New Years Resolution - Take care of yourself Momma!

I know one thing that definitely changed once I became a wife and a mother was that I immediately started to put the needs of other people above my own.  That is what I was being called to do in my vocation right?  Well, kind of.  But what I forgot is that I am a BETTER wife and a BETTER mother, when I make sure to continue to take care of myself.  As the New Year approaches and I know that we are all starting to make new resolutions for ourselves I want to challenge you to make sure you do something for yourself!

When I had our third son our oldest child was 3 1/2 year old, and our middle son was 19 months old.  I had quit my job two weeks prior to the birth of our third son to pack up our house, because we moved out of state when he was 2 weeks old!  We then lived in that location for one year before we sold our previous house, bought a new one and moved back to our home state!  WHEW!  It was a whirlwind year, so in my mind I had lots of reasons to not be feeling "great".  I was having these symptoms:

• Fatigue (I had 3 little kids, one still was getting up every few hours at night)
• Thinning, brittle hair (which I had always lost my hair postpartum)
• Not losing postpartum weight (which after my other two pregnancies I pretty easily lost)
• Increased moodiness (again, postpartum with 3 little kids and different support systems always moving around)
• Sensitivity to cold (I moved to Minnesota, so it was naturally freezing!)

This is how I commonly felt!

All of these symptoms I justified with one thing:  Being a mother!  I know you are supposed to have a yearly physical (which I did before I started having children), but then I was visiting my obstetrician at least yearly during pregnancies and postpartum so I had lapsed in visits with my family practitioner.  Thank goodness my husband (who is a physician himself) finally reminded me I should go to my regular yearly physical this past September.  I went in to Sancta Familia, which is an amazing Catholic healthcare center here in Omaha, Nebraska and my wonderful nurse practitioner's first question when I reported how I had been feeling was "Have you ever had your thyroid tested?" 

I was still thinking all of these were just "symptoms" of being a mom!  Well, I had my thyroid tested just in case and sure enough just a few days later I got the call that they wanted me to come back in to run a more intense thyroid panel because they thought I had hypothyroidism.  What?!  Not feeling good is because something is actually wrong with my body?  This was completely new to me, as I have been so blessed to have never been diagnosed with anything medically in my life (other than my pregnancies!)

They are still trying to determine if I have what is called Postpartum Thyroditis (which can start 4-8 months postpartum and continue for 10-18 months past diagnosis) as I am currently 18 months postpartum, or if it is Hashimoto's disease.  I have started a treatment plan that I have been following for a few months now which has definitely helped to feel better.  The biggest improvement though has been the simple realization that I NEED to take care of myself.  I need to eat well, take time for physical exercise (even if I can't work out by myself I need to go on a walk with the kids, etc) and get as much sleep as possible! 

So mommas, as this New Year starts, my advice to you is to definitely make those resolutions to make more time for your faith life, go on date nights with your spouse, spend more quality time with the kids, but also don't forget about things specifically for YOU!  You are important, you are worthy, and taking care of you will make you the best Wife, Mom, Daughter, and Friend that you can be!

Ephesians 4:24