Envious....

I just heard that two of my cousins are pregnant again. Now I'm dreading attending the Christmas gatherings because for sure my relatives will once again ask me, when will I get pregnant.

It gets harder and harder each time. I can't help but envy my cousins and wish that I am also pregnant.

More than anything or more than what they will say I am really longing to be a mother soon...

Aargh, I really hate this feeling . I should just be happy for them but its really hard knowing that here I am doing everything I can just to have a baby....

Seriously Considering Adoption

Yes, we have thought about adoption countless times. What makes us hesitate? The horror stories of adopted children turning bad or ungrateful.

Whenever I see or hear from the news of children being abandoned, maltreated or aborted, I couldn't help bu cry everytime. Here we are sacrificing a lot, spending a lot of money, and emotionally burdened just to have at least one child. Then you see people who do not treasure their children?

Why is this so?

Hubby and I have talked about it and we finally decided to attend the pre-adoption seminar. It was very enlightening and what really caught our attention was on why adopted children turn into a problematic child. One of the biggest factor was in handling the information that he/she is an adopted child. In most problematic cases, the child had no knowledge of his/her adoption and once they find out they somehow loose their identity. They start feeling unwanted and that they don't belong. The critical part is really telling the child as early as possible that he/she is adopted. That he/she was "wanted" by the adoptive family.

We found out that most of the time, Filipinos would want to adopt a girl rather than a boy because of "inheritance" issues.

After completing the seminar, we're suppose to submit several documents to start our adoption procedures. Here's the website for the details http://www.gov.ph/faqs/adoption.asp.

We're currently completing all the required documents....

Not Yet...

Not this time. I got my period on my 30th day which is actually my normal cycle :(

I guess its not yet meant to be at this time.

Anyway, I found an organic supplement called royal jelly from the bee farm I visited. It is claimed to "increase fertility and alleviates impotence". It is also said to be good for childless couple. The farm that I visited is called "Ilog ni Maria". They are selling at lot of other natural and organic stuff. Visit my other blog to check what other organic stuff they are selling http://adventuresofanundomesticatedhousewife.blogspot.com. I didn't buy the royal jelly yet because I want to consult my doctor first before trying.

I bought instead the the bee propolis and honey cider vinegar for detox and immune system. Will also wait for my doctor's advise before taking both.

Neverending Hope...

I'm day 27 of my cycle today and I am hoping and praying that maybe this time we already conceived a baby :)

I'll know by Friday, which is actually our 4th wedding anniversary. Maybe its a wedding anniversary gift for us???

Only God knows and in His time :)

Charting My Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

How do I chart my basal body temperature?

Items Needed:

Thermometer - I use a digital thermometer since its much more convenient. I don't need to shake it before taking my temperature. For those using the regular one (with mercury) make sure that you shake it before going to sleep. Shaking it after waking up and just before taking your temperature will affect the reading.

I keep it right beside my bed or beside my pillow every night before going to sleep.

Notebook or Phone: I use my phone to jot down my temperature everyday. This is also easier for me because the time is also recorded so when transfer it to my excel file, all the data I need is there. Some may opt to just s notebook where they can jot down their temperature.

BBT Chart or Graph: I use this for the actual tracking of my menstruation or day of my cycle, intercourse with hubby, temperature, time my temperature was taken and my cervical mucous. It also helps me keep track of the length of my cycle. Here's a sample for this month.

When and How do I Take My Basal Body Temperature:

I take my temperature immediately upon waking up without getting out of the bed and without much movement. No intake of anything even water before taking my temperature. I should have at least 5 hours sleep to get a more accurate reading. I also try to take it at the same time everyday or at least only with a gap of 30 minutes.

Interpreting My Basal Body Temperature

Here's a sample of a good chart/graph of my BBT:


I've been charting my BBT for almost a year and it helped me establish my normal body temperature. It also give me a trend on my exact ovulation period together with the status of my cervical mucous.

As you can see from my chart, my temp went down to 36 degrees Celsius on the 17th day of my cycle. The best time for our contact/intercourse would have been on 16th, 17th and 18th day of my cycle. Since the sperm can live 3-5 days it would be better if there's a sperm present during the actual ovulation. This is the critical part because the eggs can only live for 12-24 hours. Before, I thought that we should have intercourse during the sudden surge in my temperature when ovulation has occurred already. This is still acceptable but then our chances of conceiving is slimmer because the eggs have been released.

By the way, don't mind the first few days of my cycle because I had the flu then, so my temp was really high.

I am no expert on this but this how I got about taking my basal body temperature. It gives me a good indication of my menstrual cycle and more importantly the best time to conceive.

Then some may ask me, how come you have not conceived? As you can see in my previous posts, we were beset with a lot of problems and sometimes the timing of ovulation does not coincide with me and my hubby's desire to have sex. This is another issue altogether. We just want to relax a bit on this and not to pressure ourselves too much. We don't want it to be too mechanical and we end up not enjoying ourselves.

Our next step is to go out of town/country trip to make it more relaxing and conducive to conceiving a baby. Good Luck to us :)

My Do's and Don'ts

Since I'm into homeopathy and of the principles behind this is that the treatment is very specific to an individual based on the background of the person. Some of my do's and dont's are very common but some are just applicable to those in homeopathic treatment. . These are the list as recommended by my Homeopathic OB.

DO's

1. Drink a lot of water; about 2-5 liters everyday.
2. Eat more fruits, fish and vegetables.
3. Religiously chart my basal body temperature (BBT).
4. Exercise everyday. Alternate a cardio workout with Pilates.
5. Get enough sleep; at least 6 hours a day.
6. Take supplements everyday (all from Healthy Options): Ultimate Anti-oxidant, Buffered C, Virgin Coconut Oil, and Evening Primrose Oil.
7. Take medicines twice a day before meal times. I am currently taking 6 medicines: thyroidinum (thyroid medicine), gallium heel (mobilize my visceral fat), strumeel (metabolism), engystol (immune system), and gripp heel (immune system). I also take AMN 200 (fertility) every other Thursday.
8. Take my medicines with mineral water only.
   
9. Take only organic food as much as possible.
10. Eat the fruits and vegetables first before eating beef or meat.
    

DON'Ts

1. Don't eat pork and processed foods.
2. Stop smoking and alcohol drinking.
3. No coffee, soft drinks and powdered juices.
4. Don't use nail polish unless there's one available made of natural or organic ingredients.
   
5. Minimize sweets especially ice cream, cake and chocolates.
6. Don't use tight underwear to avoid blocking the lymphatic system.
7. Don't take any conventional/synthetic/orthodox medicines.
8. Don't take mentholated toothpaste and candies.
9. Avoid fried food.

As of now these are my do's and dont's while trying to conceive through homeopathy. I am not sure whether this list will increase or decrease as we go along with my treatment.

Check-Up Routine With My Doctor

This time I just want to summarize what my homeopathic OB regularly checks whenever we have our consultations. Every consultation with her would take an hour for me and an hour for my husband.

First, she always ask me how I am? From there she'll ask me changes/updates on what's happening with my life. Am I stressed? What's causing my stress? Do I sleep better or am I having a a hard time sleeping. What have I been eating lately? Any noticeable changes in my body? About my bowel movements-How often, what's the color and whether its a floater or not? Any hot flushes? Have I been regularly exercising? How's my food intake?

Then we discuss my basal body temperature chart. She checks whether I had a good rise in temperature during my ovulation period. We also discuss how's my level of libido, how was the blood flow during my period? What color was the blood and were there blood clots? Did I experience any pre-menstrual symptoms?

After that she'll do her physical examination. She will check my tongue to see if if I'm hydrated or dehydrated, temperature, BMI (body mass index) and blood pressure. Then she'll do a cervical exam using a speculum. She always tells me whether my cervix is happy, shy or mad. She says a good sign of a happy cervix is when its really pink and smiling while it's mad if its reddish with pimple like growth. Shy when the os or opening is somehow close. Then we discuss my cervical mucous. Ideal state is when its oozing with the egg white like texture.

After that she'll check how my visceral fat is mobilizing. She also does breast examination and check my lungs and throat.

From there she'll discuss what medicines should I take, when to take it and until when do I take it.

Then we schedule for our next appointment.

Pilates Strongly Recommended For Women Who Is Trying To Conceive

I've been going to gym to keep me healthy and to keep my metabolism going. As a result of my complete thyroidectomy, my metabolism completely slowed down. I started getting a personal trainer to keep in shape.

Basically, I was doing cardio and weight lifting. After discussions with my homeopath, she recommended that I stop my weight lifting.

Why?

1. I had a slightly retroverted uterus and weight lifting further aggravates it.
2. I also had a slight scoliosis and weight lifting is not helping.

She strongly recommended that I switch to pilates because it will help prepare in pregnancy as well as giving birth. Pilates allows you to more or less control your body/breathing, strengthens your abdomen, and promotes better posture. These are all critical during pregnancy since we all know that we will be gaining a lot of weight and especially during the birth process.

So I hired a different personal trainer in gym to conduct my one on one pillates training. It does actually correct posture and I feel that my stomach is smaller :) Again, this should help me get rid of my visceral fat as mentioned in my previous post.

She also recommended for me to take a fat burner, specifically with the following ingredients/contents:

1. hydroxycitrate
2. choline complex
3. methionine (as l-methionine)
4. inositol

This again is to help me loose my visceral fat. My doctor wants to make sure that I am completely healthy when I get pregnant so that no complications will arise.

Another Lymph Drainage Theraphy Session for My Visceral Fat

On my next visit, my homeopath discussed her findings and gave me my first dose of my constitutional remedy. She also discussed layers wherein it hides/manifests as who you are but actually its not the real you. Its a bit difficult to explain about it. I also forgot to ask her what my constitutional type is. Once she gets back from her training I'll ask her about it.

I was also again asked to undergo LDT because of my visceral fat. She wanted to make sure that all my visceral fat is mobilized or in other words removed make it appear in the surface in order for me to easily loose it through exercise. So, what is visceral fat?


"Body fat comes in two varieties. There’s subcutaneous fat, a noticeable layer of fat that lies just below the skin, and then there’s visceral fat, which is buried beneath the muscles. Visceral fat is the more worrisome variety because it surrounds vital organs and is metabolized by the liver, which turns it into blood cholesterol. Visceral fat can go largely unnoticed because it’s not visible to the naked eye. In fact, the only effective way researchers can locate visceral fat is by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses magnetic waves to take a picture of the inside of the abdomen. Researchers can use this picture to estimate the amount of visceral fat a person is carrying." (Source:http://www.womenfitness.net/visceral_fat.htm)


I was also requested to take gallium heel for faster/easier mobilization of my visceral fat. Why the need for this in conceiving a baby? If I have so much visceral this may lead to hypertension during pregnancy, preeclampsia and other complications.

She said I should at least reduce or eliminate it from my body. Aside from this she also requested me to exercise at 3 times a day.


By the way I was not able to mention the after effects of my 1st LDT. An hour after the session, I was sleepy, had bowel discharges (frequently) and I was thirsty. The reason why I was sleepy was a way of my body telling me that I lack sleep. The bowel movement was more of releasing the toxins in my body.

Establishing My Constitutional Type

Hubby and I were scheduled by our homeopath for a 2 hour session each. This was needed to be able to clearly establish our individual "constitutional" type.

What is a "constitutional" type? As mentioned in one my posts, getting into homeopathic treatment is really personalized. This means that the treatment or remedy given to two people with similar sickness will be different depending on their constitutional type.

The 2 hour sessions was very extensive. Aside from the early discussion on my healthy history, we discussed my personality, habits, fears, did I have a happy childhood, how do i deal with stress, what stresses me most, what do I like to eat, what I don't like to eat, how do I react to cold and hot weather, what prompts me to smoke, what do i enjoy the most, and a lot more.

One particular question that strucked me the most was that when she asked what was the most important things for me? I paused for a while and I answered that family was my top most priority in my life.

On our next appointment she'll discuss with me my constitutional type and she will give me my constitutional remedy.

When I got home, I thought about what we discussed. Thinking about what I said regarding what stresses me the most and what is the most important thing in my life. At that time the greatest stress in my life was work. I was happy with my work but what really stressed me out was the environment in the office. I was no longer happy with the politics and certain mandates in running the category I was handling. From there, I started thinking that if family was the most important thing for me, shouldn't I prioritize or focus on that rather than my career?

After several soul searching and discussions with my husband, I decided to resign and be a housewife. After being such a workaholic for 12 years, being career oriented, earning a 6 figure salary, prime position in a good company and another promotion in the offing, it will never truly make me happy unless I have a baby.

After 4 months of being a housewife, I couldn't be happier. I am truly glad that I made this decision in my life. I don't miss the deadlines, stress, meetings, waking-up early in the morning, etc. We are now focussing on conceiving a baby.

This also lead to my writing this blog or documenting my journey.