wellness / Health
Menstruation, Motherhood + Menopause
T
he title of this article indicate major life stages where hormones fluctuate, need change and your beautiful body can sometimes feel a little foreign. With a few tweaks here and there, you can confidently thrive through all of these chapters in life and find harmonious hormonal flow. YOUR HORMONES DURING MENSTRUATION A menstrual cycle starts with the first day of bleeding and ends with the start of the next bleed. A typical cycle is approximately 24 to 35 days; however, it is not abnormal for a woman’s cycle to occasionally be shorter or longer. Your menstrual cycle can be broken down
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into phases: the follicular phase begins on day one of your bleed. Without conception, a drop of hormones signals the uterine lining to shed and blood and tissue to leave the uterus through the vagina. Estrogen begins to increase to build up the uterine lining and mature the eggs. The ovulatory phase is usually days 10-16. Estrogen levels rise until they peak, triggering the most mature egg to be released from the ovary. Testosterone also rises, increasing your libido. Egg fertilization, marking conception, can only occur during this time. The luteal phase begins the day after ovulation through your next bleed (or until pregnancy is confirmed). An egg can be fertilized if sperm are present during the 12-
to 24-hour lifespan of the egg. If fertilized, the egg travels down the fallopian tubes to the uterus and tries to implant in the uterine lining. If the egg goes unfertilized or does not implant successfully, it will disintegrate, shedding along with the uterine lining during menstruation. Progesterone appears post ovulation (if you successfully released an egg). Progesterone thickens the uterine lining, so it’s ready for a fertilized egg to implant. If the egg isn’t fertilized, estrogen and progesterone levels plummet, triggering the uterine lining to shed, and bleeding begins. Ebbs and flows in hormones naturally occur during the menstrual cycle; however, the side effects of these fluctuations shouldn’t negatively affect your day-to-day life. Many women accept these side effects as normal when they’re common but not normal. Signs that your hormones could use some extra love during menstruation: • Painful or irregular periods • PMS and mood changes • Breast tenderness • Hormonal acne • Low energy, fatigue, burnout, chronic stress YOUR HORMONES DURING MOTHERHOOD Sperm and egg meet, marking conception and the official start of your mamahood journey. Pregnant women experience sudden and dramatic increases in estrogen and progesterone — the primary pregnancy hormones. The increase in estrogen during pregnancy enables the uterus and placenta to create and form new blood vessels, transfer nutrients and support the developing baby. Estrogen levels increase steadily during pregnancy, reaching their peak in the third trimester. The rapid increase in hormone levels during the first trimester contributes to the side effects many women experience during this time — nausea, bloating, constipation and fatigue. During the second trimester, estrogen plays a major role in the milk duct development that enlarges the breasts. Progesterone levels are high during
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