Over the past few weeks I have had several people mention doing acupuncture for infertility. I actually tried acupuncture last year before I started going to Dr. Starks. At that time I had no idea I had endometriosis so I don't believe the doctor knew how to treat me correctly - due to no fault of his own. Shortly after starting the acupuncture I started going to Dr. Starks. It was all becoming a little too expensive so I stop going to Dr. Sherman. It was so relaxing and I felt great afterwards but at the time I needed to choose between the two and the acupuncture didn't win.
Well, after several great success stories that I have heard recently we have decided that I should give acupuncture a try again. I was recommended by a friend to Dr. Mary Zhang at the Chinese Medicine Clinic. Last Thursday was my first appointment. Within 10 minutes of meeting with Mary she felt that I might have some sort of blood clotting/flow issue that is enabling me to get pregnant. So she wrote out a plan for me to follow with her. I will go to her 2x per week for 6 weeks and then 1x per week for the following 6 weeks. I am also taking a handful of herbs that she has recommended will help me with ovulation as well as my endometriosis and anything else that might be wrong! I have stopped all caffeine intake as well as no alcohol. My workouts have changed from bootcamp to yoga. And next week Dr. Mary will go over a nutritional plan with me. So, it is pretty much a complete turn around of my entire life. I figured things weren't working out the way I had been doing them so why not try the complete opposite! It has now been 5 days since my first appointment with Mary and I can already tell a difference in the way my body feels. I seem to be a lot more relaxed as well. If anything, I feel good! Over the past few months I have been so bloated from all the hormones and pills that my other doctor had been giving me. I just needed a changed of pace and wanted to feel normal again. We have decided to skip this month's IUI and wait another cycle or two before trying that again.
We are also still exploring adoption. We have been reading "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Adoption" that was recommended to us by a family who has adopted. Once we feel comfortable with the research we have been working on we plan to start meeting with a few agencies and hopefully setting up a profile with one or two. It is by no means an easy process so we want to make sure we know as much as we can before we jump in!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Suspense is Over
The suspense is over......we didn't have success with the IUI this month. We were very upset to hear this news but life will go on! I actually went in today to have my baseline sonogram to see if we could start another round of the IUI. Unfortunately, my lining was too thick again and I had a few cysts. So, I am back on the meds to thin the lining for another 3 weeks. What an evil cycle it is - this thing called infertility! We will go back in around the first week of June to see if we are "approved" to try one more time.
In the meantime, Glen and I have been researching, praying and weighing our options on other methods of expanding our family. We attended a class on Natural Family Planning that our church offered a few weeks ago. It was a very informational class that we plan to start practicing after we give the IUI at least one more shot. It is a method of charting your cycle daily and then working with a practitioner to come up with a plan to try and "fix" the fertility problem rather than bypass it like the current program we are on. It is by no means a cure or a sure way of obtaining pregnancy but it is another alternative to in-vitro.
We are also starting the informational process of adoption. This has been an option that I have been interested in my entire life. We would like more than one child if God allows us, so we are going to start this process now. After going thru the many procedures, drugs and countless disappointing months of our infertility, we have decided maybe it is God's plan for us to have a baby another way. At this time we are actively researching adoption agencies and adoption attorney's and hopefully meeting with a few couples that have already gone thru this process. We are very interested in hearing how the process works from others who have chosen this route for expanding their family.
In the meantime, Glen and I have been researching, praying and weighing our options on other methods of expanding our family. We attended a class on Natural Family Planning that our church offered a few weeks ago. It was a very informational class that we plan to start practicing after we give the IUI at least one more shot. It is a method of charting your cycle daily and then working with a practitioner to come up with a plan to try and "fix" the fertility problem rather than bypass it like the current program we are on. It is by no means a cure or a sure way of obtaining pregnancy but it is another alternative to in-vitro.
We are also starting the informational process of adoption. This has been an option that I have been interested in my entire life. We would like more than one child if God allows us, so we are going to start this process now. After going thru the many procedures, drugs and countless disappointing months of our infertility, we have decided maybe it is God's plan for us to have a baby another way. At this time we are actively researching adoption agencies and adoption attorney's and hopefully meeting with a few couples that have already gone thru this process. We are very interested in hearing how the process works from others who have chosen this route for expanding their family.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
The Waiting Game
Our sonogram last Thursday went great! I had three large follicles on my right ovary!! We were good to go on our first round of IUI. So we were instructed to do the HCG trigger shot on Saturday night at midnight. That in itself terrified me because this was the shot that Glen had to administer! Glen had kept imitating how he was going to give the shot and it was more like "stabbing" than giving an injection. I joked about it to my nurse that I hoped I survived it! Saturday night came and as I mixed the liquid part with the powder to make the shot, I thought to myself 'If our neighbors see this thru the window, I am sure they will think I have a bad drug addiction!' Glen did a great job administering the shot and everything went fine. I actually didn't even know that he was already done. He now wants to go to Med School :-)
Monday we went in for the IUI procedure. It was very awkward as we never in a million years would have thought this is how we would have to go about trying to "make" a baby. The actual procedure was very simple and we were out of there in about 20-30 minutes. While visiting with Dr. Starks he reminded us that this procedure does increase our chances of having twins and the likelihood of having a boy if we do get pregnant. We were okay with both! At this point in our journey to parenthood we are open to a lot of possibilities. Dr. Starks as well as one of the nurses commented on how this has been a very successful month for the clinic. They have had 36 women get pregnant this month and most of them are having twins. This statistic if from doing IUI and IVF at the clinic. That was great news to hear! Dr. Stark wished us luck and said that he was kissing the lucky horseshoe above the door for us.
After this long journey we have been on, we know it is up to God as to when/how we will have a baby and we are leaving it in His hands. This has been a hard concept to grasp as Glen and I are both organized planners. We always thought we would get married, have a fun first year of marriage and then start our family. We wanted 3 kids and planned out when we would have them. After many years of trying to plan our lives we now know that God is in control and we will follow what He wants for us. All we can do is pray and know that there is a plan for us - we just have to be patient. (Patience had never been one of my strong points!)
I have an appointment for a pregnancy test on Monday, May 10th. In the meantime we will wait, pray and hope for good news to come!
Monday we went in for the IUI procedure. It was very awkward as we never in a million years would have thought this is how we would have to go about trying to "make" a baby. The actual procedure was very simple and we were out of there in about 20-30 minutes. While visiting with Dr. Starks he reminded us that this procedure does increase our chances of having twins and the likelihood of having a boy if we do get pregnant. We were okay with both! At this point in our journey to parenthood we are open to a lot of possibilities. Dr. Starks as well as one of the nurses commented on how this has been a very successful month for the clinic. They have had 36 women get pregnant this month and most of them are having twins. This statistic if from doing IUI and IVF at the clinic. That was great news to hear! Dr. Stark wished us luck and said that he was kissing the lucky horseshoe above the door for us.
After this long journey we have been on, we know it is up to God as to when/how we will have a baby and we are leaving it in His hands. This has been a hard concept to grasp as Glen and I are both organized planners. We always thought we would get married, have a fun first year of marriage and then start our family. We wanted 3 kids and planned out when we would have them. After many years of trying to plan our lives we now know that God is in control and we will follow what He wants for us. All we can do is pray and know that there is a plan for us - we just have to be patient. (Patience had never been one of my strong points!)
I have an appointment for a pregnancy test on Monday, May 10th. In the meantime we will wait, pray and hope for good news to come!
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