Guest, Elizabeth Tiglau-Guss, opens her heart to us in today's episode to share about her fertility journey. After marrying her husband later in life, they pursued assisted reproductive technology and adoption, but ultimately remained childless. She shares the grief of her journey and how they've come to the point where they feel they are thriving instead of merely surviving. We appreciate Elizabeth's honesty and willingness to share on the show! Caitlin had the privilege of...

Amanda and her husband had tried everything but IVF on their road to try to conceive. After failed IUIs and no known diagnosis beyond unexplained infertility, they felt stuck and frustrated. Amanda had had cycle issues for years, but had always used birth control to suppress symptoms. Now, it seemed like they could be contributing to their infertility. A friend reached out with a different option and a new perspective: restorative reproductive healthcare. The rest is history. Hear Amanda's st...

Why do women seem to be so fed up with birth control? I mean, they should just be grateful not to be pregnant, right? Wrong. Recently, a client sent me an article where researchers question the experience of women on birth control and I just had to respond. Maybe your own side effects and experiences have been doubted? Maybe you've been told it's all in your head? Well, that is unacceptable and today's episode dives into why. In this episode we talk about: Birth control aspects that wom...

Do single women who aren’t trying to get pregnant need to worry about women’s health? Fertility? If you’re not trying to get pregnant, do periods matter? Hormones? All of it? The answer is YES! They matter for a multitude of reasons that you may or may not have heard. The health and wellness of single women is just as important as women who are married or trying to get pregnant. In a world focused on birth control until you’re trying to conceive, it can be a bit confusing. In this episode, he...

Here at Woven Well, we are all about empowering women — but what about young girls? Absolutely! In today’s episode, host Caitlin Estes chats with Dr. Julia Sadusky about how to talk to young girls about puberty, periods, and sexuality. We talk about how to have early conversations (and how early to start them), what to cover vs not cover, and how conversations with trusted women can build confidence, normalize periods, improve body image, and empower young girls to embrace God’s design for th...

What if your menstrual cycle is sending you signals about your overall health? Dr. Mary Davis joins us to talk about how undiagnosed autoimmune issues can impact our periods, fertility, and overall women’s health (not just our overall health and wellness)! As a functional medicine and osteopathic physician, she often works with complex, chronic illness. She believes it’s important to focus on preconception health and address ongoing issues like inflammation and Hashimoto’s disease (a common a...

Single ladies with menstrual cycle issues aren’t given much time and attention. “If you’re not trying to get pregnant, it’s not worth treating.” This is what Jen heard when she complained of long, irregular cycles and frustrating symptoms. She suspected PCOS, but getting a good diagnosis and treatment was harder than she thought. She believed she deserved excellent care NOW before she was ready to conceive and so she went in search of it. Jen shares her story of the transforming power of usin...

When it comes to balancing reproductive hormones, it’s hard to know where to start. There are so many things that impact our women’s health and wellness. I’ve invited Dr. Kela Smith, a holistic integrative fertility and hormone doctor, to share 5 effective strategies for balancing women's hormones. Dr. Kela shares her personal journey with infertility and the foundational principles she developed to help women achieve hormonal balance.. We discuss her top 5 suggestions, her unique “puzzle met...

Can we talk about stress? We all have it, but do we all know how it can affect our cycles and reproductive health? It’s so common that we underestimate the influence it has on our lives. Without this knowledge, we’re stuck feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, and confused. Today’s episode dives into how to recognize stress, ways to reduce it, and when to honor it. NOTE: This episode is appropriate for all audiences. Ready to learn the Creighton Model System? Now's the perfect time! You can regist...

Did you know that gut health and blood sugar affect your reproductive hormones? Did you know that Creighton model cycle charting can point to digestive health issues and glucose/insulin irregularities? Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Rita Johnson, packs this episode full of stories, explanations, and practical tips that help us all notice the connection and prioritize our health through the things we eat each day. You will love hearing from her! NOTE: This episode is appropriate for a...

A positive pregnancy test comes with a tidal wave of emotions and, sometimes, fears. Will everything be okay? How will we afford this? What if something happens? New struggles emerge as you approach labor and delivery. Can I do this? How will I handle the experience? What if something goes wrong? While these may seem like practical questions about pregnancy and delivery, they are also deeply spiritual in nature. Will God be with me? Can I trust God with this pregnancy? Laura and I discuss som...

Pimples aren't just for teenagers, especially when they are caused by hormones. Women struggling with hormonal acne are often given one option and one option only: birth control. But what if you don't want to use birth control? What if you want to get to the root of the problem? Is it possible? Is there a solution for hormonal acne? These were the questions our client Maddie faced after years of acne struggles and very few answers. She joins us to share her honest story of deciding to c...

Painful intercourse is a horrible experience for many reasons (especially when you're told to just relax or that it's all in your head...). Our guest today, Occupational Therapist Jess Seitz, shares how she uses her degree and personal experience overcoming 8 years of vaginismus to walk women through healing. This isn't just for the married ladies, though, but any woman experiencing pain inserting a tampon, having a pelvic exam, etc. She discusses the keys to success, including addressing the...

When it comes to reproductive rights, we often think of birth control and abortion -- maybe even IVF in more recent days. But are those things truly the pinnacle of women's health? Or is there more available to us? This episode explores how a perspective shift on women's empowerment could have the power to change the fertility education, healthcare advocacy, and confidence of generations of women to come. NOTE: This episode may not be appropriate for all audiences; it does use terms lik...

We tend to think of women's health as it relates to getting pregnant, not physical health or even health later on in life, but Caitlin and Laura sit down to discuss how estrogen impacts everything from bone health to cognitive function, and why it's vital for both reproductive and overall well-being. We talk about natural ways to improve estrogen levels (like weight-bearing exercises) and how maintaining healthy estrogen levels can protect us well into our later years. Whether you're in your ...

Imagine being weeks out from your wedding and your doctor telling you you have to stop your birth control immediately. How terrifying! Not only is your health a concern, but what about the honeymoon?? How will you not get pregnant (if that's not your goal)? This is what happened to Robyn when she was still in medical school and just weeks away from marrying her husband. Full of questions, she transitioned to fertility awareness methods and shares how this deeply (and positively) impacted her ...

We're told birth control is safe and effective and side effects should be temporary, but what happens when that's not our experience? How can we know what's a side effect from birth control vs unrelated? Doctors often evaluate physical side effects like bleeding or cramping, but mental and emotional side effects are just as important to our quality of life! Today Caitlin and Grace chat about the mental and emotional side effects she and others have experienced on birth control. NOTE: Th...

The first thing many doctors do when a couple is struggling to get pregnant is run some lab work. AMH is a common lab run that suggests your "egg count" and is often interpreted as your future ability to get pregnant successfully. Dr. Codruta Pandaleche, a restorative reproductive physician from THE leading RRM clinic in the world (NeoFertility in Ireland), shares why AMH is NOT an indicator of fertility. If your doctor is telling you you need to pursue IVF because of low AMH levels, listen t...

When thinking about women's health, it can feel overwhelming to know where to start. Tori Black is a Hair & Tissue Mineral Analysis tech who helps her clients focus on the foundational aspects of our body's building blocks, which affect every system of our bodies. In this episode, she talks about what HTMA is, how it can help prioritize where to begin, and what it can reveal. GUEST BIO: Tori is a registered nurse, Mercier Therapist, and fertility coach with a passion for helpi...

Weddings are the start of so many new, wonderful things -- and it's also the first time you and your spouse have the possibility of having a baby! There's so much to consider. This episode explores some of the main questions related to using a natural birth control system on your honeymoon! Will a fertility awareness method actually work for us on our honeymoon? How far before our wedding should we begin learning one? What if my cycle is different the month we get married?&nbs...