Chinese Accupuncture

[kits]

I forgot to say Hiya to smurfy & good luck with the ivf!

I use my mobile phone to get on here a lot so don't always get a chance to read everything. I type most of my posts that way, hence why Don Draper turned out Don't Draper, heh.

Sorry!

 

[Briss]

Don't Draper? I'd definitely Do Draper so funny. btw am watching Mad Men again from the beginning... I am so sad

I guess I should not have doubted my CBFM, my sex drive is still on, got EWCM this morning and temp is still low. looks like I am ovulating today. no idea what it was with my left ovary yesterday, it's still sore this morning but last night it was really bad, I was afraid to walk, move or lift anything. Unfortunately had to work late and seating was also a problem, i had to almost lie on my chair just to make it bearable. It must have been a large follicle, maybe not a cyst cos cysts usually come out after O. I have cysts from time to time and I had a very large one years ago so I really can tell when it's something with my ovaries. Plus during mild stims I had several follicles on my ovaries and I could really feel them. Scans were so uncomfortable.

kits, do not get me started on people drinking and getting easily pregnant. That seriously shakes my faith (what's left of it) in anything good. I've come across serious alcoholics - men practically have vodka running in their veins instead of blood and yet they get their women pregnant easily, not that they want these children and not even going to look after them... life is not fair and that's a fact. I am just trying to figure out if life has any rules at all or whether it's completely random. it's just any rule I manage to make out, i can always find more exceptions to it. There seem to be some nasty rules though that always work

beer has estrogenic properties and it tends to lower testosterone levels and reduce sperm count as a consequence. for most men it's not a big deal but if the sperm count is low to begin with it may have a very noticeable effect.

It's so interesting that you are running a pub! Do you live there as well? It must be so freeing to have your own business.

Blythe, how are you? I miss you!

 

[kits]

I miss Blythe too! I hope her hubby is ok!

But I know with this process sometimes just hiding out is the best way to cope. My last tww i went pretty nuts.

I need to watch Mad Men from the beginning I've only watched it sporadically, but I love that man! He's going to be in a baseball movie. Don't think I want to tarnish the Don Draper image

I'm a little funny with certain books & shows. Some I can follow religiously but with others I find I don't want to watch the last few episodes or read the last couple of chapters. It's like I don't want the stories to end! So I just let them linger in my imagination. Weird, huh?

Yep we live here! Umm, it's interesting (in a good way). Thankfully work has let me go on flexi-time or I wouldn't have been able to cope with the schedules. My fiancee (I think that word is too formal, so I prefer my Other Half or partner because he's so much more than boyfriend) has always been in leisure, running clubs, hotels, pubs, etc. so the only real way for us to have a life together was to take this route so we did! He does all the work though, I only do little bits now. After we lost our little one I said there's no way I'm going to ever stress again.. we were sooo busy during the winter. It's fun, but you are a bit exposed to the public. It's crap that anytime I go downstairs I have to be happy, but I manage. It's also kind of funny that it's my partners home town so he's closely related to half the town!

And I'm not a big drinker so he lucked out with that!

I think I tend to feel a little too much around my ovaries during ovulation, it gets stronger with each cycle. I hope that's a good thing, would dread to think if it wasn't. The best way I can explain it is by calling it 'major activity around my uterus'. Like a a very heavy AF but not crampy.

Have your pains settled down now? I know exactly what you mean with the sitting position. When I thought I had a cyst I had to proper slouch. It's quite uncomfortable.

Good luck!

 

[Blythe]

Briss - I miss you too

Maybe i should watch Mad Men as i do like to get my teeth stuck into a good series. I watched the US version of Mistresses….it really was the most appalling pile of drivel but i loved it!!!i watched 13 episodes in 2 days….

Your chart looks nice with steady temps and lots of BDing and good ovulation on CD13. Sorry to read that you may have a cyst…hoping you get no more pain.

I was just stalking charts on FF again and there are the most random charts ending up in a BFP.

no spotting this month for me and very little PMT. Certainly not pregnant but happy with my cycle. I have my scan next week to see if i will go ahead this month or not. I may disappear for a bit as unlike last ivf cycle when i shared with everyone i feel like just keeping my head down and not telling a soul. There is nothing about this process that is exciting to me….not anymore.

I went to new TCM lady this week and my tummy is very bruised where the needles were. I had a good look at all my needles and she puts them all the way in as far as they will go. Whenever she comes in the room my whole body tenses with sheer terror at the pain she may inflict upon me.

Still i believe it may be working…i feel like there are some very subtle changes taking place. Very subtle mind [and possibly down to my new teabags - see below] but my nails are strong and long again and my skin looks better. I still feel mentally stuck but i feel quite committed to continuing with the herbs and a weekly acu session.

Not sure if i mentioned before but i brought some tea pigs liquorice and peppermint tea bags - they really are the most delicious things ever and only 1 or 2 cals per cup.

 

[kits]

That's totally understandable Blythe, wishing you the best of luck for your scan. Gonna pray for you hun!

That sounds like a terryfying accu session, you're brave to take it on. Are you still getting a massage afterwards?

I love peppermint tea but liquorice makes me very sickly & nauseous.

 

[Blythe]

thanks Kit - the massage is great. However, its not as great as it was that first time…but she does give my uterus and ovaries a really deep massage. I think this is probably good for them in terms of blood supply etc but i do worry at certain times during my cycle. i will not go there if i do start the IVF cycle as firm massage in that area with bloated bits would not feel like the right thing to do.

hey i clicked on your FF and saw your pic - you are very pretty

Briss - get some of the braggs cider vinegar - it is very refreshing and very good for you. i mentioned before but a lady on amazon said it cleared her ovarian cysts!!

PS - after i posted my last post i started spotting…typical. Still I'm not far off my AF so not too concerned as its not like it was last month when it went on for days and days.

 

[kits]

Have you ladies read about intralipids??

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/...-yolk-soya-bean-oil-finally-got-pregnant.html

 

[kits]

Awww... Blythe that's very sweet as I have a tendency to border on low self esteem.

Hopefully it won't be too long now Blythe.

Personally, I really don't like spotting. I think it makes me so much more anxious than a BFN. I think for me it's just a bad sign & makes me relive bad times. Luckily for some women it's totally normal & a good sign.

I only added my photo as I went into the FF chat rooms when my chemical was starting last cycle as I was a bit panicky. It was my first time there, but they all share their charts via the chat and have a ton of photos on their chart page so thought i'd go ahead too, heh. It may even get a bit soppy with lovey dovey stuff of my OH & me


Lots of ladies!

 

[Briss]

I moved on to watching call the midwife, maybe not the best idea it starts with a woman who's had 24 pregnancies/babies (she started when she was 14), apparently she never had a period cos she has been pregnant all the time??? maybe I should go back to sexy Draper.

Blythe, definitely watch Mad Men I think it's one of the best TV series I've seen but I really watch it mainly because of the Draper character I think i've seen a couple of episodes of Mistresses It did not stick with me for some reason, I may try it again though

I've signed up for an annual VIP FF, I always thought surely I wont need it for so long but now obviously it may take a while so may as well stalk pregnancy charts.

I am sorry about spotting, i think it's maybe even better not to say anything cos that's one of the nasty rules of life the minute you say that something is going well, it stops being so I think spotting for 1 day before AF is actually OK, it's 3-5 days that I'd be worried about.

Best of luck with your scan next week and your IVF cycle. I totally understand about not wanting to share. If I could I'd also much rather just get on with the process staying emotionally as detached as possible. sharing brings on lots of emotions which are just not helpful. unfortunately I find it hard to keep things to myself I think unless I share my thoughts here I risk getting it out to people I do not trust. I recall how I just started crying out loud in the middle of lunch and told a friend all my fertility problems. it was just something she said about her daughter being pregnant, the thought that people my age are getting grandchildren was just too much for me and I lost it. but she is such gossip, I feel sick thinking how my most intimate problem is being a topic of conversation between her and everyone she knows

I did have bruises with my previous doc and even bleeding. hated it actually. I like Dr E cos I do not feel the needles and actually enjoy it but ultimately I would not mind being in pain or bruised if i was sure it's doing some good. I think it is in your case cos your chart was really good I am so hoping your body is in perfect shape now to embrace IVF.

Do you drink licorice before O? I read that it has estrogenic effect and promotes ovulation. I'll check with Dr E cos it seems to be powerful stuff just want to make sure it works with his herbs.

re massage, I quite agree better to stop it for your IVF cycle but hopefully it is doing its job in getting you ready.

kits, so funny that you do not want to know how the stories end I also love my imagination, my mind can develop the stories so much better I meant interesting in a good way it's just such a different life compared to working in an office, you are at the heart of your local community, you probably know everything about everyone but you are so brave with the pub life though, I'd find it so hard to be exposed to the public all the time, I tend to "hide" in my flat and really need to pul myself together before I am ready to get out but then at work I also "hide" in my office, I would not be able to work in open plan

re intralipids, it's usually prescribed when a woman has immunology issues. it's quite hard core I think but a lot of women do have immunology problems without ever knowing it. there is some testing but it's quite complicated so if you had several mc or failed IVFs they usually recommend this treatment on a "just in case" basis.

afm, did not get a temp rise this morning. It was quite early and I adjusted it so it looks slightly up but in reality it was probably the same as yesterday. really strange. maybe I wont ovulate this cycle? that would be the first. we spent most of yesterday trying to BD, I wont bore you with details but it was really tough, took hours I came twice but DH was nowhere near we fell asleep in the middle of it then woke up in an hour or so and carried on.... by the time he was done we were absolutely exhausted and I fell asleep again with my bottom up in the air the things we do... I was so happy yesterday thinking we have done all we could this month but may be not. when I told him my temp did not rise this morning he looked like he was in pain so definitely no more BD this cycle

 

[kits]

We have friends over tonight, who have brought along their little 5 month baby girl. It feels so good to not be envious! Really happy for them.

On another funnier note.. Took 2 opk's this after noon & both show really strong lines but not a surge yet. So to let my oh know we need to I told him to have a look in the bathroom (and nothing else), so he has a look & then says, oooh... so does this mean you're pregnant?

Haha, no silly those are the the kits you got me. Then he goes, OH!! We get to have sex!

Funniest thing is our friends decided to turn up early, by almost 3 hours & caught us just as we got naked!

We asked them to wait downstairs in the pub while I finished 'vacuuming'

But what cracked me up so much was him thinking the opk's were bfp's!!!

Sorry if that was way tmi, just thought I'd share a bit of the funny side to TTC!

 

[Blythe]

Kits - i hope your OH managed to complete the vacuuming…Will you manage to get another session in whilst your friends are over. We couldn't do that in our flat as the walls are too thin and we have the squeakiest mattress and floorboards ever. Not that we do too much moving nowadays.

Briss - as my contract is now up with BT vision i am thinking of getting an apple tv and joining netflix so i will watch MM

You have a way of articulating stuff that really hits home with me. In particular, you mentioned that you had told a woman about your struggle TTC and now feel sick that it might be talked about by her. I feel very much the same about someone i told it too. It is so very personal.


i went for acu yesterday with old doc and she said my pulse had changed a lot and that if it continued like that it would indicate pregnancy. It felt good to get some positive feedback. I told her i am not pregnant but she knows AF is due so said it was probably that. Still the upshot is my KI pulse has improved and i feel better going into this IVF than if i had gone ahead last month.

 

[Briss]

Kits, that's so funny!

Blythe, you may need US netflix, I think UK one does not have MM.

I think I can even imagine how my friend is going to talk about my issues with other people (some of whom may even know me) and even what phrases she'd use cos I know her quite well and that makes me feel so exposed. I should not have told her but that's done now.

Talking to ladies who have no idea what LTTTC is all about is just so frustrating. also painful because it's a glimpse of life what it should have been, sometime I forget how easy and exciting it is for most people.

I am so happy to hear what your acu doc said! that's so reassuring! it's very important to know that you have the best shape for IVF. I really do not understand why DR E does not think having acu more often helps, it clearly does. although I cant complain having ovulated on CD13 (maybe even 14!) this cycle without taking EPO. I wonder what my cycle will be like next month, although I may have to do 3D SIS so we may not get to TTC at all.

do you get aroused only before O or after O as well? I do not think it's just the estrogen that's responsible for sex drive. when I have estrogenic cysts they do not seem to have any effect on my sex drive although my estrogen levels get very high. that reminds me, I need to do day 3 bloods at that lab again next month to see if I have a cyst.

I clearly ovulated cos my sex drive has almost gone this morning. Shockingly although I completely gave up on BD yesterday and did not even attempt to get DH in the mood, he was up for it!! all by himself! He wants to get me pregnant and I can see that his patience with this process is running thin.

re liquorice, will definitely check with Dr E, am curious myself. I think it must be good, you have been drinking it and your cycle is getting better so it must be adding some benefit. I am just concerned about things that promote ovulation cos it may make me O early.

 

[Blythe]

Briss - what is the name of that chap your DH went too? maybe if this IVF fails i will get mine to go….i cannot believe the change in your DH in terms of wanting [and actually] BDing.

Mine is done in after 2 x sessions

 

[Briss]

Dr Jonathan Ramsay https://www.thelondonclinic.co.uk/consultants/mr-jonathan-william-ramsay I read about him a lot and asked around, heard nothing by highest praise, he made couples pregnant in cases where men had zero sperm count. everyone knows him, my FS, UCH, even Dr E said we could not have found anyone better. re sex drive, honestly we did not have as much sex in our 20s as we have done in the last few months. I just hope his SA improves. If you go to see him, do not get discouraged if he says something negative, he does not promise things and always warns that nothing may work out, it's just how he is but I am sure he will do whatever's possible. I am always so embarrassed for DH cos he asks stupidest questions like if any of his 60 year old patients have 100 mil SA... another thing I like about Dr Ramsay is that he does not ask you to spend money on tests unless it's really necessary and will determine his treatment. like DNA fragmentation, it's good to know the result but he said no point wasting money I can tell you it's not going to be good also at UCH they said we may need to extract sperm from the testies but he said it will not give us anything at all just based on all the information we provided about DH's SA in the last 4 years. I wish there was a female fertility doc of the same calibre

my sex drive is back today and I have EWCM... how confusing, looks like I may have a cyst there which mixes it all up cos my left side is not quiet.

 

[Irish_eyes]

Well ladies, went for my first acupuncture appointment at the weekend.

He said I have a yang deficiency due to my hands and feet being cold, not feeling refreshed after a nights sleep etc. I also told him I was never sure what to take as my first day of my cycle as I always spot. People say you should always take full red flow and enough to fill a tampon as first day. At times I would get red flow on wiping but brownish stains enough to fill a liner. This would confuse me as I don't I could put that down to spotting.

Anyway as I had fear he wants to see me twice a week until my period is sorted. I am so worried about where the cash is coming from to pay for twice a week. My mum, God love her, offered to pay for some sessions. She's all for it but DH is having a fit at the frequency of it. Anyway, he also gave me herbal tablets, one for ovulation and the other for my periods. Not sure why he gave me an ovulation one but have to take 3 of each twice a day. So all in all it's costing me £86 a week. Going to see how I go but if I can't afford it I am happy with once a week.

He never mentioned any dietary requirements or anything.

 

[Blythe]

Hi Irish Eyes - it can certainly be confusing when it comes to determining which should be counted as the first day of your cycle. I have had issues with spotting in the past and the last couple of months. I had spotting on CD 26 [of a 28 day cycle] and today i had bright red with BM so hoping it will be proper flow at some point today so i can call it CD1. If it was not enough to wear a sanitary towel/use tampon i would not call it CD1 even though there is red there.

i have been having acu 2 x per week and i have to say that i have noticed differences in my cycle and in other areas to. I never really got that with going 1 x per week. Having said that i am taking herbs too so i suspect it is that more than the acu.

So I'm hoping that my period will get going properly and i can call today CD1. That gives me a nice 28 cycle with ovulation CD13 and for the first time in years i have not had the cramping days before AF. I also managed to avoid my MAD ANGRY DAY. This day usually occurs 5 to 4 days before AF arrives and i get really pissed off really quickly with everyone and at everything. I was angry for maybe a couple of hours tops this month…this is a very noticeable thing for me and I'm so happy at last to have some noticeable changes which justify the expense of all of these treatments. Also my spotting was barely noticeable this month

How did you find the needles?

Briss - thank you so much for the details. Your chart looks so much better than last month and all that BDing….its great to see these continued improvements - all leading towards your BFP

 

[Irish_eyes]

Blythe, the needles were fine. I didn't feel anything at all really but not sure if I am just used to needles now. I have one of those mad days, in fact mine last a few days. Everything annoys me so hoping that the herbs help with that.

 

[Blythe]

Irish Eyes - do you think you can manage the 2 x sessions per week for a month then maybe you could bring it down to 1 x per week thereafter? i know its hard to swallow these expenses…in recent months i have become increasingly desperate and just pay for things with cards and avoid looking at statements. perhaps not the best approach. Thats why i am so pleased to see that it is doing something for me….at long last.

I have read about many women responding very positively within weeks of treatment so hopefully it will be the same for you.

i look forward to reading about your progress and what it does for your cycle.

 

[Irish_eyes]

I am going to try my best with the twice a week for a month but if I am struggling I will just reduce it. I am sort of stressing over something that is meant to be distressing. My acupuncturist does not accept card otherwise that would have taken a bit of pressure off me to be honest.

How long have you been doing it Blythe?

 

[kits]

Your progress sounds fantastic Blythe, I hope it stays on that path!

Irish, I know it seems difficult especially financially but if you can get some help from your mom then try to give it a go. Maybe try twice a week every other week, or is that not a possibility?

I'm not loaded with money by a long shot but luckily my partner supports me a lot.

Briss, I wonder if the moon phases have anything to do with this, I have found myself with a much lower sex drive than I usually have. On top of that my cm is not a lot, I usually have a decent amount that I usually find very comforting. But my OH had totally been up for it! Even after a crappy all day shift yesterday!

Then all of a sudden today I feel my libido slowly starting to rise while at work.

Let me know how you're doing tomorrow, I'm sure I'll feel that way the day after, haha!