Pulling Down the Moon - Acupuncture

Acupuncture was AMAZING!  When I walked in the room where my treatment was going to take place, there was soothing music and dim lighting with what looked like a very comfy bed with warm pink blankets.  Also, being that it was held at FCI – Naperville, I felt extremely cozy in this familiar environment.  I felt extremely comfortable with Jonathan from Pulling Down the Moon!  He explained everything from my medical history to my present state.  Since this is an IVF patient foundation, he had such knowledge on treatments and stresses my body is facing.  I loved the fact that he knew so much about IVF.  I filled out all the intake forms and we talked briefly before we started my treatment.  We started with my first technique and I have to say I was not nervous about any needles.  I think being an IVF patient takes any needle phobia away!  Heck, I did not even feel them go in!  ha I am so de-sensitized at this point!  While I laid in my deep state of meditation I noticed two instances where I felt I was relieved of stress significantly!  I was not sure what I would feel, but at two instances during today’s treatment, I felt something so relaxing that I have never felt before.  Words cannot explain it.  I now understand the “balance” that I read about.  When the needles are put into you, you will know what that “balance” they are referring to!   You can actually feel this balance!  Also, the dim lighting and soothing music makes your mind drift to another place….I guess a happy place because I had happy visions!  It was such an amazing first experience.  Jonathan gave me three things to do at home in the interim until we meet again next week.  I liked his insight and background information on his reasoning for giving me my to-do list.  I felt he was very knowledgeable on this topic and I can not wait to continue working with him!    I am going to continue my acupuncture treatments weekly!  I can’t wait to see it and when it affects my next cycle!  J

If you are considering acupuncture and are currently in IVF treatments, look into Pulling Down the Moon!            http://www.pullingdownthemoon.com/

Cycle 2, New Season, New Beginnings...

On to Cycle #2....

Pat and I feel so much stronger these past few weeks.  We have grown closer and stronger as a couple.  As a couple, we have worked through all our emotions that we were not expecting to have to work through.  We had our time of grief and sadness, but have mustered up our energies to be focused on our next cycle which we are very excited to embark on!!!  We have such a good feeling about our next cycle!  Winter is over, and Spring has arrived with new beginnings...(Hopefully bringing us the good news we have been waiting for! )

As part of our game plan with Cycle #2, we are adding in Acupuncture and one-on-one yoga sessions.  Beth Heller and Tami Quinn reached out to me from Pulling Down the Moon this week to inform me of these holistic fertility treatments to add to my regimen to increase my chance of success.  I have always heard about this being mentioned in fertility blogs and mentioned occasionally by Dr. Uhler and Shanon, RN.  I was not too sure about it during Cycle #1.  I was still doing some research and realized the costs associated with it that deterred me from going through with it.  I thought, if Cycle #1 was not successful, I would consider adding acupuncture and yoga to my regimen.  Beth Heller and Dr. Uhler mentioned that research has proven acupuncture to increase our chances for success.  So of course I am going to try it this time!  No more thinking about it!  Pulling Down the Moon was featured on WGN News recently and everything that Beth and Tami talked about on their special in regards to success was repeated verbatim by Dr. Uhler and Shanon, RN.  I am excited to start!  I have heard from other patients who added this to their regimen and shared how it changed their luck with phases of their cycles!  We have been told this could be our missing piece to the puzzle.  Acupuncture starts weekly starting next week!!!  Pulling Down the Moon will be coming to FCI - Naperville to do my weekly treatment which will be so convenient!  Yay!!  I recently purchased Beth and Tami's book "Fully Fertile" from amazon.com.  I have heard it is such a great tool from other patients and is a must read.  As soon as I start reading more, I will share my thoughts on it.  However, after meeting both Tami and Beth, I am inspired at the wisdom and attitudes.  They are such dolls!  Truly remarkable women in every aspect!  So I am anxiously anticipating starting their book coinciding with my treatment!  Please follow this link to see all services offered by PDtM.  They offer so many great holistic treatments to help women who face this battle.  http://www.pullingdownthemoon.com/

Not only am I adding these two strong components, I am also adding another expert from Denver, CO (Dr. Eric Surrey from CCRM) from the #1 clinic in the country to consult on our case.  Dr. Uhler said she did her fellowship with him years ago and would really respect his opinion on our case.  She said she does not see many 24 year olds without ovaries due to cancer and with my hormone history, but if anybody has seen anything even close to me, he would!  CCRM handles all the cases that are deemed impossible.  They have many case studies and medicine regimens that could benefit us immediately and CCRM may have our best regimen.  The FCI team feels that this is going to be one of the major pieces to my puzzle and that I should feel real confident with this next cycle.  CCRM + FCI is the absolute best!  Nobody feels that our case is impossible, but Dr. Uhler wants to bring in the "big guns" right away!  And as her patient, I admire that she is reaching out to another expert to work closely with us...like a team!  No more trial and error...We are going to work as a team to find success!  This is also a huge component to Cycle #2. 

As always, Keep us in your prayers as we move forward...we have all our meds ordered and delivered, acupuncture scheduled, yep!  We....Are....Ready....

With Much Love - Thank You! :)

Thank you so much for all your words of encouragement and support as we got through these past couple weeks! It is unfortunate we were not blessed with good news, but we are happy to announce we will be trying again shortly!  We feel blessed to be surrounded by such supportive family and friends!!!  It is though that that love and support that gives us the strength and confidence to try again!  We love you all and thank you for being there for us!  Special thanks to those who have reached out to me.  I appreciate you all sharing your own experiences with me.  I especially love the part where they all have a happy ending at the end.  You have all inspried me.  Dr. Uhler has a great next gample plan we feel great about!  We are getting very excited for our next round hopefully with good news at the end!  J

Also, I was invited to speak on my story at Fashion for Fertility on April 23 at the Four Seasons Hotel downtown for a luncheon to kick-off Fertility Awareness Week!  Of course I would love nothing more to help out where I can because infertility has touched my life so significantly and is an obstacle we are currently facing.  I have always been very open about our journey because I have found so many people reach out and thank me for my openness and give people an outlet or even to offer good advice to me at each milestone.  We are all walking on unchartered territory and we need each other to help us get through this…  Please come out and support the battle of infertility that so many families face everyday.  It is one of the most hardest fights many couples face.  Also, come meet the incredibly talented physicians at FCI!  I have attached the link to purchase tickets. 

http://fashionforfertility.eventbrite.com/?ref=etckt

Come out and show your support and enjoy a lovely afternoon at the Four Seasons - Chicago!  J

The Results Are In.....

The Results are in....  Sadly our first attempt was a negative.  :( 

 

Dr. Uhler called to give me the news personally and to apologize.  I was crushed and could not stop myself crying.  It was then very real and was not a bad dream.  I felt like I was punched in the stomach and couldn't breathe...it was horrible.  We were scheduled to meet immediatly the following day to discuss what may have happened and what to do next for our next try.  I went to FCI - Oak Brook Terrace as she was there for this given day and I didn't want to wait to a later time in the week to discuss the details I so desperatly wanted to know.  As I walked in to her office, I knew I needed to remain strong to hear the important things she was about to tell me as they would impact us greatly in our near future.  I did not want to cry...I wanted to appear strong and still hold onto the optimism I have engrained in my heart.  She said she felt like everything looked good...lining was good, blood was good, etc.  The FCI staff at Naperville said it was the best cycle to date to use for a transfer with my body.  Everybody was in agreement.... so what was the problem???  Of course there is no guarantee and there is not always a reason.  She said it takes couples more than one try to find success and I know there is so much truth to that because the more IVF cycles you try the greater your chance of success.  It is the choice to continue that is the difficult one.  She did say this was just your first attmept at "trying".  She sounds very positive and optimistic about the future, as do we.  Our next game plan is already in the works with our eyes still on the prize.  I will be undergoing another test to make sure everything comes back looking good...I am eager to start "trying" again.  It's the wait until the next transfer that seems like an eternity, but it is not in reality.  The dream of being pregnant was amazing even if it was only for 12 days.  It is a feeling I yearn to get back, but to end this next time with a positive pregnancy test.  Somebody wise has said to me, "IVF is not made for the weak.  Those who are on this journey are some of the strongest people you will ever meet."  Pat and I have always been a strong couple, but it's times like these that we have really leaned on each other to get through this.  I do believe this because this pain we have felt over the past few days is hard to shake.  It is a pain unlike any other and I would not ever wish this on my worst enemy.  My insides are still aching.  However, we are NOT done.  This journey is not over.  It is not a sprint...it's a marathon.  We are now looking forward to our next try with the hopes of success at the end.  Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes.  We keep them close as we are getting through this difficult time together.