09 Feb My story Jacqueline Tellis

Hi! I’m Jacqueline. I’m a mother to two beautiful girls, passionate about cooking and baking, and I write. 

It was back in 2004, before I became a mother, that I was first diagnosed with endometriosis. Not only did the diagnosis come as a shock as I appeared quite healthy, but it also sped up my biological clock – so to speak. Miraculously, with just standard treatment I was able to conceive normally a couple of years later. The pregnancy wasn’t easy – I had severe morning sickness, skin rashes, and bouts of vertigo, but in the end, I had a healthy, full-term baby via C-section.

Two years after my first child was born, I conceived again. And this pregnancy was a whole different story. Instead of morning sickness and lack of appetite, I was craving all types of food and it seemed like I could not stop eating. I had another healthy baby girl, but was so overweight post pregnancy that I could barely recognise myself. After 14 months of breastfeeding, I decided that it was time to take my health seriously and thus started my journey towards weight loss.

It wasn’t easy. I had a one-year-old and a four-year-old, and enough going on in my day to make me not want to eat healthy or get some exercise. But once I got into a routine, things got easier. I also read a lot about health and fitness to help me understand the various reasons for weight gain and how to tackle each of them for successful weight loss. You could say that for a while there, I was completely obsessed.

The obsession wore off eventually as I started seeing results and got back to a healthy weight. I was so proud of myself – I looked and felt great. But life decided to throw me another Googly – the endometriosis had returned and with a vengeance. Just a few years into my weight loss journey, I had to undergo a radical hysterectomy. All was well for a couple of years but then the lockdown hit and something changed. The combination of being stuck at home and my hormones going haywire destroyed all my hard work and I was heavier than I’d ever been my entire adult life. 

That’s when I decided that I couldn’t just make health and fitness part of my life, I needed it to be my whole life. I already had a master’s degree in Life Science and had always enjoyed learning about the human body, so I decided to enhance my knowledge and enrolled for a certification course in nutrition and dietetics. Armed with my new knowledge and credentials, I am now actively working on making myself the healthiest version of me.

Of course, with all this experience and understanding of health and wellness, the next step was naturally to share it with others. I chose my target demographic to be women, especially those going through experiences similar to mine. When Dr. Neha told me about Happy Birth-Day, joining the team was the perfect fit. I had been there and done that and sadly had struggled through most of it alone. But here was an opportunity to provide help and support to other women on this journey so that they can have the most comfortable experience possible.

Pregnancy and the first couple of years after childbirth are often glorified and shown as a blissful, happy time, but we know that that’s not the whole story. We understand the nausea, weird cravings, unexplained weight gain, swollen feet, sleepless nights, painful breasts…. I could go on and on. We know that many new and expectant moms could use a helping hand and the correct guidance during this time. So here we are, with our years of pooled experiences and qualifications to stand by your side and do everything in our power to ensure that this journey of your is as smooth as possible.