Meet Danielle Cheplowitz, a Kent Island mom, nurse practitioner and functional medicine practitioner who is passionate about optimizing health and cultivating resilience in the body. She specializes in preconception health and fertility – assisting her patients in reaching their optimal health potential, while also growing the family of their dreams. Danielle shares how she connects with her patients on a deeper level since becoming a mom, her *game-changing* food prep for easier days with her kids & how her family’s nightly routine inspired her to publish a children’s book!
Tell us a little bit about you and your family! Where did you grow up? How long have you lived in Annapolis?
I love being a mama! I have 2 kiddos. My daughter is 4.5 years old, and my son is 1.5 years old. I am from northern Baltimore County (Parkton, MD to be exact). My husband, Brett, grew up in Arnold and I always came to visit during college breaks. We decided to move to the Annapolis area once we graduated from Towson University. Our first house was in Arnold, and then we moved to Kent Island almost 8 years ago!! We love living near the water 🙂
You just wrote your first children’s book! Tell us what inspired you to write “Growing with Gratitude”.
My daughter loves to read books and tell stories at night before bed. We have a nightly routine where we tell each other what we were grateful for that day. Over time, I would jot down some of our responses because they were so pure and I didn’t want to forget them… and so the book was kind of born that way! I also have patients who are in this same season of life as me…. mothers with young children… and part of my treatment recommendations always include a daily gratitude practice. Unfortunately, this can sometimes feel like one more thing on the to-do list for them because it is hard to carve out time in their busy day. I felt that my book could be helpful for children, AND also for the mommies and daddies that read it to their kids!
You’re an Adult Nurse Practitioner at Turning Point Integrative Health Centers. What is your typical day like? How did you choose your career?
I am very fortunate to work two days per week (shout out to my amazing hubby!). I feel like I have the best of both worlds… I can have some professional time and then still have plenty of time with my family. I am an adult practitioner that practices functional medicine. Functional medicine is an individualized, patient-center, science-based approach that addresses the root underlying causes of symptoms and disease. I love my work because I have the time to treat the whole patient (mind/body/spirit) and I promote optimal wellness. While I do focus on lifestyle, herbs, nutrients, I can also prescribe and do all of the other things conventional practitioners do too. I’m not sure why, but I always wanted to specifically be a “nurse practitioner”. Once I was working as a registered nurse in the ICU, I knew I wanted to work with people to prevent illness instead of treating it acutely.
What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I tend to be a worrier. I blame it on my profession and “knowing too much”. Haha!
What’s something you love that’s just for you?
Journaling! It feels great to not consciously think about anything and just write… and also amazing at what comes out— things that I didn’t even know were in my brain!
Best mom hack that makes your life easier.
I love making the kid’s lunches and snacks the night before. Even when I’m not working the next day and they don’t have school or daycare. This way if we want to go out somewhere that we didn’t plan for, we can just take the food and go. No one wants to scramble around in the kitchen with hungry children clawing at your legs.
Best advice for mom guilt?
I’m definitely not perfect at managing mom guilt. Whenever it strikes, I try to honor my feelings and remind myself that I’m doing the best that I can and I am enough.
Who has most influenced you to be the mom you are today?
My own mama! Many of my amazing girlfriends. And maybe a few Instagram accounts lol
Name something you hope your children look back and remember about their childhood and you as their mama.
I hope that they remember how much love I have for them. And our fun kitchen dance parties!
What’s your favorite family activity to do in the Annapolis area?
We love all playgrounds! We also enjoy wondering around downtown Annapolis on a beautiful spring or fall day 🙂
What’s your favorite thing about raising a family in Annapolis?
I love the water access… swimming and boating are some of our hobbies and we wanted our kids to grow up feeling very comfortable on the water.
What have you learned from your children?
SOO MANY THINGS!!! Wow. I feel like my children are my greatest teachers…honestly. I think the most powerful thing they have taught me is to live in the moment because you will never get that same moment back.
Greatest gift about being a mom.
Watching each and every milestone that your child makes. Seeing the people that they become. Watching them bring joy to others.
How has your job shifted your perspective of Motherhood?
I would say that now that I am a mama, I am always looking at patients as “someone’s son/daughter/mother/father”. Looking at others this way helps me connect with my patient on a deeper level.
How has your community been instrumental in getting you to where you are now?
I have the best friends a girl could ask for! I love watching my friends parent their children and I learn so much from them. It has definitely shaped how I parent. And I also have to mention that I have the best in-laws and parents who truly love my children, and they will always come help watch the kids at a moment’s notice so that I can carry out my other non-parental duties. Their support definitely keeps me sane!!
We love to support local businesses! What are your favorite local places to:
Get coffee: Rise Up
Go on a date night: Vin 909 ! But we also always end up shopping at Whole Foods after lol
Go out for a girls night: If I have a sitter, I will go anywhere!
Go out to dinner as a family: Bark (on Kent Island)
Get your hair done: Levity (on Kent Island)
Shop for your kids: Dream Baby Decor
Get your nails done: I don’t really get my nails done, but if I do, its at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club Spa
Have fun as a family: Councell Farms on the Eastern Shore
Vital Aspirations is a service that uses the functional medicine model to optimize fertility and general wellness. While utilizing cutting-edge science in tandem with traditional eastern wisdom, Vital Aspirations applies a systems-biology approach to uncover the root cause of fertility struggles, restoring flourishing health from the ground up. Danielle Cheplowitz, CRNP, AGPCNP-BC, IFMCP is also an Adult Nurse Practitioner at Turning Point Integrative Health Centers, where they focus on prevention and wellness, rather than simply treating disease states with traditional prescription and allopathic remedies.
Photography by @amydunkelphotography
