Ep. 3: Reproductive Hormones

Welcome to the woven well podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Estes. I'm a certified fertility care practitioner with a master of divinity degree. Each episode we will cover a topic that helps educate and empower you in your fertility while honoring the deep connection your fertility has with your faith. Let's get started.

Welcome back to episode three of our basic series. This series was specifically designed to give any woman an easy entry point into understanding her body and learning how that knowledge can affect her ability to make informed decisions about her health, family planning and lots more. If you're just joining us in this series: episode one introduced a female body's anatomy and physiology. That's because understanding how your body was made and how it functions really is the first important step to take. Episode two then introduces the Creighton method, which is a fertility awareness method that gives you an incredible amount of data on what your specific body is doing. It's also the method we use here at woven natural fertility care. We talked about these so early on because these two things - understanding how your body was designed and charting to see how your specific body is working - will inform everything else we talk about, including today's episode on hormones. And we did touch briefly on reproductive hormones in episode one. So it wouldn't be a bad idea if you wanted to go back and listen to that one first to have more of an overall context, but for now, let's do a quick lesson on hormones.

Hormones are chemical messengers between your body's different organs, including your brain. They send important messages about what to do, how things are going and what you need to prioritize in that moment. And they are absolutely critical to the healthy functioning of the human body. Without hormones, all the different parts of ourselves would not be able to communicate. And that's why when you have a hormone deficiency, you notice some serious side effects. We're focusing specifically on reproductive hormones, but many hormones affect the entire body and all of its systems, including the reproductive system.

For instance, you may have heard of the hormone cortisol before. Cortisol is a hormone the body uses during stressful situations. This could be a stress on the physical body like being dehydrated, under rested, or over exercised, or a mental or emotional stress like moving, dealing with an illness, or experiencing a death in the family. Cortisol tells the body to focus in on the essential stuff only because it knows you need all your brain power and body strength to get through whatever stressful situation you're dealing with at the time. And in that context, the body doesn't really consider ovulation to be a critical function for survival <laugh>. So it's going to delay ovulation until those cortisol levels are lower. So you can see how this hormone, that's not specifically a reproductive hormone, still has an effect on your reproductive system, and how cortisol is great in an emergency, but not so great when it's too high on maybe a daily basis.

That same lesson is true for our reproductive hormones. The ones we're gonna talk about today are FSH, estrogen, LH, and progesterone. You want to have each one of these hormones, but when they show up and how strong they are, make a huge difference to your reproductive health. FSH stands for follicle stimulating hormone. It's the hormone needed at the beginning of each cycle to get that process of ovulation started, while this is really FSH's time to shine in a woman's cycle, LH, estrogen and progesterone are still hanging around to just in smaller amounts. And if they're not acting as they should, let's say LH is much higher than FSH at this point, you're gonna see signs of that in your charting. So charting can reveal hormonal imbalances in this specific instance, maybe it's delayed ovulation, or that you're having irregular cycles. Now, once FSH reaches sufficient levels, it then triggers your follicles to grow and produce estrogen.

Wonderful estrogen does so many important things for your body. It tones the uterus, contributes to bone formation, dilates blood vessels, stimulates brain cells... In fact, some women actually notice that they feel like during this time when their estrogen is on the rise, that they have more energy! Maybe you've noticed that too. You have all these ideas; you feel like you could brainstorm for days, and maybe you even have the energy to match it. You feel like you can actually start working towards these goals. It's a great time to start something like that. When these estrogen levels reach a sufficient peak, it then signals the time for the peak and plateau of LH. Now LH stands for luteneizing hormone and comes from the effect it has on the Corpus Luteum. So, by the way, if any of these sound foreign to you, if you're like "Caitlin, you've left me... These terms, I don't know them." Then I really do encourage you to go back and listen to episode one, where we summarize all of this and go over these important terms. Back to LH, ovulation traditionally occurs within 24 to 36 hours after this initial peak, while the LH levels are plateauing. Then progesterone takes the stage and I'll tell y'all - I am a huge fan of progesterone, because I've seen the difference it makes in a woman's wellbeing when her levels are strong and healthy. It really does make a difference. Progesterone has a relaxing and normalizing effect on the body. It maintains the uterine lining, promotes sleep and relaxation, decreases anxiety, heals brain cells - who wouldn't want strong progesterone? You definitely want healthy levels of this hormone. And that also means that when you don't have healthy levels of it, you're likely to see some signs of that in your charting. So again, if you see things like unusual spotting or brown bleeding in your charting, that lets you know that you may have an issue with progesterone. But of course, your practitioner, like myself, is gonna walk you through all this.

You don't need to know all of this automatically, but I do want to give you a heads up that charting really can inform you about very practical hormonal imbalances and needs. Another sign of low progesterone is actually increased PMs symptoms. And I'm actually gonna pause here for a second to say a little bit about PMS. PMS stands for premenstrual syndrome. It is a medical condition. It's so normalized and joked about on TV shows and everywhere that everybody thinks it's normal. You think you're supposed to have PMS - that every woman goes through this, but this is probably the one area of women's healthcare that I wish was not so normalized. And that's because PMS is preventable! You do not have to suffer with depression, headaches, insomnia, or all sorts of other things for a whole week leading up to your period. So I know this is all sort of an aside, but if that's you, reach out to me, I'd love to provide you with a few resources.

So you can see through the interplay of all of these reproductive hormones that we need them. Each one of them. They are wonderful when they show up at the right time and at the right level. Now, what charting through the Creighton method does is allow you to see not only when you menstruate and ovulate, but key signals your body is giving you about these hormones - when they're active, how strong they are, and if there may be any sign of imbalance. Of course, I often encourage women to start charting if they suspect an issue, but even if they don't suspect one, I think it's a good idea. Hopefully you're gonna start charting and you're gonna see signs of a cycle with no issues. And we can do a happy dance together. I will absolutely celebrate that with you, but if there are signs of possible issues, you have the advantage of getting a headstart on your health and fertility goals.

Whatever those may be, these imbalances are not only important when you're trying to conceive. That's so important. I'm gonna say it again. These imbalances are not only important when you're trying to conceive. It really troubles me that this is such a norm for today. So many women are put on hormonal contraceptives and told to not worry about anything until they're ready to get pregnant. Knowing that contraceptives don't help your hormones in any way, women are then stuck with the side effects of years of their use while their hormonal issues go completely unresolved. Ugh, this, this really bothers me. <laugh> Instead, I'd like to suggest that the health of your body matters right now. If you're single, if you're married and avoiding pregnancy, if you're a teenager, if you're approaching menopause, your health matters. And I know that for sure, because I know that you matter as a person, as a human being. You were made fearfully and wonderfully in the image of our God. Being made in this way means that you matter, period. There are no conditions on that statement. You matter.

And that means your body matters, your mind matters, your soul matters and - your hormones matter. This is why you deserve to be heard. You deserve to be treated with professionalism. Your symptoms deserve to be taken seriously, and your concerns deserve to be addressed. And I'll tell you, when you have this in mind, at least it did for me, it totally changed how I see this work. We of course focus on the education, because we have to get the information out there. Women don't know, and they deserve to know. So we have to start there, but it doesn't end there. This isn't just about the details of your body and how it works, although that's really important. And I'm gonna talk about that a lot. It's about the fact that those details reveal the value of yourself, because it was in the image of God that you were fashioned... The detail with which you were carefully and beautifully made... The deep, deep love God has for you, every single part of you. And that that love extends beyond your body and includes your mind, your heart, your soul. Learning how we were created, the craftsmanship, that claim, the love introduces us in a new intimate way to our creator. It's an act of worship when we admire God's creation and awe at God's creativity and detail and love. At least, it can be. God will show up for you in this journey to understand your fertility. I guarantee it. I've seen it over and over and over again. And I encourage you to invite God into this process. I really believe that honoring our bodies can be a way of honoring God. Like when we treat our bodies with respect and care and honor how they function, even if, and I wanna mention this specifically, even if your body doesn't work perfectly. Because guess what?

That's all of us. So I can guarantee that that's you, because none of us are made with perfect bodies. And learning about the body, acknowledging God's goodness in the design and function, and taking care of that body with respect and appreciation - That's a beautiful thing. And, in my opinion, it is an act of worship, or it can be. The good news about that too, is that you can start that today. You don't need any special training to start looking for the ways God is present in your design and in this journey of fertility for you. So I really do encourage you to invite God into this space in your life.

And thank you so much for trusting me to be a voice in this space in your life, whether this is a one off episode that you're listening to, or we work together and I'm your practitioner. It is a privilege and I consider it such an honor. So we're gonna continue through this basic series next week, as we look at the function of the reproductive system, as it relates to avoiding and achieving a pregnancy. This is the good stuff. This is what everybody's always super interested in. And for a lot of couples, this is where the rubber hits the road. So I'm excited to talk about it with you. If you wanna make sure you have access to that specific episode and all the future ones, make sure to subscribe to the show. Subscribing to a podcast, by the way, is completely free. It just means that it downloads it for you so whenever it's available, you already have it on your phone. And while you're there, if you're enjoying this series or this podcast in general, I'd be honored if you would leave a review. People check those, they wanna know what the podcast is about. And so it's always helpful if we have some of those there. Alright, I'm looking forward to our next episode already, but by the time our next episode releases we'll have already had this month's introductory session. So if you're thinking about getting started this month, now's the time to register@wovenfertility.com/join-us. Otherwise, I'll see you next time. As we consider to, continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.