How I Became a Motherhood Coach: My Personal Journey

When I became pregnant with my first child, I was 25, serving as a Nuclear Missiles Officer in the United States Air Force. I perceived myself as pretty healthy. I wasn't overweight, I could consistently score well on the Physical Fitness Assessment for the Air Force, and I ate relatively healthy. About 3-4 months before I became pregnant, I ate healthier, took a prenatal, took one extended break from work, and bam! I was pregnant, ecstatic, and so excited for the future.

I'm an avid reader, so I started purchasing books to learn more about my pregnancy and to prepare for postpartum. I knew that in Asian culture, the postpartum period held significance and involved specific herbs or foods, but I was unsure of the details.

I found Ou's book "The First Forty Days" and absolutely loved it. It was an excellent solution for a half-Japanese Asian American stationed in Minot, North Dakota. It blended Eastern and Western traditions and listed ingredients that were accessible and familiar to me.

As my excitement grew with my pregnancy and my knowledge about fetal development, the excitement and hope of learning and reconnecting more with my Asian roots with cultural postpartum practices and traditions grew. I was unknowingly dismissing significant factors of my present health that I didn't realize were slipping or dying off.

My exercise habits were trickling to a stop as I developed nausea and fatigue, on top of working inconsistent shifts. I stopped going outside and didn't see the sun as much as I should have because I was too tired from developing the baby and working during my rest days. And I started to crave sweets nonstop.

It wasn't until the end of my second trimester in the dead of winter (it can get to -20 degrees Fahrenheit in Minot) that I realized that I hadn't been eating as well as I thought I was (I had an aversion to all raw veggies and cooked veggies were meh at the time), I'd been eating way more sweets than usual, and I'd hardly exercised in months.

What truly hit me, though, was when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was shocked, and it felt like an attack on my identity. I thought I was healthy, and this defiant attitude persisted throughout my pregnancy.

I made progress and made changes to my diet. Still, it was difficult to stay accountable, change my habits, and make lifestyle choices all within the remaining time I had left being pregnant. It felt like too much. Some of the changes stuck with me postpartum, but I had to move to another Air Force base 2 months after I gave birth, and 5 months into our new home, I was pregnant with my second son.

I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes once more. I was better about food, but my lifestyle was much more stressful. I was running on little sleep and found it challenging to change my habits to be healthier in my sleep, movement, and stress lifestyle. It wasn't until I was about 10 months postpartum and ready to separate from the military that I realized I needed significant changes to happen soon.

I felt tired, bloated, and puffy. My weight was not coming off like I thought it would after my first, and I felt overall unhealthy. I felt something was off with my health and realized I needed extra help. At the time of this revelation, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do post-military.

I found health coaching listed in great teleworking jobs. I looked it up and found a general and reputable health coaching school called the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. The course was all online with flexible deadlines, and it taught me a lot about the various alternative, holistic, and integrative methods of maintaining your health.

Through one of the modules, I discovered functional medicine, and it was love at first sight. I was lucky to find a clinic in my small town of Great Falls, MT. There, I worked with a physician with functional medicine training and a health coach to tackle the root cause of my health problems.

It was one of the best decisions I made for my health and professional development. My puffiness and swelling went away, I was more in touch with my body’s needs, and I learned new skills and knowledge about how to live to support my health. And when it came time for me to figure out my future after the military- I knew what I wanted. I wanted to help mothers like me—moms aspiring to feel healthy, nourished, and empowered to make decisions to preserve their wellness.

Inspired by the change in my health, I enrolled in the Integrative Women's Health Institute (IWHI) to become a health coach with a functional medicine approach to help mothers. I became pregnant for the third time at that time (I have Thriven Functional Medicine Clinic to thank for that!)

Being an IWHI student was a transformative event and the start of holistic changes toward my health and wellness. I learned the reasons behind healthy choices, the importance of certain nutrients for women's health, the negative impact of certain foods, and how to manage chronic stress and its effects on health. Best of all, I could practice my coaching with fellow non-medical background students, physicians, doulas, nurses, midwives, dietitians, and master coaches.

Coaching is so powerful. I learned so much about myself, why I did certain things, and unearthed thoughts, feelings, and dreams that I repressed in order to move on and deal with the stress of the day. Coaching is something that all mothers need. Especially after having their first child. Let me give you an example.

I had just a 20-minute practice session with a student health coach, and all we talked about was how I wanted to change my morning routine. I felt heard as I spoke about my ideal morning routine, realizing I was subconsciously prioritizing everyone else's schedule over my needs. I also learned that my inconsistent sleep schedule from Active Duty to support flip-flopping between night and day shifts still affected me at that moment. At that point, I'd been separated from the Air Force for almost a year! That one conversation opened my eyes to habitual behaviors that were holding me back from how I wanted to live me life.

With that epiphany, I filed my LLC a week later, and Mama Duty became official. I then started my own Women's Health Coaching Company, dedicated to helping women in early motherhood (up to 4 years postpartum) change their habits and lifestyle choices that are holding them back from meeting their health and wellness goals.

I'll be honest, though. I didn't start coaching right away. I may have formed my business, but I had to walk the talk. I was pregnant, had two toddlers, adjusting to stay-at-home mom life, and moved to a new state two months before my due date. So, I waited until a year postpartum with baby number 3 to take pro-bono clients and wait for daycare for my kids.

Then, my husband deployed for the first time. My children were slowly accepted into daycare while he was gone, and I eventually felt ready to take paying clients. It was a challenging and stressful time. I felt overwhelmed with finding clients, learning how to grow a business, and keeping up my coaching skills. Let alone keeping up with the house, the kids, and my needs.

I had a bottom line, and that was protecting my overall health and wellness. I knew what to do, though. Health coaching was my secret weapon.

I employed the help of a health coach through Military OneSource, which was free. Though it was general health coaching and only 20 minutes long, it helped me stay accountable for my health and wellness. My coach challenged me to implement new habits and routines for my personal life so that I could pursue my passions and ambitions.

So, as you can see, a 20-minute practice session with a student health coach was powerful. A 20-minute coaching session with a general health and wellness coach kept me from falling apart. Imagine what continuous sessions with a coach dedicated to serving your specific problem for 30 minutes or more would look like! Transformational.

Through coaching and being coached myself, I learned that health is more than how well you eat and how much you exercise. It's about your levels of happiness, joy, and satisfaction in life, the quality of your relationships, and the support you have in your life. 

It's about your current skills, education, mindset, and ability to be present, have good coping skills for life's bumps, and create a story that serves you.

It is about being able to be heard, voice your wants and needs, and pursue and cultivate your passions. It is your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. They all come together as your health and wellness.

As my children enter elementary school and my youngest navigates the spirited toddler years, health and wellness have become pillars of my motherhood journey. It took me a few years to find my path. Still, I've learned invaluable lessons through my experiences at IIN and IWHI and my own hardships, successes, and failures.

If you want to learn more about how health coaching can help you or a mother or mother-to-be, click here for a quick chat. If you're struggling with your motherhood journey and want suggestions or support on options available through my programs, click here. I would love to be a listening ear and explore the possibilities with you.