An FDN Fertility Journey: Dayna’s Perspective
Think of the most encouraging person you know.
Likely, that person will be selfless, thoughtful, positive, kind, and content despite difficult circumstances.
The Oxford dictionary defines encouraging as “giving someone support or confidence; supportive”.
I love that definition because at our core, I think we all lack confidence in some area. We remember our insecurities and shortcomings and these things stick with us and can cause issues throughout our adult life.
When we meet someone who gives us support or confidence, we remember that feeling. We are endeared to that person because they make us better. 
That’s Dayna, my friends. She loves the Lord above all things. She sacrifices cheerfully to serve her large, sweet family. She is devoted to her husband and contentedly finds new ways to serve him and care for him. To be around their family is to experience rest, peace, inclusion, and love. She makes those around her better.
I don’t become close with all of my clients, but I do come to love them as friends and even family. I’m blessed to call Dayna a real life friend. I’m thankful to be her sister in Christ. And I’m overjoyed to get to share her fertility journey with you. Jonathan Jace is a true answer to prayer.
Dayna and Cesar worked hard, trusted big, and learned much. But as with all good things in life, God gets the glory. Truly, great things He has done! Read on for her story.
My name is Dayna Menjivar and I am 34 years old. My husband and I have been married for 11 years. We have five children, two boys and three girls. In July of 2019 we miscarried our baby around 7 weeks. Then in December of 2019 we miscarried our baby at 13 weeks. I was devastated, I had never experienced such deep grief. I remember holding my 13 week old baby in my hands; marveling at how this baby was so perfectly woven together, yet lifeless. We decided to seek medical attention after the second miscarriage to identify if I were having underlying health issues. I was confused , after having five healthy pregnancies and babies, why I was no longer able to carry a baby to full term. My doctor ran blood work, did an ultrasound and I was even referred to an endocrinologist. However, I wasn’t receiving the help I needed. I was told repeatedly that I should consider my age or that miscarriage was very common. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to receive that answer I was so desperately desiring. I did believe that God is sovereign and that we don’t always have answers to sorrows, but I also believed that there were deeper rooted issues with my health and with my hormones.
My doctor did agree to run blood work on my female hormones. I knew nothing about hormones at the time, but when my results came back I was appalled to see how my numbers were so low. I immediately started doing research to see what I needed to do to improve my hormones. I knew that I needed help and didn’t know where to begin. One day I was discussing my situation with a friend and she suggested I reach out to Jen Woodward. I called Jen immediately and briefly shared my story with her. She listened to me, and compassionately shared in my grief. She didn’t make me feel like I was just another statistic, or that I should accept the fact of a miscarriage and that I should move on. After talking with her I knew I wanted to work with her, she was going to dig deeper into my health, and so my journey began.
Jen looked at my blood work and came up with a specific personalized plan as to what dosages and supplements I should be taking. She explained to me that in order to get back to health and healthy hormones I needed to focus on five areas. Diet, Rest, Exercise, Stress relief, and Supplements (DRESS). When I first came to Jen the only symptom I had (or thought I had) from low unbalanced hormones, was the miscarriages. However, as Jen began to dig deeper and ask questions I soon began to realize I had many more symptoms. Some included; the inability to sleep through the night, anxiety, and unhealthy periods. Within three months I did begin to see good changes and was very thankful. However, my hormone levels, through blood work, were still coming back low, and I still wasn’t sleeping through the night. I continued to learn from Jen and implement what she was teaching me. I remember she told me it would take time for my body to balance out. However, according to my watch it wasn’t fast enough. I was ready to have healthy hormones and be sleeping through the night. Around 6 months we ran blood work to check my hormones and made some adjustments to the supplements. Also, to mention I still wasn’t completely focusing on rest and stress relief yet( the way I should have been).
I remember telling my husband I was afraid if we change the supplements my body may not respond well. He told me Jen wanted to aggressively attack this from the beginning. (Jen was always very patient and listened to my concerns). My husband said it was time for me to aggressively attack this. Lesson: Nutritionist/teacher…and husband know best:). We added supplements and changed the dosages for the existing ones I was tasking. I then joined my first RESET, with other ladies, while continuing to work on my specific instructions. Another symptom I was continuing to have was extreme exhaustion. I thought this was “normal” because I was a busy mom. My good friend was also in the reset group. She told me Jen recommends putting salt in water to help boost energy. So I tried it. I was completely shocked and couldn’t believe it, I was noticing a major difference in my energy levels daily. I had removed salt from my diet for about three years at that point due to an ear condition I have. Even though the removal of salt from my diet helped the vertigo go away that I was experiencing, Jen helped me realize I was completely depleting my body of the nutrients salt contains to have healthy adrenals. I began cooking with Celtic salt and intaking it regularly. I also learned that Celtic salt had the proper nutrients I needed, different than table salt. Therefore by Gods grace the vertigo did not return. I continued to see an immediate change in my energy levels.
It was in that reset where I also began to implement stress relief, through leisure time. Which I learned was completely doable and necessary. Twenty to thirty minutes of quiet time by myself in the afternoon. I also begin to make rest a priority. I stuck to a bed time routine and went to bed at a good hour. Within a few weeks I was sleeping through the night without waking up. I give thanks to the Lord. I saw first hand when I started implementing the DRESS protocol (diet, rest, exercise , stress relief, and supplements) holistically as opposed to just picking one or two real change began to happen. I did hormone blood work again and my numbers were finally going up. DRESS was not just a duty list but became more of a lifestyle. During these past two years I have learned so much about listening to my body and slowing down. The diet was extremely beneficial because I realized I was depriving myself of nutrients I desperately needed for healthy hormones.
Stress relief and rest was a major challenge at first because I realized that I had years and years of bad habits of constantly moving. I was like an energize bunny. I rarely slowed down, I didn’t think I was being negatively affected. In fact I would wake up in the middle of the night at 3 am and was happy because that meant I got to have a few more hours of sleep. God really began to show me I not only needed to physically slow down but I needed to slow my mind and heart down and rest in Him.
It’s been a long road and many days were not easy. I had lots of tears as Jen and I began to break down the walls of what was contributing to my imbalanced hormones. It was always my desire to be able to carry a baby to full term again. However, my focus and attention was getting my body back to full health so that I could be able to serve my husband and children well that God had blessed me with. I wanted to have the energy and strength to be my very best for what was in front of me. The extra (cherry on top) would be if God allowed me to have another baby. Through this journey I learned that so many women suffer with imbalanced hormones.
Jen reminds me that we don’t ever “arrive” on our health journey, we are just continuing to move forward. We will never have perfect hormones, but they certainly can move toward being healthy. It is May of 2022 and I am happy to announce I just delivered a healthy baby boy- Jonathan Jace Menjivar . His name means God has given , the Lord of salvation.
I am so thankful to Jen who has patiently, and diligently taught and encouraged me in my health journey. The Lord has truly used her to teach me how to have a balanced lifestyle with healthy hormones. I am also thankful to my husband who has faithfully stuck by my side supporting and praying for me . Most importantly, I give praise and honor to my Lord Jesus Christ who is writing my story, and tenderly walking with me in every season of my life.
