Latest / Motherhood Alliance Podcast / Find Your Fertility: Cycle Syncing + Daily Habits That Matter w/ Dr. Alyssa McPeak | Roots Wholistic
Transcript
- Britney: Welcome Dr. Alyssa. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Thank you. Britney: We are really excited to dive into not only understanding what you do as a chiropractor, but you truly specialize in fertility. And so I think that these episodes are going to be so enlightening for so many people, whether they're just starting out their journey thinking about having kids or if they've been trying for a while and they're not pregnant yet, or even just we're going to have episodes of perimenopause here too. So it really is applying to women of all ages. So this is going to be a great series. Britney Suttner: Hey everyone, we are Britt Andrea from motherhoodalliance.com and we are excited to welcome you to a four episode series with Dr. Alyssa McPeak, a doctor of chiropractic and a certified functional medicine practitioner who blends the best of both worlds as a functional medicine chiropractor. Through her practice Roots Holistic Health, she specializes in pregnancy, pediatrics, women's health, hormones, and fertility. Her passion for this work is deeply personal after struggling with her own hormone imbalances and endometriosis diagnosis. Britney: But before we jump in, we always like to get to know our new guest first. And a fun fact you shared with us is that you used to compete in barefoot water skiing. So how did you get into it? Barefoot is like, I mean, it's pretty BA. like, and you competed. So tell us about this, cause this is awesome. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Well, first of all, again, thank you for having me. It's such an honor to be talking to you ladies. I listen to the podcast all the time and ⁓ hearing the stories from women the area that are helping other moms. but yeah, with barefooting, I grew up think I was on skis at like two or three and ⁓ my dad was an water And so we're all his friends. So ⁓ we had a. Britney Suttner: Dr. Alyssa experienced firsthand how powerful it is to dig deeper and truly understand what's going on in the body. And that journey completely transformed the way she practices today. Now she's dedicated to helping women feel heard, find real answers and reconnect with themselves while also supporting children through proactive wellness focused care. Outside the office, you'll find her soaking up time with her husband and her four kids, whether that's on the water, in the woods, or at the hockey rink. We're excited to introduce you to her now. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: cottage on a lake and grew up in the water. That was my life. And so as that morphed into other fun water activities, I fell in love with barefooting and I got to train with some amazing professional barefooters that taught me tricks and tips. And then we were on the water every day in the summer. I just fell love with it and I'm kind of an adrenaline junkie. So get pulled 40, 41 is my favorite, but 41 miles an hour. And again, I love water skiing too. it just, it's one of those things that just is fun and helps feed that adrenaline junkie in me. So yeah, love it. Andrea Renkas: I'd say. Britney: Are you still barefooting? When was the last time you did? Dr. Alyssa McPeak: I do not not enough. It's been hard being pregnant and nursing a lot of times my barefoot suit does not fit ⁓ refuse ⁓ go up his eyes for my ⁓ my milk boobs. ⁓ yeah, now I've been back into it. Mums relate that. ⁓ Getting back into it and teaching my kids. My kids love to barefoot my older two both barefoot and ⁓ getting the younger ones into it too and their friends, we take their friends out and show them how to do it. But I would say ⁓ year I was out with the kids, but I did not ⁓ to Barefoot last year. So this year, that's my goal, is to get back out there and it's kind of like riding a bike. So hopefully this year. Yes. ⁓ Britney: Yeah, that's awesome. How old are your kids now? Andrea Renkas: Wow, that's cool. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: My oldest is Rory. She's 13. I have to think about this. I have four. Okay. And my son Banning is 11. Rowan is six and Shay is four. So 13 to four. Britney: Okay, yeah, very fun ages and a variety of ages. Cool, well, let's talk a little bit about your story and how you got into chiropractic in the first place, but then even more so, you really found a passion in fertility. So tell us about your journey. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: So it actually started injuring myself wakeboarding and I couldn't walk. was having shooting paint on my leg and I was basketball and soccer at the time too and ⁓ play. ⁓ so my mom took me to her chiropractor and this was probably in early middle school and he me and it was instant relief. And that's not always the case, but at that time that's what really helped. Later on, I found out that I did have a herniated disc and it did bother me time to time depending on what did and what I ate. And ⁓ kind of, you know, got me into that functional medicine too about it's not just ⁓ you do that causes injury. It also can be what you're putting in your body. ⁓ that ⁓ is what started my chiropractic journey of I wanted to help heal people, help people. Andrea Renkas: Thanks. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: get people back in the game. My main focus was sports at the time. And that led me down the path to chiropractic. In chiropractic school though, I really dove deep into sports injuries. And when I was working, it was down in St. Louis, so we were working with the Cardinals and the Rams at the time they were there. Now that ages me a little bit, but I started working with their kids and they would ask questions about their daughter who was in gymnastics and having issues getting into her back bend and stuff like that. So I really started working more with athletes kids and that got me into pediatric care and I really realized I need to learn more about this. I'm not learning enough in our one pediatric class in chiropractic school that got me deeper into ⁓ ICPA, which is the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association ⁓ training to learn how to adjust kids and babies and pregnant mommas. Britney: Yeah. Well, then you take it one step deeper with fertility. And now you've created an entire course on it, which we'll talk about at the end of this episode, they're like taking care of kids and mom is this one thing, but like now going and walking on this fertility journey with parents, how did you find that interest? Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Great question. Sorry I didn't address that. That came from my own hormone struggles. had terrible periods ⁓ ⁓ out later that I did have endometriosis after working with a functional medicine doctor late life. was, ⁓ when say late in life, but late in the game. I was in chiropractic school ⁓ and I met a functional medicine doctor that really helped dive deeper. ⁓ In school, middle school, I mean I was just put on birth control to manage my symptoms. and later found out that it caused a lot of other issues really affected my mood. Even, ⁓ and sounds a little woohoo, but even people I was attracted to. ⁓ Because when you put hormones in your body, it changes things. It changes ⁓ your levels. ⁓ And guys that I was dating when I was on birth control were very different than the guys I was attracted to when I was not. on birth control. and changes pheromones, it changes your chemical makeup, it changes who you find attractive the smell of who you find attractive. ⁓ That all changes when put different hormones into your body. So I really dove deep functional medicine when started healing ⁓ my hormone issues. And I realized many women out there are just being thrown on birth control ⁓ hormone replacement therapy to address symptoms when they're not diving deeper to get to the root cause of their problems, which mine was gut. My issues were stemming from my gut ⁓ that was affecting my hormones. Britney: Wow. Yeah. mean, this, honestly, your, your story is different than a lot of people, but it's very similar in the way of so many people in wellness really found their passion of wellness after they went through something hard themselves or somebody that they loved went through something hard and they got all this education. They're like, what more people need to know about this and I can help people. So that's, thank you for sharing that. And so in this episode, we are going to be talking about fertility. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Right? Britney: as well as next episode. This is almost going to be like a two-part series of fertility and in this one we're going to be really diving into cycle syncing and like daily habits that matter to optimize your fertility. So I'd love to just start out with a couple definitions. You talk about functional fertility. What does that actually mean? Dr. Alyssa McPeak: It's really looking at why. So when we look at fertility, we're looking at the what, when, and how. But a lot of doctors are not addressing the why factor of why you're not ovulating. Instead of giving you Clomid to ovulate, aren't you producing the estrogen to ovulate? And is it, you know, where is it in the pathway of that function that's disrupted? Is it from the brain? to the ovaries, which is the HPA, HPO access? Is it from the ovaries not producing the hormone that you need to ovulate? ⁓ is it something else blocking that communication pathway? Is it the adrenal glands saying, are stressed out, you cannot ⁓ pregnant right now. And we, grew up on a dairy farm, so we saw this with cows all the time. If a cow was stressed out, she wasn't gonna get pregnant. And that was with artificial insemination. So when we look at fertility, the functional means looking deeper into why. What is not functioning that needs to be? And this is, from my standpoint, this is looking at the adrenal glands, the thyroid, the gut, inflammation, looking at all of the systems that work together, not just the ovaries. That's functional fertility. in my point of view. Britney: Yeah, that's a great definition. And for people who have already been on the fertility journey for a while, that so much hope to being like, yes, I need somebody who's going to look deeper. But there's also people probably listening who are just thinking, starting to think about, do we want to start trying to have a family? And so they don't know what this journey is going to look like for them yet. And so let's make sure we're including both of those groups in this conversation, this episode. And so I guess one question, especially for those who are just thinking about it, at what point should someone start thinking about their fertility, even if they're not trying yet? And this could be for the woman or the man. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Absolutely, and I only work with women When is thinking about fertility I take it a step back. So what got me into fertility ⁓ was dysfunction working with my hormone issues Even going through a miscarriage when I was in a very stressful time in my life and looking back and saying like okay why ⁓ why did happen and ⁓ For it doing some deeper levels of testing as well But I want everyone to know that there are things every day that you can do to support your fertility. And it's never too late to start now. And I think too, with women that are starting that path, it's looking at what are my hormones doing? What are my cycles doing? What is my period doing? ⁓ always say periods and poop are your vital signs. ⁓ are they doing? ⁓ that can be a sign of dysfunction that could cause problems. later when you want to have kids, even if it's not in your brain now. that's what got me into fertility too. I fell into fertility because I was working with women with their hormone dysfunction every day, women that were exhausted, that were tired, ⁓ had terrible periods that couldn't function, that were having hormone migraines. ⁓ I didn't know or they didn't share that they were trying to get pregnant. And that can be a very sensitive subject too. And would come back to me saying, ⁓ my gosh, I'm pregnant. We've been trying for over a year and I finally got pregnant. And it wasn't working with fertility. It was working with their hormones. And that is my jam, is working with women's hormones and helping them find that balance. Andrea Renkas: Do you find when women are going to doctors, do you find that they address ⁓ at all or is it just straight trying to get them pregnant kind of thing? Because I know you probably have had patients ⁓ that route and then they're coming to you. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: All the time, all the time. And love integrative care. I love working with other doctors. I think two opinions are better than one, three opinions are better than two. The more people you can get working on your healthcare team, ⁓ better. ⁓ working with fertility doctors, yes, their goal is the end game. Their goal is to get you pregnant. You are there to get pregnant. And a of times things are done to force that, which again, to each their own. If you're at that point, ⁓ That's your choice. And that is an option. I want women to know that there are other options before that that we can utilize. Yes, they might take a little bit more time. So if somebody is on a really big time crunch and they have that date in their mind or they have, know, that timeline in their mind, a treatment clinic might be the best option for them. But I just want women to know that there are so many other options before that. that you can utilize when it comes to your fertility, including functional fertility versus fertility treatment. Andrea Renkas: Great to know. Britney: Well, one thing I'm excited to dive into in this episode is the cycle syncing piece, because I think this is a term that women have started to hear a little bit more and it's like, okay, well, it means like matching something to be with my cycle. So can you give us a high level overview of cycle syncing and then how does that apply to what you're doing? Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Absolutely. I wish cycle syncing was taught in high school reproductive class because for women, it needs to be. And for women, think all we're told is ⁓ our periods. Right. I sat in on my daughter's ⁓ in, I think they do it in fifth grade or they talk about your period. Right. And that's all they teach, which I think is an important part. Absolutely. But they don't teach the rest of the cycle. Britney: Well, maybe it will be in the future. Andrea Renkas: Yeah. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: And for women, I love this because we are four different people throughout the month. ⁓ love to explain it in relation to the seasons. ⁓ for example, your period is season of winter. This is a bundle up, know, hunker down, say no to everything ⁓ and lay your bed with a cup of hot chocolate or tea watching movies. Right? Like I wish could all do that. We can't necessarily, but ⁓ this is a time to slow down. even biblically, when you look at the Bible and the red tent, and this is a time, and even in Native American cultures, this is a time where women went away and all went together, and we cycled together a lot of times, and they were fed. Men would feed them and bathe them and cater to them. And this was a time where we weren't allowed to do anything, because we were just focusing on replenishing our bodies. with the menstrual cycle, that period phase, that is a time to rest, recover and restore. Now, coming out of that is our follicular phase. This is what I equate to spring, the season of spring where we are coming out into our own again. We are getting a little bit more energy. We are renewing. We are... You know, our estrogen is going up at this time. So our sex drive is going up a little bit more during this time too. I think of this season as a tulip opening in the spring. We are getting more energy. We're getting ourselves back. We're feeling a little bit more ⁓ This is the time to go out with your friends and, ⁓ know, go on a date with your husband and, or do a presentation. This is when you're going to be more energetic. And during, that is, ⁓ your ovulation phase. So during the ovulation phase, I consider this summer, it's brief, it's not long enough, but this is when you're, you're glowing, right? Like you look in the mirror and you're like, oh man, I look good today. You're probably ovulating. This is when you're gonna be the most attractive. This is when your energy is at its peak, your sex drive is at its peak. This is when you interview for that job. This is when you run marathons. This is when... you push it because this is actually when your pain tolerance is the highest. So this is the time to do that HIIT workout, really push it. This is the time to reach that max if you're deadlifting. is your performance. Now, after that, what comes fall? ⁓ So summer comes fall, ⁓ and is your luteal phase. So this is a time to ⁓ slow This is a time to wrap up projects. This is a time to eat really warm food. ⁓ ⁓ This is when carbohydrates are going to serve you best this is a time to slow down and I don't think as women we listen to our cycles. So if you are trying to you ⁓ give a presentation during your period or your luteal phase, you're gonna be more lethargic. You're gonna be, ⁓ gonna have lower energy. You're gonna feel ⁓ more tired and that's okay. You need to listen to that and feed it and embrace it versus fight it. So that's psychosyncing is really syncing your lifestyle to those phases that you are in every month and realizing when to slow down and when to push it. Britney: When you're talking about thinking, are you primarily talking about nutrition and exercise or are there other aspects to this as well? And then if you can kind of walk through those seasons again of just give us an overview of when it comes to nutrition, exercise, and if there's anything else, like what should you be doing or what should you not be doing during each of those seasons? I like how you use seasons. That makes it very easy to remember and understand. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Yeah, and I think it home for women to hear ⁓ seasons and apply it to how they're feeling. And absolutely, nutrition, exercise, mindset, daily living applies that. So that is that cycle sinking piece, right? You're sinking your lifestyle to your cycle. So during your menstrual phase, this is a time to replenish iron. This is a lot of times when women, ⁓ iron levels dip, or if they're already anemic, this is when they feel Terrible. So if you are feeling terrible during your period definitely check in on those iron levels because you're losing blood So iron I love Vitamin C vitamin E This is a great time to do protein powders or amino acids because this is one you're gonna feel your weakest This is when your pain tolerance is the lowest. This is also a time to walk stretch and do yoga This isn't a time to really push it and ⁓ doing high intensity exercise In the follicular phase, this is when we introduce maybe a little bit more caffeine and some, ⁓ some maca would be a great supplement to take during this time to promote, to promote, health. ⁓ ⁓ really want to focus on healthy fats during your follicular phase. ⁓ always look at egg quality versus egg quantity, and really want to start getting your body ready for ovulation. This is a time to really push your body. This is a time to run. This is a time to bike. This is a time to swim. This is a time to lift. This is a time when you want to maybe some more heavier workouts. ⁓ is a time you can start pushing your body. During ovulation, go for it. This is a go for it, girl. This is a time to do HIIT workouts. ⁓ is a time that you're really pushing your body. If you have a long run, if you're training for something, this is a time to do it because again, you're going to be able to push your body ⁓ you're not going to fatigue as fast. This is also a time to lift weights, because you're going to be able to build during this time. When it comes to nutrition, you really want to focus on egg quality. So you're looking at choline, you're looking at really building healthy fats, nuts and seeds. I love seed cycling. So if you can eat pumpkin seeds and flax seeds during the follicular phase into ovulation, that's really going to help promote estrogen. ⁓ Whereas in the luteal phase, again, next in the fall, that's when you want to eat sesame seeds and sunflower seeds, which promote progesterone, which is produced in that phase of your cycle. in that luteal phase, that's again, when you're slowing down. First half of your luteal phase, you can be running, biking, ⁓ know, maybe doing a little bit more Pilates, harder workouts where you're pushing it. In that second half of your luteal phase, right before your period, that week before your period, Right, we're getting to shark week. And this is when we wanna slow down and maybe do a little bit more low intensity workouts. This is when we want to do more yoga, stretching, movement that's gonna help open everything. This is a great time to do magnesium and focus on, you know, muscle support because your uterus is a muscle. And when you're shedding your lining, you're contracting that muscle. So really focusing on muscle support and calming things down when it comes to nutrition in your luteal phase. is when you really want to limit red meat and dairy because prostaglandins in those foods can help increase contraction, which again, we don't want if somebody's having heavy, painful periods that'll increase that pain. Britney: That is that's, much to take in and just like, just ⁓ showcasing knowledgeable you are. But ⁓ here's thing is that that honestly seems really overwhelming to be like, eat these nuts here and then those nuts here and then don't have dairy here, but more carbs here and less carbs here. So I know, and we're, going to talk a bit about this in depth, but I know you've put together a find your fertility program. Is this something where in that program or do you have like a PDF download or anything like that to help make that piece easier for people where it's like a visual of here's the foods that are going to help me optimize my cycle during these times? Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Absolutely, and I actually wrote a course on this because again, it's a lot of information and it's information that we're not hearing and a lot of times it's the first time a woman is hearing, ⁓ I have four different personalities during the month. No wonder my husband thinks I'm crazy, right? And so I wrote a course called Cycle Sinking I do gear it more towards fertility, but can be applied to any woman trying to figure out her hormones. ⁓ And find your fertility came out of a passion for wanting to help women outside of Wisconsin, because fertility is such a hot topic and so many women, 52 % of women deal with infertility struggles. so find your fertility came out of trying to reach more women and also speaking to women where they're at, because a lot of times they're not at the point of wanting to do deeper testing and more in-depth analysis. And sometimes it comes from an emotional standpoint of I'm not ready to do that yet. So Find Your Fertility is a website that I created to teach women what to do now. And if you want to dive deeper, my online course Cycle Syncing really walks you through it with visuals. And I did create a nice PDF, my office manager, Heather, she is a wizard on Canva and she put it together, actually have it in front of me here. And I have it on my website on Find Your Fertility and with a lot of other free resources to really just get you started on making those little changes in your daily routine that can make such a difference in your hormones and your fertility. Britney: Yeah, I will link to those in the show notes. So thanks for sharing all of that. I guess one question a lot of women do ask is like, is the goal to have a 28 day cycle and will the cycle syncing? I guess a two part question is, is this really a two part goal? The cycle syncing kind of thing? Is it to get your cycle regular and is 28 day cycle like the goal and goal for that? And then number two, is the cycle syncing really going to help you optimize your hormone? by matching your lifestyle to the cycle. So help me understand a little bit more about those aspects. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Yeah, great question. The 28 day cycle is an average and same with the 40 week gestational period, Like 40 weeks is average when you're pregnant and a 28 day cycle is average. And I mean, this goes back to ancient civilizations that followed the moon. The moon actually is a 28 day cycle, right? It follows a woman's cycle. answer to your question is no. It's an average. So some women will have a ⁓ day cycle. Some women will have a 30 day cycle. Looking at the age, the of your cycle gives ⁓ me information about what's happening with your hormones. Because if your cycle is going longer than 30 days, that tells me you're probably not making enough progesterone or you're not making estrogen and ovulating so you're your brain isn't getting that message to shed the lining. So it's waiting longer. If you're spotting a lot, that's a sign again, that you're definitely not making enough progesterone because your body's saying, know, do we start? Do we start? Do we start? Do we start? And it doesn't know because it's not getting that signal of hormones. you're having a shorter cycle, ⁓ can definitely be an issue with estrogen. estrogen builds things. So a lot of times this can be an estrogen dominance issue, which can lead to endometriosis. And this is where you grow tissue outside of your uterus and other areas. And then your brain is getting a mixed signal of when to shed that lining because there's tissue everywhere. So a lot of times you're having more frequent cycles in that case. I mean, I've seen women who came in and they're having their period for three weeks and then they're having a week off and getting their period again. this is an estrogen issue. But again, diving deeper into testing will tell you more about where that problem lies too. To answer the second part of your question, yes, absolutely. The cycle syncing plan or lifestyle is there to help balance and optimize your hormone production. when it comes to hormones, it's not about always producing ⁓ or the other. It's about having them in balance with each other. ⁓ your is I think of it as like waves in the ocean, they come and go. And at how they're playing together is the key. And again, this isn't just for fertility, it is for function. If you're not making progesterone, ⁓ is your calming hormone. It is soothing and calming. ⁓ so if you get really anxious before your period, you're irritable, ⁓ you're super angry, that means you're probably not making enough progesterone to balance out that estrogen. I say, my analogy that I use is, when you go to the bar with your girlfriends, estrogen and progesterone, estrogen is the one dancing on the bar and getting crazy and progesterone is the one trying to get you to go home early. wants to calm down and chill out, ⁓ is the wild and crazy one. ⁓ Britney: I love these. These make it so much easier to like understand and remember. That's yeah. Well, thank you for answering those questions. Another thing I want to touch on in this episode is that you talk about the fertile plan and it's fertile spelled out all caps though. So I'm guessing this is an acronym for something. Tell us about the fertile plan. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: It is, and this really is something I highlight on the Find Your Fertility website for women to get started supporting their fertility and hormones. So it stands for F is for food, is for endocrine disruptors, R is for rest and recovery, T, I have to spell it out, T is for thyroid, I is for identifying your fertile window, L is for less stress, and E is for exercise. So when we're looking at trying to get pregnant, all of these factors play a part, not just ovulation. And the fertile plan walks you step by step through each of those areas. And on the Find Your Fertility website, I have the fertile plan on there with free resources to help you get started every day. For example, identifying your fertile window. have my cycle syncing course. tied to that one so that you can kind of go through and figure out like, what is a sign of ovulation? How do I know? And it kind of walks you through the seasons and the phases and what to watch for and how to support them. ⁓ But all of those factors are things that I work with at Roots Holistic Health. And then I just put them into that plan because those are the things that I see affecting women when they're trying to get pregnant. Britney: Okay. And so just to kind of clarify on the different offerings that you have. So you have a brick and mortar and your brick and mortar is located in Wapaka area, correct? Okay. And there you offer chiropractic services as well as are you helping women with their fertility and like functional medicine type stuff in your clinic? Or is it really you would point people toward the Find Your Fertility website, which is a Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Correct. Yep. Britney: more of courses that anybody all around the country can do. So just help us understand a little bit more about aspect of your offerings to look at based on where somebody's at. Dr. Alyssa McPeak: Absolutely. So Roots Holistic Health is my brick and mortar in Wapaka, Wisconsin. And we offer chiropractic care for women, pregnancy and pediatric care, and also functional medicine for women and kids. My main focus is women's health, hormones and fertility. And that's if you want to work with me one on one. I do not do virtual. Unless somebody is in the state of Wisconsin and lives, you know, two, three, four hours away, then we would meet for that initial visit because I do a lot with facial analysis. I do a lot with hair, skin, nails, looking at your tongue, looking at your skin. This all tells me what is going on inside as well. So doing virtual, I don't get that same assessment as I do in person. And My license is only in the state of Wisconsin. So somebody can come from out of state, absolutely, and meet with me one-on-one for that initial visit. And then we can do virtual consultations after that. But I always require an in-person visit for that initial consult so that I can really assess what they are dealing with. And that is at Root Touristic Health. Now, if you live out of state or you have family or friends out of state or you are somebody in Wisconsin that isn't ready to meet one-on-one yet but just want some resources and information, that's where Find Your Fertility was born, is to really just get information and education out to women that don't necessarily want to meet one-on-one yet. So, Root Holistic Health is one-on-one care, individualized care. functional medicine, chiropractic care, and then find your fertility as an online resource with online courses to help teach you and really change things on a daily basis ⁓ somebody isn't ready to really dive deeper yet. Does that make sense? ⁓ Britney: Yeah. I love that you have options. Yeah, it sure does. You have options for everybody, no matter where they live or what, you know, where they're at in their journey or what they're ready for. So I appreciate that. And for our listeners that are listening, Alyssa is offering 20 % off an initial chiropractic exam or functional medicine consult, which is a huge deal you guys. So thank you Alyssa for offering that. in our next episode, we are going to be diving a little bit more into fertility. Probably more specifically the PCOS, endometriosis, kind of unexplained infertility. So, you know, whether like we talked about, if you're just starting this journey and you just want to feel more educated and empowered and, just ready for anything, right? Or whether you're currently walking an infertility journey, this episode is going to be for you. So I hope for even those of you who are past the fertility timeframe, you're done having kids, you know, people in your life. So please share these episodes with them so that we can spread the word about giving hope back to people that are walking through this journey. Cause it can be. It can be a really hard and stressful journey mentally, emotionally, physically, like all of these pieces. So, all right, we're going to hit pause and we'll be back with the next one soon.