Cycle Day 1 has arrived

Jan. 18, 2015

Well, my "anniversary" came and went. To be honest, I had moments where I was struggling that day, and yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster. I was just plain irritable. Come to find out, it was PMS. I woke up with shooting cramps at 4 am and my period had started. I was surprised at how bad I cramped all day today.

The crazy thing is, I'd gone to my TCM yesterday morning and she knew I'd start. How? I was sensitive as all get out. I wasn't too sensitive on most areas, but on the point lowest below my naval closest to my pelvic, it was like she'd stabbed me. I also had pretty bad pain over my right ovary. My guess is that is the one I'd ovulated from. I started cramping during my session. She told me that because I was hurting so much in those locations I'd most likely start menstruating within a day or two. She was right!

My pulses were good after my session. I think she was busy, so I got an extra long session. I actually thought she'd forgotten about me. An hour went by and I was still lying there with needles poking out and starting to get a wee too warm under the heat lamp over my pelvis.

A breakdown of this cycle. 33 days long. Ovulation on day 19 and a whopping 14 day luteal phase as long as I ovulated when I think I did. That's great news!

I did email my doctor today. Last time she ran labs it was midcycle and the nurse had said she'd intended to do them and an office visit for a 6 month checkup. Problem was, I hadn't had a cycle to speak of for so long, we just went with my first bleed, which was only spotting and turned out to be most likely ovulation spotting as I started my period two weeks later.

I'm not sure if she'll want to see me or not. I could go either way. It'd be nice to have an accurate read of my hormones, but I also like just trusting I'm healing. I'll keep you posted.

From here, I'll just keep on doing what I've been doing. I'm skipping acupuncture next week because I'm auditioning for a play. It'd be my first time back on stage in 12 years if I get it. But, that's getting ahead of myself. I'm not sure if skipping is good or bad, but I'm really starting to just go with the flow. My herbs run out in a few days so I'll be without for over a week. I'm fine with it. Last month I ran out for a good week too. I'm starting to trust and have more confidence my body is regaining it's strength on it's own. I'm just prodding it along.

I'll start my castor oil packs and pre-O routine again soon. I'm waiting until my heavy bleeding is done though because castor oil can make the flow heavier. I really think that's helped. The last two solid periods I've had have been during the months I was vigilant with my packs until ovulation.

I just have to say my heart is heavy this evening. Someone I know lost his wife tonight from sarcoma cancer. She was such a woman of faith and did video updates, up until two days ago offering strength to all those fighting cancer. I journeyed with them over Facebook and have been faithful in my prayer over her, him and her family. I never met this woman, but I burst into tears to hear of her passing. It really puts into perspective how short our time here on earth is and how much we can chose to impact people in a positive or negative way. May we all chose to be a light to those that surround us.

God bless you through your healing and God be with you always.

Better and Better!

Dec. 20, 2014

Well, it was back to acupuncture today and it was a resounding "hung how." Or, "very good?" She was thrilled. My pulses are better and better and both my TCM and her husband (partner in business who translates) were extremely pleased my period had returned in a normal cycle.

My cycle last month was 35 days and I had four "normal" days of blood flow and one day spotting today. When I say normal, it was well within the normal range of blood loss and lasted the appropriate amount of days. My periods up until now have been rather light blood loss. If you are curious, I looked it up. The average woman loses 4-12 tsp per cycle and bleeds about 3-5 days.

My guess is I lost on the lower end of that around 5-6 tsp and bled for a full four days, spotted one. How do I know? Another thing the menstrual cup is good for...measuring blood loss. I only used it half my cycle though and collected about 3 tsp, so I'm guessing it was around 6 tsp total lost.

My acupuncture today was nearly painless. She also skipped the spot she normally pokes on my thighs. I meant to ask her why, but completely forgot. It was nice to relax though. My son, normally an early riser decided to wake at 4:30 today. I stubbornly got it set in my mind I was not going to go in the room until 6 am. And wouldn't you believe he played, sang and talked to his stuffed animals for an hour and 15 minutes. At 5:45 he fell back asleep until just after 7, but of course I couldn't sleep worth squat. Shutting my eyes for 45 minutes during my session was heavenly.

Afterwards, she just kept saying "hung how, hung how" which if you missed my previous blogs in my pitiful American attempt at phonetically saying "very good" in Chinese.

We also had a bit of a scare the other night. Two men tried to kick in our door. Scary stuff! Thankfully, they took off when my husband went towards the door. The cracked the entire frame in half though. Yikes!

Well, as I sit and type I've a castor oil pack on my stomach to get that blood moving. I've felt great the last month! I'm really hoping this cycle was the start of all good things. I did decide to start taking shatavari root again. It's support to nourish your endocrine system and alleviate stress. Another one of those foods that really help your body regulate by prodding it along. Here is a link if you care to read more here.

Tonight is our Christmas. I just spent the last several hours getting everything perfect for Santa. I hope my son is thrilled in the morning.

I've really been reflecting on Nerida Walker and her message of resting in fruitfulness. And, I have. I had planned to temp up until I left, but I packed up my BBT thermometer. I'll resume when I return to have an accurate account to show my TCM, but it's a bit liberating to just take a break. I did take an OPK this morning to see how my resting LH was. Although it's a bit darker line than the average woman probably has this early in her cycle, it was negative, and that is what is important to me.

Well, if I don't get back on before Christmas....

Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanza
Happy Holidays!

Acu Update and Faint Positives

Sept. 15, 2014

Well, Saturday was back to acupuncture. Good news, my pulses were stronger at the start, and even stronger after the pricks. Still not perfect, but going in the right direction. She added another needle to the formation which was about one inch above my belly button. I still haven't quite found that point in any of my fertility books or online, but she seems to know what it's for. I have to remind myself she's treating the whole body, not just fertility. She tells me every time it's to increase Qi, menstruation and pregnancy.

I had my husband snap a picture of my stomach post treatment. This time, they seem to be more red, and one actually bruised. Ironically, the only one that really hurt, you can barely see.

Here is a link that will help you identify the points and why they are stimulated. The photo of the abdomen is almost identical to where she poked me except she did the three points above my naval. About one inch above center and two pokes about two inches above and to either side.

http://www.natural-health-for-fertility.com/acupressure-for-fertility.html#.VBb9f_ldU1I

If you scroll down she also did the Epang II spots as well as one spot directly above the Yintang but into my hairline.

The following images are from the book The Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis, which I've recommended time and time again. She shows ALL the various fertility points and what they do. I'm just using these images to show which my acupuncturist used.

She used the LV point, in previous visits when she KNOWS I have not ovulated, she has also used the KI4

This visit, she used the SP 10, SP 8 and ST 36, she has used numerous others on other visits, including Ki 3,Sp 6. I've used acupressure on SP 9 before under their direction.

Although they have not done acupuncture in my ear before, I do stimulate both of these spots every night during meditation. They are good for stress relief.

My acupuncturist also does two spots between my thumb and forefinger to increase Qi.

The Infertility Cure is excellent because it shows all the spots, gives detailed information about each spot, how it should be stimulated and WHEN and also discusses which spots should be used for each specific condition of infertility.

Amazing stuff! I go back next Saturday again for acupuncture and a new batch of herbs. Then back one more time. They go to China for three weeks following that and will stock me on herbs and we will decide if I need more sessions of acupuncture when they return.

In other news, I tested last week to faint positives. My in-laws, awesome as they are came to town to watch my son on Saturday night so my husband and I could do a mini overnight vacation to see a comedy fest. I decided not to use OPK's or pregnancy tests all weekend and just relax.

I did test this morning and still faint positives and a blaring positive OPK. So, I'm just riding this out. I think I'll just test OPKs every few days now since I think I'm having a POF LH surge. Best not to waste my money and no reason to create anxiety.

Although FF still has my temps as O'ing 16 days ago, I'm fairly certain I didn't. My cervix is still firm and closed, but I am assured with that since it spent the last two months wide open. My feeling is, my body is sorting itself out and regrouping. Next time it opens, I hope will be the real deal.

Until then, I've really reflected on the message about resting in the Lord, and I have. Oddly enough, I've had no anxiety about it. My baby is around the corner. I know it.