Best Advice from Hashimamas

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers in our community!

This year, Mother’s Day is extra special for me, as I just welcomed my sweet baby boy – Dimitry- into the world last month and became a mother myself. 🙂 Though I loved him before he was born, I fell in love with him even more when I held him. I was surprised at what a solid little human I had carried in my petite body (he was 7 lbs 12 ounces when he was born!), and how proud I could be of every little thing he does. I love to spend hours just snuggling with him and staring at him each day.

This Mother’s Day also happens to be my husband Michael’s birthday. I am so proud of my Michael who supported me through the entire 16+ hour labor. Michael has never been particularly fond of blood, but really wanted to show up to take care of me. He is a wonderful daddy to our baby boy and I fall in love with him a little deeper each time I see him burping, cuddling or changing our little one.

I’m also fortunate enough to celebrate Mother’s Day with my own mom, in person, as she’s visiting us to help out with Dimitry. It’s so wonderful to see her face light up whenever she holds him and how much she loves him already.

When I announced my pregnancy in March, I extended an invitation for my readers to submit their own words of wisdom and pieces of advice from their journeys to conceive through the postpartum period. My team and I received so much wonderful feedback that I wanted to share it with you in the hopes that it might bring some help and encouragement to those of you who are on a journey toward motherhood yourselves.

I did my best to filter the advice, but not all advice may apply to you. Please use this advice at your own discretion. 🙂 I, for example, got the following #advicefails

1. 1. Don’t get maternity clothes, they said… Some of my very fit, and tall friends suggested that I didn’t need to buy pregnancy clothes and that I could just wear regular clothes, leggings or go a size up and wear yoga clothes. Nope. Not me! I’m a petite 5’3 and I started getting a baby bump in the first trimester and none of my leggings or regular clothes fit anymore. By the end of my 2nd trimester, even my maternity clothes were too small. Flowy maternity dresses and maternity overalls seemed to do the trick toward the end of the third trimester.
   2. Put Kinesio tape on your belly, they said… I read a blog that suggested I try Kinesio tape to tape my belly. This was supposed to take the pressure off and support by belly and back. It worked really well. Until I went to sleep that night. The tape kept sticking to my clothes and little twinges of pain from pulled skin woke me up multiple times throughout the night. When I decided to rip the tape off the next day, it was like pulling off thousands of band aids, and I ended up with rugburns.
   3. Don’t buy newborn clothes, they said… People kept telling me to buy and register for baby clothes for older kids, and not for newborns, because everyone would just get me newborn clothes… this didn’t happen. As I was packing the baby’s going home outfit, I realized I didn’t have any newborn clothes and had to run out and get them last minute.

Here’s what you had to say…

Optimizing Fertility

Please know that there is hope for becoming pregnant, even if you’ve struggled with fertility issues. Some strategies that may help include:

• • Optimizing your TSH (under 2 μIU/mL, seems to be the magic number)
  • Reducing your thyroid antibodies (I recommend getting them under 100 IU/ml)
  • Cutting out reactive foods such as gluten, dairy and soy
  • Optimizing your hormones and your luteal phase with progesterone
  • Taking immune modulating medications including LDN, and steroids

• Supporting your adrenals with adrenal support as well as DHEA
• Acupuncture

Here are additional tips from readers:

Food

Eat good quality, healthy fats – Omega 3s, and coconut and olive oils, avocados, an organic, GMO free diet, plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, and filtered, clean water. – Jolanta

I quit red meat 17 years ago when I was having recurrent miscarriages. That and eating all organic foods really helped. I have PCOS and found out I don’t make/regulate progesterone right so I have to have progesterone shots during pregnancy until about 4 months. – Michelle

Medication and Testing

Get a blood test before planning to get pregnant to identify what nutrient levels need to be improved. – Amy

Optimize thyroid function. Rule out iodine deficiency and fluoride toxicity. – Jennifer

Gut health, testing for MTHFR factor, and thyroid testing are all important. – Rivky

Seems like being on the right dosage of thyroid meds worked well for me. I’m sure everyone is different, but I didn’t seem to have a problem getting pregnant. – Kate

Both of my children are IVF babies. I was able to get pregnant on my first try with Nick, but for my second child, it took 7 more IVF attempts. I was ready to give up when my IVF doctor asked, ‘Where are you from?” I thought she meant where I was born, so I said, “New York, why?” No, where are your ancestors from, she continued. When I told her the countries, she had me tested for gluten sensitivity which turned out to be positive. I was told to go gluten free for three months and then try again. Sure enough, it worked. My doctor had said that testing for celiac disease and in general, gluten sensitivity, should be part of a standard fertility workup, but to my knowledge, this is still not the case. – Sandi

This is a funny one, but Robitussin. It loosens mucus, including cervical mucus which allows sperm to swim better! – Catherine

Mindset

I recommend examining and releasing limiting beliefs, developing your connection to your inner wisdom, and establishing a spiritual connection with the baby that wants to come to you (not to get too woo woo, but seriously, it works!). – Anita

I made sure to eat all of my vitamins and I did a cleanse before I had each child. I found that when I didn’t stress about the details of my fertility, I became pregnant almost immediately, but that was a hard lesson to learn. – Sara

Never give up! – Terri

Self-care

Take care of your gut health and overall healing before attempting to get pregnant. – Jenna

I became too thin at one point to become pregnant. When I got to a healthy weight, I got pregnant. – Leslie

Alternative Therapies

My acupuncturist helped me lengthen my cycle when trying to get pregnant with my second. I got Hashimoto’s following the birth of my first, and her expertise and help worked. I was pregnant within a month and a half of asking her to help me track my cycle and help me conceive! – Nicolette

Having a Healthy Pregnancy

If you are pregnant and have Hashimoto’s, a couple of things that I found crucial to maintaining a safe and healthy pregnancy were to:

• Increase your thyroid medication (for many women, by 30 percent)
• Avoid exposure to infections, as your immune system will be weakened

Here are additional tips from readers:

Food

Stick with your pre-pregnancy diet even with all the cravings and symptoms because you will feel so much better than when you give in. – Sara

Eat well and walk a lot! Going to my acupuncturist regularly helped. – Michelle

Eat whole foods! – Leslie

I suddenly craved eating marmite nearly every day when I was pregnant. I am so happy that I actually did this as it supplemented my deficiency in vitamin B12 which I didn’t know at the time! That saying about “listening to your body” for unusual or specific foods during pregnancy is so true. – Angela (Please note: Marmite is a British food spread that may contain MSG, so I don’t endorse using it; however, I agree that it’s important to listen to your body).

Make food choices with the mindset that your goal is to grow a healthy human. – Michelle

When your body tells you to eat something, listen to it. – Amy

I was fortunate that I had been doing a lot of energy healing work and was already wheat and dairy free, and in good health, taking supplements. I wish I would have had all the mercury fillings out of my mouth. [Going Gluten Free] didn’t happen until years later. – Nanette

Eat the way you did before you were pregnant, don’t indulge and say “I’m pregnant”. Sleep whenever you can. – Catherine

Medication

I was hypo after my first baby. Hashi’s after baby number 2. So I’m hoping my natural doctor keeps me on track for baby 3. We’ve increased iron, b12, thyroid meds. But after my last it went from hypo to hyper for a while, then back to hypo. That was a ride!! But really I’d love to hear what you do and take after your baby!! And a big congrats! You helped me know I had Hashimoto’s before it even showed in my blood work. And my antibodies are down to 55!!! – Tiffany

Work to have a negative group beta strep (GBS) to reduce your chances of receiving antibiotics in labor. – Becky

Self-care

Clean eating, inner work, learning profound relaxation (HypnoBirthing, etc.), moderate exercise, monitoring nutrition status like you did, learning and internalising the normalcy of childbirth to bolster your faith in your body’s ability to grow a baby and give birth all help. – Anita

Rest as your body demands. – Harriet

Take care of yourself. Eat well, exercise, and say ‘no’ [when you need to]. – Jenna

Healthy diet, exercise such as yoga, walking, swimming, talking to your baby and reading to your baby, listening to beautiful music, plenty of fresh air and sun (no sunscreen). – Jolanta

Self care is of utmost importance. – Rivky

The important thing is to listen to your body. When you are tired, it’s ok to rest. – Sandi

Supplements

Keeping Vitamin D between 60-90 ng/L is important. (You can test your levels.) It helps the brain development of the infant, as well as prevents preeclampsia and helps with postpartum. – Sandie

Take a good quality prenatal. Eat a balanced diet. Drink lots of water. – Elizabeth

Toxins

Keep chemical free, toxic free in all areas possible, as you know. Consume organic, healthy foods, and clean water. Nature, quiet time, loving times with you and your husband. Slow down, rest, meditate to just be present if you enjoy that. – Susan

Over-exposure to fluoride has been linked to maternal anemia, low birth weight baby and preterm birth (see Dr. A.K. Susheela’s research). John MacArthur has written a great book called Pregnancy and Fluoride Do Not Mix. He also has a website by the same name. – Jennifer

Exercise

I loved going for hikes and prenatal yoga. I had healthy snacks handy because you never know when you may get hungry. – Kate

Bonding with Baby

Watch The Happiest Baby on the Block together several times. Play white noise heartbeat music to baby in utero, so he/she responds and relaxes to it when born. – Laurie

Overcoming Pregnancy Symptoms

I am so grateful to be healthy enough to have become pregnant, and I had a pretty healthy pregnancy, but I still felt pregnant and had many of the “typical” pregnancy symptoms.

While I took a break from my usual extreme guinea-pigging ways, I was able to figure out how to address some of them with my root cause ways:

• Take B6 (or P5P) for morning sickness
• Test for new food sensitivities that can cause acid reflux
• Take magnesium for sleep, leg cramps and constipation
• Use Calendula-Comfrey Salve and address iron deficiency to clear up perioral dermatitis (facial rash)
• Test iron levels and supplement with a ferritin IV to address symptoms like brain fog, dizziness, insomnia, fatigue and restless leg syndrome
• Ease leg cramps by increasing your iron levels, taking magnesium supplements, epsom salt baths, and Arnica cream, as well as using compression stockings, staying hydrated, doing prenatal yoga and drinking green juices

Here are some additional tips from readers:

Food

There is a product called “Preggie Pops” – they are candies made with essential oils that are the best for morning sickness. They can be bought online or at Babies R Us. – Debbie

As mentioned, saltine crackers for morning sickness. First trimester, lots of sleep as your body seems to need it. – Pat (I like the gluten-free rice crackers!)

I’ve also found it helps to never allow yourself to get too hungry, and make sufficient rest a priority. – Anita

Wish I’d known about B6 being helpful! Back in the day, it was coca-cola that tamed my nausea. It was pretty smart to eat when hungry, and not get too hungry. – Harriet (While cola may be soothing for some, you may get the same results with healthier options such as sparkling water or juice.)

One way of avoiding morning sickness is to eat something before getting out of bed. That worked for me as I always ate some fruit before getting up in the morning and I never had morning sickness. – Angela

I ate all the time. I never let myself get hungry, but I ate small portions often. Nuts were really nice too, they stay in you for longer than most foods. – Kate

I’m not sensitive to ginger, so for me, if I had gastro issues, I usually drank ginger ale to calm my stomach. – Sandi

Chamomile tea. Eat small meals and snack in between. – Elizabeth

Supplements

For leg cramps: homeopathy Cuprum Metallicum 9ch, 5 granules under the tongue. – Cornelia

Homeopathic leg cramps tabs kept by bedside to take when they start, eliminates the cramping within minutes. HYLANDS brand – has cinchona (quinine). Keep active and exercise – squats, walking… visualize baby getting into position. – Sandie

Restless leg syndrome can be caused by low iron. – Jennifer

Magnesium oil for morning sickness and cramps. Drink lots of water. More than you think you need. I always felt the worse when I didn’t drink enough. – Sara

Essential oils for morning sickness, magnesium for leg cramps, massage. – Jolanta

Toxins

I avoided all fragrances as they made me sick. Even face wash that had a slight scent made me gag. I was really blessed to not have horrible morning sickness. I kept salty crackers around for nausea. – Christina

Exercise

Walk daily, stay hydrated, eat lots of fat. – Jenna

Find what works and keep moving. As long as I was doing yoga, walking, light workouts, etc. I felt much better. And listen to pregnancy cravings too! – Nicolette

I had sciatica and yoga helped relieve those symptoms. Now, I love yoga and especially hot yoga these days, as it helps with my Hashimoto’s. – Maryann

Sleep

Go to bed early and stay hydrated. – Michelle

Medication

Keep up with your thyroid labs. While I was pregnant I had them run every 6 weeks. With my little boy, my medication dosage got adjusted every time. My dosage did not change at all during or after pregnancy with my second. – Zarai

Morning sickness can be rough. I had to go on Zofran for one of my pregnancies. Ask for help, your doctor or midwife can give you strategies that work for you. – Catherine

Products

Seabands for nausea. – Terri

For your leg cramps, you should try doctor Carolyn Dean’s ReMag Lotion. It is awesome and has saved me many times! – Betsy

Giving Birth

Birth Techniques

Take classes to learn to relax and “go to a happy place” to alleviate pain naturally. – Kathy

Giving birth is so amazing. Just let your body do what it needs to and hang on for the ride. The pain I felt during childbirth was when I tried to control or stop something from happening naturally. Your body can do it just let it happen and don’t let the doctors make you think differently because you know best. – Sara

HypnoBabies – used this for my last birth and it was a game changer. Wish I had found it sooner!! – Suzanne

Trust that you were built to do this! But if need be, accept interventions! – Leslie

Bradley Method! Empower yourself by understanding how your body works to delivery your baby. Know your options and develop a birth plan. – Jenna

Always think positively while giving birth. It took me 23 hours to give birth to my healthy son and I needed to use the oxygen mask most of the time. Keep thinking about how happy you will be when your baby is born. It helps to keep your spirits and endurance up. – Angela

Best advice I got was don’t resist the pain of contractions, embrace them. They are getting you closer to that baby. 🙂 – Nicola

For the first baby birth plan, I locked myself into the plan that under no circumstances would I go “unnatural”. Due to some baby positioning complications and petite size, I pushed myself beyond what I should have and made the recovery period so difficult that really enjoying those first few weeks with the baby was threatened. Looking back, I would have done things different with recovery in mind. Nobody suggested that idea. Labor and birth decisions are very important and so is the beginning time with the baby, especially the first baby where you are learning for the first time how to breastfeed. I wish a mom or midwife would have mentioned how important recovery is and to consider it when making the birth plan. – Amy

The water birth we experienced with our midwife was amazing! We were in a great hospital so I felt safe and yet had all the natural aspects I wanted to see during birth. – Sheila

As a doula for many years, birth can be the most empowering experience. It can also be the most traumatic if difficulties arise. Traumatic birth even with good outcome sends a mom home not feeling secure in taking care of her newborn. I counsel women to understand that we can deal if we stay present and don’t connect and associate our fears. Fears are not rational and facts are more important. Fact is that every woman has an amazing innate wisdom to care for her baby. – Rivky

Keeping your body in the C-position during labor and pushing (chin to chest helps round back) easier for baby to get through the birth canal with no arching of lower back. I’m a retired Maternal-Child RN and Lamaze Instructor. – Laurie

Self-care

I will say I wish I had taken advantage of the nurses offering to come in overnight and feed my daughter. Also bring your favorite beauty products and body washes and a great bathrobe and pajamas to change into. For some reason, this helped me feel more normal and feminine. Definitely bring socks! – Christina

Support People

Many of my clients use a Doula and work with a lactation specialist prior to the delivery to know what to expect and have a plan in place if needed. – Michelle

I would recommend having another advocate with you in addition to your husband… two advocates. If one advocate has to rest or leave for some reason, then you have a backup advocate. Advocates need to be your voice and follow-through for you on your behalf when you might only be able to speak once because you’re in labor. Well meaning nurses and doctors are sometimes tired and they are human, and they follow protocols, and may not hear you because of that. Two advocates of your choice can be a very wise thing to support you during labor. – Susan

Having an obstetrician and a midwife to help me through a successful delivery with my 3rd child was so comforting. The midwife had so many pain relieving magic techniques to share and my specialist was ready and waiting to delivery my child and provide the right care once she was born. – Michelle

Supplements

I’ve found that increasing my calcium in the third trimester and having a water birth makes for a nearly painless birth. It’s incredible! With each child, my after birth pains have increased. To counteract this I use: Arnica (topically and orally), Helichrysum essential oil, Lavender essential oil, Myrrh essential oil (this helps with getting the bleeding to stop). And stay on top of the calcium. Just before you nurse the baby take arnica and apply the other items topically. As soon as you nurse, you’ll have contractions. Doing this will help tremendously in cutting the pain. – Leanne

Exercise

Squats, squats and more squats! Get into yogi squat position and see how long you can hold it for (hold a chair if necessary!) Do this everyday and you will see progress. I also read a hypnobirthing book which completely changed my mindset and attitude towards childbirth. A simple breathing technique helped me through labour – breathe in for 4 seconds, out for 6. This is a 10 second block. A contraction can be 3-6 ‘blocks.’ Visualization is powerful too – it’s sounds crazy, but visualizing your cervix dilating with each breath really works. – Michelle

Taking Care of a Little One

Support People

Have people who you can turn to when you need them. Cherish every moment- it passes so fast. – Michelle

In those early days as a mom, I had been encouraged to call the hospital and ask the birthing center nurses for advice. They were very helpful and they were available 24/7. – Jennifer

Sleep

Have your baby sleep next to your bed, so you don’t have to get up to feed him, because he will need to nurse often during the night and you need your sleep. You can get a bed that attaches to the side of yours so you can slide him next to you and nurse while lying down. Then, slide him back into his bed. – Onika

Soothing Baby

Regret that I didn’t breastfeed or pump my milk! But I think the best way to calm a cranky baby is warm baths with lavender lotion after bath. Sing and talk softly to the baby. I saved this for night time ritual. – Christina

Babywearing is incredibly helpful! The Moby wrap is a good starter wrap for newborns, ring slings and the ergo are great as little one gets older. – Katia

One thing I have learned is swaddling brings the baby comfort. They have been inside all snug and warm for so long, being unswaddled, they don’t know what to do with themselves. – Kate

Supplements

Probiotics, probiotics!!!! Can’t have to much. If you have reflux, take enzymes. Breast feed and pay attention to foods coming in that shouldn’t based on moms sensitivities. – Michelle

Mountain Meadow Herbs liquid calcium was literally a life saver for teething! Amazing! – Sheila

Food

Eat and sleep as much as you can and prepare healthy freezer meals for the family. – Caroline

Cook and freeze meals ahead of time. Have extra, clean and ready to go, undies for the whole family. Get a sidecar sleeper, to get more rest. – Leslie

Mindset

There is a mental shift that happens after you give birth to your baby where all that matters is your little bundle of joy. Remember that feeling when times get tough but also that the tough time will pass and you should enjoy each stage of your little one’s development. – Sara

Taking care of a little one is draining! Make peace with the fact that you cannot to everything perfectly! I stressed myself out to the point of having a huge thyroid flare postpartum. Also, see what works for YOUR baby. Everything seems like a good idea until your baby is the complete opposite. So just relax and take your baby’s lead. They will give a great indication of what they want. The best mothers are often those who are tranquil and attuned to their baby. This is no perfect science, it’s messy and different than you expect but absolutely worthwhile. – Nicola

From one overachiever to another, one of the biggest adjustments I had when my children were newborns was my need to redefine what a good day is. Productivity is not the goal with a newborn just as it isn’t when Hashimoto symptoms get us down. Making the goal to enjoy your baby is an investment in your child, that is priceless. – Flossie

Trust your intuition. My first son was not sleeping at all unless I held him on my chest (and he wouldn’t breastfeed, so nothing to do with feeding). The pediatrician thought I was a nervous first time mom, so I sought a second opinion. Well, mom is usually always right – my son had a double inguinal hernia that needed to be repaired. So always trust your intuition and get a second opinion if the doctor won’t listen to you. – Sandi

The Postpartum Period

Mental Health

Be very aware that you could experience postpartum depression. In my experience, this is hereditary. Just make sure you and your husband know what signs to look for and don’t let anyone tell you that you’ll just get over it. You might need some help. – Rita

Support People

Don’t clean the house; have someone else do it. Get your mom or someone to stay with you a couple weeks if you can. Get lots of sleep and food. – Onika

Products

Get PLENTY of those cold pads from hospital and even the mesh panties! LOL! These were life savers. Definitely do something to make stools soft and easy to pass as you will be sore and your pelvic floor will be very weak. – Christina

Supplements

Probiotics, cultured foods, whole food vitamins and minerals, movement, gratitude journal, and mom support groups help. – Michelle

Take natural iron supplements straight after and keep taking them for a couple of days. This helped my recovery. – Caroline

Food

I believe in extreme nesting as my husband calls it. I loaded our house with 3 months of supplies including all non perishable foods. I made a months worth of frozen healthy dinners that were easy to prepare and I made smoothie packs to put in the freezer for the first few weeks when I wouldn’t have the energy to make them. This is really helpful when you just want to cuddle and feed your baby instead of shopping. Have lots of snacks that are easy to eat with either hand and on the go. – Sara

Eating a lot to produce milk and not worrying about extra weight, it will come off easily if breastfeeding continues, napping when baby is sleeping – Jolanta

Sleep

Get rest when you can. My husband loved our daughter laying on his chest for hours. She got what she needed and I got rest. Oh and always accept back rubs from your hubby! – Michelle

Medication and Testing

After each of my births (all 6 of them), my progesterone levels plummeted, and my T4 was too high. This results in medium-high postpartum depression and anxiety – not just baby blues, but this also brings you almost to the edge of not being able to function. With my first few babies, I did not have a provider who monitored things very early, as they liked to wait until 6 weeks postpartum. That was entirely too long for me, and I could have saved myself immense anguish by getting labs by 2 weeks postpartum. Progesterone supplementation and adjusting thyroid medication ASAP after delivery were always vital for me. – Ellen

Looking back on it now, I had a serious autoimmune issue flare up postpartum after my last child, 19 years ago. I ached so bad, I could barely pick up the newborn. My OBGYN ran some tests but didn’t know what to call it, so he explained it away as the blood work said I had parvovirus at one point in life. If only he had caught my thyroid issue way back then!!!!  If only I had followed through on the testing when a GI doctor ordered tests for celiac about ten years ago. Listen to the wisdom of your own body. – Amy

Allow yourself time to heal, childbirth is pretty traumatic to the body and you need to recover appropriately. This is the period when Hashimoto’s goes crazier than you ever seen. You could be on PTU [Propylthiouracil] one month and Levoxyl the next. Get tested accordingly. It is hard to discern “new mom” symptoms from Hashimoto’s. – Catherine

Alternative Therapies

I think the hardest was her colic. We did cranial sacral therapy and that seemed to help. – Nanette

Breastfeeding

Clothes

Wear a comfortable bra at night (like a cross-over soft bra). A good nursing tank/bra shirt is great because you can nurse under any shirt almost and no one can see your tummy. – Michelle

Mindset

If you can, great. If not, do not beat yourself up. – Kathy

It’s something you and baby have to learn. It may seem like you’re doing it correctly, but if you get sore or an infection, he probably isn’t latched on well enough so he will be sliding and causing friction. Also, nurse for at least 20 minutes at a time so he gets the fat and not just the carbohydrates. He will feel full longer and you will not have to nurse so often. This helped me get over a breast infection. – Onika

I didn’t do this and I’m bummed now! My daughter is 13 and she has Hashi’s too. Wish I would’ve given her a better start and immunity boost. – Christina

Support People

Join a breastfeeding support website or Facebook group. – Caroline

La Leche League was a life saver! – Leslie

Breastfeeding is one the best gifts you could give your baby. Breastfeeding is natural but not innate. Remember, you and baby have to learn to breastfeed together. Arm yourself with a good lactation consultant. Remember breastfeeding should never hurt, if it does have an LC help you with the latch. Join a breastfeeding support group and get together with other mothers who are breastfeeding. It is so good for the baby’s microbiome, (full of bifidobacteria) and good microbiota will stave off infections, and set the baby off to a great start in the world. – Catherine

Increasing Supply

The first month is hard but it’s so worth it for baby and mama. I found that breastfeeding was a lot easier than bottle feeding after the first month. But you’re not a bad mom if you have low supply because of your thyroid and you have to bottle feed. If possible, let the baby decide when they want to feed. That was how I helped with preventing low supply with my second child. It does seem overwhelming at times but look at it as another chance to cuddle your baby before they grow up. And always have water with you when you sit down to feed your little one. – Sara

Unfortunately I only breastfed for 3 months, which is when I started having symptoms of Hashimoto’s. I lost my milk after that. I would recommend pumping as much as possible to encourage supply! – Katia

Breastfeeding is hard and hurts a lot the first week, but stick with it. It gets so much better and is a wonderful experience. I found that my thyroid became more efficient while I was nursing (my dosage was decreased by 25 mcg from my normal pre-pregnancy dose). – Kate

Organic Mother’s Milk Tea by Traditional Medicinals – this really helped me keep up milk production when I was nursing but had to keep up with my other young children and couldn’t rest as much as with the first. 🙂 I drank 1-2 cups per day – Suzanne

During the first few weeks keep a small light nearby so that you can see to nurse at night. A lamp is too much light and may wake up your husband. A night light within easy reach. The light from the diffuser was good enough for me. Seek help if you are struggling. Hardest and most painful thing I’ve ever done, but was able to survive 2 years. Recognize that supply issues may be the Hashimoto’s coming back full force. – Jenna

Have a big water bottle to keep track of how much water you’re drinking. It wasn’t uncommon for me to drink 5L a day! If I didn’t drink enough, it affected my supply. I also ate a lot more. Breakfast was a 2 course meal – savory then sweet! – Michelle

Medication and Testing

I want to tell you: if you need to use formula at any point for any reason it’s really ok. I’m sure you know that people worry that those with thyroid imbalances are at risk for low breast milk. I was fine until my baby turned 3 months. At that point I was under severe stress due to where we were living, unsupportive and demanding family members, feeling like I was starving all the time due to my body producing milk, absolutely beyond depleted due to sleep, eating all reactive food including gluten just to survive, and so much more. My thyroid got all messed up. I needed to stay on the same increased 30% synthroid dose I had been on when pregnant. I’m over a year postpartum and am still on that dose! So be it. I accept it and I’m blessed to take synthroid at whatever dose can give me a good life! 🙂 Anyway what I want to tell you is that thyroid disease can lower your milk supply. Therefore… fed is best. Whatever and however you feed your baby is ok. Breastfeeding, pumping into a bottle, formula, a combination of all of those too. We used a European organic kind called Hipp. I highly recommend it. 🙂 – Heather

Testing your thyroid once you are done breastfeeding might be needed. With my second child, my hormones went out of control when I stopped breastfeeding. I have never felt so awful in my whole entire life. I am still working on adjusting my dosage and had no idea it was going to happen since it didn’t with my first. – Zarai

Techniques

It is important to understand that there is no schedule for the first week or two. Feeding on demand is going to build up supply and demand and your baby will usually fall into a 3 hour schedule generally. If I can give my most important tip it would be don’t let your baby munch on your nipples! When he opens his mouth, stick that areola all the way in there. Your nipple should be in the roof of his mouth. This will prevent cracking and soreness. – Rivky

Focus on the latch. With my first 2 I cracked after they were 4 months old. With my 3rd I spoke with a nursing consultant and she explained how a lot of times, around 4 months after birth, you get familiar with your baby and are not as focused when you nurse. Pay attention and get it in good! – Kate

Food

Set up a snack/nursing area (or areas) so you remember to feed yourself as often as you feed your little one. – Nicolette

Healing Yourself While You Have a Little One

Support People

Definitely accept help from family members! I thought I could do everything early on, but didn’t realize how much demand a little baby would make on me and my energy. My mom would come over in the morning and stay a few hours so I could sleep. She would do a load of laundry and fold. – Christina

Supplements

Take Vitamin C every day. – Caroline

Food

Grape juice seems to help a lot of postpartum moms. An excellent electrolyte. Squeeze a 1/2 lemon in to the grape juice and this will help to quench thirst if you’ve had significant blood loss. – Leanne

My son turned my world around from the first moment and it’s been hard to properly (and consistently) take care of myself since. BUT he eats the healthiest diet of any kid I’ve ever known and I don’t compromise on my eating plan (which sent my Hashi’s into remission a year ago). It’s the one thing that I know I HAVE TO stay consistent with (even more than getting enough sleep) and it benefits my son so much too. – Nicola

Self-care

Have a little ritual that you do at the same time everyday – just for you, not anyone else. I would make myself an almond milk hot chocolate and read a great book when my boys were asleep. It doesn’t sound like much, but it was bliss to me. – Michelle

Put your feet up A LOT! Your bleeding may not subside if you are busy trying to get around the house, especially for the first 2-3 weeks. – Nicolette

This part was a bit more difficult. A routine does help a lot. Prioritize what is absolutely essential for your health. Food prepping took a toll, so easy meals were key with minimal prepping. Time for exercise was essential, it wasn’t a hardcore workout but a simple walk or easy yoga always helped my mental status. – Zarai

Best advice was acupuncture. I was feeling fatigued by year 3 and after acupuncture, I had my energy back. – Nanette

I struggle with this one a lot but I’ve learned to put my husband in charge of this one. I know I will have the baby most of the time so his time will need to be helping me or reminding me to pamper myself. With all of the fluctuations of your hormones, especially your thyroid, I almost have to be perfect with my diet and supplements to maintain my health. And don’t get down on yourself when your thyroid gets too high or low because it happens during this time very easily. – Sara

Take time to enjoy your baby. Set healthy limits on other activities. – Leslie

Further Resources for Your Pregnancy Journey

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted such incredible stories and advice. It was helpful to me, and I’m sure it will be helpful to so many of my readers who may be on a similar journey.

If you are looking for more information on pregnancy and Hashimoto’s and my personal journey, please take a look at these articles.

I also highly recommend Amy Medling’s new book, Healing PCOS: A 21-Day Plan for Reclaiming Your Health and Life with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, if you are struggling with PCOS. For further advice on pregnancy and thyroid disorders, I encourage you to check out Wellness Mama and Hypothyroid Mom.

I look forward to sharing many more updates with you in the near future!

P.S. Be sure to sign up for my email list and weekly newsletter to get a free book chapter, recipes, Thyroid Diet Starter Guide, information about Rootcology supplements, and notifications about upcoming events and my latest research.