Stick a pin in it...

The hubby and I have been going to acupuncture for about a month now...I really like my acupuncturist...her energy is healing and soothing and you can tell how much she cares for her patients.

Beyond treating us for fertility reasons she is working on both our backs and my sinuses of course.

The ongoing battle of my nose continues...is it a food allergy? Is it amplified hay fever? Am I just snotty? I don't know at this point but I am going to try as many things as I can.

It has been well documented that acupuncture, when done in conjunction with an assisted reproduction technique, can increase your chance of success.

According to my acupuncturist at Art of Acupuncture, acupuncture increases infertility and IVF success by 40-60%.

Chinese medicine can help improve the success rate of IVF in a number of ways:

-Improve the function of the ovaries to produce better quality eggs

-Regulate the hormones to produce a larger number of follicles

-Increase blood flow to the uterus and increases the thickness of the uterine lining

-Relax the patient and decrease their stress

-Prevent the uterus form contracting

-Lessen the side effects of drugs used in IVF

-Strengthen the immune system

-Improve semen to create better quality and quantity of embryos

-Decrease chances of miscarriage

Approximately, four to six months prior to the IVF procedure (or without IVF), it is recommended that the patient receive acupuncture and herbal treatments to regulate the body’s functions and make IVF more successful. Sometimes after just four months, the patient regains a normal menstrual cycle and is able to become pregnant naturally.

Thar she blows....another pregnant celeb!

I don't personally know Mariah Carey but I tend to not believe that she wasn't trying some sort of fertility treatment under the supervision of a RE.

New York skepticism has rubbed off on me...just like how I don't really trust that strangers say "Hi" or "How are you?" just to be nice. There are usually ulterior motives like trying to sell me Comic Club tickets or some god-awful something. But I digress.

On the positive side, Mizzz Carey-Cannon did shed some light, even though a small one, on acupuncture and that is always good in my book, when related to infertility. This journey can get so damn lonely that its comforting when others speak out about it in some way.

Read the story from US Weekly here.

Then her hubby confirmed that it's twins! Imagine that...twins!

See the story here

Getting To The Point

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've taken the acupuncture route. Twice a week for an hour and it wasn't cheap but I did it for three months. I didn’t get the end result I had hoped for but I learned some things and maybe it will work for someone else.


Acupuncture is based in the Chinese belief that a balance in the energy flow (known as qi and chi) through the body is needed in order to stay healthy. When a blockage or imbalance occurs in that flow, your health is negatively impacted. There are 20 major pathways that qi is believed to travel along. These pathways, or meridians, are accessible through 400 different acupuncture points.

Acupuncture has the potential effect of improving ovarian and follicular function. Additionally, it is shown that acupuncture can increase blood flow to the endometrium, helping to facilitate a thick, rich lining.

Ming Ming was my lady and I liked her a lot. She put me on some herbs that were pure nastiness but I followed her instructions.

I don’t exactly remember what it does but I know the Cordyceps Sinensis (in the large yellow and white bottle) is essentially a fungus. It thrives at high altitudes and is usually found in the mountain ranges of Tibet, Nepal and some parts of China. Closely related to, but not quite a mushroom. It is highly prized by the Emperors of China for its restorative and energizing properties.

Although it has a long history of medicinal use in traditional Chinese medicine, Cordyceps Sinensis is also gaining wide recognition in western medicine, with a whole library of clinical studies published on its powers. It does tastes like a mushroom. It is a powder that I mixed with tea or soup.

The large green and white bottle is Si Wu Tang and it enriches the blood and regulates menstruation. That is a dark brown powder that I mixed with water and just swallowed - not a good taste either.

The smaller green and white bottle is little tiny black balls (they look like BB's) called Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan and that is a commonly used herbal remedy for anxiety, irritability, stress, and depression due to the challenge of a daily life or premenstrual tension. Ming told me they were "happy pills" and I should take 10 of them 2 times a day.

She also gave me some Female Libido Tonic...since she knows that trying to conceive can be tough on the sex-life as in "let's get this over with."

I stopped the acupuncture treatments partly because I wanted to take a break from trying to get pregnant and the other one was money. Ming told me to keep taking the herbs even though I wasn't going to see her anymore. I didn't but I think I may start again. She also suggested putting progesterone cream on the days before ovulation.

You can read more about progesterone cream here.

Click here for more info on acupuncture and fertility from the American Pregnancy Association.