Moo Goo Gai Pan

It's been an interesting week here full of all things new...  I went to see Dr. Liu on Monday to try out acupuncture.  This has been a part of our plan for a while, and we were gearing up to do our last IUI attempt in the next month, so I wanted to go ahead and get started.  My OB/GYN has been pushing me to do it, and I've been reading up on acupuncture and fertility.  My friend, Jill, recommended The Infertility Cure and I've been eating it up on my Kindle.  So I already had an idea of what to expect going in... 

 

The acupuncture session itself was pretty simple.  There were needles in my head, my wrists, my knees, and my feet.  And apparently I'm very "weak" right now.  Which makes some sense... I mean coming out of tax season where I haven't been working out AT ALL and probably not eating the best either - that'll do it.  Dr. Liu explained that my body just isn't ready for IUI yet.  She works with infertility patients a lot and is familiar with my RE and understands my issues.  My biggest *thing* is my thin lining.  I was told I have poor circulation right now, and creating a good environment for baby is all about bloodflow.  But she kept saying that my big issue is implantation and not actually "getting" pregnant.  The fact that I had that one chemical pregnancy last year proves that I can conceive.  So she really believes that with several cycles doing acupuncture, herbs, and making diet changes, that we could possibly get knocked up naturally!  That was amazing to hear...  I mean I don't have any other big hormone imbalances that acupuncture can't help, so it's certainly worth a try, right? 

 

It's not a cheap process...  she wants to see me twice a week and sometimes more frequently during certain parts of my cycle.  With the herbs, I'm thinking it will cost around $1,000 to $1,250 a month.  One IUI cycle costs around $1,500+ a month, and after that we're looking at IVF which is of course much, much more.  So we are thinking this is a good plan - not to mention so much less invasive then all the hormones and junk you're put on when going through IUI or IVF.  How amazing would it be if we could achieve pregnancy without all that mess? 

 

Monday was a bit overwhelming though... just a lot information to process.  I went ahead and started on my herbs, which are really just a bunch of weird looking pills.  Some are smelly.  Dr. Liu has me on a very restricted diet too... and trying to figure out what the hell I could eat was making my head hurt.  The biggest challenge is no dairy.  I love me some dairy... oh goodness.  And Monday night I finally got myself back into yoga class... only to find this effin' cute little pregnant girl in there with her friggin' cute little maternity yoga outfit.  Ugh.  My excitement turned into why-the-hell-do-I-have-to-do-all-this-shit-to-get-that?!  Make that maybe get that.  I bet she got knocked up by accident.  That bitch.  (These are the thoughts running through my head while holding my Warrior II.)  My head was pounding by the time I got home and I couldn't think of anything that we had in our pantry that I was "allowed" to eat.  So I just went to bed.  Pathetic.

 

But now, I'm doing much better.  I feel good and I'm doing well with the herbs.  I miss my morning coffee (no caffeine allowed), but I'm managing.  I went to Wally World last night and loaded up on lots of veggies and fruits.  There's plenty that I can eat, it just requires some planning.  Jill has helped me lots since she was on a similar diet with Dr. Liu when she went through IVF last year.  So I'm doing OK with it all... it's just a weird and sudden change.  But hey, let's go for it!  The hub is being super supportive... I don't talk enough about how awesome he is with all of this.  He insisted on coming to my initial appointment with me and offered to do the diet with me too.  But who am I to deny anyone his coffee?  Or CHEESE?  Hello.

 

It's an adventure, that's for sure.  So anyway, after hearing what Dr. Liu had to say, we're now planning to see how things go with just acupuncture/herbs/diet for 3-6 months.  IUI is on hold for now in case we get the job done ourselves.  This is a new path we didn't really see coming, so it's exciting to think about.  I'll keep you guys updated!