Posts Tagged ‘fertility

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18
Jun
08

I’m Baaack!

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Phew! Where do I begin? I got back last Friday but I’m still trying to re-acclimate myself to life on the West Coast.

Two weeks of jam-packed days on the East Coast and I found myself absolutely exhausted.

I ended up sleeping most of the weekend away and I am still finding my eyes shutting around 8:30pm each night.

I’ll have to blog the fun stories and experiences from my trip. For now, I just need to ease back into it slowly.

I’ve definitely fallen off the wagon with regard to my “diet” and I’m having a really difficult time getting back to it. I start off well in the am but somehow in the afternoon I get the urge to snack on no-no items. If diet were the only factor involved, I must be the mot infertile person at the moment. I am not supposed to eat seafood, that’s pretty much all I ate while I was away. Drinking like a bottle of wine every day could not be good either.

I can’t seem to bring myself to do yoga either.

Next week I will be good… Already looking forward to fun this weekend.

15
May
08

Welcome to my new world..

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So my Eastern Medicine “Practitioner” (not sure what the correct word is) told me today that I can only drink liquids that are room temperature, warm or preferably hot…

She tells me this on the hottest day of the season so far (it’s easily 100 degrees). Gulp, just before my appointment I had devoured an icy fruitsicle.

So, now I’m blogging drinking hot tea feeling like a dumb A and I had to take all of my cold drinks out of the refrigerator. Sigh.

But, all in all, I feel positive about my new Eastern Medicine Plan. My practitioner spent 45 minutes with me talking about the various procedures in store for me. She told me they would mix an herbal remedy. And of course she described my new diet… pretty much I will not be able to eat out in an actual restaurant anytime in the near future.

There goes my social life, officially.

The good news is I didn’t have to pay a dime, the first consultation was FREE! In contrast my previous “practitioner” charged me $275 the moment I walked in the door. Guess that’s just one of the many differences between Eastern and Western medicine.

08
May
08

Clean Living

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I have been eating so healthy, I think my toilet is deriving benefits!
(sorry)

I feel like I’ve learned more in the past week than I’ve learned in the past year…. With knowledge, comes further questioning and interest, so I’ve become a search engine hound – seeking more and more information on the subject of Eastern Medicine. I’m also looking forward to my accupuncture appointment next week.

I’ve come to realize that the body is a fragile system that relies on proper balance to function properly. Chinese medicine works by getting each organ back in balance. It also works to establish proper functioning of blood flow to each of the organs.

The confusion comes when you aren’t quite sure which aspect of your body is out of balance. In comparing my symptoms to the corresponding diagnosis, it seems like I could be off balance in multiple areas. So which remedy should I follow?

One remedy prescribes to eat lots of soy beans, the other says to stay away from soy products.

One remedy says to eat lots of pineapple, the other says to eat lots of raspberries.

One says eat lots of eggs, the other says stay away from dairy & cheese.

My diet has certainly become much more varied in the past week or so… bring on the wheatgrass, spirulina and tofu!

07
May
08

Okay, now we’re getting hokey..

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I’m onto the “positive affirmation” section of the Eastern Medicine book…

They recommend spending about 15 minutes a day repeating the following affirmations:

I am healthy and happy, my hormone levels are balanced.
My cycle is in tune with my body’s natural rhythm.
I will conceive a healthy baby when I make the conscious decision to do so.
I believe in myself, for I am incredible.
I am taking charge of your own fertility.

Come on now! Are you kidding? I think I need to draw the line here. What’s next? patchouli and nude colonies? I gotta keep my mojo, people. : )

05
May
08

A new approach

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I have made a turn in my pursuit to become fertile… I realized this weekend that the process I have been in just isn’t working. So, I’m going a different route. Instead of following orders and pumping mysterious synthetic products into my system (oh yeah and spending a boatload of my insurance company’s money), I am going to take on an active role. From now on, I’m calling the shots. (I can talk big can’t I?) : )

We’ll see how I feel in a coupla months… but, for now, I feel good about my new “project”.

I had already cut out caffeine, artificial sweetener and alcohol – well, in order to not feel deprived, I will allot myself a glass or so of vino per week : )

I figure, why not? Let’s go all out! I bought a book on Chinese medicine and fertility. I can’t put it down. It’s fascinating. Every single thing I’ve read thus far makes just too much sense.

The contrast between Eastern and Western medicine is stark. They give is following analogy: Western medicine is like throwing fertlizer on a plant, whereas Eastern medicine is about creating a fertile ground, using compost, etc.

So… in the fertility world, the Western medicine approach is to identify which hormones are lacking then hyperstimulate the system with synthetic hormones. Conversely, the Eastern medicine approach is the get the body back to a balanced state hormonally so the body does what it is supposed to do… for women, it’s have babies. Duh!!! How much sense does that make? It’s almost laughable.

I also booked an appointment at an acupuncture clinic that specializes in fertility, and I may go get some Chinese herbs too. It could just be that I need to get my Qi back. (if you don’t know what that means, go get a Chinese medicine book!)

I will keep you updated… watch this space!

28
Apr
08

The waiting game

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Looks like my eggs are happy as can be, comfy cozy, hanging out in my ovaries for now. I am thinking I may as well move into the Reproductive Science Center as the new instructions are for me to come back tomorrow if I get a positive OPK reading and Wednesday no matter what. As if I have nothing better to do! Don’t people work?!? Cause really this stuff ain’t cheap. I pay a copayment each visit and the costs are starting to add up – thank goodness insurance is covering 95% of treatment cost!

I tell all my friends with kids trying to figure out what to do with their lives…. get into the fertility industry — there is MONEY to be made, my friends.

24
Apr
08

So confused…

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I love V, she’s my personal fertility expert. Today, she sent me a vague email alluding to something called, “self-guided work” — as something I should be doing right now in light of my situation. huh?

She’s at work right now so I’m having a hard time getting a clear answer… but my head is spinning wondering what I’m supposed to be doing that I’m not. No wonder I’m having such a difficult time with all this!!

Time for patience.

24
Apr
08

Patience…

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… is not my forte. I am all about immediate gratification. When I want something, I want it yesterday.

Today was the first day I was supposed to use an OPK (ovulation predictor kit) and the test read positive. Trying not to get too excited, I had to stare at the two pink lines for a while. I had never seen a positive ovulation reading before (over 6 months of testing). As per direction from my doctor, I went in for an exam. Turns out it was a false positive. Man, talk about disappointment. The good news is things are “happening” and they expect a true positive sometime this weekend… But now I have to wait again (sigh).

I am in big trouble cause if my patience is wearing thing NOW… Boy oh boy. Let’s face it, the ovulation piece of the puzzle is a minor part of the ENTIRE process…

16
Apr
08

The Plan

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I had grand plans over the next week or so, but I must now put question marks next to each event on my calendar.

My new doctor gave me “the plan” today…. Ouch, I think they now own my life.

Last weekend, I had dragged my sweet husband to a cold, sterile, lab so we could get a boatload of blood tests done. No kidding, these people mean business. I left the room woozy after the lab technician drew 6 vials of blood out of me. I think Pete had 5 vials drawn.

The reason for the blood tests were to check to make sure neither of us are inflicted with any infectious diseases. Why should they care? They want proof that we are clean, in the event we try to sue them for giving one of us something during treatment! Man, I forget what a litigious world we live in.

I thought we were done with the red tape, but now they need us to come in to sign consent forms this Saturday (of course I had made plans for that day) — it’s not good enough if we were to sign and fax the forms in. NO… the forms must be signed in their presence — you know how I am, forging Pete’s name all the time. ; )

I start the drugs on Thursday – two a day for 5 days – then wait a few days, then at day 11, I gotta start testing. The moment I get a positive reading, I need to come in to get an ultrasound.

OF COURSE, knowing me and my luck, it will EITHER happen on day 11 (the day I have plans to attend the kick off party for the SF International film festival) OR on day 13 (the day I have plans to go to a music festival in Livermore).

(sigh)

I guess my doctors are just preparing me for what’s in store in the event all of this works — yeah, that’s right: no life!!
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