I’ve always thought of myself as a fit and healthy person; I was skinny and could eat whatever I wanted. I was consistently working out. I bounced back to my “pre-pregnancy” weight within a few weeks of having my first son (as a disclaimer, this did not happen with my second ;). From the outside, I looked great. From the inside, my body was yelling at me. And I was ignoring it. When my oldest was 10 months old, he started to develop red blotchy patches on his neck and back. It subsided, but his skin always felt off—like sandpaper. Fast forward a few months and I was expecting my second baby! A few weeks before I delivered, my oldest son started to develop worsening eczema patches. Fast forward another 6 or so months and I found myself with two young boys who were riddled with eczema. My younger son had cradle cap worse than I had ever seen in a baby. His ears were crusty and oozy and his body was covered in a dry, red rash. Meanwhile, my older son was constantly scratching at his elbows, knees, and ankles; sometimes bleeding, sometimes red and raw, always seeming uncomfortable. I had just started tip-toeing into the “crunchy” world and knew that the traditional steroid route for eczema wasn’t one I wanted to go down. Our pediatrician completely supported this, but she really didn’t have a lot of other options for us, other than hopefully they grow out of it. Over the next year and a half, you could find us battling several skin infections and sicknesses and trying about a dozen different “functional medicine” approaches to eczema—supplement protocols, gut testing, extremely restrictive diets, community Zoom calls—with none of them providing lasting relief. While I was ignoring the yelling from my own body, it took the *figurative* screaming from boys’ bodies to get me to listen. None of the programs we worked through actually addressed the root of the problem. They would claim that the yeast and bacterial overgrowths were the root; the food allergies and sensitives were the root; the products I was using were the root. But they weren’t; my stressed body was. And I’m sure your wondering: how did your stressed body affect your boys? Aren’t they the ones with the eczema issues? They were! But did you know that until the age of about 7, kids “share” a nervous system with their mom? Pretty crazy! And, *spoiler alert* as soon as I let go, as soon as I gave up the control and quit trying every protocol, every diet, every supplement, my boys’ eczema significantly improved! Before I was even pregnant, my body was in that stressed out state; from the food I was eating, to the lifestyle I was living, to the products I was using. All of these factors were depleting my body. I was severely undernourished; thanks to the processed foods I was eating because my metabolism was so great (or so I told myself), I was lacking so many nutrients; pregnancy will do that to you too! It wasn’t registering to me that the lack of energy, the bloating and gas, the baby blues, the headaches, the short cycles, etc. were my bodies way of trying to communicate with me, trying to get me to understand the stressed state that my body was in. Ultimately, the stress my body was under did make me prone to bacterial overgrowths and dysbiosis which ended up being transferred during pregnancy to both of my boys. So, while they did have “leaky gut” issues, as did I, they weren’t the root. Stress was. I could’ve saved literally thousands of dollars had I known that earlier. However, as cheesy as it is, I am incredibly thankful for this journey, because it’s what brought me here. It helped me discover my passion for nutrition and true health. I am so excited to work with others who are starting to hear the “yelling” from their bodies. Let’s listen together!