, because it has to do with diet changes, lifestyle changes and supplement recommendations. I send all of that off to you and then after that you have four weeks of check-ins with me and somebody was like I don't have time for like a weekly call with you. Like how do those check-ins work? So I totally know that you guys are really busy.
Speaker 1:Those check-ins are not a video call with me or anything. Those check-ins are. They're really nice. Actually, they are done through a form that gets sent to you straight inside that practice better portal, which does offer an app, by the way, which is super duper helpful and user friendly and you just fill out that form and then you receive it on a Thursday, on Friday morning or sometimes Monday morning, but typically Friday morning I review it and I'm going to communicate back with you through we have private chat access inside that practice better portal. So it's just like it's like we're texting and so, like, I come back to you and like either give you support, cheer you on, answer questions that you have, like whatever it might be that you need after every review, that check-in that's where that communication comes through is our private one-on-one chat access. And then, of course, like, even outside of the check-ins, you still have access to that private chat box. So, like you, if something comes up on a Tuesday, you're like I really need to ask Banda about this, but I don't want to wait until my check-in. I need to ask her now, like that's what that private chat access is for. So it's a really, really nice feature and that is something that also is like a bonus of signing up for these spots right now. So if you are interested in snagging one of those spots spots are limited, there is only 10 of them. So find me on Instagram, find me on my website, get the link and get signed up.
Speaker 1:Okay, I want to talk about something for this kind of falls in the mindset minute category, because it has to do with stress. It's a conversation I've been having with some of my current VIP clients about how our body will tell us that we're really stressed, like it'll show up in your HGMA results. But if you sat down and you had to write down like well, what are all of my stressors? There's usually themes. There's like work, kids, I don't know Other big responsibilities, like common things, like maybe you're in school, common things that are stressors. But then you're like well, but I don't really feel like I'm that stressed out about that. I feel like I have a normal amount of stress about that. So why do I look like I'm so stressed on my testing?
Speaker 1:And one of the things that we tend to forget is all of the other types of stressors that are out there. So, like the things that I've already mentioned, those would be like psychological, mental stressors. But then we have physical stressors, like not eating enough, not getting enough sleep, working out too hard or too frequently, maybe we have a really physically demanding job. Then we have like environmental stressors, where we are exposed to so many toxins and chemicals and stuff that our body is having to constantly process and detox out and deal with. All of those things are stressors on our body. And then another big one that we are just kind of like numb to and don't even realize is this constant stimulation that we're getting in our environment. It's like we never have time to fully unwind this. We're like permanently connected to computers and our cell phones and people can call us at any time, people can text us at any time. We're so available and some of that has become an addiction.
Speaker 1:Really, how long can you sit and go without the impulse to like, check your phone or scroll on Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest or whatever it might be, or just that constant? I think this happens to a lot of moms this feeling of like okay, I'm not doing something right now, so there's something I need to be doing, like I need to go do the dishes, I need to go get that laundry, I need to, I could do this, I could clean that, I could well. I'm just sitting here right now, so I'm going to listen to that podcast that I heard of like four weeks ago and haven't got to listen to yet. It's like this constant need to like go, go, go and constantly be doing something and never letting ourselves just be, just chill, just rest, just be doing nothing. So I wanted to and I've talked on that just a little bit before so I wanted to kind of bring it up again and give you guys the challenge to just plot out some time this week that you're like 10 to 15 minutes a day I'm going to do nothing and commit to it and see what you like, what you notice about yourself during those 10 minutes where you're trying to do nothing and trying to not even really think about anything, and then you know, note how you feel and if you feel any different. Okay, last thing, I'm really excited for what I am working on for next week. I'm going to talk about it in a podcast episode, but I'm also going to do like a big summer summary of it in the weekly email that I send out.
Speaker 1:One of the things that I recently created, a new guide. It's called the Minerals for Mamas Guide and I think I've talked about it here on the podcast before. It went along with the Minerals for Mamas workshop that I did, where I'm like trying to break down for you and make minerals easier, and one of the things that I included in that resource that I created. It's a PDF. If you haven't snagged it yet, you can absolutely go download it. It's on my Instagram, it's linked, but it is a pantry and fridge list. It's like okay, what mineral rich foods should you like keep on hand all the time? And as I was making that list, it's not very it's a good list. It's like staple things that are common that you can like keep on hand all the time.
Speaker 1:But then over the weekend and like some conversations that I've had over the last week, people think that like, supporting minerals is really difficult and like takes a lot of intention and a lot of thought and a lot of effort. And I'm not saying that it's just like easy second nature, but it is something that becomes just part of your lifestyle and something that you really don't even have to think that much about because it's a habit. You've done it for so long that now it's a habit, and so all of that to say what I'm doing next week is I'm putting together a list of like, basically kind of what my grocery list is week to week. Now, some things I obviously don't have to buy every single week. Like some of them, we like buy them in bulk and I get them every other week or once a month or whatever.
Speaker 1:But I'm kind of going through, like my fridge, my freezer, my pantry, and like categorizing and laying out for you guys what things I keep on hand here in my home that make it possible for me to support my minerals but also my kids and my family, because that was a big question I got last week. I was talking with a client and she was, like you know, talking about how her mineral status is important, but she was like I want to support this for my kids too. So, like, how do I do that? And I don't do H2M testing on kids, I do them on my own kid, but I don't offer that like as a service. And you know, and that's not even what she meant, she just meant, like in general with their diet, like what things can I give them? Can I share these drinks with them? Like what can I do to help support their minerals? Because, it is true, like any human on the planet needs minerals. So our kids are included in that.
Speaker 1:And I think that sometimes, like when I share my meals on Instagram or maybe I share a recipe or something to my email community, people are maybe a little surprised or a little like taken aback. Like how normal I'm doing air quotes. My meals really are. I definitely do not eat like the cleanest, most organic diet, but that's not what like works for me and my family right now. Could I be healthier if I did? I mean maybe, probably, but like I'm really on a mission next several months like this is what I'm really focused on this year is like showing people that this mineral stuff doesn't have to be hard and it doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing. Like you can do good things for your body and your minerals and your health. And also still a McDonald's sometimes.
Speaker 1:Because I feel like for people that are like my client demographic, that are typically, like you know, in their 20s and 30s and they've got kids that are toddlers and elementary school aged and some even into like middle and high school, that are involved in sports and things like that is what is working or what has to work with our life right now, because we don't have time to stay at home and cook every single meal at home and buy all organic foods and just I don't know, be extra AF about all of it and you don't have to be.
Speaker 1:And I'm trying to like push that message out there that you don't have to be perfect with all this stuff, because then I think it feels more achievable and realistic for people that are like, hey, I'm just over here living a normal life, but I'm kind of interested in making sure that I'm as healthy as it can be. Teach me, teach me your ways. That's really what I'm here for. So I'm excited about that podcast episode and email next week, because I kind of like started going through mentally my fridge last night and like thinking about the different things that I keep on hand and then I incorporate into our diet on a regular basis and like why I do those things. So I'm excited about it and I will be back to share it with you next week.
