Hi, everyone! My name is Madison Mayberry Hofmeyer; I’m a freelance writer and recipe developer living in Orange City with my husband, Joe, and two daughters, two-year-old Ainsley and four-month-old Collins. My husband and I both grew up in the area and lived in Central Iowa and Minneapolis before returning back to Orange City to be closer to family nearly two years ago. I’m excited to contribute to the Guiding Star Orange City blog!
I didn’t willingly or intentionally set out to learn more about women’s health – in fact, I had very little interest in the subject until my husband and I got pregnant nearly four years ago only to suffer a miscarriage soon after. We were living in Minneapolis at the time and the miscarriage took us by surprise. But, like many women who have miscarried, we were told it was incredibly common and that we would most likely have no problem carrying future babies to term. We got pregnant again a couple months later; we had the joy of seeing a healthy baby at our seven week ultrasound only to experience total devastation at our 12 week appointment when they informed us our baby had stopped growing around eight weeks.
Two consecutive miscarriages set me into research mode. I learned, on my own, as much as I could about cycle tracking, charting, temping, and more. The Internet is a wonderful and confusing place! My OB was not trained in the Creighton model, but looking back I’m so very thankful for how open she was to talking with me about the things I researched and answering all my questions. Together we came up with a treatment plan for my next pregnancy that was, coincidentally, much in keeping with Creighton model protocol. A short time later we conceived our daughter, Ainsley.
When we moved to Orange City when my daughter was just a few months old my primary concern was what type of fertility care I would be able to get in small-town Iowa. Knowing we hoped to get pregnant again, I was terrified to leave our OB and afraid it would be difficult to find other care providers who understood things like progesterone supplementation and monitoring in addition to the other health issues that had negatively impacted my fertility.
A couple friends who knew my background recommended I get plugged into Orange City Fertility Care. It was one of the first doctor appointments I made when we moved! And I was blown away by the care we received from the very first appointment. While I had an incredibly compassionate and knowledgeable doctor who worked closely with me to help us carry our older daughter to term, I realized once I was introduced to the Creighton Model Fertility Care System that there was so much I didn’t know about my body.
During our journey to our first daughter, much of my research was focused around how issues such as low progesterone could impact fertility, but I had no idea how much the Creighton Model had to offer in terms of tracking and observing many other issues relating to a woman’s overall health and wellbeing – extending well beyond childbearing.
When we were ready to try for our second baby I felt incredibly supported and prepared thanks to the groundwork we had laid learning and implementing the Creighton Model. While not without some bumps, our journey to our second baby was much easier and less eventful than the first time around. Four months ago we welcomed our first NaPro baby, Collins Elizabeth, into the world!
I’m looking forward to sharing more in the months to come about a variety of topics relating to motherhood and women’s health! In the meantime, you can find more of my writings and ramblings on motherhood and life over at Espresso and Cream.
