DocL
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2016
- Messages
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Hi there ladies,
So I'm new to this, and I promised myself that I would use my experience to try and give others some encouragement and hopefully a bit of inspiration that it can work out in the end.
A few days ago I got my BFP, and I'm so delighted and also in shock!
I'm 34, and my DH and I have been TTC for nearly 2 years. Not helped by the fact that we were living apart for the first 6 months, but we were trying our best to DTD regularly in spite of this.
In March of this year I had a miscarriage, which sent my cycle pretty haywire. So the next 6 or months made TTC very difficult (in addition to having a very stressful job and my dad passing away).
I had been using ovulation sticks, but even looking back (after AF had arrived) to when I should have been ovulating, I clearly wasn't having obvious LH surges..
Feeling like I was getting into a negative cycle of obsessing so much about getting pregnant, I figured that I needed to try and approach it with more positivity. I had been reading about the potential benefits of acupuncture (more so in conjunction with IVF, but having said that lots of women on various forums were reporting they had had acupuncture and then quickly gone on to get pregnant).
So I reasoned 'what have I got to lose?'. At the very least, I hoped that acupuncture might help to alleviate some stress.
My acupuncturist is a lovely lady , who listened intently, and made me realise just how much stress my body was under.
I had a few sessions over the 2nd half of my cycle, which were aiming to generally relax me, and I certainly felt pleasantly sedated after these sessions! My acupuncturist had pretty much concluded that my uterus was very cold and needed warming and nurturing. Looking back, I can now see that whereas once I had good flow and strong pre-menstrual cramps, this had all gradually dwindled.
The aim of the next few sessions, in the first half of my next cycle, was to try and encourage ovulation (to shorten the first half of my cycle because they seemed to be lengthening).
So on day 12 I went along for a session, and had a 4 needles inserted around my pelvis and 1 needle just under my rib cage on the left side, the aim of this being to encourage blood flow from the heart to the uterus.
Around 2 hours after this session, I started having really strong pelvic cramps, just as if I was about to have AF. This continued overnight and the next day I continued having milder pelvic discomfort. It was pretty odd, but instinctively I felt it was a really positive sign, as if my uterus was coming back to life!!
I had decided that I would use the ovulation sticks for a good 3 weeks of that month just to track my LH levels. Then on day 16 I had my first LH, it appeared so quickly and quite clearly darker than the control line! I was so excited because as I said, I'd not had a clear surge in months of using these..
I should point out that I agreed with my acupuncturist that we would hold off trying this month to try and restore some balance..however, once I saw this surge, I instinctively felt that it would be silly not to pass up this opportunity lol!
I went for another acupuncture session the following week, and sheepishly explained that DH and I had DTD, just because I didn't want her to stick any needles anywhere that could potentially be risky..not that I actually thought that one go would have made a dent!!
I had been having breast tenderness and mild cramps pretty much since ovulation, but just put that to the back of my mind, just because I had over-analysed the hell out of any little symptom in previous month's! Anyway, it was the day before AF was due, and I was sitting with my mum, just snacking on some crisps, when I started getting really strong heartburn, and a watery mouth..and I don't ever really get heartburn!
The day AF was due came and went, and then the following morning I thought 'i just need to know!!'....
And there it was...a BFP!!!
I was so shocked and basically just sobbed driving to work that morning!
So I'm almost 5 weeks, and it's obviously early days. I mildly petrified about the the prospect of miscarrying again. ..
But in an attempt to make this bean stick, I'm going to be continuing with acupuncture for now and just try and be as relaxed as possible (easier said than done!).
Apologies for a long post, but I just want to say that for me, after around 6 weeks of acupuncture (so about £250!), I've got the result I've been so dearly hoping for, and I genuinely feel it was down to the acupuncture!
As a GP in training, my mind has been opened to the potential benefits of alternative medicine. I would definitely say give it a go!!
Good luck to you all x
So I'm new to this, and I promised myself that I would use my experience to try and give others some encouragement and hopefully a bit of inspiration that it can work out in the end.
A few days ago I got my BFP, and I'm so delighted and also in shock!
I'm 34, and my DH and I have been TTC for nearly 2 years. Not helped by the fact that we were living apart for the first 6 months, but we were trying our best to DTD regularly in spite of this.
In March of this year I had a miscarriage, which sent my cycle pretty haywire. So the next 6 or months made TTC very difficult (in addition to having a very stressful job and my dad passing away).
I had been using ovulation sticks, but even looking back (after AF had arrived) to when I should have been ovulating, I clearly wasn't having obvious LH surges..
Feeling like I was getting into a negative cycle of obsessing so much about getting pregnant, I figured that I needed to try and approach it with more positivity. I had been reading about the potential benefits of acupuncture (more so in conjunction with IVF, but having said that lots of women on various forums were reporting they had had acupuncture and then quickly gone on to get pregnant).
So I reasoned 'what have I got to lose?'. At the very least, I hoped that acupuncture might help to alleviate some stress.
My acupuncturist is a lovely lady , who listened intently, and made me realise just how much stress my body was under.
I had a few sessions over the 2nd half of my cycle, which were aiming to generally relax me, and I certainly felt pleasantly sedated after these sessions! My acupuncturist had pretty much concluded that my uterus was very cold and needed warming and nurturing. Looking back, I can now see that whereas once I had good flow and strong pre-menstrual cramps, this had all gradually dwindled.
The aim of the next few sessions, in the first half of my next cycle, was to try and encourage ovulation (to shorten the first half of my cycle because they seemed to be lengthening).
So on day 12 I went along for a session, and had a 4 needles inserted around my pelvis and 1 needle just under my rib cage on the left side, the aim of this being to encourage blood flow from the heart to the uterus.
Around 2 hours after this session, I started having really strong pelvic cramps, just as if I was about to have AF. This continued overnight and the next day I continued having milder pelvic discomfort. It was pretty odd, but instinctively I felt it was a really positive sign, as if my uterus was coming back to life!!
I had decided that I would use the ovulation sticks for a good 3 weeks of that month just to track my LH levels. Then on day 16 I had my first LH, it appeared so quickly and quite clearly darker than the control line! I was so excited because as I said, I'd not had a clear surge in months of using these..
I should point out that I agreed with my acupuncturist that we would hold off trying this month to try and restore some balance..however, once I saw this surge, I instinctively felt that it would be silly not to pass up this opportunity lol!
I went for another acupuncture session the following week, and sheepishly explained that DH and I had DTD, just because I didn't want her to stick any needles anywhere that could potentially be risky..not that I actually thought that one go would have made a dent!!
I had been having breast tenderness and mild cramps pretty much since ovulation, but just put that to the back of my mind, just because I had over-analysed the hell out of any little symptom in previous month's! Anyway, it was the day before AF was due, and I was sitting with my mum, just snacking on some crisps, when I started getting really strong heartburn, and a watery mouth..and I don't ever really get heartburn!
The day AF was due came and went, and then the following morning I thought 'i just need to know!!'....
And there it was...a BFP!!!
I was so shocked and basically just sobbed driving to work that morning!
So I'm almost 5 weeks, and it's obviously early days. I mildly petrified about the the prospect of miscarrying again. ..
But in an attempt to make this bean stick, I'm going to be continuing with acupuncture for now and just try and be as relaxed as possible (easier said than done!).
Apologies for a long post, but I just want to say that for me, after around 6 weeks of acupuncture (so about £250!), I've got the result I've been so dearly hoping for, and I genuinely feel it was down to the acupuncture!
As a GP in training, my mind has been opened to the potential benefits of alternative medicine. I would definitely say give it a go!!
Good luck to you all x
