Monday, September 16, 2013
IS IT TOO LATE TO BEGIN ACUPUNCTURE?
Many women when they call me about acupuncture for their fertility ask me "is it too late to begin acpuncture treatments?" My response to them is, "is it too late to brush your teeth? Is it too late to eat healthy? Is it to late to exercise? To pray?" Acupuncture is far more than just for fertility, it helps to keep us emotionally and spiritually balanced. When I went for the first time 20 years ago for my low back pain, it was the calmness of mind and emotions that thrilled me more. If you have a physical problem it usually is indicative you need to take more time for yourself to heal on all levels, body, mind, spirit. Take the time for you, the world will love you if you do.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Mom's Fertility Story Ends With This Smiley Baby Boy!
After several months of trying to concieve we began to realize this may not be as easy as we
thought, so in February 2011 during a routine Gynecologic visit I raised my concerns with my Doctor.
She drew my Progesterone level to make sure I was ovulating. I had been on birth control previously,
but had discontinued taking it when I turned 35. The results came back normal. I then went on to have
an HSG test to see if I had any blockages in my fallopian tubes or irregularities, all came back clear. My
husband and I were relieved at the results and continued our quest. A few more months went by and
nothing, not even a maybe! So we thought the next best step for us was to see a Fertility Specialists just
to do some further testing, basically be proactive. The one thing we didn’t want was to be 39 and
running out of time and come to realize there was a problem that could have been fixed years ago. So
in July 2011 we made an appointment at a Fertility Specialist Group here in Tampa.
We had so many friends who had issues trying to conceive and who had to seek alternative methods, but we could not believe that we actually might be one of those couples too! Several blood tests were run and all came back within normal range, but one level was highly elevated, my FSH level came back very high. We were shocked and not expecting this result at all. I had no family history of difficulties to conceive, in fact my mother had me at 35 and my sister had her two children at 38 and 41 so I thought no way. Our doctor went over all the results. Everything else was within normal ranges, AMH, and follicle count etc. He was very honest with us but not discouraging. The plan of action would be to skip Clomid completely and start on injectables and do an IUI. We began our first cycle at the end of July.
Mid way through our first IUI cycle my husband suggested I try acupuncture. We had heard that it may help with infertility. We had read an article about a local news woman who became pregnant after having difficulties trying to conceive and she had gone to Carolyn Huffman of Huffman Wellness. We set up an appointment, and I met with Carolyn for my first session. I was willing to give anything a try to help boost our chances. When I met with Carolyn in August 2011, I was midway through my first IUI cycle, Carolyn would have preferred I had prepared my body first with acupuncture and then began the treatments, but she was still encouraging and so we began.
I would see Carolyn twice a week and for the next several months and complete 3 rounds of IUI’s. In November 2011 my husband and I decided to take a break from the injectables and IUI’s, the holidays were approaching and we wanted to relax and enjoy. I continued my twice weekly acupuncture treatments but added some herbal supplements to my regime per Carolyn’s suggestion. At this point I was not drinking alcohol or caffeine and had added some new foods to my diet. Carolyn teaches you that diet plays a big role in your fertility. So I began eating things like Kale, butternut squash, and many other things she suggested during our sessions. I had always exercised regularly so I continued to do so. The first of January 2012 I found out I was pregnant, my first positive pregnancy test!! This was a result of a “drug free” cycle, only acupuncture and herbal supplements. Unfortunately the excitement was short lived because I then miscarried at 5 weeks.
The miscarriage was sad and disappointing, but it gave us a glimmer of hope, I can get pregnant! Although saddened by the loss, Carolyn continued to offer promise and hope that this could happen for us. Her encouragement kept me motivated and determined not give up on our dream of starting a
We had so many friends who had issues trying to conceive and who had to seek alternative methods, but we could not believe that we actually might be one of those couples too! Several blood tests were run and all came back within normal range, but one level was highly elevated, my FSH level came back very high. We were shocked and not expecting this result at all. I had no family history of difficulties to conceive, in fact my mother had me at 35 and my sister had her two children at 38 and 41 so I thought no way. Our doctor went over all the results. Everything else was within normal ranges, AMH, and follicle count etc. He was very honest with us but not discouraging. The plan of action would be to skip Clomid completely and start on injectables and do an IUI. We began our first cycle at the end of July.
Mid way through our first IUI cycle my husband suggested I try acupuncture. We had heard that it may help with infertility. We had read an article about a local news woman who became pregnant after having difficulties trying to conceive and she had gone to Carolyn Huffman of Huffman Wellness. We set up an appointment, and I met with Carolyn for my first session. I was willing to give anything a try to help boost our chances. When I met with Carolyn in August 2011, I was midway through my first IUI cycle, Carolyn would have preferred I had prepared my body first with acupuncture and then began the treatments, but she was still encouraging and so we began.
I would see Carolyn twice a week and for the next several months and complete 3 rounds of IUI’s. In November 2011 my husband and I decided to take a break from the injectables and IUI’s, the holidays were approaching and we wanted to relax and enjoy. I continued my twice weekly acupuncture treatments but added some herbal supplements to my regime per Carolyn’s suggestion. At this point I was not drinking alcohol or caffeine and had added some new foods to my diet. Carolyn teaches you that diet plays a big role in your fertility. So I began eating things like Kale, butternut squash, and many other things she suggested during our sessions. I had always exercised regularly so I continued to do so. The first of January 2012 I found out I was pregnant, my first positive pregnancy test!! This was a result of a “drug free” cycle, only acupuncture and herbal supplements. Unfortunately the excitement was short lived because I then miscarried at 5 weeks.
The miscarriage was sad and disappointing, but it gave us a glimmer of hope, I can get pregnant! Although saddened by the loss, Carolyn continued to offer promise and hope that this could happen for us. Her encouragement kept me motivated and determined not give up on our dream of starting a
family. I was now 38 years old and we had been trying for well over a year. My husband and I decided
to set a timeline, we will continue to try naturally with acupuncture and herbs for the next 6 months and
if nothing happens we will move on to IVF. Six months past and I had now officially been under
Carolyn’s care for a year. I thought why stop the acupuncture now, I had my body ready and we were
going to start IVF, studies had shown it plays a big role in success of IVF cycles. Many IVF clinics have an
acupuncturist on staff. My husband and I couldn’t believe here we were getting ready to start IVF, never
did we think we would find ourselves in that position. All my bloodwork was re-‐drawn and more tests
were run, to our surprise my elevated FSH level had now dropped dramatically closer to normal ranges.
No doubt, acupuncture played a role in bringing that level down.
We began the injections and went for our daily ultrasounds to see how my follicles were growing but as the days went on I was not responding as well to the medications as we would have liked. I had responded beautifully to the meds when doing IUIs but that only required 3 mature follicles, now we wanted as many as 10 to increase our chances and that wasn’t happening. After much discussion and praying we decided to abandon the IVF cycle and convert to IUI. We had three mature follicles, an ideal situation for an IUI, but knowing I had failed 3 previous IUI attempts in the past I was not too optimistic, unlike my husband who said he had a “good feeling” about this one. I still continued to see Carolyn twice a week and she continued to offer encouraging words of support as she had done throughout the entire process. She was on board for whatever path we chose and she knew after a year of seeing her and following her regime, I was a tough case!
I had the day marked on my calendar when I could take my pregnancy test. I got my test stick and said a little prayer, thinking how crazy would this be if after all of this I got pregnant on an abandoned IVF cycle. After about a minute the stick flashed PREGNANT!! I thought no way and immediately went into shock and disbelief. I called my husband who was out of town on business and we both could not believe what was happening! My rejoicing became short lived because feelings of fear quickly set in. Having gone through a previous miscarriage and knowing the joy then the pain of it all. I pulled myself together and went to see Carolyn for my Thursday morning appointment. As soon as I saw her she asked how I was and I blurted out “I’m pregnant” we both began to cry. Carolyn invests so much in all her patients so our pain is her pain and our joy is her joy and it is truly heartfelt.
The next few weeks were nerve-‐wracking as blood levels were drawn to make sure the pregnancy was progressing and then the heartbeat was heard, what an amazing sound! I continued to see Carolyn throughout my first trimester, which is highly recommended. I am happy to say we are now 7 months pregnant and due to deliver a baby boy the first of June. For many women their options are limited, I was lucky to have many options when dealing with my infertility. I can honestly say that Carolyn and acupuncture were the driving forces in our success. As the months went by and I laid on the table stuck with needles, I did not give up. Carolyn has a wonderful way of helping you to believe this will happen. She offers you so much insight and it’s so encouraging when you hear about all of her success stories. In the two years of trying to conceive I was able to become pregnant twice all while under Carolyn’s care. Believe me there were many mornings I did not want to see those needles, especially after a year and a half of appointments, but I knew the benefit I was gaining with each session. There is no doubt that acupuncture played a huge role in our success in trying to conceive. My husband and I are so grateful to Carolyn and we can’t begin to thank her enough for helping our dreams come true!! We have a new found respect for couples who suffer from fertility issues, because now we are one of them. It’s one of those situations in life you don’t fully understand until you’ve experienced its journey, but we are proof that happy endings are possible if you believe!! Thank you Carolyn!!!
We began the injections and went for our daily ultrasounds to see how my follicles were growing but as the days went on I was not responding as well to the medications as we would have liked. I had responded beautifully to the meds when doing IUIs but that only required 3 mature follicles, now we wanted as many as 10 to increase our chances and that wasn’t happening. After much discussion and praying we decided to abandon the IVF cycle and convert to IUI. We had three mature follicles, an ideal situation for an IUI, but knowing I had failed 3 previous IUI attempts in the past I was not too optimistic, unlike my husband who said he had a “good feeling” about this one. I still continued to see Carolyn twice a week and she continued to offer encouraging words of support as she had done throughout the entire process. She was on board for whatever path we chose and she knew after a year of seeing her and following her regime, I was a tough case!
I had the day marked on my calendar when I could take my pregnancy test. I got my test stick and said a little prayer, thinking how crazy would this be if after all of this I got pregnant on an abandoned IVF cycle. After about a minute the stick flashed PREGNANT!! I thought no way and immediately went into shock and disbelief. I called my husband who was out of town on business and we both could not believe what was happening! My rejoicing became short lived because feelings of fear quickly set in. Having gone through a previous miscarriage and knowing the joy then the pain of it all. I pulled myself together and went to see Carolyn for my Thursday morning appointment. As soon as I saw her she asked how I was and I blurted out “I’m pregnant” we both began to cry. Carolyn invests so much in all her patients so our pain is her pain and our joy is her joy and it is truly heartfelt.
The next few weeks were nerve-‐wracking as blood levels were drawn to make sure the pregnancy was progressing and then the heartbeat was heard, what an amazing sound! I continued to see Carolyn throughout my first trimester, which is highly recommended. I am happy to say we are now 7 months pregnant and due to deliver a baby boy the first of June. For many women their options are limited, I was lucky to have many options when dealing with my infertility. I can honestly say that Carolyn and acupuncture were the driving forces in our success. As the months went by and I laid on the table stuck with needles, I did not give up. Carolyn has a wonderful way of helping you to believe this will happen. She offers you so much insight and it’s so encouraging when you hear about all of her success stories. In the two years of trying to conceive I was able to become pregnant twice all while under Carolyn’s care. Believe me there were many mornings I did not want to see those needles, especially after a year and a half of appointments, but I knew the benefit I was gaining with each session. There is no doubt that acupuncture played a huge role in our success in trying to conceive. My husband and I are so grateful to Carolyn and we can’t begin to thank her enough for helping our dreams come true!! We have a new found respect for couples who suffer from fertility issues, because now we are one of them. It’s one of those situations in life you don’t fully understand until you’ve experienced its journey, but we are proof that happy endings are possible if you believe!! Thank you Carolyn!!!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
LIVER & ONIONS.....NUTIENT DENSE
Chris Kressor author of "The Healthy Baby Code" says "LIVER is very nutrient dense and important to eat for FERTILITY and PREGNANCY, as long as it is grass fed, hormone, antibiotic free." I had not had liver gosh since I was in high school living at home. I got this at Wholefood's today and the butcher pulled out the whole beef liver vacuum packed. He cut me a few slices fresh and some to freeze. At any rate it was very delicious, sauteed in butter with the sweetest NY onions and some garlic and a splash of merlot.
Monday, September 2, 2013
REFRESHING MORNING GREEN DRINK
Detox with this refreshing morning green drink you can juice yourself. Take a couple of raw kale leaves washed, 1 cucumber pealed, handful of parsley washed, 1 green apple washed combine in juicer with a little lemon if you like and enjoy before you have your morning bacon and eggs or hot cereal. This drink will help to detox your liver and kidneys, nourish your yin(the fluids in your body) and your blood and help your spleen digest better and oxygenate your cells. Hence you will think more clearly and have more energy. So yes before that morning cup of coffee indulge here first. Takes a short bit of prep but you love it! Yep even the prep!
TAKE TIME FOR YOU.......
TAKE TIME FOR YOU.....(813)831-6080, ACUPUNCTURE to: De-stress, Unwind, Relax Your Neck and Shoulders.
$10 off Through Friday Sept. 6th...........................
$10 off Through Friday Sept. 6th...........................
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