Latest / The Cyclical Doula Podcast: Fertility Awareness, Charting Cycles, and Reproductive Health Education / Healing the Gut, Restoring Fertility: Functional Testing & Root Cause Medicine with Meaghan Wamboldt
Transcript
- emmamma: Welcome back. I'm so excited to have Meaghan here with me today. let's start off Meaghan with you telling us a little bit about just who you are as a person. ⁓ So get to know you a little Emmamma: hey, just popping in real quick to say sure you're subscribed to the Cyclical Doula podcast on whichever platform you're listening to. ⁓ Thanks so much for being here today on the cyclical doula podcast. If this episode resonated with you, the most powerful thing that you can do is to share it, send it to a friend, text it to your sister, forward it to that group chat. This is how conversations about our bodies start changing, quietly, organically, woman to woman. you are listening and thinking, ⁓ ⁓ want help applying this to my Meaghan Wamboldt: Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to chat today and kind of get down into some personal sharing and I think a lot of overlooked things when it comes to hormone health and So I'm excited. But I am a functional nutrition practitioner and I specialize in gut hormones and fertility. So I've been doing this for probably Emmamma: And don't miss upcoming conversations. If this episode is resonating with you, please share it with a friend, rate it and write a review. This is how this movement grows, not through algorithms, but through women talking to women. All right, let's jump back into it. emmamma: For sure Emmamma: I offer free cycle clarity calls. It's a relaxed conversation over Zoom we talk through your goals, your charting practices, and kind of support that would actually make sense for you. can book one at emmamma.com / free. And if you already, make sure you're following or subscribe to the Cyclical Doula - podcast so that you don't miss future episodes. Meaghan Wamboldt: Close to 10 years, I've been in the health and wellness space, started out personal training, got into like bodybuilding and then I was macro coaching and then I was weight loss coaching and then I ran into a lot of my own hormone issues, compounded results of a lot of different things which we might touch on some of those today and I was emmamma: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Emmamma: And if you feel called to leave a rating or review, it genuinely helps more women find this work. So thank you. You deserve to understand body. You deserve to feel confident in your reproductive choices. And you ⁓ have to figure it out alone. I'll see you next week. Thanks for being here. Meaghan Wamboldt: going to doctor's appointments and things just weren't adding up. one doctor would tell me one thing and then they'd say, go see this specialist. And then they would tell me, ⁓ just take this, you're fine. And I was like, something's not right here. So I started doing like a lot of my homework and a lot of my own research. And I was like, wait, we're missing something. emmamma: Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: And that's when I like really found more functional medicine and found out how healing it was and went down that whole rabbit hole. And I'm very glad that I did do that. ⁓ And so have been much more heavily focused in that, I would say for the last six years. But overall health and wellness for 10 ⁓ more professionally anyway. ⁓ So yeah, that's a little bit more about me. emmamma: Yeah. That's awesome. Well, thanks so much for sharing and I'm so excited to chat with you. I feel like we could start off in so many different directions, but I think let's start with like hearing a little bit more about your experience with understanding your hormones. As you like kind of just mentioned, you have shared that you're kind of like dismissed or like given like kind of a quick fix to a lot of your... symptoms or experiences that you are having and how much functional nutrition change like change that or helps you find some of those root causes. So can you tell us a little bit more like whatever whatever you're willing to share about those things so we can get to know you a little bit better. Meaghan Wamboldt: Of course. things kind of, I'll backtrack just a little bit. I always struggled with like body image stuff and I had a pretty, I would say pretty severe eating disorder when I was in my high school years. It kind of reached its most severity when I was in early college and that's when I started to get more treatment and things like that. ⁓ So. Going through a lot of that stuff totally took a toll on my body. And I think in ways that a lot of the times, I didn't know it at the time. I definitely didn't. Like I was like 17. I had no idea the damage that was going on in my body, you know? I'm like, I just want to look a certain way. And it was also like, it was like 20. emmamma: If Meaghan Wamboldt: 2010, so like just to the vibe, like it's way different now than it was then for like 17, 18 year olds, right? ⁓ So it was very like, I wanna look a certain way versus like, how do I feel and am I healthy? And I was also in sports, so there was a lot of pressure from like a physical appearance standpoint. ⁓ emmamma: Yeah. Yep. Meaghan Wamboldt: And you know, when you're 17, and I'm sure this is true for a lot of women now even, is like, you're not thinking about how is this going to impact me long term. Emmamma: Welcome to the Cyclical Doula podcast. I'm Emma, a certified fertility awareness educator, miscarriage doula and the founder of Emmamma Meaghan Wamboldt: You know, there's process of like, ⁓ if I do this, this is how I'll feel in a year from now, you know? And I see that replay a lot in my clients. We'll kind of circle back to that concept in a while, but yeah, I didn't know at the time. And so when I started having... emmamma: for sure, yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: a of hormone imbalances and like I girl like you know know cyclists but I was I had secondary amenorrhea for years like almost a decade and doctors would be like ⁓ we don't really know why like your hormones are just really low like they're just taint we don't really know why. Nobody ever asked about my nutrition habits. Nobody ever asked about, ⁓ I an athlete? They didn't ask a lot of those foundational lifestyle questions that now to us might feel like more common sense. ⁓ emmamma: Yikes. Meaghan Wamboldt: but they never asked me those things. So it was always like question mark. And I always thought that was really weird. I also started to develop like gut issues because I was not eating enough and then I would eat a lot and then my gut would be like, I don't know what's happening, right? ⁓ So I started having all these hormonal imbalances. I had no period for about 10 years. Definitely was not ovulating, that's for sure. ⁓ Emmamma: This space is for women who want to understand their bodies deeply, not just memorize information, but actually feel confident in interpreting their cycles. Here we talk about ovulation, hormones, cervical mucus, basal body temperature, and all that's messy in between emotional layers that come with being woman. We talk about trying to conceive, avoiding pregnancy ⁓ hormones. Meaghan Wamboldt: all these crazy gut issues and when I would go to these doctors and they just be like, well, we're not really sure. Why don't you take Provera? And you know, 20 year old me was like, I don't know what Provera is. And they didn't really explain it to me very well. But there was like a little part of my brain that was like, I don't think that's the answer. Emmamma: postpartum transitions, pregnancy loss, perimenopause, and everything in between. Because body literacy isn't just about charting. It's about the autonomy. It's about informed consent. It's about not outsourcing your reproductive decisions to guesswork or fear. Each week, you'll hear conversations with women's health professionals, ⁓ workers, ⁓ Meaghan Wamboldt: And I'm very grateful that I had that kind of little whisper in my brain that was like, I don't think that's it. and I never took it. I was always kind of like, that doesn't feel like a solution. And so I'm going to down that rabbit hole. I was told just use HRT, you know, all the things, right? ⁓ when it came to my gut issues, Emmamma: and researchers along with solo episodes where I teach practical skills you can apply to your own cycle right away. if you have ever felt like you should have learned this information sooner, if you have ever felt disconnected from your cycle, emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: I saw two gastroenterologists and they both told me that I should just take the peppermint oil pills that you can get from the pharmacy like a CVS or Walgreens or something like that and my gut would be totally fine. And I was like, okay, like I'll try it, right? Like to me that sounded way more reasonable to try something like a peppermint oil than to try ⁓ Emmamma: If you want to raise the next generation without shame around their bodies, you are in the right place. So grab your tea, open up your notes app, and let's build a cycle confidence together. emmamma: Yeah. Yikes. Yeah. Totally. Meaghan Wamboldt: a medication that might induce a period, right? So I tried them, they didn't do anything. Like I don't think it made it worse, but it definitely didn't make it better. And I was just kind of on this cycle of... not really getting answers. It was very much like I said, see this doctor, we'll try this prescription or see that doctor, try this over the counter. And no one ever really looked deep enough into what was actually going on in my body and what lifestyle factors were contributing to what was going on in my body to really give me an answer as to why I felt the way I felt. And even as I thank the Lord, got treatment for my eating disorder, came out of that, healed, did lots and lots of work on that front for sure, ⁓ and really felt quite healed, I still had all these repercussions from that. And I think a lot of that in hindsight was yes, not really getting the care that I needed at the time. ⁓ emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: not getting the testing that I really needed at the time to figure out what was going on and a lot of it just being overlooked and dismissed. Especially as women, we are significantly more likely to be gaslit by a medical professional than men. I hear this and I've experienced it and I hear it all the time with a lot of my clients. Well, they told me it's probably just in my head. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: or I probably made that up or my labs are fine so I'm fine and it's not a big deal and when you hear that for long enough you start to kind of believe that and you start to like question a little bit of well is this just in my head or is this real you know ⁓ emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: And I kind of just kind of, really, looking back, just really clung to that idea of like, Provera is not the answer. This peppering oil is not really working. And so what do I need to do to use my voice and advocate more for myself to get the care that I needed? That did not happen overnight, I will tell you that. took me a hot minute before I was like almost ready. emmamma: Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: or even felt worthy of going down that road of real healing. And I mean like really healing from the root foundation all the way up to like all the decor that you put on the walls, right? And I've heard this at some of my clients, I've had these conversations and so many women and it's something I really struggled with was... emmamma: Yeah. Mm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: Do I deserve that? Do I deserve that kind of thing? Do I deserve to get pregnant? Maybe God doesn't want that for me. I've heard a lot of things like that. And when you start to do that root cause work, you start to really learn, like, whoa, I am so worthy of this. And I so deserve this. And what I don't deserve is being medically gas lit. And leaning really into that voice and that power that I at least emmamma: Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: did pick up over time and a lot of my clients do build over time. Sometimes it takes longer, but it gets there. You start to become, and I started to become less afraid of what I might find by doing this work and more excited about the healing that can happen as a result of the work. So I was just like, you know what? We're going to figure it out. I don't really care what this doctor says. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm. Meaghan Wamboldt: I don't hear what the person says. I'm not sure I buy it. So I'm going to do my own search. I'm going to advocate for myself. I'm going to learn more. And that's really what I did. And I remember the first practitioner functional provider that I ever worked with. One of the first questions that I remember she asked me was, how much sleep do you get every night? emmamma: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: I was like, no one's ever asked me that question before. And it's like, it feels like it's such a rudimentary question, but sleep's so important and it's so overlooked, especially when it comes to your hormones, especially when it to your health. And I was like, not a lot, I'll tell you that. emmamma: Yeah for sure. Meaghan Wamboldt: And she was like, okay, we're going to start there. Like that's where we're going to start. We're going to start at the foundations. And so really just started working through a lot of more of these foundational things that they're not sexy. They're not that exciting, right? But they work. They really work. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: and you have to build those foundational habits and those foundational skills to get to those points where not only are you mentally, I think a little more ready for more advanced type of work, but your body is ready. You know, if you're not sleeping well and emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: You your porters all through the roof all the time because you're running on 100 miles an hour and you max at like 60, right? Your body's going to be like, I can't, like I just can't. You know, you're not going to get the response that you want. So really leaning into a lot of those foundational things, which seemed so silly at the time, but they really did help build those skills that I needed. in order to really actually heal my hormones and heal my body and heal my gut and give it that safe space that it needed to thrive. So that's, that's really really hard honestly. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, that's so cool. And then I'm assuming like, after you figured it out yourself, you were like, I need to be able to share this with other people. And that's how you kind of came into that. Yeah, yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: ⁓ 100%. I was like, it felt so when I started to learn a lot of these things and started to implement the skills and the tools that I was being taught, it was sort of one of those things where I was like, why doesn't everybody know this? Like, why, why doesn't, why don't more people talk about this? Like, why does this fly so under the radar? When emmamma: Yeah, yeah, right. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: fertility, infertility is on their eyes. PCOS is diagnosed way more frequently than it should be. There's more type two diabetes now than there ever has been in our history. Why aren't we talking about these things? And why aren't there actual answers when women have questions? And so I was like. PCOS is diagnosed way more frequently than it should be. ⁓ There's more type two diabetes than there ever has been ⁓ in our history. Why aren't talking about these things? And why aren't there actual answers when women have questions? And so I was like. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure. Meaghan Wamboldt: People need to know. People need to know that there's answers. They need to know that there's solutions. They need to know that there's a way that doesn't necessarily always involve just a medication or just prescription. And I'm not anti meds. I'm not anti prescription medication when it's needed and when it's warranted. And how can we use our lifestyle and the things that we do on a day to day basis to support our bodies? So we probably need People need to know. People need to know that there's answers. They need to know that there's solutions. They need to know that there's a way that doesn't necessarily always involve just a medication or just prescription. And I'm not anti meds. I'm not anti prescription medication when it's needed and when it's warranted. And how can we use our lifestyle and the things that we do on a day to day basis to support our bodies? So we probably need emmamma: Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: less of that medication or might not even need it at all in the long term, less of that medication or might not even need it at all in the long term, right? The long, the theme of things. ⁓ so yeah, it was one of those like everybody needs to know type of video. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah, that's so good. I love that. I feel the same way about what I'm which I feel like in so many people who are in the wellness women's health space feel that way in general. I have a couple of questions based on what you said. So you said that you weren't cycling, weren't bleeding, weren't ovulating for about 10 years. When in that 10 year span did you? Meaghan Wamboldt: Hmm. emmamma: like were you finally like, ⁓ like this might be a problem, not like a benefit of not having to bleed all the time. Meaghan Wamboldt: Yeah, honestly, I want to say it was probably shortly after college. So I don't think I was really ready to fully heal when I was in college, to be honest with you. I think it was sort of, I remember thinking like, just want people to not worry. And so I'm going to do the bare minimum so people don't worry. emmamma: Yeah. ⁓ for sure. Yeah. for sure. Meaghan Wamboldt: and figure out the rest later type of a situation. And then I was in more serious relationship and we started talking about like kids and family and I was like, hmm, if I want kids, I probably need to have a period. Probably need to have that. I was also having some really funky symptoms that had popped up like. emmamma: Yeah. Mmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: really abnormally pain and then it would sometimes be accompanied by very very random spotting ⁓ and I would just overall feel like crap like I just don't feel good. ⁓ emmamma: Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: So I did go to my OBGYN at the time who truly she was fantastic. Like I adore her. ⁓ If anyone's in Long Island, New York and you need a good OB, I got one for you. She's wonderful. ⁓ She really did the best that she could with her knowledge and the tools that she had to run. Like I tell you, this woman ran every test she possibly could have run to figure out why I was having these weird symptoms. Cause the pain was pretty debilitating. ⁓ emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: She ran as much as she could and always came up empty. Like my labs always came back normal. It's funny because I actually went and looked back at some of the results not too long ago and I was like, actually, for where I was at the time, know, pretty normal. They were pretty much in range. Not too bad. was like, I mean, are great, but like thinking about where I was, like they're really not that bad. ⁓ emmamma: Mm-hmm. It wasn't too bad. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: I remember I had an endometrial biopsy to rule out endometriosis. Like they did all the things, ultrasound sonograms, all of it. And they just kept coming up empty. And ⁓ she ended up referring me out to a reproductive endocrinologist. And that's when I was diagnosed with like infertility and all of these diminished ovarian reserve and all of that kind of stuff. But emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: I started to really lean more into the healing aspect when I started to think about what do I want my future to look like. And I remember being like my early twenties, 21, 22, and was like, yeah, if I want kids, I really want a family. I should probably figure this out. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Mm Yeah, absolutely. That's yeah, that's amazing that like, think that's one of those things where sometimes, especially people who are in college, like we're, it's it's a life stage that cycles not being there is like kind of a ⁓ convenient thing. ⁓ And so especially when you're playing a lot of sports, and you're not eating super well and all of those things like that, it's just so easy to fall into that pattern. And I don't think it's talked about enough that that's that a lot of women and young adults experience at that time. Meaghan Wamboldt: Yeah, I agree. And I've thought back to, cause I do work with some women who are in their late teens. When I say late teens, I mean like 18, 19. I've had a couple 16 year olds I've worked with and they're not thinking about that. I know I wasn't thinking about that. But by working with me, I've kind of been able to plant that seed in them of like, hey, this is what health looks like for a woman. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: Is it convenient to have your period every month? No. Like let's call a spade a spade. Let's just call a spade a spade. Like it's not convenient. don't, I have not a single woman that I have worked with has ever been like, I love getting my period every month. No woman that I've ever worked with has said that. No. And there's also been an appreciation for what that means. emmamma: Not at all. Yeah. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: and how they feel when they are cycling regularly. So it's not like, it's not exciting to bleed every month, right? But it is a sign that it's your vital sign, right? Like I always tell people. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. No. Yeah, right, you know that it's your body's working to the best of its ability, or hopefully is always the goal. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: Totally, right, exactly. So when you can plant that seed, the younger we can kind of reach some of these women and plant those seeds, especially I think in college age, where I've seen a lot of these issues start to stem from habits that are built in their teens, early teens, mid teens up through college, are what set the foundation for long-term hormone health and fertility. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I completely agree. And I think it's helpful to remember that like when our bodies are in those elevated states of stress, in all aspects with higher cortisol and all of those things, that like our reproductive system is the first thing to go, right? Like that's not going to be the priority of our body of working typically within that realm. And having that reminder is really helpful for sure. You mentioned when you were talking about all of your conversations with different types of doctors and health professionals that you had wished that they did the right testing. What type of testing would have been right or do you work with clients that is actual helpful information? Meaghan Wamboldt: Yeah, that's a great question. I do. a lot of functional testing with my clients. So what does that mean? ⁓ It goes much further beyond your basic blood work. ⁓ We do lots of blood work. Don't get me wrong. I think blood work's extremely important. There are some things you can only measure through blood work. So we have to do blood work, right? ⁓ But there are a lot of tests that would have been so beneficial for me to do early that I usually start most of my clients out with. ⁓ emmamma: Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: The GI map is one of them. GI map is kind of the gold standard of gut testing. It's a stool sample, super easy at home kit to do. And it takes a snapshot of your entire gut microbiome. So it tells us like, is your gut inflamed or like what in your gut is inflamed, right? It tells us if there's an imbalance in exactly what ⁓ emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: microbes are imbalanced in your gut. It can be indicators of things like SIBO, a test for H. pylori, it does test for Candida, although it typically won't pick up Candida, unfortunately. So if I suspect Candida, there's another test I'll run, which I'll get to in just a minute. ⁓ but it looks at all these different things and it can really does such a deep dive into the entire state of your gut microbiome, right? ⁓ And so when I finally ran my first GI map, I've done many at this point, we found like, emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: super bad H. pylori, pretty bad case of SIBO. And we did suspect some candida, although like I said, it didn't show up on the GI map, it did show up on a different test that we did. ⁓ And just overall, really inflamed GI. ⁓ So that was some testing that would have been so helpful for me to do. And I, like I said, I usually start out a lot of my clients with a GI map, and then we'll move on to... emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: things if needed. ⁓ So the other test that I mentioned, organic acid testing, super, super helpful when you're dealing with GI issues or you're concerned about things like nutrient absorption, which is obviously tied directly to your GI tract, ⁓ can tell things like mineral status, can point to some toxin overload, detoxification issues, those types of things. ⁓ emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: The Dutch test is another favorite of mine. Usually we'll wait to run that until we've addressed any gut imbalances, but the Dutch test is fantastic. It stands for dry urine testing for comprehensive hormone analysis. It is a mouthful, that's why we say Dutch. ⁓ emmamma: Okay. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: And it does a full breakdown of all of your sex hormones, which is awesome because a lot of the times when we're just doing blood work or we go to a doctor, they just look at one or two hormones, right? I know looking back at a lot of my tests from when I was younger and even a lot of the tests, the test results that I get from clients who are working with OBs or even fertility specialists, emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: aren't even testing for progesterone. And I'm like, that's like our baby making hormone. Like we need progesterone, you know? So I'm like, we're not even looking at progesterone. Like that could be the whole thing in itself, right? So I love a Dutch test, ⁓ breaks down how we're metabolizing our hormones. emmamma: Yeah, for sure. For sure, absolutely. Meaghan Wamboldt: all different types of hormones. Plus it also looks at cortisol, which is this day and age. I know you mentioned cortisol once already. ⁓ Definitely needs to be evaluated, I think, more frequently than a lot of us check on our cortisol. ⁓ emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: for sure. So it looks like cortisol and it does also kind of peak at some other neurotransmitter markers, vitamin B status, those types of things too. And then there's two other ones that I like to run an HTMA test if needed, which is hair mineral analysis testing. So just a little hair sample. It'll again, look at some of those nutrient levels can be indicators of any toxin overload. And then the last one that I'll run is emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: total talks panel. ⁓ don't think, honestly, I don't think everybody needs to do a total talks panel. I think they're cool for everybody to do at some point in their life. ⁓ But if you're having a lot of reoccurring GI issues or emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: hormone imbalances that was like, you've tried everything. Like, I'm not saying like you've tried all the random stuff, but you've like strategically tried a lot of things and it's not moving the needle quite enough or you have like a significant history of infertility. ⁓ That's when I'm like, okay, we probably should do that in conjunction with some other symptoms that we look at just to rule out anything like emmamma: Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: mold issues, right? Super high environmental toxins, things like that. ⁓ So just those are kind of my bread and butter or those handful of that I run most of the time. ⁓ And when I'm working with my clients, we start small. Like we look at our symptoms, we say like what's highest priority, right? What is, where do you struggling most? Where are you feeling the weight of your current symptoms the most, right? And how can we start small with some of these tasks? I don't like to run everything out of the gate. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: ⁓ I think that that's very overwhelming. I would be overwhelmed by ⁓ that. So we start small with one, maybe two that are gonna be the most helpful for what is carrying the most weight and severity for them right now, and then bring out as we need to. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think that's really helpful. Because I do think like, as you were kind of sharing earlier about your own experience, like, you have to be ready to like make some serious lifestyle changes when you're going through functional aspects of all this, right? Like, it's not it's not just going to take a prescription and just being done with it. So I think like having those steps are probably really helpful so that you have like you get some information, you try some stuff out, and hopefully it works well and helps you feel better and then you could keep going versus feeling like you have to like, literally overhaul everything like day one and that like that's overwhelming in itself. The thought process. Meaghan Wamboldt: Yeah, and it's really just not sustainable either. When I'm working with my clients and even when I'm looking, doing my own health stuff, I'm like, what's gonna work long-term? It is not sustainable to try to overhaul everything in one night. You're gonna get so stressed, you're gonna feel so overwhelmed and... emmamma: Yeah, for sure. Mm-hmm. Right? Not at all. Meaghan Wamboldt: Yeah, you're probably gonna want to quit because I probably would too. I'd be like I'm the type of person where if I feel really overwhelmed with so many things, right? Especially in the health space because I think it is a very personal sensitive topic. ⁓ I just don't do anything. I'm like, I'm so overwhelmed. emmamma: Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It feels better. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: I'm just gonna do nothing and I'm gonna just stay where I'm at because there is a little bit of comfortability in chaos, right? You get used to it. emmamma: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Meaghan Wamboldt: And so when we can break things down and kind of say, okay, where's the highest priority that we can start right now or what feels the most doable to do right now, then let's start there. And like, like kind of circle back to way to the beginning was like build those foundational habits that are gonna push you a little bit, but not so far that you're like, ⁓ emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: can't do this, right? That's not helpful. You know, it's not helpful. So we start small. We start with the things that are going to push you in the right direction, but feel doable and feel sustainable. And then work out to some of those deeper layers of healing from there. emmamma: Yeah. Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's so helpful because I think like we had just said, it can be so overwhelming and being able to do that is so helpful. And I think that there's this... this mindset shift that needs to take place too. And you kind of hinted at it as well. But I feel like sometimes, especially as women, when we're trying to like, manage all the things, there's this other underlying thing of just like, well, like, I know how to manage through the like crap that I'm in right now. So like, changing it, like it might get worse, or like I might not be able to function the same way. And that part of it can be scary too, for sure. Meaghan Wamboldt: ⁓ yeah, a hundred percent. And sometimes depending on, you know, what, what we're really dealing with here, I tell my clients this, like, you might feel a little worse before you feel better. It's very possible that you feel kind of like, before you start to feel really good. You know, that's it is par for the course. Like I wish I could take that away sometimes. ⁓ emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: but it is just kind of the natural cycle of, know, when you're starting to address a lot more of these root cause issues, your body's going to feel a little bit overwhelmed and you're going to feel a little bit more tired and you might be a little bit more sluggish and that's normal and it will get better. You know, that's not the end of y'all. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, it's helpful to hear for sure. What about, what do you, like what's your favorite way to work with clients who are trying to conceive and like what do you start with with them? Meaghan Wamboldt: Great question. ⁓ I would say most of my clients are TTC clients ⁓ and I always start all of my clients off with like a very in-depth health history. ⁓ I think your health history tells me so much more than emmamma: Yep, for sure. Meaghan Wamboldt: like your today, right? I care about your today. I care about how you But when I can look back and see, you know, if you had constant stomach bugs when you were a kid or you had a chronic strep throat or chronic ear infections, I hear those a lot. you know, I'm asking you these questions and you're like, yeah, we had a ton of mold in our house when I was a kid. You know, like that tells me so much information about your current physiology. Right. So we do a pretty, I do a very in depth health history. I do, a lot of my women come to me with some, having some kind of blood work done at minimum. So we always review a lot of the blood work. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah, right. Meaghan Wamboldt: go over current issues, goals, things like that. And then if we need to do any testing kind of right out of the gate, I would say majority of the time I don't. Sometimes I do, just depends on the person. Some people have gone through some functional testing, you so they have some of those things. ⁓ emmamma: Okay, yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: So it just depends, right? Sometimes we do things sooner or sometimes we do them later. ⁓ If we do need to do something sooner, I always start with the GI map. It's the first one that I start with. ⁓ Because most of the time, when it comes to things like infertility, there are significant gut imbalances that traditional doctors have not looked at. And... emmamma: Yep. Yeah, yep. Meaghan Wamboldt: a lot of the times, not gonna say all the time, but a majority of the time, once you've addressed those gut imbalances, the ability to conceive is so much easier. It is so much easier. Like, there's been at least... 10 cases I can think of just off the top of my head. I've worked with hundreds of women, but like 10 specifically that stand out. They purposely came to me because they were trying to conceive two plus years of infertility, just super upset, didn't want to go the route of IUI or IVF, didn't feel like that was aligned for them. And so we ran some GI maps and emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: Girl, some of the stuff that came back on here is like, no wonder why you're not being, you're not able to conceive, right? Your gut is screaming for love. And like you mentioned before, the first thing to down-regulate is your hormones. Whenever there's any kind of stress, any kind of inflammation in the body, any kind of an infection, the first thing you go is your hormones. Why? emmamma: Yeah. Hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: because your body and your brain are hardwired to protect and survive. It does not need your sex hormones to protect and survive. So that's the first thing that's going to go out the window, right? And your body is just going to be so focused on the inflammation and the infection that's lingering in your gut. So within emmamma: Bye. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: four to six months on these specific cases that come to mind, ⁓ they've all been able to conceive within four to six months after doing a GI map, doing some very simple but strategic gut work, they've got no problem. And they're like... emmamma: Yeah. Mm hmm. That's, that's awesome. And it's crazy that like, that's, like such a simple solution, like obviously, like, some, probably some serious lifestyle changes or, or focus nutrition, and like all of those things. ⁓ But when for so many of those women who have been trying to conceive, they've probably been trying to conceive for a long time and like that quick three to four a month turnaround, like that's fast and in the grand scheme of things, so ⁓ yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: Yeah, totally. 100%. And I always tell people too, when they come to me, like, listen, I can't promise you a baby. I can't promise that. But what I can tell you is that we will create a safe healing space for your body so it feels like it feels safe enough to conceive. emmamma: ⁓ yeah, for sure. Right, so it's the best case scenario that you have the possibility to do so, yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: Yeah. emmamma: so good. I think that's so important. And I think it's, it's kind of it, it's obviously like your physical body has to be in a safe space, but like mentally, you have to be there too. And like, that's, that's a really important aspect of just like, if you're feeling better physically in your body, like obviously, your mental state will be a little better too, of just not stressing about that all and, and all of those things as well. Meaghan Wamboldt: Yeah, 100%. I mean, I would say to you, a lot of the breakthroughs and a lot of the success I see with my clients, a lot of it is not even the physical. It's like the mental, emotional side of things. I'm like, I can't really translate this into words and... emmamma: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: a physical transformation, but that's a lot of what I see growth wise too with my clients is yes, they've gotten, you know, the positive pregnancy tests and gone to have beautiful, healthy babies and all of these things, but they're like the way I think about and process things now is so different than it was before because ⁓ emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: they actually have the mental capacity to do that, right? They're not stressing about like, ⁓ how much is my cycle gonna suck this month? Or am I gonna get a cycle this month? Or did I ovulate or did I not ovulate? Or is this the right food I should be eating? Or is this supplement gonna help or make things worse? Like their mental capacity expands because they're not worried about a lot of these things anymore. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Which is so good. I feel like that's got to be such a transformation to be able to see and walk with people through. Meaghan Wamboldt: ⁓ yeah, mean, my practice is remote. a virtual practice. So I do calls with all of my clients and that's how we meet. And it's so cool when I've worked with somebody like from day one to like four or five, six months later, and you can just visually see that change in their facial expressions, their posture, their tone of voice. emmamma: Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: Like it's so cool and what's even like just, I don't know, it's hard to put it into words, but to just see that on my side and then it's crazy because a lot of the times like they don't even recognize it. And so I'll be like, you know, you seem like. emmamma: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: happier, you seem lighter, seem like you have a greater mental capacity and they're like, you know what I do? Because they're in their body every single day, you know, like you're in and that's why I my clients, I'm like, hey, if something's going on, you got to tell me because you are the one living in your body every day. you know what does it, I can just make educated guesses and assumptions based on what you tell me. But when they're in it every day, it's hard, I think a lot of the times, especially as women, for us to see that growth, physical, emotional, and spiritual. And so it's so powerful. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: for me on this side to be like, hey, I see this change in you. And then like the light bulb goes off and they're, ⁓ wait, wait, that has changed. Like I don't worry about that anymore. Like I'm not as stressed. then they're like, shoot, my cycle has been great these last two months. Like I haven't had symptoms and you know, the list kind of goes on, but that's, it's so powerful to watch that from my side of things too. emmamma: for sure. Mm-hmm. ⁓ Yeah. For sure, I think that's gotta be so cool. And I've experienced that with the clients too, of just seeing that change and yeah, calling it out for them is really helpful sometimes to be able to just be like, you're doing good things and you can physically see the changes taking place, which is so awesome. What else? We've been talking about all sorts of different things, ⁓ but what else, coming into this, did you wanna share that you want people to hear? Meaghan Wamboldt: Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I know. That's a great question and I feel like I could go on and on and on. I really could. I think, I don't know if we have time for that. ⁓ I think if there's anything that I want women to take away from our conversation is use your voice. If something feels off to you, emmamma: That's fine. ⁓ Meaghan Wamboldt: If you're talking with a doctor or another practitioner or whoever and they say something you're like, doesn't sit right with me or I'm not sure, ask questions. Ask questions, advocate for yourself. There is no wrong thing to ask. And if someone comes back to you and shames you or judges you or makes you feel bad or belittles you for asking a question, emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: They're not the right provider. They're just not. It's okay to change providers and don't be afraid to branch out of maybe something that you don't necessarily know a whole lot about. ⁓ Cause I know if I didn't ask questions, ⁓ I might not be in this position right now. ⁓ emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: Use your voice, ask questions. If something feels off, it's probably because it is. And don't let anyone make you feel silly or dumb or stupid for asking those questions. You deserve real answers. You deserve real answers. So that would be one takeaway. The second takeaway, because I just can't help myself, ⁓ everything is connected. emmamma: Yeah. Yeah. Meaghan Wamboldt: Our bodies are not meant to work in silos. They're not. So if you are struggling with a hormone imbalance, infertility, ⁓ you just feel off, like you don't feel like yourself, whatever it is, I want to encourage you to look at everything. Don't hold yourself into one thing. ⁓ emmamma: Mmm. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: because our bodies are so connected and have a downstream effect that by the time you're having hormone symptoms, there was probably something going on a long time ago, right? ⁓ So don't pigeonhole yourself into just hormones, right? As it all impacts. emmamma: Mmm. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Meaghan Wamboldt: another thing, hormones or just indicators. Right? So look at all the things. And if you're having difficulties doing that with your current provider, like I said, don't be afraid to search providers, right? emmamma: Absolutely. think that's so helpful. I think both those things are such good takeaways. And I think, like my own personal experience and everybody that I connect with too, is just like that advocating for yourself is can be so draining. But it's so when you finally find somebody who like it asks all the right questions and just listens to all of it and sees you as like a whole person and sees your body as a whole and looks at all the different things. It's just so helpful to be able to just like have somebody else who has that knowledge base who can share with you and that's, it's so important. So thank you. Those are great things to take away. Meaghan Wamboldt: Of course. emmamma: Absolutely. Well, this has been fabulous. I feel like we could probably have a whole nother like five podcasts of you and I talking about all sorts of different things. so maybe we'll have you back on at some point. And, ⁓ but for now, where can people find you and connect with you? Meaghan Wamboldt: Easily. Easily. Yeah, so you can find me. My website rootedfn.com. ⁓ not sure when this podcast will come out, but if you go there and the head title is not rooted functional nutrition and medicine, it's because I rebranded it. So don't be surprised. ⁓ is still me. It is still the same company. It's just a different name. ⁓ called the new name is Balanced Beginnings. So that's likely what you will see on there. It's already out. ⁓ emmamma: Okay. Meaghan Wamboldt: So you can find me there. You can also find me on Instagram, Life with Meg. It's M-E-A-G And you can find me on there. I try to be as active as I can. And you can also find me on Substack. So I do have a Substack where I'm doing more personal blogging and sharing plus educational. So you'll get a little bit more on the education side from my blog on my website and more personal. emmamma: Nice. Meaghan Wamboldt: real life stuff on my sub stack, I think is kind of fun. ⁓ you can find me on those three places. emmamma: Yeah. I love that. That's so cool. I like not a writer, but I love this idea of Substack that people are sharing stuff. So it's so cool. We'll be sure I'll be sure to link all of those things in the show notes. ⁓ that's easy for people to grab and connect with you. And if you're listening connect with Meaghan and ⁓ because she's a wealth of knowledge and has so many resources for you as well. ⁓ so much for being here. I really appreciate you taking the time to share everything. Meaghan Wamboldt: Thanks for having me, Emma. This was so great. emmamma: Awesome.