284. The Honest Truth About Postpartum: Kelly LeVeque & Brigid Titgemeier Share Stories & Tips

So when you say, like, how was your postpartum journey? The sole postpartum journey was short because then I went straight into pregnancy and postpartum. Every time that I, that my brain just completely fails me, I'm like, I'm sorry. I'm struggling with postpartum and pregnant brain at the exact same time, which I know there's probably people that can relate to. So it's been, I mean, it's been the most incredible journey of my life. Becoming a mom and just caring for her and getting to know her and watching her personality and all of the beautiful things that come with motherhood. But I would be lying if I said that it has not also been overwhelming at the same time.

Bridget Digmeyer is a functional medicine registered dietitian, entrepreneur and mom who's on a mission to help you use food to create health. She's the CEO and founder of Being Functional Nutrition, a digital coaching company that has helped more than 20,000 people use food targeted nutrition and lifestyle strategies for better labs, symptoms and a relationship with food. She also teaches integrative and functional nutrition every fall at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, a curriculum that she co created seven years ago. Previously, Brigid was a co founding dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic center for functional medicine under Dr. Mike Heiman.

Brigid, welcome back. Second time and it's so good to see you and so good to chat. I mean we should have started like 15 minutes ago, but we were just chatting about life and I'm like, should we be recording this? We probably should. Anyways, I just love you. Welcome back and congratulations on being pregnant with your second.

Thank you, thank you. I'm so happy to be back.

Today's podcast, we're going to talk all about postpartum and like what it looks like, how we're feeling. We're both nutritionists who have experienced postpartum depletion and feeling like, oh, like the fog and the overwhelm and all of it. So I just kind of want to chat with you a little bit about your postpartum experience and what, what it was like the first time around and getting pregnant and how McKinley was as a little girl and then what it's like now.

It is interesting for sure. Honestly, it's overwhelming. I think everyone can relate to that. I. We had McKinley in May and so she's still a baby, she's eight months. And then I got pregnant a few days before I was three months postpartum. So when you say like, how was your postpartum journey? The sole postpartum journey was short because then I went straight into pregnancy and postpartum. Every time that I. That my brain just completely fails me. I'm like, I'm sorry. I'm struggling with postpartum and pregnant brain at the exact same time, which I know there's probably people that can relate to. So it's been. I mean, it's been the most incredible journey of my life. Becoming a mom and just caring for her and getting to know her and watching her personally personality and all of the beautiful things that come with motherhood. But I would be lying if I said that it has not also been overwhelming at the same time.

Yeah, I remember the transition from zero to one being well. I was slightly rocked with a NICU experience, but that was the biggest change for me. It feels. I know some people say, like, from one to two, it's even crazier because you're not, you know, you're man to man, you're not on zone defense and you'll. You'll get there. But I. I do feel like for me, having so much flexibility in my career and being my own boss and setting my own schedule and having time for myself, then going to really not having childcare, except for Chris and I and being full on with Sebastian and full on with my business and full on with a book tour, it was like, whoa, to add a pregnancy on top of that, your first time around. I just, I applaud you for taking it day by day and for going through the challenges for you personally and for Johnny. Like, what are some of the. What are some of the biggest challenges and what were some of, like, the biggest blessings for us?

I would say that one of the big challenges has been that we also decided to move across the country when McKinley was three months old. So, like, basically right when I had gotten knowing, we weren't intentionally trying to get pregnant. So I kept seeing saying to him, oh, I'm breastfeeding. I haven't had a cycle. The statistical chances of me getting pregnant are so low. And he's done trusting my knowledge of my own fertility. So we just moving across country, we moved back to Cleveland to be closer to family because just even in the first few weeks we were in Jacksonville, and a lot of our friends are military families that have moved to Jacksonville for the military, and they don't have family support. And I've watched how strong these women are, but also how much harder it makes it for their husbands who are traveling all the time and then to not have additional help. And with having my Business and the pressure that comes, like you're talking about with you of. While there's, it's so nice to have the flexibility of being an entrepreneur, there's a lot of additional pressure that comes with it when you're trying to be there for your team, you're trying to be there for your baby, you're trying to be there for your husband, for everyone. And it feels, at least for me, that I've just continually come up short, that I'm, I'm never like where I want to be in all of the categories. So for us, it became this decision that we were like, we're just going to come back to Cleveland for the summer. So probably the biggest transitions for us have been navigating a move and finding our identities now in Cleveland as a family of three, about to be four, and trying to make these decisions together on the best way to care for our child and then also for ourselves.

Yeah, nothing makes you more open minded, more empathetic and more like, ooh, maybe I shouldn't have said that. Until you're a mom and you're personally experiencing it, you know, like, you vacillate and you change your mind a lot and you like, wanna follow one direction. You think it's gonna be one way like you said, and there's all this expectation, this buildup of what it's gonna be like. And it's like all that disappointment falls on the fact that we've like created what would be the ideal and then we're coming up short. And it's what you explained too, like who you were prior to having kids, when you had flexibility to like be there for your team and your husband and yourself, that like self bucket starts to shrink and then there's like resentment and there's like, you know, all these layers of like feeling lost or feeling not feeling like yourself. And it's like, like how I feel. Like half of my podcast is interviewing people being like, tell me about boundaries, tell me about time management. My sister in law always says, like, never do more than three big changes in your life. And you had one baby, you had a second baby, you moved across the country. What am I missing? There's been like a lot for you all at one time, so I guess those are pretty challenging. What have been like the beautiful moments or where have you found like your silver linings and your joys in this period of time? And how are you like kind of like riding those highs or continuing to remind yourself of like the good?

Honestly, being with McKinley and seeing some of just like the, the small developmental milestones. Just the other day she started like being able to dance together. And it's those things that make my heart so happy in ways that I've never experienced before that make all of it worth it. Even though it feels absolutely so overwhelming. And as you said, like the self care bucket absolutely is much smaller. And I have a level of guilt with being pregnant and knowing that decreasing my bucket not only impacts me, but it also impacts this next child. The doctors would always say to me when we would go in for McKinley, like, I could tell you're a first time mom because of, you know, like my focus and the questions that I'm asking and all the specifics and like how nervous I was. And this time I'm like, what week am I?

Yeah.

Which I think, which I think comes with it. But from a joy standpoint I would say you had those small milestones. Seeing Johnny with her brings me so much joy. Like watching him step into the dad role is just the most special thing. In addition to like parents become grandparents and my brother and sister become aunts and uncles and Johnny's parents, you know, just loving on her so much, it just all of those things do make it worth it. And I think that holding on to those special memories is something that I try to continue to be present with on a regular basis.

Yeah, that's such a good practice, honestly, because it's like you miss them. They go so fast. You know, I am curious and this is where we're gonna kind of like turn the conversation towards nutrition. Because you are a registered dietitian, a functional nutritionist. You're someone who I love and look to as a resource for referring clients, for your group programs, for all the things that you are offering. And I know you have a really awesome new software coming out for even like meal prepping, planning for your recipes. Like you're just such a resource. And I think what I'd like to know from today's conversation is what is your nutritional philosophy and how are you implementing that in a good enough and daily type of way so that you feel like you're, you're taking care of yourself and baby number two without, without kind of being a perfectionist about it?

Yeah, I would say I'm far from a perfectionist about it and have really nailed the idea of giving myself more grace as a continual pattern that that comes up. But the day to day looks like supplementation I think is the easiest because it's, it doesn't take as much time and much effort and much thought to be able to just make sure that your supplements are stacked. So that's something that I've continued to be super consistent with. The water and hydration piece have also been fairly consistent with that moving to Cleveland and being in the winter here. Yeah, I have mine too, don't mind me. But you have helped me so much in understanding also like making sure that I'm getting enough sodium and making sure that I'm doing my element every single day. A full packet, which I don't always do when I'm not postpartum and not pregnant. A full packet. But I absolutely need at least that postpartum and during pregnancy. So those are the things that I'm very consistent with. From a nutrition standpoint. I would say that I am consistent with making sure that my food quality is very high. But I can't always say that it's 100% perfectly balanced where, you know, I might just have two eggs and an apple or something that's super quick that isn't necessarily like a full blown meal that I'm just having to be like is is fine, is. And. And also I have tried for so long to make sure that I'm increasing variety in my diet because of how important that is for the gut microbiome. And I can only prep so many things with. Trying to also make sure that what I'm prepping are things that McKinley can eat too on the weekends when I am prepping and so trying to make things that then she and I are sometimes eating in Johnny too un. Like multiple nights in a row is something that I've had to be okay with as well. I would say smoothies have. It's. You've been preaching it for so long and to everything that it's. I've learned so much from your journey as a mom that I feel grateful to have a friend like you and obviously an amazing world renowned author that helps so many people because seeing you go through the journey and have to figure some of these things out has helped me a lot along my journey. And being able to do the smoothie is such an easy way to get more of those nutrients in. But I'm not skipping on the dark chocolate. That's definitely something. We actually got chocolates from my mom's neighbor and they're like Belgian chocolates that are milk chocolate that I've eaten too many of the last. The last few weeks that McKinley was sick and then got me sick. And so there's just things that I'm just more accepting of. Than even when I was pregnant with her where I was really trying to eat, no added sugar. Some of it is just sneaking in more with the lack of sleep, sleep and stress and those sorts of things.

Oh, I think it's totally normal. I think you make a really good point about like nutrient quality and bringing those things into your home and like having them available, but getting used to eating the same like types of meals if you're making them weekly, even if the variety is there, or having things that are really quick and easy, like those eggs or your smoothie. Like those are definitely staples I leaned on. And, and the reality is is you just had a baby and you just. Were you breastfeeding McKinley? You were breastfeeding McKinley when you got pregnant. Are you still breastfeeding McKinley? Are you not? Like, how much is going out nutrition wise for you?

I stopped breastfeeding when I found out that I was pregnant. So I had a lot of guilt around the awareness how many women I've seen in practice with having extra nutrient depletion after having a child. And I felt just so guilty with going straight from one pregnancy to the next without having the time that I thought that I would to rebuild my nutrient source. So it was a super hard decision that I still feel guilty of for, for McKinley, but I only breastfed for three months and then decided that I would save my nutrients for baby number two.

Yeah, yeah. You know what, like you, you can't be everything to everyone and you have to make the decision to be able to be there for baby number two and for yourself as well. So I'm curious, what did you lean on for formula for McKinley and did you look at your nutrient status at any point in this pregnancy to see like where you were at?

Yeah. So for formula we started with Holly and then we changed over to Bihart pretty soon after that. It felt good that you have done the research on Bihart and it's endorsed by you. And then the research that I did, I felt like that was probably our best option. So she's on Bihart and then we just do additional supplementation with like in her bottles with omega 3s and vitamin D and probiotics and then immune supporting supplements too, depending on the time. And then for my nutrients I went to see a, a friend of mine basically like right when I found out that I was pregnant to one get my nutrients tested and just a full comprehensive panel. Actually she's a nurse practitioner and I also went on progesterone because our first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage and When I got testing after that, I had soup, I had my, my progesterone levels were in the post menopausal range. So I then supplemented with progesterone in my first trimester with McKinley and then elected to do the same. That was a personal choice that she and I talked through, but just knowing that that is a contributor, I also got my thyroid tested to make sure that that was a factor. Even though it was so overwhelming to be pregnant, I also was like, you know, after going through loss, you never want to have to experience that again. And so it was a weird situation where I was like, I'm not to the point of being so excited that I'm pregnant, but I also view every pregnancy as an absolute blessing and gift, especially knowing the hurt that comes with loss, that I wanted to just do as much as I could to have the peace of mind that I was.

Doing everything, oh, a hundred percent. Did you look at your iron levels or anything like that? Did you?

Oh, yeah, definitely the iron. Vitamin D, omega 3s, folate, vitamin B12, thyroid panel. I think that was the extent of it.

Okay. And I know because we were both advisors for wenatal, that you were taking wenatal after your first loss and it helped you through your pregnancy with McKinley and then in postpartum there, and you still remained on that. Where did those numbers fall? When you looked at your postpartum numbers and did you need to add anything to your Wenatal prenatals and your omega 3s?

No, my numbers were actually fantastic, so I, I didn't have to add anything. And the other amazing thing, because I know that a lot of women stop taking their prenatal when they are postpartum. It's astonishing the number of friends that I have that have told me that they have. And so in addition to trying to support nutrient dense milk, making sure that obviously you are taking that prenatal is so important, but then also for your own body, if you're, if you're not breastfeeding, to be able to recover from that nutrient depletion that I think so many women really underestimate the impact of and the years of health changes that can create even years down the road. But also for Johnny, Johnny continued taking his prenatal, which I'm so grateful for, since we know that it's that 90 day window before conceiving that not only impacts egg health but also impacts sperm health. So I feel super grateful and something that maybe doesn't get as much attention. But for the male to continue taking the prenatal as well, because when we formulated Wenatal, obviously, you know this, but your listeners might not, is that the male prenatal is formulated to essentially be a male multivitamin that has additional nutrients that help to support optimal sperm quality, motility, morphology, and count. And so thinking about the way that I presented it to Johnny was like, just continue taking it, because it's giving you everything that you would be getting in your regular multivitamin. Just a few extra ingredients or a few extra nutrients at higher quantities that you wouldn't otherwise be getting in a regular multivitamin.

Yeah, it's amazing. It's. And it's such a relief, I think, as a parent, when you get pregnant and you know that you're supplementing, because so much of that, those chroma. Chromosomal abnormalities are coming. They come from both of us. You know, it's two sets of DNA coming together to make a baby. And we want to send our best sets in, so to say. And. And it's. It's a relief. I'm so glad that you both were on it, and I'm so happy that you're progressing so well in your second pregnancy.

Thank you. Thank you. But you're still breastfeeding fully, right? Because you're six months postpartum.

Or Julian will be eight months on the 25th. And. And I am still breastfeeding. I did have the benefit of being able to breastfeed Sebastian. I went 8, 18 months, and then Tasha in 22, and then Julian were cru. And he's a good eater. So I'm, like, kind of grateful because it's so funny with your third, like, with this. With the first, you're like, okay, we're introducing one meal a day and like the six months and then two meals a day at seven, and like three months, three meals a day at eight. And then with your second year, you're like, okay, he's eating. Like, give him some stuff. And then with the third, you're like, okay, today you're eating, and then you. Every time the other two eat and you're like, what's not an allergen? Okay, let's give this a go. And you just like. Like, you just go for it. It's like such a different vibe and feeling, and there's so much benefit. Like, I remember when I was trying to sleep train Sebastian, and it was like, I'd freak out and I wouldn't want to do it, and I would just, like, wouldn't hold the boundary. And so then it never really happened to this day he's my worst sleeper. Like this morning he Woke up at 5 and he was like, hey mom, it's real windy outside. And I was like, oh my God, go back to sleep.

Sleep. You know, like, because you're saying like you didn't want him to be crying because you felt like you needed to go and comfort him.

Yeah, like I just, I had all this. I, I wasn't really tuning in to my child and me as much as I, I have been able to with Julian. Like just two couple more kids and I'm like, okay. Like I'm not looking to others to be like, well what does the expert say about sleep training and I need to bring in this person or I need to follow this and like of course you know, you take the taking care of babies course. I, my friend Meliss Sleep Shop OC I like have them her on my podcast. Like I did the things because I was like oh my gosh, I have to sleep. And then the second time around I like try to do it on my own and totally failed. And then this time around I was like, we have too many children. Like I'm going. And I went totally off. I like let Julian completely co sleep until eight months, like basically seven months. And then after Christmas I was like, okay, bud, we don't have a room for you, but I got you this mini crib and you're sleeping in our walk in closet. But basically it's just, it's pretty amazing when you continue to have children. You're just like, okay, sit in the chair. You're eating food. Okay. You're eating what everyone else is eating all three meals. Okay, it's time to sleep train you. I just, you just, you tune into you and you don't really listen to as many of the experts. You like consider yourself more of an expert, which is kind of cool.

It's so cool. And I think that that is something that I've tried to do is not read a lot of baby books. Like not a lot of parenting books. And I'm not trying to act like I know everything, but I think there is something to figuring it out and seeing what works for you and that child and your family. That is the intuitive part that maybe sometimes people aren't as confident in because they want to know what the experts say.

Yeah, I mean I, I, I, I definitely because I host this podcast and because I, I do actually I'm, I, I love parenting book. I probably but I, I feel like I have a better filter. You know, five years in Poor Sebastian. He's like my guinea pig, right? And then. But then you have different personalities. So then Tashin rolls in and he's really strong. He's a silly guy, a funny guy. Like always, like the potty talk, poopy this, poopy that, like, walking around with all his tools. Like, he is just a circus. Like a circus clown. He's super funny and. But he's also, like, not gonna eat that. Yep. Nope. Get it off my plate. I'm not gonna eat it. And you're like, what? Sebastian would eat anything and everything. And Tasha's like, hell, no, mom.

You know, so what do you do? I'm so. I'm like, I just thought that your kids maybe ate, like, perfectly with him.

It's been a lot of going back to the basics. Like, it's literally like, what I realized was that life was so crazy. And so I'll give you this. Life was so crazy when it was coming, when Tashin was being born. Because he was born and he was born. And then we bought our house. And then my mom's really good friend was a contractor, and he's like, I can help you do some work on your house. But I'm retiring at the end of the year, so we got a boogie. So I had to run my biz, get back from maternity leave, run my business to pay for our mortgage, to pay for the house we were renting, which was my mother in law's house, to pay for our, like, construction that I was so overwhelmed and I was making all these decisions. And so I would, like, just make the food and put it in front of Tasha and be like, here's your dinner, you know? And with Bash, it was like we were in our rent controlled apartment in LA. I think he, like, raised our rent, like $25 a year or something. Crazy. And I'd be like, bashy, come up with mommy, make the roasted veggies. It was like a whole, like, taste this, Try this. Be involved in this. Let's walk to Whole Foods. I used to call him the mayor. Like, we would leave our little apartment because our apartment was the parking lot of Whole Foods. I'd roll him in the stroller into Whole Foods, let him pull stuff off the, like, you know, whatever, like the apple card or like, pull the greens, put it in the bag. Like, he's new, our checkout guy. Like, it was a totally different experience for him. And then Tashin's, like, dropped in suburbia, you know, born on a cul de sac. Cool. He's getting A different experience. Lots of kids there, whatever. But when it came to food, it was like. Like, Chris was either being like, breakfast for dinner, or I was being like, here it is, out of a crock pot, all stewed together. And he'd be like, ew, No, I don't. You know, like, he just didn't have the exposure to the touch, the feel, the taste, the crunch, the whole thing. And I would say, like, he saw me cook, but he didn't. He had Chris serving him up a lot more, and then me just. Just being. Putting it on the plate and putting on the table versus just him being involved in it. And so I would say, you know, that's something I'm doing a little differently with Julian, is. I'm. I'm talking about the food like I did with Bash. I mean, he's so little, and McKinley's so little. Like, they're not gonna be, like, climbing up into a kitchen tower right Yet. But you're gonna. You're gonna have a good opportunity, actually, to get them both involved at the same time, because they're going to be so close. But I would just say throw your second in an ergo. I love to cook with a baby in an ergo. You know, just watch out for the stove, and then get Kinley up in that kitchen tower, and they'll be fine, you know, But I think it's it just going back to those basics, like, okay, expose. Exposing them to these foods because it's modeling, exposure and modeling and exposure that really is the driver for kids acceptance of food. And I took it for granted with Sebastian. Like, I took it for granted that I love to cook in the kitchen. I took it for granted that we go to Whole Foods and Brentwood Farmers Market together. Like, it was all just like, this is what we do, and it is what we do. It is what I did with Tasha. But he just. It was a lot busier of a life with a lot more stress and a lot more like, throw it on the table. This is crazy. We have two kids.

I can't even imagine all that you were going through when he was born.

And that was probably my hardest. I feel a little bit mom guilt. Here we go. I feel a little bit bad. You know, there's times. But there's some resilience that I know he'll have because of all of that, which it's. It is what it is. We're just all trying our best to provide and to figure it out and to find balance and to have boundaries and. Yeah, it's kind of crazy, but I do feel like right now, and we were talking before the podcast where I'm like coming out of it, I'm coming out of the haze and the of and feeling like, okay, like I'm feeling strong. I'm like, I'm at my normal weight. I'm like, you know, I could have some abs. I gotta really work on some abs here.

You look amazing.

I mean, I, I feel good. I just don't feel it. I'm not gonna feel as strong as I did prior to Bash, of course. But like, I really like. And that's why I'm like pounding the protein left and right and drinking the amino acids and drinking the protein powders and eating grass fed beef for breakfast and like all that crazy stuff.

But.

But yeah, it feels good to be coming out the other end and feeling like, okay, we are getting in a groove.

I'm so happy for you, especially because it's so, it's such a long journey with how long you breastfed. Yeah, it's like five years of your life.

Yeah. And I had a loss before Sebastian too, so I started. Yeah. I got pregnant on my first book tour, which if people following along back then, they're like, wasn't that like a decade ago? Basically, yeah.

I remember because we were at the conference together when you were first pregnant with Bash and you hadn't really told anyone and you were feeling really nauseous that day and you're like, I haven't really told anyone this, but I'm pregnant with Bash. But we're not telling people because of our first pregnancy.

Yes. No, I think literally you were one of the first people I told. Did I tell my mom first or you? I think I took that pregnancy test in New York, which is so crazy.

I know you said that you had told a lot of people.

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Yeah. Okay, so let's get to it. Like I'm obviously in like toddlerhood and McKinley is little. So let's talk about how you are prepping on the weekends and what your philosophy is in regards to stocking your fridge and making sure that all this good stuff is around for you and your family. Obviously, smoothies are easy, eggs are easy. It's never going to be perfect. But like, if you were to walk us through, because I know you're, you're, you're doing your like meal prep software. Do you just pick proteins and veggies that you always love? Like, how does it work?

Yeah. So this is a little challenging to talk about without talking about the meal prepping software, because I am using that. So that's. We're coming out with the Being Collective, which is a meal planning membership that allows for people to basically take blood sugar balancing recipes and then get automated shopping lists. So at bare minimum, I'm like planning out this. The smoothi. Smoothies. I like to have smoothies for lunch. So I'm planning out a few different smoothies throughout the week so that it changes obviously, like the flavors, even though the ingredients don't change too much. And most of the time it's things that we already have stocked. There's very little things that I need to continue to rebuy unless it's like, you know, getting more blue by Kelly protein powder or nut butter or things that aren't on a every week basis.

Right.

And then the dinners, I'm trying to just pick two to three dinners, then plan for leftovers and then make sure that there's room for nights that are just kind of like breakfast for dinner type of nights. Where last night, for instance, McKinley and I just both. Johnny was out of town. So McKinley and I just shared a dinner where I made scrambled eggs as our protein source because I'm running low on groceries. And then I had purple sweet potato fries that I had prepped over the weekend. I had some cannellini beans that I had mashed for her and then I just added to my eggs. And then there's one other thing that we had. I can't remember the third thing that we had. Oh, roasted cauliflower that I had made over. I had made a few nights ago that I just did two heads of cauliflower so that we had it so that, you know, she doesn't always eat everything that I'm presenting to her. So then I end up giving her the serenity kids food pouches, which obviously I've learned from you and absolutely love for the convenience. But I also feel like I'm ruining myself because she almost like knows now that if she doesn't eat, then she gets it. And she loves the pouches. So it's. At first I was just embracing the idea of doing baby LED weaning combined with, you know, like, the purees. And now I'm like, did I ruin her?

No, there's no chance that you ruined her.

There's worse things in the world than a serenity kids food pouch. Obviously, that is so high in nutrient density. And I feel really good about because of the ingredient quality, but I just want to make sure she still is, you know, developing those motor skills.

Do you think she's getting. Do you think she's getting totally full on her serenity pouch and so she's done after it? Because I would say maybe one of the things that I'm. Because Chris loves a pouch because he just doesn't like to clean up the. We don't have a dog. And I always joke with my sister that, like, you've never cleaned a floor until if you don't have a dog. Like, our kids just, like, throw their food off their high chair at this age, you know, and they're like, no, don't want it. It's in between their legs. It's smushed on their stuff. You, like, want to get them naked for. It's like a whole to do, right?

So true.

But I told Chris I don't want him to, like, give Julian the pouch. I don't want him. Julian to hold the pouch. And I mean, he can hold it and suck it, but, like, I would rather. Have you seen those green baby spoons that they look like a leaf almost? Yeah.

We're using on the. We're using something like that.

I squeeze it on the top of it. It kind of looks like it's an ice cream cone. I'll link it in the show notes, but. And we squeeze the pouch on that and give it to him. Like. Like that way he can use hand eye coordination and bring it to his mouth as a puree. But I give it to him. I. I give it to him at the same time. I just wouldn't re. Reward her with the pouch if she doesn't eat. I would just bring it out, not make it a thing because, like, she can have it if she wants. And if honestly, like, she's touching a few pieces of the food and putting it in her mouth, but it's not. They're not really getting it in at this age, you know, I mean, the.

Floor is definitely getting the most of it. And it does kill that. The food waste does really kill me.

Yeah. And I think, I think a lot of us too, like, go like, oh, we'll just like cover the high, like the high chair tray with a bunch of stuff. And like, one of the things that I started doing with Julian was like doing like one or two of each thing, but like really small, you know, or like baby LED weaning style, like one cauliflower, one sweet potato fry, like one whatever, a piece of egg. And like, like, if it ends up in their mouth and they taste it, you're winning. It's just about them tasting it and having exposure to it. And if they like. I'm sure she loves getting a serenity pouch because she's actually getting it in and she's like, this is delicious and I'm filling up and it's, you know, you know, it's nutrient dense. You're not. I mean, this is the stuff I used to think about with Sebastian too.

I'm such a first time mom.

Yeah, no, it's just normal. Like, just know that that's so normal because that's exactly, that's exactly the stuff I would worry about. I'd be like, oh, my God, like, this isn't, you know, like, I shouldn't do this or I shouldn't do that. Like, you, you may get to a point where, I mean, like, Tasha got to a point where he didn't want any pouches. Bash would have eaten those things until he was like 4. At one point I was like, we're, we're done with the pouch. You know, I feel like Julian will be the same as Sebastian, but it's high quality stuff and she's getting that nutrient density in and, you know, as long as, like, she's at least picking up the food and trying to put it in her mouth and chewing it, like, you're good anyways. So. Yeah, I don't think you need to overthink it at all.

How are you doing with Julian with food?

So with Julian, like, he'll wake up, I'll feed him right away, we'll go downstairs, the boys will have breakfast before school and he'll have. I'll just always put him in the high chair. If anyone's eating. If anyone's eating, he's in his high chair. And I'm just like putting a couple things on the tray, just major exposure. And he will, like hold a chicken sausage and gnaw on it and then it'll be on the floor and he'll like, put a blueberry in his mouth and spit it out. Like it's not like, I'll get, like, one blueberry in a diaper and be, like, winning, you know? Like, I think with your first, you're worried, like, well, how much is really getting in. And so then I'm supplementing with other things. He's giving me, like, real baby poops because of purees. And I love serenity. I've incorporated some of Sarah bellies, which has DHA added to them. And I just saw one biodynamic food. There was, like, one called Biodynamic that I snagged at Whole Foods the other day, too, which looks pretty good. If it's primarily like. Like, vegetables or, you know, the amount of fruit is. Is smaller, I'm. I'm okay with it, you know, so. But feeding is, like. Eating is, like, a whole thing. Sleeping is a whole thing. Schedules are a whole thing. And, like, it's. You're never honest. Like, you're on a schedule, and you get it for a minute, and then there's like, a leap or you need to drop a nap or they need to have real food now. And it's like this whole thing, you know, it's like you. By the third, you kind of sort of let it go, and you're like, all right, well, who's eating right now? Everyone's eating. It's a meal time. Sit here, like, kind of fussing. It's been two and a half hours. Let's go try a nap. You just. You're not as tied to the outcome of, like. Of tracking stats on your kid almost. You know, you're just letting them kind of flow a little bit more, which has been. Which has been nice and made me crazy to think, like, there's a 5%. 5% chance I have four. But I do feel strong about having my brain back and being able to get back to work and, you know, and all that.

It's.

I don't know. It's hard. It's hard to decide. Mostly it's Is feeling good, being selfish, and I'm excited for you for, like, June, when you're gonna be postpartum and you're gonna be able to go, like. Like, what does Bridget need? Like, when you think about that, like, what do you daydream of?

What do I daydream of? I daydream of just, I guess, like, sleeping through the night and the basics that I typically would have taken for granted before, but having, like, a.

A.

A great workout schedule that I currently do not have and have no excuse for, but just. It has a. That's, like One thing that I'm still.

Figuring out, you do have an excuse for it. I think. You know what's crazy is I think even with lack of sleep, even with multiple young children, like I don't think people, there are people who have a lot of help or have, aren't entrepreneurs or have a specific schedule and have a full time nanny and they book that time of working out in. But when your life is flux and flow of an entrepreneur and creating a program and launching a software and you know, like your husband's traveling and I, I know you moved home to get more help. Like I think what your day to day life looks like, like there's a season for all of that. I mean like you just got your body rocked like you had a baby and then got right pregnant again. Like you have an excuse, like deep breath, it's a season. You know what I mean?

No, that is, that is a good perspective. And two, the other thing that I have been super conscientious of that I, Johnny and I have joked is maybe like part of me getting pregnant so quickly postpartum is that I was super in tune with trying to decrease the cortisol effect of the stress that your body goes through with being pregnant. Of being postpartum. I was very in tune with that. And so I, I wasn't working out in the mornings. I was choosing to like sleep as long as I could and doing things just at a much slower pace and trying my movement was getting outside for walks, you know, in nature and those kinds of things. Trying to also expose McKinley to the nature. And so I think too that you know, not continuing to place, you know, not having the pressure of like waking up at 5am after you haven't fully slept the night before to do a workout when women are, don't realize how much their bodies have been through that. Like maybe it isn't the season for that. Maybe the season is just, just prioritizing sleep and knowing that you'll get back to your exercise schedule. So that's how I've been rationalizing it in my head. But I, there is room for more movement for me for sure.

Can you walk me through like what it was like going back to work when you went back to work, what your childcare situation looks like, what your help looks like.

Yeah, so I went back at six weeks and when I say six weeks, it was actually a little before six weeks. Like I was popping into my team meetings and things like that. Probably around four weeks we were in the thick of working with my web development team on launching the meal planning software. And so it was something that like I just felt that I had to be part of. But there's also flexibility, like you said. So when I, I wasn't working full eight hour days. When I went back to work at six, at six weeks, Johnny took paternity leave and he took a longer paternity leave. So he had, he was our primary caretaker and took care of McKinley and then we continued to try to do it together where, you know, like he would take breaks to work out while I would watch her during the day and those sorts of things. And even though we moved back to Cleveland, everyone in my family still works. So the support that we have is typically like emotional. A week ago, emotional 100%. And then like weekends and a week ago when McKinley and I were both sick, my mom, you know, had us sleep over two nights so that she could wake up with McKinley in the middle of the night. Cause Johnny was out of town. So it was, I mean, having that, you know, has been so helpful. And then once we moved to Cleveland because we were living in an Airbnb and then that one had mold in it. So then we moved in with my parents for a month and Johnny was the primary caretaker throughout that and I was working from home. And then we moved into a different Airbnb for a month. And the same thing was to still the scenario once we got into our house. That's when my sister's roommate started coming three days a week. She's building up her private practice. So it worked out really nicely. And she would come for six hours at a time, four hours at a time, just depending on her schedule. So that's been what we have had throughout. And now that Johnny is fully back to work, we are. This actually just, just two weeks ago is the first time that we have, we've kind of just compiled like my neighbor's daughter, my mom's neighbor, my sister's roommate to take on like an 8 to 4 schedule. That is last week was the first week that we did like full five days.

Yeah. And what did that feel like when.

Johnny's out of town? It still feels overwhelming even with the 8 to 4 because I just go from working all day to then doing everything else. But when he's here, it feels so amazing. And also. So I know some, some of my friends struggle with having babysitters and people taking care of their kids because of feeling like they want to be the ones doing it. And for me, I actually love like my mom's neighbor is the most amazing, nurturing person and I love seeing her with McKinley and in some ways I feel like she has more patience with her actually than I even would with the activities and the games that they're playing that I just feel like I just said to her this morning, I'm like, I'm just so grateful for how well you take care of her and it means so much. So that's our current situation and it feels really good.

Oh my gosh, that's really beautiful. That's really, really beautiful to hear that you can, that you can see such a benefit and found such great people to, to support your family.

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What I've learned as an entrepreneur is that you don't have to get up at 5 to get your workout in to then go in and be the boss of your business from 8 to 4, 100% there. Like, you've built this flexibility to be able to say like, okay, guys, I'm going to be on this call and this call and this call. I'll be off having a workout at this time and then I'll be back at this time. Like, that's. I think what I wish I would have learned a little sooner in the last six years, I would say is being able to be like, wait, I've been doing this for 11 years and I built this up to have freedom for me. And everyone else is taking an hour or time for themselves. Like, I need to carve that out for me too do. If I feel most comfortable while I have care, great, I'll do it then. I used to be like, oh, I have to wake up. I have a peloton in my garage. I used to have to, I have to wake up and like, go get in there and get it done before them. And now it's, I have let go of drop offs for school and I used to have to like do drop off and pick up. And then I would have a meeting and I'd be like, I can't do it. And then I'd feel like I'd fail our kids because I'd make be like, I'll be there at pickup. And then I wouldn't because I'd get stuck on a call and Chris would have to go and he. And I had to just be like, it's better that I do what I say I'm gonna do than not show up. And so we just made it a thing where. And this is me letting go of massive amounts of mom guilt for not being a full stay at home mom who's homesteading and like homeschooling. Because I, I am literally in. I look at that and I'd be like, that is the biggest gift you could ever give your children. And my mom was like, like full on and stay at home and all that. But I do know that I feel so alive doing what I do and working with clients and being on podcasts and writing books and putting out content. Like, I want to help other people. So I need to stand strongly in those, like, in my feet to say, like, this is where what I'm meant to do too. And that's okay. So I'VE let go of drop offs. Now Chris does drop offs every day. Day, like to school for Bash and Tashen and he'll take the baby with him and so they'll leave at 7:30 for drop off. And so there's. We've. We've kind of got a little bit of a flow where the minute I let go of that, I went. I now have totally reset who I am for the rest of the day because I was able to get this in. And I used to say, like, okay, the minute, the minute 7:30 hits and they're out the door. Now I'm to going to schedule a call at 7:45 or at 8:15. And now it's like I'm. I'm allowing myself to push that back and past me would be like, oh, we really want to have that call. Okay, I'll give it to you at 8:00'. Clock. And now I'm like, no, no, I'm not. And so it doesn't happen every day, but like, even if it's three or four days a week of those drop offs, I'm like, boom. Like, I feel really good about that.

That.

And that's my new. I love that for you, you know. So am I over promising the drop off and am I over promising that I'm gonna like wake up at a 5am alarm if I was up with a baby at 4? Like, no. You know, like, how do I find the time and say like, this is where it's gonna work for me and if I really want it, I can't book calls at that time. Yeah.

You know, it's so interesting too, because I feel like it's. There's just a different dynamic as the female probably that's working compared to like when it's the male. Because I have a lot of stay at home mom friends who. It's like their husbands, this is their schedule, and their husbands are going to the gym after and like, they're just like taking care of the kids. And I feel like it's. There's an additional challenge when you're working. And I try to prioritize Johnny's workouts when he's where I'm like, I'll come down and stay with McKinley so that you can do your workout. Because I feel bad that he's with her all day. And there's. It's like, it's so hard to set those boundaries.

Yeah. And I think that's hard too, is like when you're on your own, when you're single, when you're just married. When you have your own life, you really get to, like, dictate your schedule to a certain extent. Like, I think about, like, wow, there were certain times when I wasn't, like, really super consistent with my working out, and certain times where I was really consistent with working out, and I'm like, man, I had so much freedom. And now we kind of have the schedule because school's back in. School's back. But for him, it's like, he needs to go surf, he needs to go to yoga, like, and we need to put that on the calendar, actually, for him, or his time gets eaten away, too. So I don't know. I think you have to take it one day. One week at a time has been my approach, just because every week is different. But you can always find, like, a couple hours for yourself and a couple hours for your partner.

Very true. Especially when you're approaching it as such a team. Like, you guys are. Well, and we're trying to do.

What are you guys doing together? To, like, make that happen.

Well, at first, it was super helpful because Johnny would wake up with me in the middle of the night every night, and I would pump and he would feed her so I could go back to bed sooner, because pumping typically took less time than, like, feeding her. So he'd feed her a bottle. And that actually helped so much. McKinley also has just been naturally a pretty good sleeper. Like, we haven't created a schedule for her necessarily. We just kind of have been more in tune with, does she seem hungry, does she seem tired? And then it might end up backfiring for us, but that's just kind of the route that we've taken. So she's fortunately been a pretty good sleeper. It's just been more of a transition in, like, the last month because of her getting sick and then just being thrown off. She's teething. So I think those are some of the factors now. But for the most part, I honestly haven't put a lot of effort into getting great sleep because then three months in, I stopped breastfeeding. So I wasn't waking up in the middle of the night to pump and was just trying to focus on, like, sleeping for this baby and the. The choices that I'm making holistically for my family instead of trying to be, like, 100% for McKinley and then, you know, it coming at a deprivation to my own sleep. So if she does wake up in Johnny's home, he typically will be the one that gets her, and then I'll do the early Morning shift or vice versa, we, we just switch off and then yeah, I mean some, the last month has been rough because he's been traveling a lot and she's been sick and then I, she got me sick. So we, that's when we went to my mom's and I was just like.

That'S great that you have her. That's great that you have her.

Yeah. So I mean, and then days that I don't get great sleep, I try to take a nap. Like I try to take a 30 minute nap in the afternoon to carve out just that I don't feel completely run down then going into to the rest of the afternoon and the night.

Oh, so amazing that you can shut your brain down like that. Like I am so jealous. Like I was the person even in college when people like we're gonna go back and take a nap and I'm like like do, do, do. What are you guys up to? I'm here on campus and everyone's like in their dorm room napping. I'm like, why is this? What is happening? It's daytime. It was always so hard for me and it's so good for your brain. I remember working with some NFL players for the combine or soon to be NFL players for the combine. And I did their nutrition plan for this like quarterbacking quarterback camp. And, and it was like they brought in a Stanford sleep specialist who was like, you are all napping after your lunch before you're like throwing drills to like basically like solidify these like all the neural pathways that you know you, everything you learned in your practices prior to this. And it was pretty amazing. They like had like a little, they all had like these little air mattress sleep pads and would fall asleep and I would just be like, how are all of these like grown men sleeping? But it was awes. Like it was like they, they got on a baby schedule. It was like they're going down now, they're getting up, lights would go on, they'd wake them up and they'd get em back out on the field. It was really cool and I love it, but I just can't. I mean, I guess I can keep trying. It's going to be like meditation for me where I was like I never napped. And then I'm like, oh, it's a thing now.

I hope, I mean I love napping. It's the best. So I hope that that could be in your future. Yeah.

Yes, please. All right. So reflecting on your first postpartum journey which kind of turned into your Second pregnancy. Are. Are. Is there anything that you are really proud that you did and you want to do the second time around? And then is there anything you wish you would have done differently?

Gosh, I would say the first thing that comes to mind is, is that. Is advocating for McKinley's health for her at specific times that she's needed it. Like, for instance, there's just been different doctors appointments that we've gone into where the first recommendation, like, she had a rash. The one time that the doctor said was a fungal rash, and she was like, I'll just prescribe a antifungal cream. And then I go and pick it up, and it's nystatin. And I'm like, I am not putting nystatin on. She made it sound like this little thing. And then, I mean, nystatin is an aggressive antifungal. And McKinley was like 3 months old at the time. So I'm like, well, if. If it's fungal rash, then it seems like we just need some powder to. To dry up the moisture, since the fungus thrives in moisture. And, you know, in a few days, that was. That was improved. So there's a number of scenarios, like even when she got the ear infection, where I said to the doctor, like, I'm not jumping on antibiotics right away. Let's wait a few days. Since 30 to 40% of ear infections clear on their own, to see if she is able to clear on her own before then we give her the antibiotic. So there's just been. And then we ended up needing to give her the antibiotic because it didn't clear on its own. And at that point, I was like, okay, I'm. I understand the consequences of not treating an ear infection that's not clearing on its own. So I think I feel proud of having the confidence to be an advocate for her in ways that I think are super important. And that even, like, our doctor had told me about this ear scope on Amazon that I ended up buying for her for $30, that he was like, you could just take a picture and then send me the picture so that I can and see if it's clearing. And I was like, why don't they just give this to all parents? He's like, cause it's not billable. We don't make money on it for insurance, the insurance reimbursable model. So it's those types of things that I. I feel really good about. I feel good about, you know, just focusing on keeping my stress lower. Three months. For the three months that I was breastfeeding and trying to really focus on, you know, like, the highest nutrient density possible because I was just super focused on like, how can I create. Create the most nutrient dense milk?

And.

Yeah, I would say those are the things that come to mind as far as things that. And I would also say the way that Johnny and I have just navigated trying to, like, listen to intuitively what she needs versus being so bound to a specific schedule, I think that's not only been good for her, but also good for us. And then as far as things that I would change, I mean, I would change the expectations going in. Like, I said that it's not this, like, functional medicine textbook, that it's real life, and that there will be instances that these things come up and that we're going to do the best that we possibly can to, to offset the antibiotics with other things that we can add to if, if they're necessary and those kinds of things so that I don't feel so guilty when they come about and I'm. I'm forced with the decision that, you know, leaves me crying for days. So I think that would, those would probably be the main things that come to mind.

You know what? You bring up a really good point about advocating for your children. I feel like there's. There are times, the first time around, the second, probably the third too, where you, where you want to rely on your physician, your pediatrician, the doctor who's caring for you or your child, and maybe you make a decision that you're like, don't feel great about. But, but I think what you have the benefit of is like, having the knowledge to know that, like, this is a really strong antifungal and I might not need to do this quite yet. And it's. Is. Is taking a beat. I would just say for any moms out there, like, you always want to quick fix, or you want your child to be well, or you don't want them to be in pain, or you don't want any problems. But I feel like the pause to like the pause that you've, you have the ability to take a pause and go like, well, what is this? This? Do I really need this? Are there any other options? And just like, look a little deeper so that you can advocate for your child. I think is, is such a, a great piece of advice. I, I will give a shout out to Dr. Song Alisa. Song was on my podcast. She's a functional pediatrician and she has, she has a blog. And I found these like, Mullein Garlic Drops and they're for ear infections and they're homeopathic. Like I'm just, I'm at a place where I am. I, I don't. I deal with my children being sick unless I'm like really scared that there's a problem. Like Julian had croup in altitude and he hadn't been to altitude and he hadn't had croup and I wasn't sure if it's RSV or Covid. So we did go get like him tested at the urgent care in Mammoth and like figured it out over Christmas. But like for the most part like I'm not really doing this the same sort of like check ins as I did with Bash. It's just like, we'll see you in a couple months. Okay, we're good measure away. We're out of here. And I'm really leaning into like how can I use these like ancient remedies that are, that are natural to support my kids immune system. And so that's a great one. If you ever have, if ever. If kids ears are ever red or they're like rubbing at it or you think maybe it's an ear infection. Like it's. A lot of them are viral. Um, but that's, that's a hard thing to do. But that cause really does it makes a difference in our, in our parenting and how, you know, like the solutions we come up with.

It's like hard to go against societal norms sometimes. And when you're talking about even like weighing things out of, you know, like treating, not treating. Like when we chose to not treat, I got opinions from people, you know, like friends or family members who were like, but she's in pain now. So like, like don't you want to just give her the antibiotics so that she's out of the pain? And it's like what is the short term consequence versus the long term consequence is short term treating her with the antibiotic that gets her out of the pain and an ear infection that could clear on its own. Is that actually in her best interest when it, when I also know that statistically it increases her risk of asthma and eczema and allergies, autoimmune disease and so many other factors that I think that you have to always weigh out the long term and the short term sacrifices that you're making. And you know, being in a little bit of pain sometimes or using the garlic drops before can. It's not necessarily like a style of norm, but something that I think is, is important to, to help to advocate for them since they'll have to deal with the allergies and asthma and other things that come up later on down the road.

Right. It's just an ex. It's totally. It's an exercise that, that makes you pause and take a minute and then you feel better about your decision. I have had times when I'm like going with societal norms or I'm going really fast or I'm not thinking things through in the way that then as a parent you're like, what was I thinking? It brings you to your knees and you're constantly just like reflecting and trying, trying to grow, I guess, you know.

It'S a very big growth journey for sure.

Oh my gosh. I've taken so much of your time. Up, up. I'm so sorry. But let's talk about, let's talk about your, your meal planning software that brought you back to work after like four weeks.

Well, it's been something that I've been wanting to create for years, but now actually as a mom, I see like that much more value in it. So it's basically it came from running like the blood sugar resets and seeing that people can obviously stick to something short term, but that eating well in order to feel good is just harder to maintain. So Collective is basically a weekly meal planning program that helps you and your family to plan for blood sugar balancing meals that then creates an automated shopping list for and then you can filter based off of different meal preferences like gluten free or low fodmap or dairy free or, or other things that you're specifically sticking to. And then gives you meal prep instructions as well to try to save time and then also decrease the money that you're spending on groceries with being able to, to actually plan for how many meals you're making. So the goal is to just help with being more consistent and not having to put as much thought into it. My team of dietitians and I create like pre made plans so that people can then just go in and edit the pre made plans so that they don't have to create their own and we create, you know, new ones to help them do that. So I'm really excited. I think that in addition to the meal planning, we also have weekly coaching calls. It's a way to, you know, just be part of community and to get coaching and try to make your life easier in a way that you're able to stay consistent without being perfect. You know, like I'm not filling in every single meal on the grid every single week. But being able to at least get some of them in to then get that automated shopping list has been such a time saver for me. So I'll include a link for you that you'll include the link, but I'll send it to you and. And I hope that. I hope that people enjoy it.

Yeah, definitely. So running through your day and running through your meal planning software, you're taking your Wenatal supplements, you're using about a packet of element. You're staying super hydrated. Are you drinking caffeine or are you not off caffeine?

Yeah, I'm drinking matcha.

Okay, you're drinking Matcha?

I drink like one or two matchas a day.

Okay. When it comes to meal planning in this pregnancy period, postpartum period, are you leaning into a certain amount of protein? A. Do your meal plans like, reflect that? Are you. Are you leaning into specific types of protein or specific types of foods to get the nutrients you know, you need?

Yeah. So I'm doing a scoop of BL1 to two scoops of BL by Kelly Protein every day, and that in smoothies or like in yogurt or other things that I'm adding it to. I also will typically add collagen to things that are just easy to.

To.

To add collagen as well. I've been really increasing both of those since having a C section with just trying to increase like wound healing and knowing also that being on NSAIDs for as long as I was, I tried to get off of them as quickly as possible. But the impact that that has on gut lining, like there's just so many factors that impact nutrient absorption outside of even just being or your nutrient status outside of the toll that giving all of your nutrients to your baby, either through being pregnant or breastfeeding entails. So thinking about like the wound healing component, even just tissue healing, if you're giving vaginal or you're birthing vaginally, all those things I think, you know, have to be taken into account in addition to the toll on the adrenals, like all these things decrease our nutrient absorption. So I find that doing Wenatal, of course, is so important. In addition to the omega 3 fatty acids, but then also doing the BWL by Kelly protein to get those additional amino acids that are so important for healing the gut lining so that my nutrient absorption can actually be increased to the fullest amount possible. I take a probiotic and a prebiotic to just try to support my microbiome. I'm taking mitopure for my timeline for My mitochondrial health and just like overall energy since I do feel a little more fatigued right now and additional magnesium at night. And I think that's, I think those are the big, the big hitters.

That's your stack. I like that stack. I like that stack a lot. When it comes to animal protein, like are you leaning into specific proteins right now or are you. What do you know?

Oh, you asked about protein. I thought that originally you were asking me about supplements. My postpartum for protein. I'm. I'm trying honestly. You, when you texted me a few months ago, I don't know if you remember, you texted me a picture of your ground beef in the oven and you were like, I'm adding this to my smoothies every morning. And I thought you meant that you were like adding them to your smoothies. And I was like. But then understood like a few seconds later. Oh, she's adding it alongside her.

I'm just, I literally just am eating like loads of red meat. Meat. Yeah.

So I'm trying to do the same and maybe I don't think I'm meeting your quota, but primarily in the form of just grass fed beef or bison as the easiest way that I can get it in. Like easier to prepare. And then doing a lot of Greek yogurt actually. And then if I do Greek yogurt then I typically add additional protein to that in the form of collagen or be all by cali protein and then smoothies for protein. And then I'm doing a lot of eggs. I'm trying to do eggs at least four to five times a week for the additional choline as well. And like organic rotisserie chicken, I'm relying on more than typical. I'm also actually doing a lot of beans. I love beans and lentils. So I'll do, I'll prepare like a trio bean mix that I get from whole Foods and I'll do like three cans of it that I just rinse in advance and then put in a Tupperware to try to make life a little bit easier. So I' that with like sauerkraut and some hot sauce as a mid afternoon snack with some nutritional yeast to try to get like 15 grams of protein in mid afternoon. And then yeah, I would. And like organic sausages have been an easy way. I have a lot of organic turkey meat that I keep in my refrigerator that I'll do with rolled up vegetables and then hummus as a snack as well. So I, I'm not counting my protein that I'm eating.

Every day.

But I'm pretty. Oh, and then salmon. I. I'm salmon and sardines. I eat a ton of sardines. And actually McKinley loves sardines, too, which I feel like is one of my biggest, like, mom pride moments.

So good.

So canned salmon, salmon fillets, and then. And then sardines as well would be additional protein sources that I'm doing several times a week, but super easy ways that you can add protein. I mean, they're not.

Not.

It's not ways that are, you know, taking a ton of time. For instance, like, the other night, I made lentil pasta that had 18 grams of protein, and then I added three eggs to it and nutritional yeast to try to just tap in. You know, like, probably close to 35 grams of protein, but I didn't count it out. And I don't know specifically, like, the amount. I'm just trying to eyeball it.

Yeah, yeah. No, I think. I think it's. It's, you know, what is. Is mostly protein. And you're able to, like. I mean, that's why, kind of. I. That's why I've always loved the Fab Four, right? Because I'm like, okay, protein, fat, fiber, greens. Like, I'm looking for that balance on my plate, or I'm looking for, like, the main categories. And you're like, okay, animal protein is mostly protein. Like, that's pretty easy. And then you have a general idea of, like, these lentils and beans of, like, what you're getting there. But for me, the reason why I texted you, like, I'm having this on the side of my smoothie is because my life gets so crazy busy. Like, I am bebopping from, like, feeding a baby to, like, jumping on a podcast, to, like, getting on a call with my sister about a product, to, you know, like, going to do a pickup, to coming back to making everyone lunch and then jumping back on another call, or, like, it's kind of all over the place. And if I don't do that, I may turn around and it's 2 o', clock, and I'm like. Which is also why I like smoothies at lunch sometimes, too, because the eggs are delicious at breakfast and easy to make, and you might have more time to, like, sneak that in. And a smoothie can be made in, like, 10 minutes. Minutes. 100%, you know, but I, I, yeah, I got to a place where I was like, okay, I'm just gonna, like, throw a side of sometimes 4 to 6 ounces of ground beef with my breakfast or leftover Salmon from the night before or a turkey burger or a piece of chicken. Like, it can be super random. It might be leftover protein. But I did get in this routine of, like, making a 50, 50 blend of ground beef and ancestral blend together and then just pounding, Pounding it with it. And it was, like, warm and salty, and it's, like, plain, you know? But I would just. I would have that with my smoothie, and I was probably hitting 50 grams in the morning. And then I knew, okay, like, at the minimum, I could hit 100, 100 grams of protein the rest of the day, or I'm really going for it. I can hit 121 30, because I'm looking for, like a. A gram per pound of ideal body mass for me. And so if I could get to 1:30, that would be killer. But even like a hundred, I'm like, okay, cool. Like, I just. And it was the craziest thing this time around. My hair didn't fall out. I don't have the little. Like, I don't know if. Because you're pregnant, you're probably, like, keeping all your juju, but if you. I wish all your hair breaks off, your skin gets dry. Like, you're just, like. You feel like a. I felt like a raisin after both of my first two. And this time around, I'm like, I don't know what's. I don't know. Like, my muscle mass feels, like, amazing. My hair hasn't fallen out. Like, I. I'm eating like an absolute athlete. And I. The postpartum period with Tasha, I would say I would still consider myself, like, dying in postpartum, like, at 20 months after he was born. And this time around, I was, like, there at, like, 4 to 6. It was crazy.

That's amazing.

But I was also eating, like, in the very beginning, I was really going for it and getting animal protein at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On top of my smoothie, on top of my breakfast smoothie, and then breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Wow. Yeah. I'm not at that level, but am making a conscious effort because I. I think that most women under eat protein, especially during pregnancy, when your knees continue.

To increase every trimester and you're also, like, maybe dealing. I don't know. Did you have protein aversions at all?

No, not in this pregnancy.

That's really nice.

I've been fine. I was so nauseous with McKinley and had a lot more of a challenge until, like, week 16. And this time it's much easier.

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. That is amazing. It got worse with me every single time. And I actually think it was depletion. Like, I think I felt so good with Sebastian because I. We know that B6 deficiency is linked to more severe nausea. And I think I had B vitamin stores and I had nutrients, a lot of nutrient stores going into Sebastian's pregnancy. And then I had a major traumatic birth. I had major stress after that with his eczema thrown basically into a book tour. Nursing him. Stopped. Stopped nursing him and found out. No, found out I was pregnant and stopped nursing him. Basically, like went from nursing to pregnancy, like right away there was like no breaks. And then with Tasha, like the same sort of thing. So I don't know. I think I just. My nutrient supply depletion got worse and worse and worse. Like when Tashin postpartum with Tasha, I had to have iron infusions. Like, I had iron IVs because it was. So that's also something women should know. Like, if you have a birth, like, I just had a friend have a birth who lost liters of, you know, like lost a lot of blood. And they were like, well, here's your, you know, here's your iron supplement. And so many women in that situation will start to just take the iron supplement after. And their iron or their hemoglobin so low and their ferritin's low and they feel horrible and they're taking this supplement and it takes them six to eight months to bring those levels back up, up. And most women stop taking that iron supplement postpartum because it makes them constipated or they don't like the side effects. And so they're walking around with basically like anemia, feeling horrible on top of their postpartum experience. And luckily, like, I have an amazing doctor who was like, no, let's just go get you an iv. But if anyone's listening and has like low levels of iron, like, I definitely recommend that you can get your levels right back up and like two infusions or three in like three week period. And you feel like a completely different person.

A hundred percent. And I would say too, like, that that came up when we were formulating Wenatal was, you know, like, how much iron to include because some prenatals don't have any iron or have the smallest amount. And wenatal has 18 milligrams, which typically in pregnancy needs increase to 27. And then like you said, once you're postpartum, your needs could, I mean, they technically go down by the RDA standards, but they could increase because of the blood loss and everything that you're going through. But the nice thing about the iron that's in Wenatal is that it's a specific type called iron. Bis glycinate, chelate. That's Ferrochell is the trademark brand, but it also helps with increasing the tolerance to the specific type of iron. That I think is also one of the reasons that so many friends, once they start Wenatal, are like, wow, I can't believe how well I'm tolerating this prenatal compared to others that I've tried in the past. So you may still need iron infusions. But I do think that, like, I always felt good knowing that I was at least getting 18 milligrams additional.

And we needle 110%. And I'm so glad, actually, my. It was my friend Michelle, and she was on Wenatal, that was her prenatal, and she's like, kelly, thank you so much for recommending that. Because prior to getting pregnant with her second, she just had her second son. We looked at her blood test and I was like, you need something. You need to either pick an iron supplement or you need to take Wenatal with iron. And she, like, got on it and she's thank. I'm like, so glad we looked at my blood test before this pregnancy because I probably would have had to have a blood transfusion after if I didn't have such good levels. So, like, just thinking about.

So important to stand. Yeah, it's so important. And it's amazing how many women aren't testing their nutrient levels. You know, nutrient deficiencies are such a common cause of so many adverse symptoms. And if you aren't feeling like yourself, even if you're one or two or three years postpartum, like, it continues to have a domino effect. So I just can't recommend getting nutrient deficiency testing enough because I've run thousands of nutrient deficiency tests. And the number of people that I have seen that have zero nutrient deficiencies, you can probably attest to this, too. It's like maybe a handful of people in the last 10 years, of all the people that I've worked with that have come out with no nutrient deficiencies, it's, like, astonishing that it isn't talked about more totally.

What's your favorite nutrient deficiency test? Are you using Nutrival? Are you using. Are you doing, like, a regular.

What do you mean? Metabolomics is the one that I'm using now because it's just easier since you can collect it from home. Nutrival has a few additional markers that you can get because you're also doing blood. But metabolomics, you can get pretty much all of them.

Them. And would they need a practitioner like you for that or can do. They do dtc?

No, you need a practitioner.

Okay, cool. Awesome.

I don't know, is there one that you know of that you don't need a practitioner?

No. I think most of the stuff is like, you're just going to pay out of pocket and it gets crazy. So I think just find someone like you. Join a group. Yeah. Oh, my God. Okay, well, we're done. I'm so. And you probably are like, wow, you just messed my whole day up. Kelly, I love you so much. I'm so happy for you. I can't wait to see who this little human is going to be. I can't wait just to like, see all of it. So happy, happy for you, McKinley. So lucky to have you as such a well rounded and balanced mama. And it's just a pleasure. I love you, Kelly.

I love you too. Thank you so much. I'm so excited for you and your growing family and for, and for you to be out of of the stage soon.

I'm like all done growing it aster, I think. All right, well, this was really fun. Hopefully people get some good stuff out of it. We'll throw a link to your new software, your meal planning software, which I think would be just awesome to be like, here's the list. Someone else go buy the groceries? Yeah, exactly. No, I just, I appreciate it. We'll put links to everything that we talked about in today's podcast and I'll snag some of those nutrients that you add to McKinley's bottle alongside her formula after the show, along with your prebiotic, probiotic and all of the nutrients you mentioned. We'll, we'll put your stack in the show notes as well.

Awesome.

Okay, thanks, Richard. Go ahead, have an amazing day.

Thank you.

You too. Thank you for listening to Be well by Kelly. Please subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more@bewellbykelly.com and follow me on Instagram. You allbykelly. I would love if you picked up my books Body Love and Body Love Every day. They're sold on Amazon and at all major parts booksellers.