Have I mentioned how much I love acupuncture??

Yes? Well, let me mention it again! I went today at lunch and as usual feel so relaxed and zen. It's truly amazing the change that this has made to my mental state. The stability of my emotions has made a complete 180. Before I started going the first time around, I was an emotional wreck, crying all the time, and just a complete ball of stress, but eventually started feeling much better. Then, I took a break from acu for about 4-6 months and I definitely saw myself reverting back to my "old" self. I've now been back on the wagon a little over 2 months now and it takes some time to really start feeling the effects, but I can say that for the past month, I've definitely been reaping the benefits. I can't imagine how much more stressed out I would be during this IVF process than I already am without it!

The benefits of acu and the herbs; however, are not all stress related. It can help to improve egg quality, regulate hormones and can help improve circulation which is very important in pregnancy. You want to have plenty of bloodflow to the uterus. So, according to Dr. L, my wonderful acu, I have a Yin (or Yang, I can't remember!) and Qi (pronounced Chi) deficiency, which basically amounts to poor circulation. She looks at my tongue every week and apparently guages how things are working based on the color. Mine is usually too pale but always improves with a few treatments. Studies have shown that having acu right before embryo transfer can also improve your chances if a successful cycle. It can really relax the uterus and apparently make it more "receptive" to an embie. My RE isn't really a believer in it, but that's ok because I have really seen benefits in my everyday life regardless of whether it really and truly helps with fertility. I asked him what he thought about it way back when I first started with him and said that I'd heard that it was very relaxing and his comment was, well, I guess it can't hurt, but it's hard to believe that having needles stuck all over your body would be relaxing but whatever floats your boat. I'm so glad that I went with my gut!

I also love my acu doctor, Dr. L. She is an MD in China and is a women's health/fertility specialist. She knows as much about Western infertility treatments as she does Eastern, so I can always bounce things off of her, like dosages and such. Today, she confirmed for me that she thought my dosages were good, which made me feel better. We also talked about the bloat and fluid retention that comes with a lot of follicles and OHSS, and she said that her patients very rarely have trouble or discomfort from it, even when their ovaries are huge, so whatever magic she does, must work! I hope I'm one of those lucky ones!

Anyway, because I was feeling so good from my treatment today, I decided it was time to dedicate a whole entry to the greatness that is acupuncture!