In 2018, pregnant with her third child, Kate Ames was exhausted. Already the mom of a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old, her friends and family told her the fatigue was normal. "You're a mom, of course you're gonna feel like crap and be tired all the time."
Ames, who lives in Arizona, remembers thinking, "I didn't know motherhood was going to feel like this."
Depression grew alongside her tiredness, so she went to her OB/GYN. They, too, told her it was normal and suggested therapy.
"I kind of got passed around to different doctors for different reasons," Ames, 35, said. She held a growing suspicion that something was wrong. "Different things would keep popping up."
Years later, when doctors and air quality experts found her symptoms were caused by undiscovered mold in her home, her relief turned to anger. Why hadn't they listened to her in the first place?
