Many moons ago, I was born into a Catholic Irish English family as the 5th child in just over five years to become the middle child of 9 children.

At age 3, an accident left me with severe burns to several parts of my body that took many months to heal.

During early childhood, I began to have problems with bloating, digestive issues and kidney problems requiring medical intervention and multiple rounds of antibiotics. On an emotional level, there were also many experiences of targeted bullying, the scars of which take time to heal.

Around 20 years of age, I found myself pregnant with my fiancé and thrust into adulthood in a heartbeat. (Though no regrets). In this era, though, there was much judgement and little emotional support. It was the era of "you made your bed, now lay in it".

Marriage and the relationship did not turn out to be a healthy long-term choice and had its "challenges". I found that despite being health conscious (possibly OTT) with diet and exercise, the stress of the situation led to health deterioration.

During these years, I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease, Raynaud's and Thyroid Auto Immune problems.

It took several years to diagnose Coeliac disease, during which time I was quite ill, continually hearing from medical practitioners there was nothing wrong".

I was frustrated for myself and other friends and family who were not seemingly being heard or helped. Following an illness coinciding with long-term workplace bullying and losing family members and friends, I re-assessed and started my degree in Nutritional Medicine. My passion for learning was on steroids.

In 2014, after another health scare, I found the courage to leave the marriage even if it meant the loss of some friends and family support (which it did). It took several years of legal to finalize everything, which took its toll.

Towards the end of this time, my dad became ill and soon after passed away.

Then along came the big CC, Covid Chaos.

When this began, I lived on the coast with my new partner, and life was good. The Big CC struck, and we decided to uproot for the duration of the Big CC and move to his farm (Move number 4 in 6 years)

Late in 2021, Mum passed suddenly and unexpectedly. Her sudden passing has been difficult for us to accept and process. It has heightened differences and created challenging times.

In February 2022, the rains came! For the first time in the history of the 3rd Generation Farm, the levels rose faster and higher than ever before. We anxiously awaited to be airlifted out or left to our own devices. Thankfully, the armed forces came to our aid, and we spent the next ten days with family (very thankful).

In May 2022, the rains came again! This time we did not wait and were out early. It was several days before we could return when my father-in-law had a stroke, and we spent the next few days in the hospital as he recovered.

Our life stories and health/stress stories of how we got here are already different. We will discuss in later posts why our life events change our health and how.

My hormone health story starts in my early teen years when as a non-sexually active teen I was put on the contraceptive pill (Yasmin) to combat heavy-ish, painful periods. My doctor saw this as a good solution but failed to inform me of the likely side effects and I believe she thought she was doing the right thing to avoid any possibility of a pregnant teen. Jump ahead six months and I am seeing the same doctor for crippling depression (a well-known side effect of Yasmin) and subsequently put on a strong anti-depressant without any other alternatives offered.

I spent the next few years fighting my way through depression, struggling to academically and socially achieve as I had in my earlier years, suffering insomnia and thinking there was something fundamentally broken with me. In my early 20s, with the help of my mother, my determination and a specialised naturopath, I went off the pill and went on a yearlong process to slowly get off the anti-depressants. And I never suffered from depression again because at the root of it, for me, it was a direct result of the hormone and chemical disruption caused by the pill (this will not be true for everyone of course).

Unfortunately, I then spent the rest of my 20’s working as a chef, which while it came with some rewards, it also came with a largely negative lifestyle. I burnt out my adrenal glands constantly being in an adrenaline-fuelled environment, ruined my circadian rhythm by often starting and finishing work when it was dark and failed to give my body food and water in any consistent way while continually overworking it (a surprisingly frequent occurrence for many chefs, despite always being in the kitchen).

By the end of my 20’s, I had switched to a healthier way of working with less hours and stress. Still, I was already suffering the consequences of adrenal fatigue and had begun to have recurring kidney stones and UTI’s. I had laser surgery to remove larger stones that could not pass on their own but continued to produce new smaller stones and was hospitalised repeatedly. This started a 2-year process of almost continual antibiotic use, resulting in a host of gut and digestion problems that had compounded on top of an already sensitive digestive system. At the worst point, I could not eat a banana without my stomach bloating to the size of a 6-month pregnant belly. I reached a point where I refused to take any more antibiotics (unless 100% necessary). Instead, I went to regular acupuncture to assist with kidney function and treated myself with food, supplements, yoga and alternative therapies.

While on this journey back to health, I went through my parents getting a divorce, had two beautiful children in under two years, went through a period of extreme financial stress and like all of us, survived the covid years. Through all this, I repeatedly went to doctors to try and get some answers and help with worsening symptoms of chronic fatigue, non-existent immunity, extreme bloating and gastro-intestinal pain, loose and irregular bowel movements and ongoing kidney and urinary issues. All they offered was; you have young kids you are supposed to be tired, drink more water, this is normal at your age, all your levels look fine - there is nothing wrong with you. It left me with enormous frustration because I felt I was already doing everything in the treat your body with kindness book, but my health was not reflecting it. But what was missing, on top of the results of a life lived, is what doctors had not mentioned to me and that was my symptoms were likely stemming from hormone imbalance and unresolved gut health issues.

And this is why together with my amazing and knowledgeable nutritionist mother, we want to educate and empower women about the role their hormones play in their health and the best ways to navigate post child-birth, peri-menopause and menopause to make sure that you are moving into the next stage of your health with your best foot forward.