The Diaries: yet another week
Just in case you’re new here, Allison has been sharing with us her journey to conceive her second child and is working with an acupuncturist to achieve just that.
You remember a few weeks ago, when I proudly announced that I ovulated. Yeah, well…..that didn’t happen.
I was so proud when my body was finally, after 2 years, starting to move in the right direction. I had the almost all of the fertile signs. I even had a temperature shift. For, like, a day. Then it dropped. Then it went crazy again. Then I went crazy.
As it turns out, you can actually get all of the signs for ovulation. But that doesn’t mean you actually ovulate. Without a sustained temperature shift, you didn’t actually ovulate. Yes, it’s true that some women don’t see a temperature shift, but I do. So even though I had one super high temp, which it turns out was from a cold I had that day, it was just a trick. I. Did. Not. Ovulate. My body geared up, was ready to go, and then just stopped.
Today I don’t want to talk about the ins and outs of ovulating. I’m so tired of temping and checking cervical fluid (yes, I said it). I’m so tired of waiting to see what the next morning will bring, and being disappointed day after day. Or of getting my hopes up, just to have them bought right back down again. I desperately need a break from all of this, and it’s only been 2 months. I’m burnt out.
Instead, what I would like to talk about is the emotional toil this is taking. I’m on a constant roller coaster. Some days I’m ready to take on the world, knowing that the answer to my struggles is out there. Believing that if I just look hard enough, I’ll find it. But most days I’m feeling pretty terrible about the entire thing. I worry that I’m doing something to cause this. Was it the peanut butter egg that I ate over the weekend? Probably not. Is it the stress? Probably. Was it because I put my clothes on in the wrong order this morning? Not likely. l just wish that I had the answer. But I don’t.
There’s also a lingering sense of failure. I can try as hard as I can, I can hope and believe and pray, and still I haven’t accomplished something that comes so easy to so many women. I failed at doing what a woman is supposed to do. And on the worst of days that even makes me feel like less of a woman and a mother.
I’ve started back with acupuncture again. We’re trying the same thing as last time, only twice as long. Two sessions of acu, 10 days of herbs, two more session and 10 more days. If this doesn’t work, there are a couple of more options to try. If those fail, well, I’m not really sure what my options are. Hopefully I won’t get to that point.
Along with acu and the herbs, I’ve decided to go on a gluten-detox for 4 weeks. I have never been tested for a gluten allergy, but I figured, it won’t hurt to go without. If I see any changes, of feel any different, then I’ll keep on this diet. If I don’t notice any changes, I’ll add only whole grains to my diet and see how I feel. If all goes well, I’ll add in more refined grains, but in very limited quantities.
I did consider throwing in the towel, going back to my doctor and begging for Clomid. Acupuncture is expensive and time consuming. But you know what, I’m pretty sure that Clomid isn’t cheap and the side effects are not something that I want to deal with. Plus I DO NOT want my insurance company to label me as having infertility.
At the end of the day, I still don’t want to start pumping myself full of drugs. Sure acupuncture didn’t work 100% the first time around, but we did make some progress. My body actually tried, it just didn’t quite get there. Maybe it just needs a little extra help.
I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **
Cycles with Acupuncture
Another week in the life of our guest poster Allison.
It turns out that I just needed to give it a little more time. I just needed to relax and trust that it would. And it did!
I’ll spare you all of the details, but let’s just say that I had all of the signs and my temp chart mirrored what I was seeing. It’s official. I’ve ovulated. I’m on my way to being a normal, healthy woman, with monthly cycles and all of the hormones, cravings and mood swings that go with it. I bet my husband is thrilled. 
So what happens next? Well, now I’m waiting. Again. It seems like that is what I’m always doing. Waiting for one thing to happen. Then waiting for the next. I really wish that I was a more patient person.
In about two weeks this cycle should be ending, clocking in at about 43 days. Not ideal, but a heck of a lot better than what I was getting before. Which was nothing. No cycles at all. Wondering why? Ready about my struggles with infertility.
Once this cycle has ended, I’ll be racing back to acupuncture. The treatment schedule for me will be two sessions in the beginning of my cycle along with ten days of herbs. Then I’m back to waiting. At least the next time around I know that it will work. I have to trust, give it time, and eat as healthy as I can to give my body the nutrients that it needs to help grow a new life.
I truly do believe that acupuncture is what caused my cycles to return. Yes I change my diet a little, but nothing drastic. Just a few more proteins, mainly eggs. But acupuncture seems to be the thing that I was missing. It seems to have brought balance back to my body and allowed it to do what it should be doing, naturally. I’m so excited to start my next set of treatments, and I’m hopefully that with each one, my cycles will start to get shorter and shorter. Dare I say, even get close to the 28-day mark.
I’ll keep everyone up-to-date on my progress. I can’t wait to share what happens next.
I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **
Allison’s Diary
Another guest post from Allison as we follow her along on her journey to becoming healthy and hoping for another little one.
Well, last week I was feeling pretty good. So good in fact, that I didn’t think a post was even needed. I finished my last acupuncture appointment last week Monday, and was feeling pretty good. I started temping on Tuesday, and finished up the herb on Friday. All in all, it seemed like a great week, without much to report.
Let me catch you up to speed. I began charting my basal body temperature to confirm that I am indeed ovulating, and that the herbs and acupuncture are actually working. I tried to avoid doing this, since it gets to be tedious and I tend to focus on the numbers and get a little obsessive about it. Plus, I know all of the signs for ovulation without temping, so I have a pretty good idea of when it will happen. But, alas, I started again. Just incase things didn’t go as expected, because my acupuncturist can tell what is going on by the way my numbers look.
To start out with, my chart looked like this. 
Nice and steady, even temperatures. This is usually a sign that hormone levels are stable, doing what they need to be doing. I compared it to my past charts from the last time we were trying to conceive, and my temps always even out right before ovulation. I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself. I was convinced that over the weekend I would start to see other signs that pointed to ovulation. I was even toying with the idea of officially trying this month, even though I was told to wait for 6 months. What can I say, I’m just not a patient person.
Nice and steady, even temperatures. This is usually a sign that hormone levels are stable, doing what they need to be doing. I compared it to my past charts from the last time we were trying to conceive, and my temps always even out right before ovulation. I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself. I was convinced that over the weekend I would start to see other signs that pointed to ovulation. I was even toying with the idea of officially trying this month, even though I was told to wait for 6 months. What can I say, I’m just not a patient person.
Well, the weekend went by, and nothing happened. Still up beat and happy, I was certain that this week would be the week. We’re closing in day 20 of my cycle, so I’m due to ovulate. Then, it started to happen. I had one wacky temperature, it jumped way, way down. 
Now, this can be a sign of ovulation, so I wasn’t without hope yet, even though I don’t have any other signs. The next day it went up a little, then the following day, it went up pretty high. While all of these things can be a sign that I did actually ovulate, I’m not feeling very hopeful.
Now, this can be a sign of ovulation, so I wasn’t without hope yet, even though I don’t have any other signs. The next day it went up a little, then the following day, it went up pretty high. While all of these things can be a sign that I did actually ovulate, I’m not feeling very hopeful.
You see, I’ve always had the other signs too. Each and every time I’ve ovulated (when I was tracking) they began a few days before ovulation, then disappeared a day or two after. This time, nothing. So while it’s possible that I did ovulate, I’m just not feeling that it’s happened.
Which brings me to today. I’m at day 21, and I’m waiting. Waiting to see what the next few temperatures will bring. If it stays up, then happy day, I ovulated. If the temps continue to jump around, then something is going on. My hormones are not doing what they should be for ovulation to occur. That does not make me a happy camper. In fact, it’s darn right depressing.
Waiting, waiting, waiting. This is the hardest part. Each morning I’m excited to see what my temp will be (even if that means my alarm goes off at 5:00 each day). Then I want to rush through each day to see what tomorrow’s temp will be. Each day that goes by, I’m getting a little more frustrated, feeling a little more down, and wondering if acupuncture is really the best solution for me. It’s so hard to stay positive and upbeat when things just don’t seem to be going the way I had hoped. It’s equally as hard to realize that I can only do so much, the rest is out of my hands. Letting go is not something that comes easily to me.
Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t given up hope yet. It’s only been 21 days after all. The longest I have to wait is 19 more days to see my acupuncturist again. That’s if there is no sign of ovulation or my cycle kicking in. I’m going to continue with this line of treatment, because I really do feel that it is the right thing for me. Anything worth fighting for is worth having, and I’m not about to give up this fight.
Resources for Tracking Ovulation from FertilityFriend.com
I’m not affiliated with FertilityFriend, I just use and trust this resource for tracking my cycles and for information related to charting, ovulation and signs of fertility.
I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **
The Diaries: Allison wk 3
The following is another guest post from Allison as we follow along in her journey for increased health and and as she hopes for another little one. I’ve also added my own comments into the post as well (also red) and also want to remind everyone that we are all in different points on our road to Real Food!
Last week I introduced you to the beginning of my acupuncture routine. While I had a short break this week, only one session on Thursday, I’m still feeling pretty good. My energy levels have been higher, my attitude better, and my stress level lower. Well, relatively lower, since we’ve just decided to put our house on the market. But that’s an entirely different post. My husband, who has lovingly nicknamed me “the zombie” (since most evenings I was so tired that I was pretty much non responsive) commented the other day about how I didn’t seem as tired as usual. Something must be working! Plus, it’s kind of nice to be able to interact with my husband at the end of the day.
This week I began taking an herb called Wu Chi Pai Feng Wan. Now, when I think or herbs, leaves, plants and things of that nature come to mind. But oh no, I get to take a very special herb. Sure it contains lovely things like Angelica sinensis root which is thought to help nourish the blood and harmonize vital energy. And Panax ginseng root which in women is thought to stimulate hormone production. Who could forget Paeonia lactiflora root, which is also said to help nourish the blood. But wait, it gets better.
The very first ingredient listed, Gallus gallus domesticus. Sounds very mystical. Very powerful. Very much like…a chicken? Yes, this herb is made from the a specific chicken that has black colored bones, meat and skin. Yes, you read that right. This ingredient is the marrow from black chicken bones. Ga-ross. But whatever, I can get past it. What’s a little chicken bone marrow compared to nourishing my body so I can have another baby? At least that’s what I’m telling myself. (Marrow is sooo good for you! That’s why I make bone broth, so we get all of those nutrients into our diets on a regular basis. It’s even a delicacy in other countries)
I’ve been warned that these pills can be pretty nasty to swallow. In fact, it’s recommended to drink it as a tea, but the taste is so horrid that I was told to just take them with some water. Three tries later (and one huge glass of water) I got them all down. It wasn’t that bad, but it was bad enough. Chalky, bitter, and just icky.
Did I mention how many of these I have to take at once? Honestly, there are too many to count. I thought I’d show you instead. .
Now do you see why it took me three tries to swallow all of them?
I did quiz my acu doctor on any diet changes that I should be making along with the herb. The only changes he suggested are eating plenty of dark leafy green veggies (hello spinach salad) and organ meat. (See?! We have just been talking about how good organ meats are for you. They’re nutrient dense and the nutrients they hold are awesome for fertility!) If I can stomach it. Which I can’t. There’s just no way. So the next best alternative is eggs, yolk and all. Regardless of the cholesterol concern, I’m going to try eating one egg a day (anyone have a good recipe to pass along?). (I do need to interject here for just a moment and talk about how good cholesterol is for you! Having cholesterol in your body is the only way you can use your vitamin D. It’s also important for cell growth and pivital in brain growth and function. I highly recommend eating 2 eggs per day, at least 5 or 6 days a week. Raw yolks are even better! Just pop them into your smoothies and you’ll never know the difference. Making scrambled eggs? Use a couple whole eggs and add in another yolk or two. Unfortunatley conventional medicine has us thinking that eating to much cholesterol will give us heart disease and it’s just not so. I’ll tackle this in another post soon!) I figure that I won’t be doing this for the rest of my life, so I’m not too concerned. We also talked about vitamins and he especially stressed the B’s. Good for energy, metabolism and blood. Also a daily vitamin and of course calcium with D. But those are staples that everyone should be taking. (B vitamins can help correct irregular menstrual cycles, a progesterone imbalance, as well as poor egg and sperm development. B6 can also help lengthen the luteal phase of your cycle.)
Next week I’m starting to chart my temperature again. I have one acu appointment set up, and then that’s it for a few weeks. It’s basically the wait and see game next. Will I ovulate? Will AF show? Only time will tell. It’s too bad that I’m not patient at all. These next few weeks are going to be a killer.
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I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **
The Diaries: Acupuncture
(Week two in our guest post from Allison of alli-n-son)
Acupuncture Week One – My Diagnosis
Well, I’m full of great news this week! I’ve had three acupuncture appointments in the last week and, in all honesty, it was simply amazing. I mean AMAZING. After just my first treatment I felt like a new woman, which was something that I completely didn’t expect. I figured I would maybe feel a little different after a week or so. But after the first treatment, no way.
Let me back up a little bit. I had my first appointment last week Thursday, which consisted of about 45 minutes of talking, discussing, asking questions and listening. The next 20 minutes was the treatment. After explaining my reason for seeking acupuncture for my fertility problems, my need to have a healthy body ready to carry a baby, and my desire to do all of this without meds, we came up with a game plan. And a pretty simple one at that.
First of all, let me tell you what I was diagnosed with. I have a blood deficiency. Basically, what this means is that my reproductive organs are not getting the blood that they need to a support normal reproductive cycle. What causes this? Anything from a vegan or vegetarian diet, overexercising to gastrointestinal issues (often caused by anxiety, worry and over thinking). (source: http://www.redpeonyhealth.com/acupuncture-fertility-clinic-portland/139/food-for-blood-deficiency/). Yup, that just like me. I’m not a vegetarian, but I don’t eat a lot of meat, I do really enjoy a good workout (and possibly over do-it every once-in-a-while). I would say this is a perfect fit. (If you’d like to learn more about blood deficiency in Chinese medicine and it’s symptoms, check out www.redeonyhealth.com or this article on ezinearticles.com.)
Most of the symptoms I’ve just been living with because I never realized that they were symptoms. Irregular cycles or amenorrhea. Fatigue and dizziness. A pale complexion, pale tongue, thin and weak pulse. Forgetfulness and poor memory. I had always just attributed these things to raising a toddler!
So what happens next? The good news is that my problem will be pretty easy to fix. Miscarriages, short cycles, things like that are a little trickier to figure out. After 4 months of treatments (maybe less), I should be ready to get pregnant. In the grand scheme of things, that isn’t too bad. I happened to start treatments at just the right time. I had one week of birth control left (done now), which means that I should be starting Aunt Flo soon (this is the only time I got Aunt Flo, when I’m on BCP). I have three acu sessions under my belt, all designed to stimulate blood movement and increase energy (which it really has, I feel great). Next week we are playing it by ear. When AF has left, I’ll start treatments again, including taking an herb (more about that next week). We’ll do a few more treatments, then stop. I’ll start charting my body temperature again to see if I’m ovulating, and we’ll go from there. With any luck, the acu and herb combo will do their thing, and I’ll be ovulating again in no time. If not, well, we’ll dig a little bit deeper to find out what’s going on. If I do ovulate and get a complete cycle, then we’ll continue acu during the second week of each cycle for about 4 months, maybe even less if things go well. After that, I’ll have the stamp of approval to get pregnant!
I’m sure that everyone has a few questions about acu. I’ll do my best to answer them.
Does it hurt? I’m not going to lie about this, depending on the pressure point, it can be a little painful. But it’s not the type of pain you are thinking of. You can feel the needle go in, but most of the time it’s just the sensation of the doctor tapping the needle into place. Sometimes the needle will need to be adjusted for the right angle, but that’s just a little tug here or there. The strangest sensation is the needles that go into the pressure points below my knees and in the webbed area of my thumbs. These can get a little uncomfortable, but just for a moment. The needle goes in, there’s a pause, and then this tightening that radiates out from the needle. In my knee, it travels down to my ankle then stops. In my hand, it travels to one or two other fingers. Then it’s gone. A brief moment, then back to normal.
Can you feel the needles? A little. It’s more of a tug on the skin if you move. But it does not feel like there is a needle in your arms. The needles that are used for acu are long, but super, super thin.
Does it hurt when the needles are removed. No. There is a slight tugging sensation, and then it’s out.
Do you bleed? Not usually. The one or two times that I’ve bleed was after the needles are removed. It was a tiny drop of blood, and that’s it. On occasion a bruise can develop, but this hasn’t happened to me so far.
How many needles do they use? in my treatments so far, there were 9. Two in each leg (ankle and below the knee), one in each hand (by the thumb), one on each wrist, and one blow the belly button (this one is for energy). But I’m sure that it varies with each individual’s needs.
What does it feel like? Amazing. I lie there for 15-20 minutes (I’m sure this varies by the treatment). My doctor will stay in the room for part of it and leaves for part. When he’s gone, I close my eyes and just relax, kind of like a mini spa. For the next few days after, I feel whole. I know that may sound funny, but it’s the only way that I can describe it. You know how you feel if you’ve ever ran for 6 miles, went mountain biking or another very strenuous activity? Empty and drained. I realized that’s how I was feeling most of the time. But after my acu sessions, I somehow feel whole again. Fuller than I did before.
Resources
If you’d like to dig a little bit deeper and learn more about acupuncture, how it works and it’s benefits, here are some web sites that can help. (I have no affiliates or relationships with these sites, I just thought that they may provide some useful information.)
Do you have a question that I didn’t cover? Let me know and I’ll do my best to answer it. And if I don’t have the answer, I’ll be sure to ask my acu doctor when I next see him.
Next week, I’ll be talking more about the herb I’ll be taking, my progress, and answering any questions.
I have a lot of new and exciting things coming up here this fall, so make sure you add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email. I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter! **
Introducing Allison
Starting today, Allison from alli-n-son.com will be sharing a series of “in real time” guest posts as she not only deals with the struggles of infertility, but starts her journey towards a whole new lifestyle.
Introducing…Allison, and her fertility struggles.
You know how it is, you go along thinking all of your life that you will have kids when the time is right. And you will be the one to decide when the time is right. Because that’s how life works, you plan and it falls together. Right? Right?!?!?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t. I learned that the hard way when my husband and I decided that it was time for us to have kids. After 9 long years I went of the birth control pill, and anxiously waited for the return of my cycles. Only they didn’t return. At least not right away.
Those first few months of zero cycles were filled with high hopes and crashing disappointments. Thoughts that I was one of the lucky few to get pregnant right away without really trying, floated happily through my head. Only test after test proved that this would not be the case for us. In fact, the next 9-10 months were filled with uncertainty, stress and feelings of failure as I tried to figure out what was going on with my body.
After a round of Provera, my body s…l…o…w…l…y began to get back to normal. But by normal I mean sporadic cycles ranging from 60 days to 90 days to 80 days. There was no rhyme or reason to their length. I became a dedicated temperature taker and charter, waking dutifully at 5:30 every morning and analyzing, analyzing, analyzing. I may have bordered on obsession. Even though charting caused a lot of stress and headache, it also tuned me in to my body. I learned the signals of when I was getting ready to ovulate, and charting a ovulation prediction kits offered confirmation that it had happened. Which gave us the small window of opportunity that we needed to conceive our wonderful son.
Since doctors didn’t have an answer to my wacky cycles, and basically told me to wait it out until things normalized, I started looking for alternative ways to regulate them. I decided to start acupuncture, but wouldn’t you know it, the weekend after I had my first session, I found out that I was pregnant. I continued going for a few weeks, hoping that it will help stabilize my pregnancy and reduce any morning sickness. I never did have the chance to see if it would indeed help with regulating my cycles.
Now, almost 2 years later, including 8 months of breastfeeding, we’re back at square one. We want another child. And of course I’m having the same troubles as last time. Actually, it’s worse, no cycles since I gave birth (other than when I tried Provera again). That’s almost 2 years. My doctor can’t find a reason, all of my blood work came back within the normal ranges, I’m not going into early Menopause, all of my hormone levels are fine. There is not medical reason that explains what is going on. So, as recommended by my doctor, I went on the birth control pill for two months with the hopes that it would remind my body what it needs to do. But I know my body, and I don’t think that this is the answer. The only other option my doctor gave me was to start ovulation-stimulating drugs and I’m just not conformable with that. Why pump my body full of drugs if there is a natural cure?
So this is my journey. I’m starting acupuncture again. I’m going to change my (and my family’s) lifestyle and eating habits based on the recommendations of my acupuncturist. I’m sure that this is going to be a real eye-opening experience. And probably a lot of work. But… It’s. Going. To. Work. I know that it will. I’d like to share my journey with you. The successes, the frustrations, and everything else that comes along.
