In case you missed it, my husband and I are preparing to try to conceive our fourth baby in early 2024. For the past few months, I have been preparing to TTC by focusing on my health and optimizing my fertility in preparation for our conception journey!
In the past, I have had issues with recurrent miscarriage due to elevated TPO, or thyroid antibody levels, so I have been working with my provider on optimizing my thyroid health over the past few months in prep for another pregnancy. I have been fortunate to have a supportive provider who encourages me to get regular blood work to monitor my health and thyroid levels. However, in my recent blood work, we found that my thyroid antibodies were elevated again.
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What Blood Work Did I Get Done for TTC Prep?
I am fortunate that my primary care provider is really supportive of blood work. He has been helping me this past year to improve my thyroid health after my most recent pregnancy and in preparation for another one.
I am also working with Dr. Morgan MacDermott, a functional medicine doctor, virtually for additional support.
The blood work I did in preparation for another pregnancy was a mixture of recommendations from both providers:
- CBC: Complete Blood Count
- CMP: Complete Metabolic Panel
- Iron Panel: Total Iron, TIBC, Iron Saturation
- Ferritin
- Vitamin D3
- Homocysteine
- hsCRP
- TPO and TG Antibodies (TPO was elevated for me, and has been in the past)
- TSH
- Free and total T3
- Free and total T4
Please note that I will be sharing what is working for ME based on my blood work results in this blog and may or may not be a great option for you! But use my story as a starting point in generating conversation with your medical provider (or work with Dr. Morgan virtually if you are not feeling heard in your local area. Note that I do not receive any sort of commission from recommending her, and I paid for my consultation with her out of pocket–just sharing a resource that has been vital to me).
Hashimoto's Disease: What is it?
Elevated thyroid antibodies (TPO) can be associated with Hashimoto’s Disease, which is a hypothyroidism disease that is an autoimmune disorder. This means that my body is having an inflammatory response to something going on in my life and is fighting itself. Hypothyroidism can be associated with fatigue and suppressed appetite, among other things.
Personally, I have had low energy and decreased appetite, which is likely a result of this and also low B12 levels. B12 levels and our thyroid are connected with one another, so it was not surprising to find out that my B12 levels are also low.
I was definitely frustrated to hear that my antibody levels were elevated again, and it created some anxiety for me because of my pregnancy loss history.
What am I doing to help my TTC Prep?
Over the past year, my provider and I have been monitoring my thyroid levels (T3 and T4). Since I told him I was preparing for another pregnancy, I started a thyroid medication to help regulate my thyroid levels that were too low. After discovering that my thyroid antibodies were significantly elevated, we doubled my dose of the thyroid medication. We have increased my B12 shots to every other week; previously they were once a month.
I am going to implement some lifestyle changes to decrease my inflammation. After my first experience with elevated thyroid antibodies, my husband and I did the autoimmune paleo diet. After about a month, we conceived our son with a fairly uncomplicated pregnancy and my levels plummeted! I truly believe the diet and decreasing my stress levels helped a ton, so I plan to implement these same practices again.
My husband and I used the Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook to guide our meals, and it helped us learn what to omit from our diets and how to slowly add back in foods.
The Autoimmune Paleo Diet (AIP) is a fairly strict diet–and keep in mind that I am NOT doing any sort of diet with the intention of weight loss or changing my body composition, and this is not a long-term diet for me. This diet involves omitting a very long list of possible foods that cause an inflammation response, such as gluten, dairy, eggs, and even certain spices. Then gradually over a few weeks and months, you add back in these foods to see what creates a response.
I credit this diet to helping me reduce inflammation and reduce my thyroid antibody levels in just a few months and we conceived our son the month we started the diet with no complications. So, it may have just been a coincidence, but likely the diet really helped me fight this autoimmune disorder.
Stress Levels
Another thing that I am sure is contributing to my thyroid health is stress. I have been solo parenting for the past two months unexpectedly, and while I have a ton of support, it’s just not the same as when your partner is home with you. It is hard to ask my family to watch my kids so I can just sit on the couch and relax; I feel that I can only ask for childcare if I am working or at an appointment. So, I typically wait to do my “me time” where I am just lounging after my kids go to sleep, so I am sacrificing sleep to relax.
Now that I know that my antibody levels are elevated again, I am going to be much more deliberate in managing my stress levels and sleep. I plan to take a hard look at my priorities and to-do list and cull it down to something that is more realistic. This will probably be the hardest thing for me to do!
I will also be incorporating Needed’s Stress Support supplement to help too! I have really loved all of their products to support my health, and will be making this one a daily essential, as well. You can use code MAMASTEFIT for 20% off your first order.
Exercise
And lastly, I am going to continue staying active. It always frustrates me when I see reels and posts on social media saying that if fitness is important, you just need to prioritize it. Some days, the only way I can get a workout in is if I wake up at 6am. And that is not going to happen when I am already sleep deprived.
So, I am going to be taking the pressure off of myself in feeling guilty about not working out as often as I would like, and rather schedule workouts as feels more realistic for me. This may mean that my workouts are only 2-3 times a week, and that is okay. I’m currently following our Beyond Postpartum Strength Programming, and we are working on a TTC-specific program!
I do plan to stay active but take off the pressure to work out 4-5 times a week when it is just not realistic with solo parenting, working full time for my small business, homeschooling a kindergartener, and also just trying to socialize.
Thanks for following my TTC prep journey! Stay tuned for more!
- 4 Workouts Week
- Teambuildr App
- Gym