I’ll never forget the moment I realized something was deeply wrong. It was during my third pregnancy. I’d already been blessed with two little boys, and while those pregnancies had their ups and downs, I had no idea how fragile the balance of my hormones truly was. I thought, I’ve done this before, I know what I’m doing. But what I didn’t realize was that underneath the surface, something small, but mighty, was struggling. It wasn’t my diet. It wasn’t my supplements. It wasn’t my stress alone. It was my thyroid.

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The Lesson I Learned the Hard Way

During that third pregnancy, life was chaos. We had just moved across the country, then from an apartment to a new house, all with two toddlers in tow. I was working hard, not sleeping enough, and constantly running on adrenaline. Somewhere along the way, I lost my thyroid medication in one of our moving boxes, and didn’t think much of it. I told myself, I’ve been pregnant before, my body knows what to do.

At my first prenatal appointment, my OB checked my thyroid levels. She looked at the lab results and smiled, saying, “Everything looks fine. You’re good.” But what I didn’t know at the time was that the “normal” range she was referring to was based on conventional medicine standards. These are the same ranges used to identify disease, not optimal health. And my numbers weren’t fine. They were outside the range for what’s considered functional during pregnancy.

I believed her. I didn’t take my medication. And a few weeks later, I miscarried our baby girl at 15 weeks. I don’t share that lightly. It’s still tender. But it’s also one of the most defining moments of my calling: to help other women understand their hormones, their cycles, and their health through God’s design so that they can walk in confidence, not confusion. (Listen to this episode of the podcast, to hear more of my story).

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Why The Thyroid Matters So Much

If you’ve never thought about your thyroid before, you’re not alone. Most women haven’t. The thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland that sits at the base of your neck. It produces hormones that influence nearly every system in your body – your metabolism, energy, mood, digestion, fertility, and even your menstrual cycle. When it’s off, either underactive (hypothyroidism) or overactive (hyperthyroidism), everything else can start to wobble.

In fact, I often tell clients inside my Fertility Framework program that thyroid issues are one of the top root causes of hormone imbalance. When your thyroid slows down, your ovaries may not ovulate regularly, your progesterone can drop, your body temperature may shift, and conception can become much harder. And yet… most doctors only test one or two thyroid markers – usually TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) and maybe T4, and call it a day. But that’s like trying to read a novel by only looking at the cover.

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Functional vs. Conventional Ranges

Here’s the problem: most doctors use conventional lab ranges, which are designed to catch disease, not to optimize fertility. If your numbers fall within those wide conventional ranges, you might hear, “You’re fine.” But that doesn’t mean you’re thriving. Functional medicine, on the other hand, looks for optimal ranges with tighter margins that reflect where healthy, symptom-free people function best. Here’s a simple example: A conventional doctor might say your TSH looks fine if it’s under 4.5. However, a functional practitioner will usually want to see it between 1 and 2.5 for women trying to conceive or already pregnant.

That’s a big difference. When you look at your labs through a functional lens, it’s often like turning on a light switch. You finally see what’s been missing. Inside Fertility Framework, I share details on thyroid health, as well as functional ranges of hormones of which every woman should be aware.

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The Domino Effect of Thyroid Issues

The thyroid doesn’t work in isolation. When it’s under stress, it sends ripples through your entire system. A sluggish thyroid can:

• Lower your progesterone and make implantation harder
• Disrupt ovulation and shorten your luteal phase
• Affect your adrenals and stress response
• Slow your metabolism, leading to fatigue, weight changes, or hair loss
• Contribute to mood swings or anxiety

It’s not about blaming one organ. It’s about seeing the body as a whole, interconnected system designed by God for balance and flourishing. And the thyroid often acts like a thermostat for all of it.

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The Full Picture

If you suspect your thyroid might be off, or you just want to be sure, here’s what I recommend:

First, pray. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and peace about whether this is something to pursue. God cares deeply about your body and your healing journey.

Then, advocate for yourself. Ask your provider for a full thyroid panel, not just TSH. This should include:

• TSH
• Free T4
• Free T3
• Reverse T3
• Thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO)
• Thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb)

If your provider hesitates, you can respectfully say something like: “I completely understand this isn’t something you usually do, but I’ve been learning more about thyroid health, and I’d really love to see if my levels are within the optimal ranges for fertility.”

If they still say no, you can use a telehealth service like MidwifeRx to order your own labs and review them with a midwife or holistic practitioner. And to make it simple, I’ve put together a free Thyroid Lab Guide you can download that lists each test and the functional ranges that matter most for fertility.

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Clues Your Thyroid Might Be Off

Wondering if thyroid imbalance could be part of your story? Here are a few signs that might point toward thyroid imbalance:

• You feel tired no matter how much you sleep
• You have trouble losing (or gaining) weight
• Your hair is thinning or falling out
• Your hands and feet are always cold
• You struggle with irregular cycles or short luteal phases
• Your skin feels dry and dull
• You’ve ever been on hormonal birth control for a long time

The last one is important. Long-term birth control use can impact your thyroid by depleting nutrients and altering how your body converts hormones. So if that’s part of your history, this test is worth prioritizing.

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Balancing Your Thyroid Naturally

Inside Fertility Framework, we dedicate an entire module to inflammation and the thyroid because so often, thyroid imbalance is rooted in inflammation.

Here are some natural ways to support your thyroid:

• Eat a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory diet with plenty of whole foods, healthy fats, and minerals like selenium and zinc.
• Manage stress through prayer, worship, gentle movement, and rest.
• Prioritize sleep. Your thyroid heals when you sleep.
• Consider supplements like magnesium and vitamin D (with professional guidance).
• Stay connected to your faith and community; your mental and spiritual health impact your physical health more than you may realize.

And remember, sometimes thyroid medication is necessary, especially if you’re trying to conceive or already pregnant. In those cases, it’s not a failure to need help; it’s wisdom to support what your body can’t currently do on its own.

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Faith In The Process

If you’re feeling discouraged right now, like your body is broken or you’ve missed something important, I want to speak truth over you.

You are not broken.
You are not behind.
And you are not beyond healing.

Your body was created by a loving, intentional God who sees every cell, every hormone, every heartbeat. He designed your thyroid. He designed your womb. He designed your story. Sometimes healing takes time. Sometimes it takes courage to advocate for yourself. But through it all, the Lord is with you, guiding every step.

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Ready for Next Steps?