Going to the Pokey....and I Don't Mean Jail

Ever since we began the quest to bring our spawn into the world, I have become interested in a more natural approach to fertility. After a friend of ours told me about going to acupuncture to help her get pregnant, I became even more fascinated with Traditional Chinese Medicine. As I've mentioned before, I am deathly afraid of needles so the idea of me going to acupuncture took a lot of deep breathing and telling myself as long as it helps us get a baby, then the pain is worth it. So off I went to my acupuncturist, Chuck. Pretty quickly, I began calling it the "pokey" or the "pokey doctor." I'm all about nicknames. I was super tense the first time but overall the pain was not bad at all. It was nothing like the trauma I deal with anytime I have blood drawn because finding my veins is like finding a million dollar treasure in your backyard, not happening. Chuck went through my entire medical history including how my monthly cycles are, which was pretty weird to go into detail with a guy about, but he is super cool so it was all good. After finishing my history, checking my pulse and looking at my tongue, he diagnosed me with liver stagnation and blood stasis. Next came the needles. Like I said, they weren't bad at all. I have on occasion yelled out something like,"Holy Mother" when it hurts. Chuck told me that after about 1o minutes the endorphins would release and help me relax. I was like, "Uh..yeah, right." But it happened. It was amazing how relaxed I was after the first treatment. I became a believer after that and started weekly visits.

As part of my treatment, I also had to start taking my basal body temperature (BBT) daily which is a great way to track your cycles. No matter how great it is, it sucks. I hate having to remember to take my temp as soon as the clock goes off. From this, we learned that my BBT is super low. If the uterus isn'a warm, hospitable environment, then an egg will likely not implant. So began my herb regimen to warm up my insides. Low and behold, it's working. Now I'm going to the "pokey" every 2 weeks to get a treatment and pick up some herbs. I took a few crappy photos with my phone for you to see. I'll try to remember to bring the good camera next time. It also looks like I have a "cankle." That's completely untrue. I guess it was the angle of the picture. I had needles in my belly, too, but decided to spare you from the picture.


In other medical news, I got my liver function test results and I passed!! Yippee! I was able to start Metformin yesterday for the insulin resistance. I also got my sleep study results and I do have sleep apnea. BOO! I have to go back for another study tonight to see about getting fitted with a mask. I guess since Dave has a mask too, our baby could end up being a Darth Vader baby. I won't bore you with any more alien pictures though. One time was traumatic enough.

Although I'm not pregnant yet, I feel like I'm moving in the right direction. The acupuncture has relaxed me so much and helped me deal with the stress of trying to get pregnant. The herbs are doing their job to warm me up and hopefully, the Metformin will take care of the insulin resistance. I've never been the type to consider using "alternative" medicine until now. I hate I wasted all that time not even considering it. It feels like the right decision to not jump straight into all the fertility drugs like Clomid, or any other more invasive procedures. I want us to create this child naturally, the way God intended it to be.

Toastingly Yours,