Acupuncture

Thanks you guys for all your support! It helps to know people out there care about us and are interested in the process.

I'm anxiously awaiting 5:30 pm tomorrow to see what the ultrasound shows! And my period still hasn't come...I don't think.... as in, I had a lot of spotting last week and so unless THAT counted as my period it still hasn't shown up. My back is crampy and feels like how it does before it starts so... again, I'm not sure what that means exactly but I think it needs to start.

In the meantime I wanted to share a little more about the acupuncture we're doing. So, I've heard that studies have shown increased success rates of IVF when acupuncture is done during the cycle as well. Also I'd read this Pregnancy Miracle ebook and she talks a lot about the benefits of Chinese Medicine.

We happen to know someone from our old BYU ward who is a licensed Chiropractor, Acupuncturist, and has a masters in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine - Dr. Ron Dummar. His office is in Heber (30 min away) so it's a bit of a drive but we felt good about going to him since we know him and my brother and his family see him for regular adjustments.

We are currently going for treatments once a week. He gave us some supplements and herbs to take for our infertility. We are both taking Fish Oil and something called a cofactor that's like a multi-vitamin. We each have our own herb concoction mixed up - the herbs have already been brewed and then dried out. We just have to mix them with water and they reconstitute. 

 
I'll be honest... this doesn't taste... well, as Dr. Dummar said - it doesn't taste like licorice or candy. Rob's mix was so hard for him to drink that he suggested we put his in little capsules and instead of trying to get the herbs down in water he just has to take 6 little capsules.

It took me 2 hours to capsulate what was left in his bottle and it'll last maybe 2 weeks...

So you know how I HATE needles? Well, when he puts the little acupuncture needles in it's not too bad - every now and then there's one that makes me go, "Ow!" And then he turns off the lights and leaves me with these lovely heat lamps hovering over my body and relaxing music in the background. For about 20 minutes. Until last week's apt I had never been brave enough to even look at any of the needles in me - I know any of my sisters (or Andrew) reading this are probably weak in the knees as they read this! I usually just close my eyes the whole time until he takes them out. But this time while I was laying there I was wondering what the dang things looked like so I slowly lifted up my right hand and I saw it -bah! Very skinny but it was long and looked kind of feathery at the top! I put my hand down and kept my eyes closed the rest of the time.

Part of the Chinese medicine stuff is seeing what is out of balance so he checks all of our pulses on our wrist for the different parts of our body... it's hard to explain and really the best thing I can do is tell you to go see someone who specializes in Chinese medicine!

He also gave us a book that I've been reading - it's called Making Babies. It's written by the guy who did the first ever successful IVF and a Chinese medicine lady. It's about combining Eastern & Western medicine and getting the maximum results. Very interesting. It talks a lot about the over use of IVF and how it should never be the first resort. It might've been interesting to see if after 3 months of just following their program if that would've worked to get pregnant but right now we are committed to trying IVF and are hoping it works right away! And we've definitely waited a long time and tried lots of other things first.

It's not cheap though... To do the full 3 month program with Dr. Dummar (acupuncture, herbs, supplements, chiropractic if needed) the husband & wife need to pay $2880 each. So, yes, it's cheaper than a fresh cycle of IVF and definitely more natural for your body but it's not like the cheapest thing out there. Might be super effective and the answer for lots of people though!

So we are pulling out all the stops - doing everything in our power to give ourselves the best chance possible. Hope it works!