IVF Part 2 & Egg Retrieval

I ended up doing 2 more days of stims before my egg retrieval. My doctor wanted to collect as many eggs as possible, so with me having a handful of follicles that were growing but not quite where she wanted them to be, she extended my treatment. This meant, more money! They don’t lie to you when they tell you that the most money is spent on medication! Especially in my case since my insurance only covers the diagnosis and no treatments or meds. Since I was already used to the injections by day 3, this wasn’t as big of a deal to me. My body did start reacting more each day to the many follicles. I had twinges on both sides and I felt like I was going to bust open like a can of biscuits to be honest. I just had to keep the mentality it was only temporary and that it would soon be done and over with.

I did 12 days of stims and triggered on day 13. My trigger shot wasn’t too bad, I felt like the needle was the most intimidating part of it all. At this point I am used to the burning and pokes of the needles, so it was more anticipation of that loooonger needle going into my intramuscular that had me on edge. My husband gave me the trigger at 8pm on the dot and I literally told him just do it! Don’t tell me when it’s going in just go for it when you are ready and I will deal. He did a great job because I did not feel anything at all while he injected me, it was more afterwards when it was done. But to be honest, it was a few mins of burning but a light feeling still. Proof that he did it right, the next day I had my blood drawn and got confirmation that night that everything was where it should be! Next is the egg retrieval….

It’s finally HERE! My egg retrieval day was on Saturday August 18^th. The day before, I finally felt relief and was no longer feeling the never ending twinges that I was starting to get day 11 and 12. It was great because I was able to enjoy a good meal and good night of sleep before surgery. My trigger shot was at 8pm Thursday, so my check in time was 6am on Saturday at the surgery center and surgery was at 7am. I felt calm, not nervous at all. I was actually really excited! I got my gown on, got into a nice warm bed and got myself cozy before they put in my IV. The procedure was done at the same surgery center that I had my lap at so I was familiar with the place and staff. 5 star ratings on Newport Beach Surgery Center! They are amazing people!

Surgery lasted about 45 mins and I was in recovery about an hour or less. The anesthesiologist was aware a head of time that I get nauseous from anesthesia so gave me something to help. Once I got home I just wanted to sleep and get warm. I didn’t have much on an appetite that day, just wanted to rest a lot. I didn’t notice much bloat since I was taking Cabergoline and stuck to the instructions to have no water from day 10 of stims until cleared by my doctor. I drank a lot of coconut water but mainly stuck to Gatorade and Vitamin Water. My doctor did warn me that I was going to have mild OHSS because of the amount of eggs I had and went the full 12 days of stims. So I was put on work leave a whole week. She compared the bloating to 6 months pregnant. I wasn’t looking forward to that in public for the obvious reasons so was ready for a week off!

The next day I did get sick from the anesthesia wearing off, but that is normal for me. It wasn’t too bad since there wasn’t really too much in my system to begin with. I did have more pain the day after surgery and Tylenol extra strength was not helping me. I woke up in a cold sweat and had to sit in front of the room fan and also had the AC on 67! My husband was freezing his ass off but I was honest to goodness, sweating.  I still had no appetite this day and it continued just about the whole week. I tried to eat crackers, protein bars and a high protein diet since I had read that will help with OHSS (Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.) I got a call from my doctor the day after retrieval and she okay’d me to switch to Ibuprofen to help with the inflammation as well as using a heat pad for my back and tummy, as both were majorly killing me. I also made the mistake and laid flat, not realizing the post op instructions said NOT to do that. Smart move on my end.  Not bloating too much though, just minimal.  Day 3 following the retrieval I had some increase in the bloating but it still wasn’t too crazy…. Then came day 4. I must say it still wasn’t the 6 month pregnancy look but there was major a bloat up difference and my back was killing me even more. I was grateful at this point for the write off from work. I was losing sleep from not being able to get comfortable. I opted out on getting an RX for narcotics because I didn’t want to land up getting constipated. To me that seemed to be the one thing I wanted to avoid at all costs. The pain was tolerable overall to be honest, I just had my moments. Day 5 I was still really bloated, but the pain was finally gone. I did experience having to catch my breath a lot days 2-7. I felt like even talking, I was catching my breath after each sentence or two. Day 6 and 7 I felt like I was finally getting back to myself. The bloating went down A LOT on day 7. I ran some errands both days just to get out of the house because I was having major cabin fever. Day 8 and Day 9 felt like I didn’t even go through the week I just had! I woke up feeling good and still took it easy, but I was able to be out and about and took small naps since Monday was back to work for me.

My count. I wanted to save this for last to break it down instead of being all over the place in this post.

The day of the retrieval, they collected 26 eggs. All eggs fertilized that day. The facility that we are using for our embryo storage included Assisted Hatching and ICSI which I can touch up on if anyone isn’t too familiar with these services. My doctor called me the day after the surgery to tell me, all eggs fertilized however, only 7 were “good”. I lost a huge amount of embryos already on day 1. I felt ok with the number, my husband felt like it wasn’t that great of a count. The doctor said that the other embryos were abnormal and had more than 2 chromosomes and they look to only have the 2. She mentioned that these could result in birth defects, miscarriage or even pregnancy cancer. So to her, she looked at it as we got the ones we needed to get out of the way, out of the way. We didn’t opt to do genetic testing. It’s just not something we wanted to do since if we were to get pregnant without IVF, we wouldn’t have the option. Plus, if we had a child that was sick or needed us to do more for them than the average kid, we didn’t care. That’s our kid so why “pick”. My doctor mentioned that they usually go to day 5, however, you can lose more than half of your embryos by this day so let’s see on Day 3 how it looks and take it from there. On Day 3, my embryo count was still 7 and their grade was still really good. She asked what we wanted to do and I honestly had no idea, but I needed to be the one to make the decision. I asked her what she thought was better and mentioned I was scared to go to Day 5 and have none left. I would be more depressed in the end with that outcome instead of taking a chance on Day 3 embryos that I can help fight for! May be a naïve choice but its our choice. My doctor said that since we were not doing the genetic testing that Day 3 was the good choice for us.

I still have to get a hysteroscopy before our transfer and since this doctor puts you on 5 days of bed rest ( 3 strict days, the other 2 are house arrest) I am working on getting my body in tip top shape and my health so once we get this transfer going, I can say I gave it my all! I have to accumulate some time off from work since infertility isn’t a qualified medical leave and I can put my position at work at risk, even the job overall. I think we need a nice healthy mental leave from this for a bit as well. So, we are looking at December or January for the transfer. We will be transferring two embryos and will only transfer 1 time. If it doesn’t work out in our favor we can pray about it, but I think at that point we will have had enough. Again, I am speaking in advance and can never say never!

Please keep us in your prayers and we will keep you in ours!

Where are you at in your journey? Are you doing IVF, a FET soon or thinking of getting into IVF? I would love to hear some feedback or other stories!

My IVF Story Part 1

After years and years of trying naturally, my husband and I decided to seek other means of treatment to have a family. Back in November of 2017 I was told by my RE that she believes I have endometriosis. I was devastated to say the least. I know some things about it and have done research years before when other people have asked me if I have it. All the OB/Gyn’s I was going too never mentioned it being a possibility so to me, I was in the clear. It’s still something to this day that makes me teary eyed because this is already about 8 years give or take of us trying to have a baby. I went to so many appointments and different doctors, ultrasounds, etc. And no one could tell me what was “wrong” with me. It took some time thanks to lovely health insurance to get all of our ducks in a row to be able to see this RE to treat my endo and then proceed to infertility treatments.

Fast forward to January- I was able to get everything together after a few months and was able to see the RE that we decided that we loved now at this point for being able to detect the issue on visit #1. Just to clarify, we switched insurance stuff around since we could at least have the laparoscopy and labs/ultrasounds covered under insurance since this wouldn’t be considered infertility services. I had my lap done on February 1^st 2018 and was diagnosed with severe endometriosis. I also had polyps and chocolate cysts on my ovaries. While I was under, they decided to kill 3 birds with one stone and I had an HSG and hysteroscopy done as well. Everything went well and there was hardly any tissue damage.

Because they flushed out my tubes and cleaned me all up inside, the doctor suggested we try an IUI (artificial insemination) instead of jumping straight to IVF because my hormones were pretty good and she felt that I could possibly conceive that way. This process started in April since the surgery delayed my cycle for about 45 days! The IUI itself wasn’t too bad overall. I was put on Letrozole starting on cycle day 5, up to ovulation. I ovulate on my own and it’s pretty consistent so I didn’t have to have a trigger shot. The IUI procedure can be compared to a pap smear, however, I feel like it’s more enjoyable knowing that you can potentially conceive your child! I felt cramping when the catheter was put in and when my husband was pushing his little fellas through the syringe into the catheter. I’m pretty good with pain but I am awkward when it comes to my down south area and just being out there for more than 1 person to see, so if anything- that was my uncomfortable feeling, not so much the procedure itself.

Unfortunately, after 3 IUI’s, we did not get pregnant. They can’t really tell you exactly why it didn’t work but my doctor did say she felt we were taking a big chance with the IUI and my endometriosis due to the scar tissue as well as endo growing back already after just 3 months of the surgery. The next step was IVF. One thing that I always said was; I will not do IVF! It was something I was scared off, all the shots the egg retrieval, the hormones I will be pumping into my body, the high risk…. It just was something I said I would NEVER do!

So here I am August of 2018, injecting myself every day the past 10 days and prepping for my egg retrieval in the next few days. We prayed about it and once we found out that the last IUI in May didn’t work, we just said, let’s move on to IVF. There was no debate about it or much thought if we should think about it some more before moving forward. We just wanted to have a couple of months to ourselves to rest from doctor appointments, get back to work and get on track since we will have to pay a hefty amount going forward. We just wanted us time even though we couldn’t take some extravagant vacation, just time for us being able to hang out and not have to check the calendar if my cycle was starting soon or if I had a doctor appointment coming up. Just never say never!

I started my injections on cycle day 1, which I know by reading columns and other blogs, others start day 2 or after. Every clinic is different and every persons needs are different as well. So not all protocols will be the same. Take note because I even questioned my coordinator when it was day 1 and made it clear “its day 1 of my cycle so am I supposed to start my injections on cycle day 1?”  Funny story really quick- the day before I started my injections, I had my injection class and it was a hot mess! I was super nervous and cracking under pressure. I poked myself with the demo needle and could NOT for the life of me remove the bigger needle from the syringe to place the smaller needle that I would be using. I wanted to cry, I was sweating up a storm and my husband looked like he wanted to laugh! I could’ve poked both him and the coordinator with how frustrated I was that day. My sis in law was a surrogate so gave me left over needles and I immediately practiced again when I got home and it was a cinch to do. Go figure!

Day 1 of injections was 2 vials of Menopur with 1 cc of the water vial and 225 of Follistim. The Follistim was easy and it burned just a tiny bit, I don’t even know if I can really say it burned. I think it was more of the feeling of fluid that was being injected in the first time because the 2^nd day going forward, I didn’t feel anything. Menopur on the other hand… burned like a mother! I was hesitant on the shots because I wasn’t sure what to expect. I must say though after Day 2, I became a pro and it was like second nature. Day 1 & 2 of my meds was 2 vials of Menopur with the water vial and then Day 3 til the end was 5 vials of Menopur still 225 Follistim during this time. I went down to 75 of Follistim starting on Day 6 and started Ganirelix. Menopur and Follistim are for the eggs to help them grow and Ganirelix is to stop you from ovulating. I did my 2 shots at around 7:50pm- 8:10pm since they were not too time sensitive, as long as it was within a 30 min range more or less. Ganirelix was very time sensitive and had to be administered within 2 mins so we chose 8pm and I made sure that every injection was in right at 8pm on the dot!

I did have 1 sketchy situation on a Saturday night when we went to dinner with some friends. My husband already agreed that he can go with me to the car to do the shots or if I wanted to go into the restroom that was fine too. The restaurant we went too was valet, only so the restroom it was! It was not ideal but I got the job done. I just remember hearing small talk from the ladies waiting in line not sure if someone was using the stall because they see shoes but ….. J yup, you see the shoes of an infertile chick who has to shoot up in the restroom stall so you just be patient, please!

So since my husband will have to give me the trigger shot (Pregnal) I decided that he should probably give me some of my shots to practice on me with. If I am being honest, he did well but for some reason, they all burned when he did them!

Now on to the activity and side effects. I didn’t feel too much on the first few nights. It wasn’t until the 3^rd day of being bumped up to 5 vials of Menopur where I started to feel the heaviness and bloat. I honestly didn’t realize I was bloated until I couldn’t get a pair of jeans to zip up. The bloat was still not too bad. I have read where women have to wear bigger clothing because it almost looks like a baby bump. Not for me, I got lucky. Where I didn’t get so lucky was in the headache department. Day 3 to 5 I had the worst migraine headaches. I live in CA near the fires that have been going on in So Cal and I don’t know if it’s a mixture of the fires, hormones and the fact that I am already a person who suffers from migraines, but, they were there it was real and Tylenol was my best friend. Although it didn’t get the job done, it helped take the edge off. I slept a lot after the migraine passed as well. So my major side effects would be headaches and tiredness. Come 9pm I am beat and ready for bed but I try to fight sleep so that I am not up at 5am waking up my husband. I broke out a little bit but I want to blame that on the birth control that I was on 2 weeks before my cycle. I have been really hungry but since I am small in frame, it’s something I am happy about. I have just tried to stay away from the processed snacks and foods as much as possible.

I have read the good and the bad about taking supplements and my RE didn’t say not to continue any supplements I am taking on my end or my husbands. I am taking prenatals and Royal Jelly (1 pill.) My husband is taking a supplement for motility called FertilAid and we got it off of Amazon. He also has cut out alcohol, I have as well. I was advised not to have caffeine so have been drinking some chamomile tea with honey in the morning and lots of lemon water during the day. I only add lemon because it helps me get my water in. I haven’t had any signs of OHSS so still in the clear with having water opposed to others who are switched to Electrolyte type drinks like coconut water and Gatorade. We try to get a lot of fruits and veggies in our diet and lean proteins. We did have a cheat the other day- all beef hot dogs. We felt like crap the next day so it was a good reminder to ourselves that it’s not really worth it lol. Where we live there is a 7leaves Café that has a few non caffeinated options but they do use sugar so if you are not having sugar then you can ask for without. I tried a Summer Passion one today that is absolutely delicious! We have been good with just keeping this organic and light. He works out all the time and I have been trying to just stay relaxed but taking small walks on the weekend. I do walk around a lot at work as well.

My follicles I felt like didn’t start really showing their growth until day 7 or 8. I have 27 eggs as of today and all are 12 mm or bigger. I want to say that they should be at 13 mm to be counted in. So we will see what happens the day of the retrieval to see how many they collect. Day 9, 10 and 11 (today) are the most activity I have gotten with the twinges on both sides and having to pee every 30 mins or so. I feel full but still not too bloated. If you have had an IUI the twinges are about 3 times stronger since you are producing more eggs with these hormones opposed to being on Clomid or Letrozole.

So today, I wait for the call. Its either today Day 11 is my last day of injections and I do my trigger Day 12 and egg retrieval Day 14, or, I do 1 extra day of injections, trigger on Day 13 and egg retrieval on Day 15.

What my clinic prefers is to do the egg retrieval and then an FET (frozen embryo transfer) about 2 cycles after the retrieval. This allows your body to heal and prevent OHSS as well. I have to have another hysteroscopy done before the transfer so we are looking at November or December for the transfer date. We are nervous, excited and just happy that we are able to do this to fight for our family!

Anyone else out there going through IVF- what day did you start stimming and what was your trigger day? How many embryos did you land up with after the retrieval?

 

Follow Up #4 – AK

I had my fourth follow up with Dr. V. Spoiler alert…. I am NOT pregnant. What else is new right?

Anyhow, as usual, I got on the table first. He seemed to take a lot more time on me this time. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that J was talking his ear off so he couldn’t truly concentrate (lol, I love that guy) or if it was really that he needed to assess me that much.

This time around he was able to tell me right away that I was not pregnant and should be expecting my bitchy aunt Flow in town to visit, soon. He was also able to see that again, shame on me… I had corn chips. You guys, I fail. I feel stupid for even eating them knowing that it’s not allowed.  I have done pretty well on all other stuff that is not allowed- refined sugars and caffeine. Although (oh gosh, I just ratted myself out) I did have like a bunch of donuts the weekend previous. I don’t think he saw that so much though. Or at least, he didn’t bring it up because I turned about 50 shades of red when my, oh so lovely husband shouted to him that I had corn chips. Apparently, he likes to throw me under the bus, too. Nicely done, J!

Per usual, he adjusted me and this time he focused on my hips. I felt a huge difference.  I get a lot of pains in my hips and back closer to my menstrual starting. This month was a bit different, no pain but I felt uneasy in that region still.

As predicted, I did wind up getting my menstrual the next morning. It wasn’t as depressing, but honestly- Dr. V felt my despair about being a mom, or, lack of. I felt a lot better and I am just trying to stay focused and not lose hope.

The two supplements that he has me taking right now specifically for trying to conceive is:

Tribulus – which is supposed to be similar to Clomid. Discussing how long my cycle is (32-36 day) to my OB/Gyn, she advised that it’s a normal cycle. Dr V. agreed but suggested taking so that I can ovulate the same time every month. I started to take this one a day supplement the first day of my new cycle. The side effects I am having are headaches and a heavier menstrual.

Ovatrophin PMG– These are taken in the AM and I am prescribed to take two. I don’t have any side effects but it is recommended to take with food because they are pretty strong. This supplement is to help with a healthier ovary function. I don’t suffer from any cysts but I read that if you do, these really help you out.

Our next appointment isn’t until the beginning of June, so hoping when we go back, we have good news. If anything, hopefully there will be more of a positive progress report.

Until then, God Bless. Be kind to yourselves, and others.

Real Life Scare- Childhood Edition

If you have met me, you would say that I’m anti-social. If you are an acquaintance of mine, you would say that I am paranoid. If you know me, you would say that I am very careful and aware of my surroundings.

It’s all about perception versus knowledge of one person.

Now, I actually was always this anti-social, paranoid, careful person. It all began when I was a kid just minding my own business and being…a kid! Now, when I watch crime television shows or movies, I am usually pretty good at figuring out who the guilty party is, usually, right away. Now before I became Inspector Gadget I should start from the beginning.

I lived in Santa Ana, CA from the age of baby until about 10. The neighborhood was pretty decent, especially compared to the way things are now and days in that part of town. The neighborhood was a fairly decent mix of races. I remember my dad having a friend across the street that he actually winded up working with for years to come. We had a neighbor to the right of us who was super quiet, but truly kind. Every time you’d walk by his house, he or his wife would be outside watering the grass or plants and even watching their dogs play around while they enjoy the fresh air. Our neighbors to the left were actually my aunt and uncle from my mom’s side. Let me back up a bit and tell you that the house we lived in was my father’s parent’s home. The neighbors next to my aunts were also pretty friendly. They were a bit older and I can still remember playing in the garage of this neighbor’s house with cousins and the day that we went over and his wife informed us that he had passed away. I am trying to paint this picture that we lived in a pretty safe, family oriented neighborhood. Back during this time, I had a friend from school whose mom and my mom, were friends. Our home was two houses away from the corner. If you go around that corner, about 4 or 5 houses down, was my friend from schools house. I went there a few times before it was apparent that I would have to be going over to her place to play and she wouldn’t be able to come over to mine. Again, I lived in my grandparents’ home, and my grandfather was pretty strict with who came over.

It was a summer afternoon on a Sunday and I went over to my friend’s house per usual.  It was maybe late afternoon- I remember it being warm out still but it had to be between 3pm- 5pm. It was time to go home and she and her mom walked me out. Our parents were both guilty of not walking us to and from each other’s houses. Quite honestly, it wasn’t something really needed. Well, until this one day in particular. For some reason, I already knew that something was going to happen. I cannot be honest and say that I had a feeling that someone was watching me but, I definitely had an overall weird feeling.

I start to walk and get past a couple of houses and turn back and notice that they are already inside their home. I continue to walk towards the corner, knowing that once I hit around that corner, I am basically, home.

“Priscilla, run!” That is all I heard from my aunts voice. I remember crying and seeing my aunt Mona walking towards me and my grandpa out in the front yard area. He was hard to see due to the way the fence in their front was built, but I saw him. I panicked, I froze at first- but hearing her voice, snapped me into reality and I ran towards home. I remember my grandpa yelling at me and telling me this is why I shouldn’t go to other people’s house and to stay in the backyard playing from now on. I remember my aunt telling my dad what had happened and how she saw this man and then me and she could only yell as loud as she could.

I remember looking forward and seeing the corner being so close. I looked to my right and noticed a man driving really slow and staring at me. I turned my head quickly forward towards the corner and towards my house. Just like any nightmare, my legs became stiff and it felt like I was walking in molasses. I remember looking again to my right and seeing this man start to get out of his car that is now parked in the middle of the street. What can I do? Run? What if he runs faster than me? Do I scream? For some reason I don’t think I could if my body doesn’t fully comprehend what is going on at this point….. And then I hear it, I hear my name being yelled out loud. I don’t recall much after this as far as what she said to him, if anything or what he did next. I am pretty sure he got back into his car and sped off.

Thank God for my aunt. If she wasn’t walking to the nearby 7 eleven at that exact moment, I may have not been okay.

5 Travel Destinations- Bucket-list

I have way more than 5 places, let’s just be clear. I only picked 5 places for this posting because I could sit here allllll day long talking about where and why I want to go to SO many other places. These are more places that I know would be once in a lifetime or I have been obsessed with going but just have not booked.

In no particular order…..here it goes:

Belfast, Northern Ireland

This would be my first out of the country trip that I would LOVE to go on. Just look at this picture, alone. Beautiful. I want to experience a change in culture and scenery for just about a week or two. I could seriously get lost in the city and just leave all my worries behind.

I would love to tour the Cathedrals and admire all the art in the city. Not to mention if you are a Sons of Anarchy fan like I am, they based just about an entire chapter in this city (spoiler alert- baby Abel was found alive and well.) This is not why I want to go though. I have always had this want and need to go to Ireland and Scotland. I would actually be ok with one, or the other.

Jerusalem, Israel

Come on… who wouldn’t want to visit the Holy Land?!  Everything about it just sounds so gorgeous. I would want to see the Old City and the prayer (Western) wall. The Temple Mount would also be truly life changing to oversee the entire Holy Land. This may be something I would look into doing with our church one year since they go every other year. I wouldn’t be too sure on traveling alone or with my husband. It just reminds me of somewhere you would go with a larger group.

Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico

I have been to Puerto Rico and absolutely love, love, LOVE it there. If it were up to me, I would travel there every year. I’d actually consider living in this state. There is something about the warm breeze and cool water that just found a huge place in my heart. The people are friendly and the atmosphere is so laid back.  Not to mention that, the sunsets there are beyond any other sunsets I’ve seen.

One place that I would love to visit the next trip out there would be Cabo Rojo. There are some gorgeous beaches and views there. In particular, I would love to oversee the Caribbean Sea by going up the Los Morrillos lighthouse. I have read that there are some awesome hiking trails as well. Maybe this will be a mark off my bucket list, soon enough.

Charleston, South Carolina

Just because my last name is King- I would have to go to King’s street. Okay, maybe that is bit of a lie. But, I would definitely want to stay at one of the many amazing looking hotels on King’s street and just roam around the city. I’d think that Rainbow Row would also be a cool adventure and probably would make for some excellent photo shoots!

Let’s not forget the food! The food is probably what has me so intrigued. I have a chubby heart! Beef brisket, biscuits and tea…..yummmmmy!! I have actually seen on Buzzfeed the top places to eat in Charleston and let me tell you….. You’ll be asking to go with me on my trip! 🙂

Cancun, Mexico

So fun fact: I am Mexican and have never travelled to Mexico. I mean, Tijuana cannot count in this equation. I probably sound so basic right now, but, I literally have to go to Cancun before I die. I don’t care how close to home it is or how I can go to Mexico just about, anytime. I would have to actually say it’s on my top 5 in life. Picturing: myself on the beach with a margarita in hand and a good book to read in the sun. The warm sand between my toes and the water, come on now….. How gorgeous does this pic look?

So there you have it. What would be on your bucket list and why? Where have you traveled to that you fell in love with?

 

Follow up # 3

So I know I have avoided writing about my last checkup results. It will be a couple of weeks since I followed up but, it still hurts me to talk about.

For some reason, we were hopeful that we would be pregnant. Why wouldn’t we be? We have been doing everything we are supposed to be doing- eating better, praying, relaxing, taking our supplements, using OPK’s…. you name it, we are right on top of it! Well, as fate would have it, we are not pregnant.

The checkup itself was not too bad, but if I am being honest; we did have a slip up while on a weekend getaway. Apparently, corn does not do my ovaries too good. Dr V. had me lay on the table and was able to tap into the fact that he was tapping into hormonal imbalances and that I had eaten something I wasn’t supposed to. And then he asked the dreaded question of “did you eat corn by chance?”

YES, we ate corn, corn chips, and corn tortillas… popcorn.

I am now on supplements named Ovatrophin PMG, which should help balance me out a bit.

I just feel so bad about myself for working so hard and having a slip up for just a day and a half and feeling that maybe if I didn’t eat all that corn junk, I could be sitting here, pregnant.

Our next follow up isn’t until April 26^th so we are hoping, by then- now that corn is out of the mix; maybe we will get better news this time around!

Until next time; pray for each other and pray for me. I am definitely praying for all of you that are desiring to be a parent soon as well.

Follow Up Appointment- AK

Almost everything looks good, so far…

 

We went for our follow up appointment with Dr. V, our kinesiologist about 3 weeks after our first appointment. This appointment will reveal the tests he took on the first visit (blood pressure, temp, muscle testing, etc.) I went first on the results and it concluded that I had pretty strong muscles but, I also had an irregular heartbeat.

Back story- I have always had low blood pressure, however, it was never a concern with my primary care, she actually always mentioned that because I am relatively a calm person from what she can see, that she wasn’t concerned with this. I feel a lot of times I get what I am thinking, anxiety attacks and I start to get these heart palpitations and jittery where sometimes I feel that I may even, pass out.

So, Dr. V. mentions that he is concerned about my irregular heartbeat. Especially with me trying to get pregnant. He put me on adrenals and if I am being honest, I have not had any fluttering feeling nor dizzy spells or any anxiety in the past 3 weeks that I have been taking these supplements.

He assessed me again on the chiro table and the one thing I forgot to mention in my original post was that, he adjusted us. I tend to get a lot, a lot….a lot! of stress in my shoulders and neck area. He adjusts me and I feel the weight lifted off. This has also really helped my posture as I don’t have to lean over like the Hunchback of Notre Dame at my work station.

He also noticed that I have a lot of acid in my stomach which, I did not tell him about. I tend to get a lot of acid reflux and stomach ulcers. With the blood diet, I am supposed to eat more fish and red meat. I am not much of a fish person but I try to have some at least once a week if anything. He gave me Cod Liver supplements to help me in this area as well.

As far as the spray supplement I was using for the thyroid issue (low thyroid), it seemed to be working. I started with 12 sprays 3 times a day and now he brought it down to 3 sprays just in the morning. As mentioned in my previous post, I feel the difference, majorly. I can tell that its working based off of not having coffee anymore. That was my “wake up” for the day and I have felt energetic on most days.

The one thing that really made me a believer and made my husband a believer in this method was the fact that he was able to “feel” the energy we both had on stressful situations in our lives, aside from infertility. We both did not mention anything to him and he was able to see that I was having despair at work. Which that week earlier, there was some major drama at work that made me want to really quit my job. He was also able to see stress in family which I will keep to myself. With my husband, he was also able to see that he was dealing with some family stuff but, he hit the nail on the head without any information provided by either one of us. Wow… just amazing.

We have our third appointment come this Friday so I will be sure to let you know my results and what he thinks I can do, next.

Until next time- be kind to yourself and to others. Xoxo.

 

 

Applied Kinesiology- Treating Infertility?

For those women out there TTC; I am sure you have heard it all when it comes to suggestions on helping you conceive. I would like to bring up something I have heard and am now applying in my life- Applied Kinesiology.

Wait one minute… I have not logged on to blog for now 19 months and I decide to spring (timing is everything, spring is right around the corner guys) this one on you so heavily??? I do what I do… ok back to what I was saying…

Applied Kinesiology.  Here is a brief explanation I was able to find: Kinesiology, also known as biomechanics, is the study of body movement. Applied kinesiology (AK) which is also known as muscle strength testing, is a method of diagnosis and treatment based on the belief that various muscles are linked to particular organs and glands, and that specific muscle weakness can signal distant internal problems such as nerve damage, reduced blood supply, chemical imbalances or other organ or gland problems. Practitioners contend that by correcting this muscle weakness, you can help heal a problem in the associated internal organ.

Here is my story and experience thus far. After many years of trying to conceive, my husband and I have yet to have our take home baby. Doctor’s appointments have become minimal since they haven’t found anything that is triggering us being unable to conceive. I have past posts about this if you are interested in knowing the full scoop!  We have more and more shared our struggle with friends aside from family and a friend of ours and her husband and their child have all taken kinesiology as an approach for other things they are experiencing. When my friend was looking into it a bit more she noticed that there was a high amount of discussion of women and men going in for fertility type reasons. She suggested it to me and promised that she has never felt, better. I took the bait and husband and I both decided we will go in and give this a shot.

Oh, by the way, they also believe in the Blood Type Diet and eating for your blood type. We haven’t followed this diet as much as we should if I am being honest but, nonetheless it’s worth giving a shot as well.  It could be in my head but, when we do stick to it, I feel great!

The first appointment went well. To be honest, I think my husband was more weirded out thinking we were visiting some witch doctor. We get into the office and he has us sit first in a chair while he can test your blood type if you do not know it and your temperature. Then, he gives this probiotic clear drink that you have to leave in your mouth for about 10 seconds and he asks you how strong the taste is to you. He does a muscle test where he wraps a cuff around your leg and then starts pumping air to tighten it around your leg and you have to tell him once you feel that it’s too tight for you ( somewhat of a tingle or pain feeling is what they are looking for).  Am I weirding you out yet? There’s more… blood pressure, checking your pupils, etc – an assessment of your body functions and muscle density.  All of these series of tests do not get revealed to you until your “report card” on the second visit.

Now here comes the interesting/fun/weird part of it all. Dr V. after all of his “testing”, has you lay on a chiropractic table and has you make a fist with your right hand and you keep your arm straight up. He applies pressure to push your hand/arm back towards your head and test your muscle strength. They believe in the 5 senses so they are able to help holistically “heal” you. He goes to your pressure points as well and is able to feel your energy off of this method as well. He has this huge wall of supplements to heal your body depending on your situation and what needs work. What he does it, gives you one of the supplement bottles to hold in your hand while he goes back to the pushing your arm back, method. In my honest opinion, I felt the difference in the pressure for different supplements. I am a pretty tense person by nature so for my arm to easy be pushed back with slight pressure, made me believe in this just a bit from the beginning.

Then there comes the results…. I will keep my husband’s results private since I am respectful like that. But I will spill the tea about me. So, I have taken a step back from gluten, wheat, sugar, dairy and corn. Now, he didn’t say I had to completely rid my body of all of these, but they should also definitely be kept far away and eaten in small doses. The gluten and wheat are clogging up my fallopian tubes, sugar intake is messing up my ovaries and I have a low thyroid (never have been diagnosed after tests from my PCP which I always thought was weird because, besides weight gain, all the rest of the signs point to me) so sugar is messing that all up too along with the wheat and gluten. To be honest with you, I didn’t even ask what corn means because I hardly even eat it. I started with just one supplement spray from the first visit. It was to focus on my thyroid since I am so lethargic. After 3 days, I felt the difference with no added sugar, and no gluten and with the supplement. I do have to admit, I gave up coffee because what is my coffee without sugar??? Nothing!  Dairy, I didn’t do too much of that I could recall until; I had to do without it.

I will write about our follow up appointment # 2 soon. We also have appointment # 3 coming up end of this week so stay tuned…

To be quite honest, it is a bit hard to write out. Which encourages me more to vlog more than, blog. J  Maybe I will still vlog about it and will be able to easier describe and use hand movements and all!

Until next time… be kind to yourself, and to each other. Xoxoxo.

 

 

And now I’m stronger…

” are you ready, Priscilla?”

That was the first time, in a long time ( since the day I got married to be exact) that I was never so sure, that I was ready.

Let’s start from the beginning though.

Last summer, my husband and I were just lost, we knew we needed to be saved. We are good people. We give to the needy, open our home to those who need a place to rest their head for a bit, give offerings to our church, pay for those who are struggling, throw birthday parties, baby showers, wedding showers… you name it, we are more than happy to do it. BUT, we sin a boat load for all those people, just between the two of us.

We decided, we need to be baptized we need to be free of all this badness we have going on. We need a change, we need to be stronger in our walk with the Lord. We flaked out last summer. I used being on my menstrual as a bad excuse because ” I won’t feel comfortable.” So we never made it to the baptism.

A year goes by…. we are still in the same bad place. He’s drinking, I’m cussing…. we are both judging others like its our job. We need Jesus, and forgiveness. And, new attitudes.

It took a lot to decide, we are going to be baptized this summer because, we are NOT perfect people. We have tons of flaws and I am not going to get baptized if I am a ” bad” Christian. To me I looked at it as being a fake, a poser Christian and why would I want to do that? Until one day, at church, our pastor was speaking about Christianity and how the world expects us to be these ” perfect people.” He went on about how even once we are saved and even though we repent, we are still nevvvvvver going to be these perfect Christians. Because, that doesn’t exist. Never, have I ever, felt like he was looking straight at us saying- ” I am talking about you two.”

I love our pastor, he is a straight shooter and hearing this leader say those words, really made me realize, I am never going to be worthy of the Lord. All I can do is try my best to be a good Christian and an example to my peers. I will mess up, I will sin, I will need to ask for forgiveness. I will be an example in Christ. He forgives, I just have to remember that I am living in his example and got to try my best.

So fast forward to lets say- 3 weeks later? We go to church and the pastor announces- the annual Summer Baptism’s. My husband called the church and signed us up. We were all in it this time around. We know we will never be perfect, its impossible. We know we are ready, and want to do this, together.

Here comes this beautiful Sunday morning in August. The sun is shining, its warm outside already at 830 am. I am not on my period, haha. I have my husband here on earth with me still. It was, perfect.

We go through church service, go get a quick bite to eat and then head over to one of the elders of the church’s house. We see about 50-60 people in the backyard. There is praise music being sung, everyone looks so happy to be there. Some to be baptized, like us and others to support and pray with us. Then our pastor comes up to pray and announce they are going to start the baptism’s. I wasn’t nervous, neither was J. We just got in line. We always agreed that it would be super duper neat if we were baptized, together. We also always hoped that our pastor would be the one to baptize us. There were about 5 others helping our pastor in the process, all elders of the church.

So, now its our turn. And to answer our hopes and prayers… our church pastor is next to take someone in. (Not to say I wouldn’t be happy if one of the elders was to do it, it was more of a treat because we know our pastor and always talked about him being to the one to do it.) So anyway,  I walked towards him and he smiled his big, heart warming, smile. I look back at my husband and tell him: ” I want us to do this together” and one of the elders said ” of course you can, that’s a blessing”. We both get to our pastor and he hugs us and wants to pray with us, first. My heart was compelling with joy. All that we wanted out of this, was happening. He prayed for our marriage and asked God to use us because he knows we are strong.

And now…. its time. I went first. He asked me- ” are you ready, Priscilla?” I nodded yes and plugged my nose and mouth – He said ” in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, you are saved” then I was dunked under water. J followed suit. When he came up, he hugged our pastor again. I started to cry and kissed him. By him, I mean my husband! LOL. And we walked away, holding hands.

We are truly blessed. We will never ever be better then anyone. We will never ever be perfect. We will only get better and be perfect, for each other.

In the words of my dear Carrie Underwood- “and now I’m changed
And now I’m stronger.There must’ve been something in the water”

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Top 5 things not to say to someone who is infertile.

Ok let me start by saying that I do understand people make comments not meaning to make you feel bad. I know everyone just wants to try to help with advice and the ” my friends/sister in law/ cousin/best friends aunt “-success stories, but it’s a lot more complicated then that. I’m blessed to have people in my life who try to be supportive but I’ve also had a few who say some really hurtful stuff. It’s hard to understand where I’m coming from, I’m sure since- I literally have no one in my real life who can relate to our infertility. 

Here are 5 things that have been said to me that I vow to never ever say to another sister who has to be put through this: 

1. ” Have you tried timing sex?” 

Well, yes! When you’re not fertile mrytle- you obsess over your infertility including- timing sex and tracking your ovulation. I’m infertile not ignorant… I know what I’m supposed to do, to get pregnant. If only it was as easy as “timing it.” 

2. “Have you though about adoption? ”

Yes. There are many children who deserve a loving home. One we can provide but see.. It’s not as easy as you think. To give up trying to have your own flesh and blood as your child and not having your genes carry on after you’re dead and gone. Plus adoption doesn’t guarantee a child. That could be something even more emotional that you have to consider. It doesn’t mean I’d never adopt because I would and want to later down the line. I want my experience in delivering a baby! 

3. ” Dont stress, it affects your body” 

Easier said than done! Relax and let go is something you try to do just about everyday. Of course you’re right but I feel like even when I’m not thinking or obsessing about it, I’m still sitting here with an empty womb. 

4. ” Try IVF” 

First, can we borrow $12k? Because that’s how much it costs. Second, it doesn’t guarantee a baby. Look at Guiliana Rancic- she had two rounds of IVF and before her third she found out she had cancer. She miscarried the first time and had to use a surrogate anyhow due to her breast cancer. And please don’t suggest a surrogate! Lol. It doesn’t guarantee it’s going to work the first time or the other times, either. 

5. Best for last…. ” It’s going to happen when it’s supposed to happen” 

This one hurts me the most. Am I not good enough now for a baby? Are me and my husband not supposed to be parents yet? It’s almost like you’re nicely saying we’re not good enough or fit to be parents.

What bothers me the most is seeing these crazy ladies killing their babies, or abusing their children. So they’re supposed to have kids but I’m not? 

With Mothers Day up the street- be kind to those women who WANT to be a mommy. Who WISH they were being celebrated that day. 

God bless.