Back to Acu...Mission Re-Balance in Effect

Monday's are always better when you've been a "good girl" over the weekend. What qualifies being a good girl to me? For one, making it the entire weekend without consuming sugar. I was soooo tempted to hit Froyo but abstained. DH and I are very healthy eaters in general, but the weekends we typically let loose and indulge in the things we haven't had all week. He's out of the country on business, and I tend to do a little better when I'm solo...Admittedly, we are bad influences on each other sometimes!

A self proclaimed lifetime sugar addict, I have been known to wake up on Monday with a food hangover from the ice cream and cookies the night before. However, I'm trying to limit sugar, excess dairy and cold foods in order to keep a nice warm fertility friendly environment in my belly right now.

Secondly, limiting alcohol consumption....which I also did with only 1/2 a glass for the Superbowl yesterday. I actually dumped the other half out and switched to hot ginger tea instead. "Where is Emily and what have you done with her?!" you ask.  I'm still here. I'm just on a roll to re-balance at the moment, so happy hour will have to take a rain check.

Friday, I started back up with acupuncture. I stopped going for a while, because...

A) It's kinda pricey and when you add that to fertility treatments, it adds up!

B) I wondered how much more I could really clear my body after going for 9 months straight already. Then I got pregnant.

C) My acu treats me according to where I'm at in my cycle. During and following the ectopic I wasn't really sure where I was in an any sort of real cycle. I just felt so "on hold."

I've been having that still small voice in my head telling me to do more to actively re-balance again. In addition to pulling the eating reigns, acupuncture is how I do that best. My appointment was fantabulous as always! Melissa, my acu, is SO good at what she does. She specializes in fertility and pregnancy mostly and she doubles well as a therapist, because she's such a good listener and pays attention to every little detail.

She can look at my tongue, feel my pulse, and tell me exactly how fast or slow my digestion is, whether or not my body is holding onto "dampness"  and what types of energy and meridians can benefit from clearing. She can even assess where I'm having blockages based on my waking times throughout the night. I know this might be really hard to understand if you've never been to acu. I never really "got it" before I started going, but I'm a believer now! 

During my treatments, Melissa always gets excited when she sees stagnation released from certain meridians. She can tell this when the session is over and she removes the needles. If there are points which "release" they will give off a tiny drop of blood. In Chinese medicine, this is evidence that blockages have been released. Practitioners can even tell how old the stagnation is by the shade of the blood.

I had two major releases: the conception vessel and spleen meridian. Melissa said she was not shocked by this, because following an ectopic pregnancy, it would make sense that my conception meridian needed cleared. My body was holding onto that energy for so long and it was a very long drawn out process ending the ectopic. The points connected to the conception meridian released dark old looking blood, and she said this was very good to see.

Melissa also wasn't surprised I had release through the spleen meridian, because this is directly tied to digestion. At the beginning of my appointment she knew my digestion was slowed that day just by analyzing my tongue's slight coating, and that's why she treated me for stagnation in the spleen meridian. Sure enough, during the treatment I could feel major movement happening in my digestive system, and the minute I got home following the treatment, I was able to "fully clear" the stagnation...twice within a few hours in fact. Sorry if that's TMI, but I'm just trying to illustrate concrete examples of how I know this stuff is legit.

I am a skeptic about anything until I've researched it and seen proof that is actually helps, and acu treatments have proven time and again that they are worth it for me in so many areas. Outside of fertility issues, Melissa has also helped treat me for insomnia, anxiety, and headaches....all of which I've seen improved after treatments. I don't know if I'll ever fully understand how it works, but all I know is that it does!

I've also re-started my  Circle + Bloom daily meditations along with warm castor oil packs and fertility yoga. Doing these really helps force me into daily relaxation. Luckily, it was sunny and 70's weather all weekend long too, which always helps me feel happy and balanced. I was in the sun as much as possible and it felt great! Weather has been absolutely gorgeous in Austin lately!

I pulled weeds and detailed my ride outside while Jazzy held down the fort inside...

Jazzy needs is a pair of shades and a mini margarita in hand. lol

This picture cracks me up, because all day long she was sunning her arms while she shaded her face. She would lay in her cubby until she got too hot, then would move to our bedroom floor for a breather in full shade, then return to the sun...like mother like daughter. haha! It was so flippin cute!

As I mentioned, dear hubby is out of the country on business. I'm starting to see signs of ovulation impending, but still no positive OPK as of this morning thankfully! For the past 19 months I've prayed every single month for an earlier ovulation (before CD20), but this is one month I would like it to wait at least a couple days from now! It's CD16 today, and I've never ovulated before CD18 during a natural cycle. Let's just hope that doesn't change now while he's out of town!

I feel like this is really a great cycle so far. I had a very healthy menses to start it off. I had an easy and totally clear HSG. I'm seeing egg white cervical fluid in small patches now, which doesn't always happen for me. I'm doing great with meditating and staying centered, and I'm in a very balanced place emotionally considering.  Everything's just lining up perfectly. Now if the OPK's can just hold off long enough for my husband to get back, I think we'll be set!

I really want this to be our pre-IVF savior cycle. Please pray with me that God will bless us with a miracle this month.  I don't think I've ever wanted something so badly in all of my life!