Never Give UP
Struggling with infertility, hear one woman’s story of struggle and a positive outcome by never giving up.
A Positive Outcome
Finally, we are so EXCITED to
I wanted to write this blog post and tell you some of the things I looked into trying to help us.
Where It Started
Firstly, back in August when sitting on my back deck with my thoughts one day I wrote down our journey, right from where it started. I had taken multiple photos on my phone over many months of the negative pregnancy test, and my mind tricking me into believing I was pregnant at times, that I missed periods. YES, that happened. Many times. The mind is a very powerful thing.
That hot summer day in August I began to write it all down. When I finished and read it over about 10 times, getting goosebumps every time, crying at something different every read and laughing at some other parts, it felt like 1000lbs was lifted off my shoulders. I truly think that just writing out my thoughts helped me clear my mind to focus on what was missing in our relationship of trying to conceive.
I really wanted to share our story publicly, but I was nervous and sacred. It wasn’t until I chatted to my Aunt and Uncle who understood where I was coming from, that I knew I needed to share our story because so many have nowhere to turn or sometimes no one to talk to.
Having someone to talk to who understands, made the world of difference for me. It was like someone understood us and our situation. It’s okay to talk to those who don’t struggle or who aren’t struggling but, talking to someone who understands and can relate, was HUGE for me. It helped me understand, learn things and even just appreciate our situation a little more (if that makes sense).
I read a lot of different blogs and stories over the course of our journey as well, to hear other people’s experiences and what worked for them and didn’t.
Knowing Your Options
When a doctor tells you everything is fine and it’ll happen when it is meant to be is one thing I found SO hard to process. That’s when I decided to dive in and do my own research. I spoke to a dear friend after speaking to my aunt about Acupuncture and asked her opinion on that sort of treatment. She immediately suggested that I try acupuncture treatments, even if it was just for relaxation and see what the outcome would be.
I took their advice and started Acupuncture treatments in July. I started only going every other week due to the expense factor of it, but once I realized how good I was feeling, I bumped it up to a couple of times a month, and then, I started going every week, regularly.
At that point, the cost wasn’t concerning me, I was just feeling SO good. Thanks to my supportive husband, I was able to increase my treatments and I was feeling the best I felt in a very long time, I was no longer stressing over things that were out of my control. I was much more relaxed, laid back and happier. Yes, happier.
I asked to be treated for my anxiousness, stress, and fertility. Immediately my therapist suggested we focus on relaxation once I told her our story on struggling with fertility. After a few treatments and seeing two different therapists with the same treatments being done, it was suggested that I invest in a Basal Body Temperature tracker.
This was something I was considering, but I felt like “why keep obsessing over our issue and focus more on us”. However, I hopped on that wagon after some research and invested in a Temp Drop tracker.
Tracking
Once it arrived, I started tracking my temps right away, by logging my temps on an app that charted them for me. But I wasn’t consistent. What do I mean by that? I wasn’t tracking my Basal body temperature at the same time every day.
To me, that wasn’t a big deal, but when my acupuncturist asked to see my charted temps, her first question was if I was tracking at the same time each day? My response was, no. She suggested I track at the same time each day to get a better reading. So, I started with that and waking at 5:30 am every day to quickly sync my temp {I’m a morning person} and some days just go back to sleep.
When I started tracking my temps, I kinda felt like it was my blanket of support. It felt like I was going to start getting answers on when I was ovulating, if I was or if I was having a hormone issue. Turns out it was more of my ovulation. From tracking, we believe that I was ovulating later than normal.
Interesting right, I had no idea to even consider that but by showing my chart to my acupuncturist each week before my acupuncture session, she/they were able to pinpoint my treatment for that day. She was also able to tell from my temps what was happening when. I was never so interested in the science behind a woman’s cycle than ever before.
Carrying On With Life
Life started getting busy for myself and my husband as the holiday season was approaching fast, which included a lot of festivities and planning for our little Christmas getaway to Banff. I was so preoccupied with the holidays, more focused on me and just how good I was feeling, it was like we forgot about “trying”.
Finally, I felt like we were back to where we use to be as a couple. Things were going great and the laughter, joy, and love came back, and brighter than ever before. I believe that Acupuncture played a HUGE part in us being successful in conceiving. It relaxed me and made me feel like “me” again, the person I lost along this hard road of trying to conceive. My family noticed how much happier and more relaxed I was, as well.
I cannot sit here and write this and tell you that if you get acupuncture your success rate with fertility will increase, nor am I here to say that tracking your BBT (Basal Body Temp) will do it either. But I wanted to share with you that if you are struggling, TRY all your options, be consistent,
I also recommend joining support groups on Social Media, connect with others who are
Final Thought
One final thought, have faith that it will happen. If you believe in prayer, pray, and ask for answers. You’d be amazed by the power of prayer. I prayed for the longest time for just answers as to why, which kept sending me for more acupuncture treatments. Anyone who is struggling with infertility, I am sending all the Fertility Confetti I can give to you. Someone once wrote that to me when I first shared our journey publicly, about our struggle, and I’ll never forget it, EVER! <3
Big smiles,
