Empowering Women's Health With Amanda

For the past week I have been trying to get back into the swing of things after being at my mom’s for a week and then having my dad visiting for a few days. It has seemed like I’m just exhausted and have no motivation to get things done. It doesn’t help that I have some deadlines looming and have a laundry list of things that need to get done in the next few weeks either.As I sit writing this now I am kind of wondering if this may be connected to any limiting beliefs I may have surrounding what these next few weeks and what I’m working on are going to bring to my life. You know like that.....

How many times throughout our lives do we find ourselves in a “growth spurt” of sorts where we have to make decisions to move in directions that make us uncomfortable, and we feel scared and excited at the same time? Have you ever looked back at these moments and realized how you were being stretched to move into something new?It’s funny because we are all on a journey and we are all called to do something great with our time here on earth. Yes, all of us! For some it takes........

Have you ever noticed the exaggerated sway of a pregnant woman’s back and think “that is so cute but it looks so uncomfortable”? The entire process of becoming and being pregnant is fascinating and there are so many changes that we are not really aware of. As your pregnancy progresses and your belly grows your posture changes to compensate for the added weight in the front. This puts pressure in new areas and if your body is already out of alignment then this can become an extremely uncomfortable experience.........

When I was pregnant with my first I ate what I wanted and craved, which was heavy German rolls and sweet stuff. Now I had not been eating bread for about 6 months when I found out I was pregnant and I validated those cravings as “my baby wanted it”, we all know that probably isn’t true. Needless to say I gained quite a bit of weight right off the bat and my OBGYN was not shy in pointing that out.It is so hard to not focus on weight gain during a time when it is, well a good side effect to ensure a baby is growing. However while it is good to gain some weight.......

If you are pregnant today you are probably aware that you have many different options from who you choose as a care provider to who you have with you on the big day. How you put that team together is completely up to you and the support you believe you will need.You could be like me and like the idea of a midwife being on hand and then in the moment it doesn’t really matter because we know what is coming, okay our babies didn’t give us the option to wait, but you know. LOL......

This week I wanted to share some of what I have learned about folate and folic acid. If you are trying to conceive or pregnant chances are you have been taking a prenatal vitamin for some time now. Does that vitamin have folate (methylfolate) or folic acid?Does it make a difference? I’ll let you be the one to decide for yourself, by all means look this up and do your own research. Here is a hint though, one is natural and the other is synthetic…..

Ever since I can remember I have loved the idea of supporting moms through labor and welcoming their child earthside. Childbirth is such an amazing journey to witness and be a part of. There is strength, perseverance, sheer willpower, and primal beauty in every aspect of it.In 2019 I met a couple, we talked for hours and hours about pregnancy and childbirth.......They said, "Amanda, you need to start a YouTube channel to share what you have been sharing with us." I was in love with the idea and couldn’t wait to make it happen. I started to work on it a little but I’ll be honest, it wasn’t going anywhere, there were too many things that I just didn’t know and had no idea how or where to get started in......

Are you the type of person that does a ton of research before you buy, invest, or move forward with something? I’ll be honest, I’m that way with many things, however, there was a time when I didn’t really think about the things I was doing or deciding outside of the here and now.Whether you are that type of person or not I think that it is really important to think deeply on this topic, especially when it comes to having children. Our walk starts when we are trying to conceive and goes through the next 19 years once we conceive and there are so many decisions we will have to make over those years.......

If you have not had children prior to thirty-five, or even if you have, you may find it shocking to be labeled as “Advanced Maternal Age” and being treated as high risk, based on your age alone. If you are healthy and even if you aren’t in the best of health and choose to take care of yourself through your pregnancy, you can have a pregnancy with no medical issues or complications.You are not TOO OLD to get pregnant and have babies if you are thirty-five+ years old or older. If you are trying to conceive and feeling negativity from your care provider you are not alone. Women are having babies later in life at a much higher rate now and if you connect with women who had a strong belief in their bodies, you will find that they didn’t have a rough pregnancy or had anything high risk about their pregnancy, like me. 

As I have been sharing my journey, I have realized that there may be another reason as to why I was able to conceive after having such a struggle before. It took 4 years and 4 IUIs to conceive our daughter and when she was fifteen months old we started trying again and conceived in just two months! Having our daughter made us realize there were so many things we didn’t know when it came to caring for our tiny human. We also realized that it was our responsibility to learn and know what options and make decisions that were right for us.So we started asking questions.