Find out more and sign up for the Sleep Insight program here. 


Are you a parent who isn’t sleeping well and it’s affecting your entire family?


You’re more impatient because you’re tired all the time even though you want to be a good parent? You aren’t alone!


In this episode, you’ll meet Jane, a mom to a toddler who had been dealing with insomnia since pregnancy. We finally got to the root of her sleep issues and now she looks forward to bedtime again!


3 months into the program she wrote "It’s so much more easier for me to wind down and fall asleep these days. I actually get excited when it’s bedtime! Last night I slept 7.5 hours straight, which is unheard of Finally feeling like my body is getting the rest it so desperately needs. Thank you ”


Instead of ruminating about her bad sleep all the time, she’s now able to focus on other more important things such as going to the gym and savoring the magical time with her son while he’s young. Recently she even hosted a big party with friends and family that she said she wouldn’t have been able to do 6 months ago!


In this episode you’ll hear Jane tell her story so you can see that your sleep issues are fixable too. 


If you want to fix your sleep for yourself and to help your family, you want to sign up for the Sleep Insight program. It’s a 6 month group coaching program that includes:

  • functional lab tests and assessments to uncover everything that is causing your sleep issues
  • a customized and holistic plan so that you know exactly what to do to get your body back in balance and restore your health so you can sleep normally long-term
  • 6 months of support with weekly live coaching calls and daily group chat messaging to answer all of your questions and help you implement your plan so you can sleep well without sleep aids
  • a curriculum of to-the-point Smart Sleeper training about health, diet, blood sugar, mindset and sleep that you can start as soon as you sign up so you start improving right away.


Sign up here to get started today to find and fix what’s causing your sleep issues so you can sleep well without meds.


00:00 Introduction: Struggling with Sleep as a Parent

00:12 Meet Jane: A Journey from Insomnia to Restful Nights

01:36 Jane's Story: From Pregnancy Insomnia to Seeking Help

02:14 Challenges and Frustrations: The Impact of Insomnia

05:56 Exploring Solutions: What Jane Tried Before the Program

07:17 Discovering the Root Causes: Functional Health Insights

08:42 Making Changes: Diet, Supplements, and Lifestyle

11:29 Seeing Results: Improvements in Sleep and Life

12:35 Life After Insomnia: Energy, Parenting, and Celebrations

16:42 Conclusion: Join the Sleep Insight Program


Episode Transcript


Martha Lewis:

Are you a parent who isn't sleeping well and it's affecting your entire family? Maybe you're more impatient because you're tired all the time, even though you want to be a good parent. I want you to know that you aren't alone. In this episode. You'll meet Jane, a mom to a toddler who had been dealing with insomnia since pregnancy. We finally got to the root of her sleep issues in the Sleep Insight Program, and now she looks forward to bedtime again, three months into the program she wrote, it's so much more easier for me to wind down and fall asleep these days. I actually get excited when it's bedtime. Last night I slept seven and a half hours straight, which is unheard of finally feeling like my body is getting the rest. It so desperately needs. Thank you. So instead of ruminating about her bad sleep all the time, she's now able to focus on other more important things, such as going to the gym and savoring the magical time with her son while he's young.

Recently, she even hosted a big party with friends and family that she said she wouldn't have been able to do six months ago. In this episode, you'll hear Jane tell her story, so you can see that your sleep issues are fixable too. I'm Martha Lewis, AKA, the sleep detective. As a functional health coach for the past five years, I've helped myself and over 200 clients find the root causes of their health issues so they can consistently sleep seven to nine hours without drugs. This is the Sleep Detective podcast where you are learned why you can't sleep and how to fix it naturally. Hello, everyone. Right now I am talking to my wonderful client, Jane, so thanks so much for being here.


Jane:

Thanks so much for having me.


Martha Lewis:

Oh my goodness. Yeah, no, I so appreciate it. I'm excited to talk about your journey through all of this. We definitely chatted a while ago when you were still pregnant, and we kind of decided now isn't the best time to address everything, and unfortunately, sleep issues didn't go away after giving birth and having a baby. So yeah, if you could tell us how you were sleeping and what you were dealing with before or when you started the program, that'll be great.


Jane:

Yeah, so like you mentioned, I contacted you when I was pregnant. I had really bad pregnancy insomnia. It was just throughout my pregnancy. Sleep was a really hard thing to attain, and it got me feeling very anxious because I knew that it wasn't going to get better once I had the baby. We know that once you have a baby, the baby needs a lot of help to sleep, and that was exactly what happened. So I contacted you and just seeing what are some things that I could do to help myself while I was pregnant and afterwards and then connected with you after the baby was born. And I had a realization. I was like, I still need help with this sleep thing, because basically what would happen is yes, I went through that rough stage of newborn sleep, got through that, then he started sleeping better, but I wasn't when the baby's sleeping, I should be sleeping, but I can't. And there's so much anxiety around that. And so that's when I realized that I really needed some help because I was just feeling my self decline and I wanted to be there for my baby, and I wanted to be there for life, and I was an exhausted parent, but there was just this added layer of this insomnia that was keeping me from getting the rest that I needed


Martha Lewis:

And yet my story. And it was very similar starting pregnancy, not going away, even after the newborn stage and then realizing, okay, I still have a sleep problem. It's not just having a newborn anymore. It's so hard. I mean, it was so hard for me.


Jane:

And when other people can relate, those nights are really lonely. They're really emotional and they're really lonely, and you get stuck in your head of, how do I get out of this cycle?


Martha Lewis:

Yeah, totally.


Jane:

Yeah.


Martha Lewis:

I had some moments where I was like, what have I done having a baby at age 39? I had this great life then now I'm not going to sleep for 12 years or whatever. It turns out that wasn't true. Thank goodness.


Jane:

Yes, thank,


Martha Lewis:

Yeah. So he's sleeping. I'm sleeping. It's all good. Yeah. So if I remember correctly, you mainly had trouble falling asleep and then waking up too early, it would be really hard to catch that


Jane:

Sleep train. You would be tired and you'd be like, okay, I think. And then something would happen where it would jolt me back up. And then even when I did fall asleep, sometimes it would be really hard. I would wake up to use the bathroom. It'd be really hard to fall back asleep. And so there's just a lot of frustration in the middle of the night wakings. Yeah,


Martha Lewis:

Definitely. And then how was it affecting you during the day?


Jane:

Oh my gosh. It was just so hard to get things done. It was like you're just exhausted and you think, okay, I'm so tired. Maybe I'll sleep tonight and then you join that sleep debt that I'm building. I should be tired enough to fall asleep. But because my body, as we'll talk more later was going through some things, it just was not able to get the rest that it needed. And so it was this frustrating thing and it was just really hard to get things done, and your mood is really low because you're just so tired. I felt like I needed to protect my energy because there's only so much I can do, and it felt very scarcity mindset, which just puts you in a different place.


Martha Lewis:

Right. Yeah. Okay, thanks for sharing that. So what had you tried before starting the program?


Jane:

Yeah, so I mean, I had tried melatonin, used Benadryl and Unisom. The recommendation while I was pregnant was to use Unisom to get you drowsy. It didn't really help. I had tried CBD meditation was really helpful with during the day with stress, but I found it really tricky to use it to help me fall asleep in the sense if I was using the calm app or something, listening to a meditation, it would be helpful. But sometimes I would do that dozing off, but then there's still, meditation is still continuing. So then they would say another sentence and I would awake. I was like, wait, this isn't working helping. But I almost needed an app to know you're falling asleep. Well stop the recording. I don't think that happens. So it was like this tricky thing, like there's these apps that are made to help you get sleepy and fall asleep, but I'd find myself get to that stage of sleepy, but then have to wake myself back up to turn off the app and get my phone out of my room. I don't want to be sleeping with my phone in my room. So those were the things that I tried before.


Martha Lewis:

Yeah. Oh gosh. All the things for sure. Yeah. So what really stood out for you as to what the tests found and what the assessments found as well?


Jane:

Yeah, so I think there was a lot to be said from the, right now I'm having a hard time remembering all the tests, but with the one that looks at your digestive system, like checking out whether you have parasites or other things like that. So that was one of the main things like that. There was a parasite that needed to be handled. There was mold toxicity. My test results showed I was also low in potassium, magnesium, sodium, so there needed to be some boost in that. And then a huge one that I didn't realize was I was also slightly low in serotonin, and that was an eyeopener for me because I don't see myself, I've never needed medication for serotonin. It's people who are deeply depressed and I've never had that acute kind of experience, but seeing that I was low in serotonin was like, oh, okay. There's something I can actually do about that and that can actually also help my sleep.


Martha Lewis:

Yeah, awesome. And I was the same way. I was surprised to find out I was low in serotonin too. Again, I didn't have any depression and the mental symptoms that are common. So sometimes some of us sleep is the main thing that's being effective with serotonin. So yeah, I'm glad you've shared that as well. Yeah. Awesome. So what changes did you make and what do you think made the biggest difference?


Jane:

Yeah, so I went gluten-free and dairy free for a while. I'm actually eating here and there, but during the time during the program, I was very strict about it, which was really good for me. And I was eating probably the healthiest that I've eaten in a while. I really tried to be really good with managing my blood sugar when I was pregnant. I also had gestational diabetes, and so I knew that blood sugar levels was a big part of my issues and I didn't realize how much it affects sleep. So would've probably the number one, if I am really good with my blood sugar levels, that's going to help me sleep a lot better and keep me from having cortisol spikes that'll leave me in this weird limbo, sleepy state, but unable to fall asleep in a way.

And then taking all the different supplements that were recommended through the program. I took that very seriously and got all the little pelvic exposed to make sure that I was keeping up with that. And I think also being very intentional with being in tune with my body and your sleep program. You don't just talk about what you should put in your body, but how you should breathe and how you can manage stress and all those kinds of things. And I feel like in this time, I'm even more in tune with my body than I ever have been recognizing when I am really tense and cold chemical and being like, okay, I can relax and breathe through that to relieve stress or knowing I am feeling emotional Today I was feeling a little emotional and I was like, I need to just go and walk instead of just seething in my frustration, go out and walk and get moving. So those are some of the big changes that I got to make through the program.


Martha Lewis:

Oh, I love hearing that. I definitely want people to learn how to be more in tune with their body and then when you are, you know what to give yourself, you know what your body needs, you're saying go for a long, that's going to help. I know that's help before,


Jane:

And I feel like through this program, there was so much education on Yeah, exactly. Knowing what your body needs. I feel like after learning so much, I'm like, oh, okay, maybe, yeah, I need to probably stop eating gluten again because of the way I'm feeling or go dairy free or, oh, I know the supplements that were recommended. We get educated on what they're doing for each part of our issues. So, oh, if I am still having issues with this, I can continue taking that supplement to help me and I'm probably going to be taking magnesium for the rest of my life. Just a really important one.


Martha Lewis:

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Awesome. How long do you think it took you to notice improvement?


Jane:

Yeah, I would say I was looking back and thinking, I would say probably about three to four months things were getting better, but I feel like three months and four months into it, I was starting to, when I wasn't getting good sleep, I was like, oh, now this is the difference now, because it was being normal that I was actually to get that sleep. And so when I didn't, I'd be like, oh, that was a particularly bad night sleep versus the other way around. And so the biggest change that I saw was being able to fall asleep so much faster. When it was time to go to bed, I was like, okay, I'm ready to go to bed, and I can lay there and not be stuck in my thoughts or lay there and be like, oh, I'm still awake. Those nights became fewer and fewer and those stretches of good solid sleep started to get longer. It used to be like four hours. Okay, good. Oh, now it's six hours. Just getting that straight sleep before I need to wake up and use the bathroom.


Martha Lewis:

Amazing.


Jane:

Yeah, I would say it was around that three to four month mark.


Martha Lewis:

Yeah. Okay. Awesome. So how are you sleeping now? Because it's been a little over six months just, yeah, I would say


Jane:

Overall I'm sleeping just so much better compared to what I was six months ago. Like I mentioned before, falling asleep is now this, I actually am excited. I'm like getting go bed and just relax and fall asleep and then it happens, and then I'll usually get that six to seven hour stretch of good sleep before I have to wake up to use the bathroom. And then if it's a six hour one, I'll just go back to bed and rest a little. I might not do that full fall asleep. Even just laying there to rest helps me feel better. It's a restful thing. Similar with naps too. If I'm really tired, if I didn't completely fall asleep and that nap even just a little 30 minute rest helps my body just feel better. And then there will be nights where my original problem was I would wake up to a need to use the bathroom and then I'd just be wide awake, and then I was like, now it's over. But now when I do use the bathroom and it's time to go back to sleep, I can get more rest afterwards, which is a game changer honestly, because it's, it's just inevitable that I have to go use the bathroom sometime. And it's just been so much better. And it's felt like when I wake up, I feel rested and ready to take on the day before it was like I felt a train hit with how tired I would be if I didn't get the rest that I needed.


Martha Lewis:

Yeah. Awesome. Okay. Thank you so much. Is there anything else you want to


Jane:

Add? Yeah, I just want to say that we know how important sleep is, and it's almost before when I wasn't sleeping better, I was just thinking about it and ruminating about it so much because it wasn't going well. But now that I get to sleep a lot better, I have capacity to think about other purpose in my life. I'm not obsessed with getting better sleep these days because I know I'm going to be fine tonight and the next day. And so it almost opens up other parts of your life that you didn't get to have before because you were stressed out about sleep. And so really grateful for that part. And some things that have been improvements in my life is I'm going to the gym a lot more before I would be like, oh, I'm too tired to go to the gym. I'm just so sleepy. But now, no, I can go to the gym and I know that it's good for me and it's also going to help me sleep better tonight. And a huge thing is just having more energy for my toddler and being there for him. He's got so much energy and I want to be present with him and enjoy safer, this precious magical time because he's growing so fast

And being able to get the rest and sleep that I need helps me just be a better parent and enjoy life with my little toddler more. And I wanted to say one thing is this a few weeks ago, so it was Lunar New Year earlier this month, and we hosted a big party with a bunch of family and friends where I cooked up all this food and thinking about if this was six months ago, I would not have the energy to host a big party. I would just be like, no, I don't have energy for this. I don't want to do this. But because I am getting the rest that I need and that my body is looking for, I actually had the energy to cook up a feast for our family and friends and to host a party, and that's what I want to do with my life. I want to just enjoy my life in that way. So that's an eyeopener for me of just like, oh, yeah, I wouldn't have been able to do that six months ago. I would've been too tired.


Martha Lewis:

Oh, I love that. Thanks for saying that. That's awesome. I'm so happy to hear that.


Jane:

Yeah.


Martha Lewis:

Awesome. James, thanks so much for coming on. I really appreciate it.


Jane:

Yeah, thanks for having me again. Thank you so much. Of course,


Martha Lewis:

If you want to fix your sleep for yourself and to help your family, you want to sign up for the Sleep Insight Program. It's a six month group coaching program that includes functional lab test and assessments to uncover everything that is causing your sleep issues. Then you get a customized and holistic plan so that you know exactly what to do to get your body back in balance and restore your health so you can sleep normally long-term. You also have six months of support with weekly live group coaching calls and daily group chat messaging to get all of your question answered and to help you implement your plan so you can sleep well without sleep aids. There's also a curriculum of to the point trainings about health, diet, blood, sugar, mind and sleep that you can start as soon as you sign up, so you start improving right away. Sign up at the link in the show notes to get started to find and fix what's causing your sleep issues so you can sleep well without meds. Thanks so much for listening and I will talk to you next time.

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