I am so embarrassed to admit that I have been in so much denial over what it really means to be of an “advanced maternal age”. All the joking about having a geriatric vagina, rolling my eyes about the ringer we are put through for having children after 35, and cringing at the high risk status. I have spent so much time studying pregnancy and birth that I didn’t realize I know NOTHING about what it means to be postpartum after 35.
If I had to make this realization relatable to pregnancy and birth in general, think of it like preparing for 9 months for labor and then realizing you know nothing about raising a child. I have spent 11 years learning about how to support women through those 9 months and beyond and have been smacked in the face with not having a clue about our reproductive journey through menopause. Where is my FB group? My app? My timeline broken down into weeks of produce? My boobs will start off looking like melons, followed by weekly updates until they look like a banana? Instead of my cervix dilating to the size of a bagel, my waist will dilate to the size of an inner tube.
All joking aside, how can we transition through the next change of life just as empowered as we embraced the stages and changes of my body into motherhood? And more importantly, what expectations and plans do we need to change when we are both childbearing and peri-menopausal at the same time? What I am learning this year is that all the online help for postpartum does not apply to me when I am also turning 40.
I have spent the last 3 years approaching the symptoms of my body strictly from a postpartum perspective and not considering other hormonal factors at play. Honestly, I didn’t even know peri-menopause started at 35 and menopause started at 40 as an average. I just made up some fact that it started at 50 and ended at 60, not ended at 50! So after spending almost 3 years doing all the things that worked after Dharma and Macey’s birth and not getting results, I am learning how to approach my health for my age.
I started with the same self-care that I recommend everyone do from the Arvigo® Institute, added in some supplements for inflammation, herbs for hormones, castor oil packs regularly, and paid attention to my food combining. This got me 2/3’s of the way to my health goals, but what about the last 3rd? Some podcasts I have listened to recently may have given me some strategies to try.
The first is on what hormone tests, which are the most comprehensive and how to strategically schedule the test for the most helpful information about what your body is doing.
The second is on how to exercise effectively as we transition from 35 – 40 and beyond. It talks about how high cardio workouts in our 20’s won’t work anymore because of the cortisol levels that increase from long term workouts. What does cortisol do? Create belly fat! So the very thing we are doing to be healthy and lose weight may be the very thing that is creating the weight in the first place! From an Arvigo® perspective, I don’t fully agree with the examples used for exercise at any stage of life due to the pressure it places on the pelvic floor, but I look forward to modifying the concept with my Arvigo® philosophy.
I would also add that we all started taking an adrenal supplement in the house to help with stress. Here’s to hoping it help reduces the overall cortisol levels in my body.
What have you found works for your body postpartum and peri-menopausal? Have you had to change your routine from what has always worked? Or have you been able to get by like I did with Macey’s birth at 35?