Well, hey there, my friends, how are you? I am coming to you again today with more on your thyroid. And let me tell you, this is one of the topics that I love to talk about the most because it’s so important. Unfortunately, so many doctors overlook it. I hope my post from last week was helpful. I spoke in detail about what is considered abnormal and what it means to be hypo and hyper.
Today I want to focus on why you should get your thyroid checked and how important it is to pregnancy. I’m going to jump right in and tell you that thyroid is the number one thing that I talk about with my clients in our first session. In the past year, approximately three out of four clients have had a thyroid issue that either wasn’t taken seriously or went undiagnosed. All of them suffered from failures and or miscarriages that could have been due to a thyroid condition. I wish that weren’t the case because fixing the thyroid with medication is one of the easiest things you can do.
Every woman should have her thyroid checked periodically, regardless of her season of life.
Many may not realize this, but a thyroid condition can occur at any time. It can occur before pregnancy, it can occur during pregnancy, and it can occur after pregnancy. So I hope that now it’s abundantly clear why it’s so crucial for all women to have checked.
You may be asking:
Why is it so important when you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant?
or
Why is it that a normal thyroid before pregnancy doesn’t mean that it will stay that way?
Well, I’m so glad you asked. The reason is that the first three months of pregnancy are essential to have normal thyroid functions, but it can get out of whack during this time for many reasons.
Let me repeat that for the people in the back. A thyroid condition can develop during pregnancy, even if you didn’t have one before pregnancy.
So to prevent any of the effects of an uncontrolled thyroid, I would recommend that when you get your beta HCG tests done, that you have a thyroid panel as well. I should say that there will be doctors out there who don’t want to do this. They will argue that it’s unnecessary and whoever told you so is crazy. But, I bet if you asked the women I just worked with, they would beg to differ. It was a simple test that could have saved them time and money and prevented some of their heartaches. If they find an issue with your thyroid, you should get it checked every four weeks after that. Often your numbers fluctuate, and it will require your medication to be adjusted.
Now let me step back for a second and explain to you why the thyroid is essential to pregnancy altogether.
Thyroid hormones are crucial for the normal development of the baby’s brain and nervous system. In the first three months, the baby depends on you for those hormones. Unfortunately, if you don’t have your hormones in check, it can cause miscarriage, premature birth, and congenital disabilities. Now I’m not trying to be doom and gloom here. That’s not my purpose. My purpose is for us to educate ourselves so that when we know better, we do better.
For the person reading this, who’s had failure after failure and has had miscarriages, I’m giving you something you can do right now. Start asking yourself, “Is this something I need to ask my doctor about”? If you’re wondering what you should be testing, go back to last week’s post to figure out what exactly you should be testing for because I detailed that out very clearly.
What can you do if you find out that you do have a thyroid condition, you’re trying to get pregnant, and you’re now panicking?
In addition to your daily medications and monthly blood work, you can also do the following:
-If you have hypothyroidism, eating a diet high in iodine-rich foods, such as seafood, eggs, meat, poultry, and iodized salt, can help regulate your thyroid for you.
-If you have hyperthyroidism, you’re going to want to eat cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, and avoid iodine-rich foods altogether.
My goal for you, my friends, is for your next cycle to be your best cycle.
I want to prevent unnecessary disappointment, failure, and miscarriage. Advocate for yourselves; it is such a simple test. Even if your doctor says, I don’t know what crazy person you heard that from, do it! Often when I bring up thyroid testing with my patients, they will say, “Oh, somebody said that it was low, somebody said it was high, or yeah, my mom has a thyroid problem.”
I can tell you what triggers a thyroid issue, and I’m not sure that anyone can but, it is an easy peasy fix. And in my experience, a thyroid condition can change. I thought that after having kids, and what seemed to be a back to normal thyroid, I developed Hashimoto’s shortly after the birth of my third child. I will say it one final time, but even if you are done having children and experiencing symptoms you thought you conquered, get tested.
I would love to hear from you. Let me know in the comments what the most interesting part for you was. I’d love to know if there was something above that you didn’t know before or if you have further questions on the topic. Feel free to share the above information with somebody you know too!
Hugs 🤗, Love ❤️ & Baby Dust 🌬
xoxo,
Caryn
