Acupuncture Visit #2

Well, I had my second acupuncture visit today. She gave me more herbs for tea:

• Chinese Angelica (Radix Angelicae Sinesis--Danggui)
• Chinese #0503011
• Chinese # 0507011
• Chinese # 0510081
• Glossy Privet Fruit (Fructus Ligustri Lucidi--Nuzhenzi)
• Indian Bread (Poria--Fuling)
• Motherwort Herb (Herba Leonuri--Yimucao)
• Prepared Rehmannia Root (Radix Rehmanniae Preparata--Shudihuang)
• Twotoothed Achyranthes Root (Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae--Niuxi)
• White Peony Rood (Radix Paeniae Alba--Baishao)

I am to take these for the next 6 days then I take the following for 7 more days until I return to her on July 12th:

• Chinese Angelica (Radix Angelicae Sinesis--Danggui)
• Chinese #0503011
• Dodder Seed (Semen Cuscutae--Tusizi)
• Fleeceflower Root (Radix Polygoni Multiflori--Heshouwu)
• Himalayan Teasel Root (Radix Dipsaci--Xuduan)
• Indian Bread (Poria--Fuling)
• Largehead Atractylodes Rhizome (Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae--Baizhu)
• Motherwort Herb (Herba Leonuir--Yimucao)
• Prepared Rehmannia Root (Radix Rehmanniae Preparata--Shudihuang)
• Tangshen (Radix Codonopsis--Dangshen)

So she told me if at all possible, to try and drink the tea without sugar! It is pretty nasty, but I guess I'll have to do it.

I think I have been doing pretty good on this diet of hers, although, I'm running out of things to eat. I need my flour tortillas, and my milk and carbs! I can eat them, but only 20% is almost nothing! I don't know how long this fruit and veggie diet is going to last me. It's getting really boring having to eat fruit all day! Well, all I can do is try.

In addition, I am to exercise every DAY! Fertility Yoga every other day and walking/elliptical on other days.

Disgusting Chinese Herbal Tea

Wow, I began this chinese herbal tea last night and it is so nasty! The morning one seems to be worse, I guess because it has had time to ferment. I added some splenda and it helped a little, but it still tastes awful. It is bitter and leaves a really bad aftertaste, but if I take a sip of water it goes away rather quickly. The things one will do to have a baby! Who knows what all that is that I'm taking. I'm also re-reading the book by Randine Lewis--The Infertility Cure. It is really good, and now that I'm seeing an acupuncturist, I can understand it a lot better than the first time that I read it.

I am still doing Adkins and will possibly do it until the end of next week. I think that I will begin the alkaline diet when I come back from vacation. I will try to eat healthier little by little. Basically the 80% is composed of fruits and vegetables and the 20% is meats, dairy, wheats, etc. That is going to be really tough, since I'm not much of a vegetable eater. But like I said, I will do anything to have a baby.

Moving on--A Break from IVF

Well, I decided I need a break from IVF. It is the most stressful thing in the world and plus, so expensive. Although, my RE doesn't charge as much as others do. I've heard of people paying 20K for IVF, when mine only charges about 4K (I think now he's raised it to about 5K). Anyway, he has really great statistics so I really don't know what happened with me.

So, during my break, I decided I would move on to Acupuncture. My LAc is wonderful, dedicated, compassionate and very sweet. I had seen her previously, but today I saw her for my 1st appointment in which I will implement the herbal tea which includes the following herbs:

• Chinese Angelina (Radix Angelicae Sinensis--Danggui)
• Chinese # 0503011
• Chinese # 0510081
• Fu Ling (Poria cocos--sclerotium)
• Largehead Atractylodes Rhizome (Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae-Baizhu)
• Safflower (Flos Carthami--Honghua)
• Szechwan Lovage Rhizome (Rhizoma Chuanxiong--Chuanxiong)
• Tangshen (Radix Codonopsis--Dangshen)
• Twotoothed Achyranthes Root (Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae--Niuxi)
• White Peony Root (Radix Paeoniae Alba--Baishao)

Her diagnosis is Spleen Qi deficiency. So I was told to drink this every day 30 minutes to 1 hour after dinner and the following morning 30 minutes to 1 hour after breakfast. I am not to drink any ice whatsover (what a bummer, especially with this heat) and I should not use the microwave to heat up my food, especially not the tea in the morning because it will kill some of the herbs in it. She gave me a list of foods I should begin to eat in order to make my body more alkaline. She also said to try not to eat regular meat from the grocery stores, but to try to buy more organic meats. With vegetables, they do not have to be organic, but she suggested I let them soak 15 to 20 minutes in water with salt before eating them so that the salt can absorb all of the stuff they put on them. I should be eating 80% alkaline foods and only 20% acid foods. Also, I should not use plastic containers to drink out of (I never do anyway), but ceramic or glass instead. I can use honey to sweeten and if necessary, brush my teeth or eat a piece of fruit, due to the bitter aftertaste, immediately after drinking the tea. I can continue using carb cutters, but not together with the herbal tea.

She also suggested that I begin charting my temperatures and that I do not TTC for the next few months due to my ectopic pregnancy in August 2004. She said she would like to avoid this happening again and for us to give acupuncture some time to help heal the scar tissue. With my luck, now that I'll stop trying will probably be when I get pregnant. She said I could also use the massage for treating fallopian tube obstructions that Dr. Lewis mentions in her book by massaging acupoint St30, which is located just above the pubic bone, approximately five inches down from the navel and about two inches out from the midline on each side). I can massage this area with my fingertips, going outward from the midline at the uterus area toward the ovary, then return to St30, ending with a pumping motion with the heel of the hand. I should do that only between menstruation and ovulation, but not during menses or during luteal phase. LAc also suggested I do the femoral massage (one side at a time only) in order to increase blood flow to the pelvic organs, and provide more nourishment to the uterus and ovaries..