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For older women, wellness priorities can be pretty straightforward: To be our healthiest selves, we need to see the doctor for checkups, eat well, get regular physical activity, pay attention to our mental health, and avoid unhealthy behaviors.

Ed. note: This blog is cross-posted from the Huffingtonpost.com. The original post date was August 16, 2016. Read the original post.

There's a lot to remember when you're pregnant or a new mom — not just doctor appointments (though there are LOTS of them), but things like which medications to avoid during pregnancy or breastfeeding, how and when to introduce solid food to baby, and when you and baby need tests and vaccinations. New issues seem to come out of nowhere, and all of a sudden you're adding Zika to the list of things you need to learn more about.

As a doctor and medical school professor, I have seen firsthand that men and women experience the same health problems in different ways. Physical factors like body size or hormones can influence how diseases affect women and how treatments work for them. My experiences motivated me to work toward more personalized care by focusing on sex and gender differences in my research, teaching, and clinical care. They also led me to the FDA Office of Women's Health, where I work to educate health professionals and the public about women's health.

It's hard to believe that OWH has been around for only 25 years, especially when you consider all the progress that has been made in women's health — from the Violence Against Women Act to more effective birth control options to improved access to affordable, quality health care. We've talked a lot about these achievements, but not enough about the people who make our success possible. As we celebrate this milestone in women's health, I want to take a moment to recognize the OWH staff, because they've played a big role in helping us get here.

On Easter Sunday 2007, I woke up unable to move from the neck down. It sounds scary now, but I wasn't scared at the time. I just thought I was getting sick, which had become increasingly common for me and meant being really sick. Little did I know how sick I was.

Heavy menstrual bleeding. Painful periods. Fatigue from anemia. Never wearing white (ever). Spending hundreds of dollars a year on tampons and pads because you have to wear both. These are just a few examples of what it's like to live with uterine fibroids, a topic nobody wants to talk about. Uterine fibroids are very common non-cancerous tumors that develop in the muscle of the uterus that can change the quality of your life.

We make decisions that affect our health all day long — when to go to bed, how many drinks to have, whether or not to exercise, and so on. Our choices are often influenced by the people around us. For example, if your partner wants to skip the gym, you might want to follow suit. Think about how much easier it would be to make the healthy decision if the people around you were making that choice, too. When it comes to our health, a little support can go a long way!

On December 31, 2011, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl! It was something I had dreamed about for so long. I remember the day after she was born — I was crying on the phone with my midwife because I was so overwhelmed. My baby was so little and I didn't really know what to do.

Ed. note: This blog is cross-posted from HIV.gov. The original post date was June 13, 2016. Read the original post.