Latest / For the Love of Hormones- Miscarriage, Hormone Balance, Progesterone, TTC, Cycle Tracking, Conception, Holistic Health / 197 | After TTC, THIS is How She Got Healthy Progesterone!
Transcript
- Bekah Yawn: Okay guys, we have Abigail Bell on today and she is a Past Fertility Framework client and she has wanted to come on and share a bit of her story and testimony. And I know that the Holy Spirit just has just lessons of encouragement and blessing through her story. So Abigail, thank you so much for being here today. Abigale Ball: Thanks for having me. Bekah Yawn: So let's kick off with just telling everyone about yourself. What do you do? Tell us about your family, y'all are from, all of that stuff. Abigale Ball: Sure. Yeah, again, my name's Abigail. I've been married to my husband for about 11 years. We got married really young when we were 21. we also have a son who's almost three. And I'm going on eight months pregnant with our baby girl. We live in the Midwest. And this past year, I started staying home with my son. And I'll continue to do that and eventually homeschool our kids. Bekah Yawn: Cool, that's awesome. Did you say, do you know if you're having a boy or a girl? Are you guys waiting to be a girl? Abigale Ball: A girl. We're having a girl. Bekah Yawn: Okay, that's so exciting. That's awesome. Well, tell us about kind of what was going on before working with me, a little bit about your story. I know there's a lot to it. So just kind of walk us through the hard parts and... obviously any good parts, yeah, walk us through what you were struggling with beforehand. Abigale Ball: Yeah, before working with you, so I had gone to naturopathic doctors. I had started a healing journey kind of in 2020 when I started to get really sick and we wanted to start a family and I knew I needed to be well before we did that. So yeah, I've been seeing a naturopathic doctor for several years, getting blood work done and then just kind of taking supplements to try to balance my hormones. And that was pretty much it for what I was getting physically. I really just didn't fully understand the changes my hormones went through in the four phases of my cycle. And also just how heavily spiritually or spiritual and emotional things can affect your body. So yeah, I was just kind of struggling with low progesterone, a lower functioning thyroid and just like really, really low energy. Bekah Yawn: Yeah. OK, so those are hard things to be dealing with when you're trying to get pregnant and all of that. So I know at some point you had your son. So talk walk us through you had him and then kind of what you were going through postpartum. Abigale Ball: Yeah, So in 2020, my husband and decided to start trying for a baby. as we were trying to conceive all this, so one month went did not get pregnant, second month went by, and I all of a sudden started to get just this throbbing, stabbing pain in one of my ovaries, which had never happened to me before. And mean, I just figured it was a cause of us trying for a baby. And I was having a lot of pain and my symptoms were kind of lining up with anectopic pregnancy. And so I started bleeding. And so I went to the emergency room and didn't really find anything. and I didn't like my blood work did not show any positive pregnancy tests. And so I just kind of left really confused and still having lots of pain just kind of in my reproductive areas. And that pain lasted about a year and a half. So I think that was God's way of just kind of telling me like kind of like an alarm bell was going off, like, hey, you're not ready, I, maybe my body was physically ready, but my emotions and my spirit weren't quite ready to move on to the next step that I was wanting. And so for that year and a half, I really, just kind of the Hannah from the Bible stuck out to me so much. just kind of treated that year and a half her for a baby, worshiping God, trying to align my heart and my spirit with the Lord. And that's when I started, well, actually the Lord. led me to a deliverance and inner healing ministry. And that's where I realized, wow, I am doing so much for my physical body, just seeing everything as physical not really being in tune to the emotional physical side of all of this. so, Yeah, like I said, the Lord led me to a deliverance ministry and that's where I started to heal emotionally and physically where I had these really, really cool moments with the Lord, just of deep inner healing and Holy Spirit led encouragement and direction. And that's really when I started to heal. My physical body started to heal I addressed the emotional and the spiritual. So then a year and a half later, really do think worship and surrender is what... aligned my heart into a posture to where the Lord allowed us to conceive. Because that's all I was doing. I was just surrendering to his timeline. wasn't really focusing on the physical. I didn't really change anything with my diet. I just tried to have my heart in a posture of surrender. Again, just like did. And before we conceived, the Lord just gave me the name Samuel and He showed me just these supernatural images of me with my complete family with all my children just kind of as His promise of You know, these are the desires of your heart and I will I will bless you with this but we need to get to a certain point in surrender and worship to where you trust me and trust my timing with where you're at. So he gave me the name Samuel and he showed me this picture of me holding this baby in a blue blanket. And that was just a promise that I just like clung to. obviously seeing that image, it just I felt so much closer to God and I felt so fortunate and blessed that he would share that with me to give me hope so I could keep going. so like I said, a year and a half later, we started trying again and my pain had pretty much gone away my reproductive area. by the way, I did have a bunch of tests and scans done and doctors couldn't find anything. I do think the pain was like emotionally rooted. Just from grief probably. yeah, so we were able to conceive pretty quickly. I just kept trying to be faithful to the Lord throughout my first pregnancy and. just trying not to live in fear and just taking thoughts captive and just trusting God, knowing that God was holding my baby safely and he would be delivered safely. And I was just very grateful that he kept showing me that my baby would be safe because I was scared of love lost. My whole first pregnancy felt very... Just blissful. was just ecstatic to be able to carry a child. I just knew the whole time that it was a boy, and then we confirmed that. during our 20 week ultrasound. Like I said, I already had the name Samuel, just because the Holy Spirit gave me that name. And I just felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me, okay, I gave you a Samuel, but you need to now like dedicate him back to me, just like Hannah did. And I just really feel like my son's going to do some really special things. for the kingdom as he grows older. Yeah. Yeah. And so then we had him, postpartum was actually very quite shocking to me emotionally and spiritually and physically. I definitely had to be broken in as a first time mom. And yeah, I think it just Once I gave birth to him, was just like in shock that he was here. he did have a like tongue ties, reflux, a lot of sleeping issues that we had to work through. And it's interesting because, you know, we went the physical route with the reflux and the sleeping with, okay, well, we need to sleep train. Okay, well we need to give him medicine for reflux and none of those things were working. And so we, again with deliverance ministry, I sought that out again and his sleep issues and his reflux were resolved just by prayer alone. So the physical modalities we were trying to use to correct all these things did nothing but prayer is just obviously so supernatural and Bekah Yawn: Mm-hmm. Abigale Ball: I think just throughout my first three years of motherhood the Lord is just showing me how powerful God is and how I have been relying on the physical and not the spiritual and you know was probably like my past life I was probably more like relying 80 % on the physical and maybe like 20 % on spiritual. And now that has totally flipped where it's like, I am just relying all on God for just the countless things he has resolved just by me bringing things to the Lord and just allowing him to share with me the spiritual or emotional root causes. There's just countless, countless things, sicknesses, sleeping issues, like I said. allergies, just a lot of things that have been resolved. because of the emotional and spiritual inner work that I've been doing with the Lord. Bekah Yawn: Yeah. Can we pause there for a second and just dig a little deeper on that? I would love to hear more about the deliverance ministry and what prayer has looked like for you over your son specifically in these areas. Abigale Ball: Yeah, of course. Yeah, so deliverance and inner healing ministry, all Holy Spirit led it's just a time of prayer. like, you know, we all have these woundings in our soul have taken place throughout our lives and... those create the emotional hurts. And a lot of these things can also manifest into physical issues in your body, like pain or just being unwell in some way, like a weakened immune system or like thyroid issues, hormone issues. Like there's just like anything you can think of. There's... likely a part of it that's spiritually or emotionally rooted. it's just a time of prayer and taking those things to the Holy Spirit and just asking, Lord, what... what's going on with this area of my life? How would you, what would you like to point out to bring healing to me and to bring closeness to you? Like it's kind of like a block or a divide. Like what's keeping me from being well or what's keeping me from feeling closeness with you? And then yeah, you just kind of go through a time of prayer and the Lord will reveal whatever. he wants to about what you're asking or maybe it's something totally different than what you're asking and he has a different plan for what he wants to uncover. Bekah Yawn: Yeah, that's incredible. And it's also simple, but it just takes that pausing of like, wait, I gotta stop chasing all the chickens and just sit and pray, you know? That's amazing. So walk us through, you had the challenges postpartum, you found your answers through Jesus and through prayer and healing there. So I know you mentioned earlier, you still dealing with, I think you were dealing with the low progesterone, still some thyroid issues, and you guys were preparing to want to get pregnant again and wanting to kind of make sure that you were in a good spot and healthy? Am I remembering all that correctly? Okay. Oh no, like we're all about jumping here, it's good. Abigale Ball: Yeah, yeah, I apologize if I'm jumping, jumping around. Yeah, so after I had my yeah, we just had a lot going on in our lives. We moved, I was working yeah, we just, just, I still had, looking back, I still had a lot of healing that I needed to go through. And again, that was manifesting in my physical body too and emotionally was just having a really hard time. so my son was going on too. And we, so I was going to stop working around that time and we knew we wanted to grow our keep growing our family. So we Well, I started just trying to prepare for the health of my body and my spiritual life too, of course. And so I started listening to podcasts and just doing research about fertility. And I had a lot of irrational fears about like secondary infertility because I'm sure my Instagram feed, like all my social media Bekah Yawn: Mm. Abigale Ball: knew what I was researching and looking into and those things just really, I let them just create fear inside me and so. I started getting kind of nervous like in asking all these what if questions like what if it takes six months or a year what if I can't get pregnant what if like all these just what ifs that I had what if questions and so I just started listening to podcasts and reading materials about fertility yeah so you're your podcast just popped up on my feed randomly and I clicked into it and I was looking through and I just I saw that it was a Holy Spirit led podcast just about how the body operates and like we've been talking about how important it is to address the spiritual side of our wellbeing and our fertility. And I was just, I was so excited because I had never seen or heard anything like it before. And I started listening and I just like binged a bunch of your podcasts and I knew that you had offered a course and yeah, I mean, I just kept listening and then all of sudden one day the Holy Spirit was like, I want you to take this course. I was like, oh, yeah, okay. That'd probably be a good idea. So I did and yeah. Bekah Yawn: That is so cool. I didn't know that part. That's awesome. Yeah, the Lord definitely built that course through me for sure. is a mighty act of just his love and I think knowledge and information and also just making sure we're putting everything before him. So that's really cool that he tugged on your So tell us what it was like going through fertility framework. Abigale Ball: well my favorite part of the program was learning how to chart and take my basal body temperature and then be able to like have the tools to read my chart and see what indicators towards health there were in each of my monthly logs and it just showed how my body was treating each of the four phases of my cycle. like what I could realistically expect of myself during each phase. And of course, I love learning about the woman of the Bible and how they responded to God and the journey he took them on when they asked God for a child. And I really just use this as a roadmap to go deeper with the Lord and just uncover the fears and insecurities and gaps had moving forward. Bekah Yawn: Yeah, that's awesome. So you enjoyed learning both about the physical and then just being redirected to the Lord spiritually as well in this whole fertility journey. I feel like it doesn't end, you know, from the time we get to like 10 to 15 or whenever it is when we get our first period till we go through menopause. Like we're gonna have so many ups and downs and we've got to learn how to. like how this isn't new, you know, but we're made in the image of God. And all these ups and downs are part of that. And so I'm glad that you were able to go deeper with him there and also get the practical tips for, okay, this is what's going on with my cycle. These are my different phases. This is how I can live in them. So what was that experience like for you with preparing to get pregnant? How are your charts looking? Did it give you guys confidence for to conceive or walk us through that process? Abigale Ball: Yeah, of Yeah, it was really just my my luteal phase was kind of short. It was like nine to 10, maybe 11 days long, which indicates lower progesterone. And I also had some numbers that were a little under 97 degrees when I would take my temperature, which points to a lower functioning thyroid. And it's interesting, when I stopped working, my temperature's all improved. I think I was just working my body a little too hard physically. I was formerly a preschool teacher, so I was just on the go on my feet all day. Bekah Yawn: yeah. Abigale Ball: very fast paced and a little chaotic. Bekah Yawn: Yeah. Abigale Ball: yeah, when I stopped working, I think I became a lot healthier. so it was really just after I stopped working, just the shorter luteal phases. And then I think we also had talked about insulin. I was having some blood sugar spikes. Bekah Yawn: Okay. Yeah. Yeah, those can be all kind of connected. That's amazing though that when you're when you stopped working, your temps went up. And you said your luteal like your luteal phase got a little bit longer. Abigale Ball: it's funny this, started tracking this a year ago and then let's see, I've been pregnant for eight months. So it's like, I'm really going to need to look back at my notes when I got into this. That feels like forever ago when I started doing that. Bekah Yawn: I know. For sure, for sure. Right. Yeah. Abigale Ball: yeah, I think, to be honest, I, I don't think my luteal phase, day number ever quite got up to past 11 days, like I was able to conceive with a shorter luteal phase, which honestly just points to God because I was starting to get a little nervous. Like, again, with the fear creeping in, like, what if this, what if that? Well, how am I going to get my body to do what it needs to do? And Bekah Yawn: Mm-hmm. Abigale Ball: then I think that's where the surrender piece plays a big part, surrender to the Lord of, okay, maybe my chart isn't perfect, but God can still. use what I have and what's going on. And if there's a really big issue, I trust that he's going to let me know what it is because that's the relationship we have. Bekah Yawn: Right. Yeah. And that's totally the balance, right, of learning the things, learning how to chart, learning what our body's telling us, but being in constant surrender to the Lord. Because we can't, it's wonderful information and knowledge to have our charts in front of us and to see what they're saying. But ultimately, God's in charge, you know? So even if we have horrific looking charts, but we feel a very strong pressing from the Lord to go ahead and try to conceive that cycle, we need to trust in him and do that. But on the flip side, if we're having horrible looking charts and we are not filling the peace from the Lord, okay, we need to pause there and we need to work on that. But ultimately our God is, he is so mighty y'all. I mean, he's so mighty. He's so much bigger than our charts. He overrides our illnesses, our pains, our aches, our insufficiencies in this broken world. And it's never, It doesn't mean it's a guarantee that you would have had a healthy pregnancy, Abigail, right? But it's still like he asked you to say yes, he asked you to surrender. And all glory to him and praise be to his name that you are where you are. And it's beautiful. And we're so excited and thankful for that. We're thankful for this journey, whatever comes, whether it's the beautiful high of being eight months pregnant or it's low of not making it past a couple months. Like we still will bless the Lord no matter what. So I'm glad that you've just been through this journey and it's just like, Abigail, I could just see your faith has become so strengthened from not even just from the time that you and your husband got married, but from the time that you guys made it, you had the thought of maybe we want to start growing our family. up through now, sure if you were to look back, you would say, my gosh, my faith is nothing like it was then with all of my ups and downs that I've been through in learning to trust him. So tell us what, any last final encouragements maybe for someone who's been thinking about doing fertility framework or who's just in a difficult spot in their fertility season and any encouragements you have. Abigale Ball: Sure. What I would say about someone sitting on the fence about the program is, might sound like a broken record, but just be led by the Holy Spirit for each choice that you make about your health and your fertility. is a great investment for the rest of your life to learn how to chart and be able to teach others how to. Becca, you just give a great overview of the entire body and how it functions. how to partner with God for your healing and your well-being. Even if you're not trying to get pregnant, this information is still so valuable because fertility is just a byproduct of good health. And Becca, also us really practical things like how to clean up your diet and toxic items in your house, which is obviously so important when you're trying to be well. But the most important aspect of this course is Just how to deepen your relationship with the Lord so he can lead you to deepness with him. So you can partner together for healing and hopefully can see the child. I think my biggest piece of advice just from my whole fertility journey is just surrender. I think surrender and worship to the Lord is the most important thing. Like with my first pregnancy, the... surrender in the worship. I mean after a year and a half of pain and frustration of wanting to conceive, I mean it took two cycles because mean God was just, I invited God into the process. Like it really didn't take long. I think his timing is also just so important and with trying to conceive our second baby. took about four cycles, but it wasn't until that fourth cycle when I just. I realized I was going deep into control. And once I finally surrendered and I stopped obsessively tracking and thinking about conceiving, that's the month I got pregnant. I, obviously the physical body wellness is very, very important, but I've just seen. twice now that surrender is what God wants. Even if your body isn't perfectly healthy and well and your charts aren't perfect, think surrender is just the most important thing and just aligning yourself with his timing. Bekah Yawn: Amen. Amen and amen. Abigail, thank you so much for just your, just the words of wisdom. I mean, I can hear the Holy Spirit speaking through you. So we're just praising him and thank you for just being willing to, to let him do that through you. So let me pray a blessing over you and your sweet little girl and your family and over all our listeners. Lord Jesus, we just come before you and God, we thank you for creating life inside of Abigail again. For a second time, Lord, you have blessed her and you have shown her and everyone here listening who is a witness to the power of surrender, to the power of just submitting ourselves to you, submitting our fears, our worries, any control all over to you, Thank you for just the power of her testimony. God, just pray for a continued blessing on her and her daughter and her son Samuel and her husband and her whole family that they would continue to grow and further your kingdom. I just pray a blessing over the end of her pregnancy and her birth in postpartum, Lord, that it would be peaceful and redemptive and joy-filled, Lord. We pray all these things for those. And God, I lift up all my sisters in Christ listening and I pray you would just encourage them and that you would have that word surrender sticky to their soul as they go on about their day today. I pray that you would lead them and guide them, Holy Spirit. And we lift all these things in your Holy name, amen. Abigale Ball: Thank you.