From the girl who was afraid of needles

Guess what I did today?  Okay, you'll never guess.  I had my first acupuncture appointment.

A while ago I read about people trying acupuncture on the IF blogs.  It's always been in the back of my mind since then as something to consider.  I was in no rush though because it involves needles and even though I'm much better than I used to be, I still don't like them.  For years, if I wasn't lying down or reclining enough so I was essentially lying down during a blood draw, there was a good chance I would end up on the floor passed out or very close to it.  Now as long as I don't watch as my blood is taken, I'm fine (excluding one episode last year first thing in the morning on an empty stomach).  Anyway, I knew acupuncture was different and wasn't supposed to hurt, but voluntarily subjecting myself to multiple needle sticks wasn't at the top of my list.  And I've seen pictures where there are a gazillion needles sticking out of nearly every inch of someone's body, which looked a little scary to me.

I've read a little here and there about acupuncture.  I knew it could possibly help decrease inflammation, which my uterus is (or at least was, at the time of surgery in February) filled with.  I knew it could help with fertility in general.  And that was the extent of my knowledge.

So naturally I made an appointment.  :)  I reasoned that if there was any time when we could use all the help we can get to maximize our chances of pregnancy, it would be now, when it appears the infection is gone for the time being.  (No TEBB this cycle!  Antibiotics worked again!)  I do not know how long the antibiotics will continue to work before the bacteria develop resistance, so I thought we could take advantage of this time.  The timing also nicely coincided with a coupon I found for the local acupuncture clinic.  :)  And I found out our insurance partially covers (or appears to cover) acupuncture.  So, why not?

The acupuncturist is also a physician trained in western medicine, so it's kind of like getting the best of both worlds.  He took my medical history first.  He wasn't too happy that I was on Synthroid (T4 thyroid hormone) because it doesn't really fix the problem at the source.  I'm not surprised that he felt that way.  He implied that he wants to find out why I'm hypothyroid because he said I'm not a typical hypothyroid patient (not overweight, etc.).  He wants to see my last thyroid labs, and if they're too old, he wants new ones run.  He was a little hard to follow sometimes, but I didn't ask many questions.  I just mostly listened and answered his questions.

He tested the strength of a bunch of different muscles (arms, legs, neck, etc.), and I could tell some of them were weak because I couldn't resist the pressure he put on them with his hand.  Every time there was weakness, he said something to his assistant girl who was taking notes.  He pressed on different spots on my abdomen to see if it was painful (nothing was).  He also looked inside my mouth, but I don't know what he was looking for.  He told his assistant to write something down, but I didn't ask what it meant.  I was happy to just curiously observe everything.

After all that testing, he started with the needles.  The first one went in my left forearm.  It stung like a bee sting while it was in and that spot ached for an hour or so afterward.  The pain was really mild though.  The second one went somewhere to the right of my belly button.  I couldn't feel that one at all.  I don't know if there was a third needle because he wasn't announcing them as he did them, and I was lying flat on my back so I couldn't see anything.  He was asking me questions or talking about something else or moving my arms and legs around while he was poking me.  The needles stayed in for a little while--maybe a few minutes--but I wasn't watching the clock.  He later retested the strength in the muscles that were weak, and the one muscle that I thought was weakest was surprisingly much stronger and able to resist him pushing against it.  I was impressed.  I have no idea what happened, but the needles did something good.  :)  Obviously, for both hypothyroid and IF, there aren't instant happy results, so we'll see if the needles do more good things down the road.

The other sign that the needles already had some kind of effect was a sensation I had in my entire chest and abdomen.  It felt like the whole area was...more active.  It was subtle, but definitely different from anything I've felt before.  I would describe it as warmer or maybe tingly (but not as tingly as when your hand falls asleep and you're regaining sensation).  It was like blood flow suddenly increased everywhere in that region.  Dr. Acupuncture said the needles were helping to "wake things up."  That is certainly what it felt like.

I asked him if he times the treatment to certain parts of the menstrual cycle, and he said he does and asked where I was in my cycle.  I told him I was about a week before ovulation.  He said he wants me to come in again either tomorrow or Thursday, so maybe something he does will help improve ovulation.  Again, I'll take all the help I can get, especially because I didn't take Clomid this cycle.  I was taking it to boost ovulation a bit; I don't have any known ovulation problems (aside from low post-peak hormone levels).  I forgot to call in the refill until AF arrived, and even though there were refills left on the prescription and normally I would have had the Clomid in hand by CD3, the pharmacy needed an authorization from my insurance company that I could continue to take Clomid, which takes a while.  I didn't know about that extra step.  So no Clomid this cycle.  I don't mind it at all actually.  We'll see how my body does on its own plus acupuncture.

Before I went to the appointment, I did a quick search online for what Catholic teaching might say about acupuncture.  What I found on a Catholic apologetics website that I trust is what I expected to find--that acupuncture as a medical treatment is fine (i.e., not immoral) as long as the patient doesn't participate in any non-Christian spirituality.  There was no spirituality aspect to my appointment today at all.  It went just like a normal doctor appointment, except after the physical exam, there were a few needles sticking out of me.  That's how I had assumed it would go.  If there had been anything questionable on the spirituality side, I would not go back.  My next appointment is Thursday.  :)

I know this might all be a long shot, but all the more fitting to start this treatment on the feast day of St. Jude, patron of all things long shot.  :)

St. Jude, pray for us!

What's new

1.  Remember last cycle when I had a crazy high progesterone level on P+7?  I asked Dr. K what might cause that.  She said it was so high because I was taking an antibiotic and it cleared up the TEBB in that cycle.  Interesting.  (So my speculation about possible pregnancy was not the answer.)  I didn't realize the infection was affecting either the quality of my egg or the ability of my body to produce progesterone.  This infection has got to go.  Seriously.

2.  Since the last set of antibiotics eliminated my TEBB for a cycle, we're going to be taking them at the beginning of each new cycle from CD1 to CD10.  I hope they work.  I try not to think about what happens if they don't work.  I have this sinking feeling that we're getting close to the end of our treatment options.

3.  I had my worst mucus ever this cycle--just two days of peak-type mucus, and neither day was really that good.  I've been on low-dose Clomid for a while, and it's never affected my mucus this much.  It might have been my fault though.  I did accidentally forget to take the first dose on CD3, so I started on CD4, thinking it wouldn't make much difference if I was off by day.  Between that and the TEBB returning, I've never been more excited to start over with a brand new cycle.

4.  DH is back to giving me the HCG shots.  I had been self-administering them for a long time (2+ years), ever since DH was out of town during one post-peak phase.  I never became comfortable with doing them.  I would usually sit on the couch holding the filled syringe and make many (fake) attempts before I could actually bring myself to do the injection.  I think over time, it took me longer and longer to actually do the injection after filling the syringe.  One day this summer I had to do the injection before leaving for the airport.  I had a half hour before our ride was coming, and I just couldn't do the injection.  Our ride arrived, and I still hadn't done it.  Somehow I did manage to do it under the pressure of "We have to go now," but something about that situation stayed with me.  The next cycle, I sat there for a long time holding the syringe, and I just couldn't do it, so I asked DH if he would help.  It was such a relief when DH did the injection.  I didn't care that it hurt.  (If you do it right, it doesn't hurt.)  He has done all the injections since then.  I still prefer the physical pain over the anxiety from self-administering them.

5.  We have a new neighbor living upstairs.  Her parents have lived above us for a while, but she was just born a few weeks ago.  It hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be.  Maybe you should ask me how I feel when AF arrives...  I've only heard her cry while I've been awake.  (DH said he has been woken up a couple times by her crying though.)  I see her almost daily because she is carried right in front of our living room window on the way to their car or if they go for a walk.  I think my brain goes into self-preservation mode whenever I see or hear her.  Instead of thinking, "Oh, there's the neighbor baby.  I wish I had a baby," my thought just stops after the matter-of-fact "Oh, there's the neighbor baby."

6.  I don't really daydream much about what it would be like to have our own baby.  The one big exception to that is when fall arrives.  Years ago friends of mine took the cutest pictures of their baby in the middle of a pumpkin patch.  Ever since then I have looked forward to the day when I can take our own baby to a pumpkin patch.  DH and I weren't planning to visit the local farm to buy a pumpkin this year like we did last year, so I thought I would be spared the reminder that we're still waiting on that dream.  Then yesterday a friend posted a picture of her baby next to some pumpkins.  I didn't cry, but it's just one of those little things that pierce my heart.

St. Jude novena

St. Jude is my patron saint this year, and his feast day is coming up on October 28.  I'm going to pray the novena below starting tomorrow and going through the 27th.  You are welcome to join me if you'd like or leave your intentions in the comments.  My intentions are for all those struggling with infertility or miscarriage and for DH to find a job.  I have a few special intentions also.

International Shrine of St. Jude in New Orleans