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.

Lymph Drainage Theraphy (LDT)

It took 5 months before my husband and I were accommodated by our other doctor (partner of our homeopathic doctor) for our lymph drainage theraphy because her schedules are full since she also administers cranio sacral theraphy (CST).

Before undergoing LDT, we were required to drink a lot to ensure that we were hydrated (water and fresh juices only), schedule to take a leave or make sure that you stay at home after the theraphy, and eat a light before the theraphy.

We were recommended to undergo this theraphy to detoxify our body, stimulation of our immune sytem (due to our reproductive immunology problems), fertility and regeneration of tissues especially for me since I have undergone surgeries. This goes hand in hand with our homeopathic treatment.

The initial theraphy will be done in 4 sessions and were scheduled Tuesday and Thursday for 2 weeks (an ahour each for me and my husband). The rationale behind the intervals is to determine what kind of reaction/effect/changes in your body after each session.

What is lymph drainage theraphy?

"The proper functioning of the lymphatic system is critical to our body's ability to operate at peak performance. This system drains fluids, detoxifies and regenerates tissues, filters out toxins and foreign substances and helps us maintain a healthy immune system. If lymph circulation stagnates however, toxins accumulate and compromise cellular functioning, which opens the way to physical ailments." (Source: http://www.upledger.com/therapies/ldt.htm).

It involves a very light touch, lighter than a regular massage from the head to to toe and front and back of the body.

For my first session, the doctor tried to determine which part was blocked in my system. She said that my liver, kidneys, thyroid, and left ovaries were blocked. My thyroid blockage was a result of my two operations. Liver and kidneys were blocked due to the toxins/chemicals in my body, meaning these were the toxins coming from the unhealthy lifestyle (drinking/eating) for the past 30+ years.

One thing that really surprised me was the blockage at my left ovaries. When I was a kid, my immunization/vaccinations shots were in my left upper thigh that was very near to one of the major lymph node/vessel located in the inner left thigh. All the metals from those vaccinations were stored thus creating the blockage in that area as well as my ovary.

During the session, the doctor noticed that I also had a curvature in my spine (slight scoliosis) that was causing my back pains previously. She said she'll do a cranio sacral theraphy (CST) to correct the scoliosis.

By the way aside from physical release, LDT also touches on the emotional/mental release of the person. This means that if you are also suffering from emotional depression/sadness/problems LDT is interrelated with this. So, all kinds of release will be expected after the sessions.

Balanced PH or Acidity Affects Fertility

In homeopathy, treatment is very personal. Meaning that treatment is tailor fitted to the individual based on personal background, medical history and findings.

On top of our medicines, one of our (my husband and I) common treatment this time was Alkala Powder. This was the first time I heard that both of us should have the right acidity level because this also affects our ability to conceive. Our doctor further explained that if I was too acidic then this would most likely kill the sperm entering my body while if my husband is too acidic, most likely his sperm is also of poor quality thus resulting to the inability to conceive.

Hmm, I am really learning a lot from our doctor. All the more that I am convinced that we took the right path and I am very much happy with our decision.

Anyway, so the Alkala Powder was to be taken twice a day together with notakehl (just for 10 days). Then we should test our ph level using the strip first thing in the morning and before sleeping.

She also prescribe oral micronized progesterone to be taken day 13 to 25 of my cycle. I'm suppose to take this for 3 months.

Oh, I forgot to mention. During the balancing of our ph levels, we could not eat anything fresh. So no fresh fruit, vegetable, sushi and sashimi. I think this was because she's preventing us from getting bacteria or something as this affects our treatment.

This was the hardest part since I love fresh fruits and vegetables :(

Detox Effects on My Body

The bathroom became my best friend after taking all the medicines prescribed by my homeopathic doctor. I really felt that was releasing all the toxins accumulated for the past 33 years.

I was consuming about 2 liters of water everyday. One liter the one with all the medicines for my detox and the other one is plain water. I frequently urinated as in about every 30 minutes interval. Then my bowel movement significantly increased as well.

On our next visit, which was two weeks after our doctor wanted to know in detail what where the changes in our body that we noticed. I mentioned the frequent urination and bowel movement. She said this was good because this means our toxins were mostly coming from the gut and the lungs. She then prescribed me the homeopathic substitute for my thyroid. By the way unlike the usual OB's I've encountered, she never did a transvaginal ultrasound for the past two consultations.

She also recommended for me to take ultimated antioxidant and bufferred C as supplements. Aside from that, we will still continue with our detox drink.

We are also scheduled for a lymphatic drainage therapy (LDT) which is being done by her partner who is also an accredited doctor who can do this treatment. LDT is a deeper form of detoxification. I'll try to look for another site that will further explain this.

First Appointment w/ Our Homeopathic Doctor

It was the first time that we had a consultation with a doctor that took 2 hours. She started off with a long questionnaire that both hubby and I should fill up indivifually.

Everything that you can think of was there especially the medical background that included mine and my parents. I had to indicate if my parents went through any operation, hospitalization, etc. I found it kinda weird because I was thinking what's the connection in our desire to conceive again.

During the consultation, she was telling me that in homeopathy we don't just deal with the physical state but also the emotional/psychological health of the person. She asked me on how describe myself, what do I like doing, what kind of work I was involved in, etc.

An hour later during our consultation, she asked me how did you feel and how are you feeling now after the miscarriage? I felt that I have moved on and that I was completely over it (3 years after the miscarriage. But when I was about to answer her, I felt myself choking up and being teary eyed. I told her how devastated I was and that I was really looking forward to having a baby then. I said there were times that I'd still remember the baby and I'd really cry when I remember. She asked me, do you talk to your baby? Are you really at peace with your baby?

I asked why, she said that even though we may appear that we have healed physically. Our body can still sense the trauma, sadness and apprehensions that we feel. It could sense whether we are ready or not. She asked me I was ready to conceive again and I immediately said yes. The doctor said that I have to make sure that I have healed completely.

After that, it was my husbands turn. She also asked the same thing as well as how he felt when we lost the baby. He also shared his feeling but I guess as typical guys would do, he sounded and felt like he was healed already.

From there, she recommended that we have our usual blood test (CBC/LDL, etc. analysis), sperm analysis for hubby. She also requested that we remove pork in our diet because pork is like the human body that its so alike that the tendency is for our body to retail thus causing our increased in weight. She also prescribed nux vomica, gallium heel, berberis, and lymphonuosat for our detox treatment. We took this with 1 liter of mineral water everyday. Then she prescribed bronchalis heel for our lungs since we both smoke. Another medicine, strumeel to complement my conventional/synthetic medicine for my thyroid.

By the way aside from that she also prepared us to be ready with our change in lifestyle. Softdrinks, sweets and coffee should be taken less often and if possible none. Drink lots of water because we were too dry. Of course we were asked to be ready to quit smoking.

Lastly, she also asked our commitment level. We both said that we are ready.

Whew, it was a hard start for us because it was complete change in lifestyle.

Seeking A Second Opinion Through Homeopathy

Hubby and I decided to seek a second opinion regarding our condition. A friend referred her doctor who is into homeopathy.

"Homeopathy is the system of medicine which works on the principle of 'like cures like' (Similia Similibus curanter). The theory behind the working of homeopathy is that the body of every human being contains a vital force within the body which regulates the functioning of the body. Due to reasons such as heredity, environmental conditions, stress etc, this vital force weaken causing disease. So, disease is nothing but a complex of certain symptoms observed in the human body. The homeopathic physician make a study of not only the symptoms the patient is complaining of, but of the entire patient himself. This leads to a picture of the patient." (Source: http://bringhealth.com/index.html)

This doctor is also an ob/gyn but she's praticing homeopathy. What made it really interesting for me was her principle of trying to find out what was causing the immunological problems rather than just trying to cure. She explained that everything is all natural, no synthetic medicines but it would take a longer period of time compared to conventional medicine. She explained that there is an imbalance in our system thus causing the immunological problem. The whole objective is to make hubby and me healthy and find out what's causing the imbalances to ensure that we will be able to conceive, carry the baby full term and give birth to a healthy baby.

After a 2 hour consultation with her, hubby and I went home and tried to discuss which route to go. Whether we should go conventional or homeopathy. I immediately recommended that we go homeopathy. Hubby was a bit hesitant because it was not convetional medicine. I said that there will be no harm in doing it because at the end of the day the main objective is to make us healthy.

The main factor that we discussed was our level of commitment. It will not just be me who will be treated but both of us. Another factor was that it would be a longer process because the treatment is based on our level of health. If we will not be able to commit to homeopathy then it will defeat the whole purpose of the treatment.

After a very thorough discussion, we both agreed that we will go the more natural way which is homeopathy.

Reproductive Immunology Test Results

Unfortunately for us, we tested positive for Category 1, 3 and 5. What rotten luck for us....

Again the, immunologist tried to explain the treatment to us but it was so complicated. He recommended lymphocyte immunotheraphy (LIT), heparin, aspirin, prednisone, and IVIG as treatment for the 3 categories that we tested positive.

I didn't understand everything and it was quite difficult to ask him to explain in lay mans term what the treatment involved. So I resorted to researching again on my own.

I tried looking for similar cases in the Philippines but I really didn't know anyone. If indeed there were some, most of them were on positive for Category 1.

This was so frustrating for me, it seems that our problems were neverending in our desire to have a child. Why us? There are a lot of people in my country who couldn't even take care of their children but here we are exhausting all means just to have a child.

In my quest to understand the treatment, I found out that some of the recommended treatments were not even allowed on certain countries. Some had side effects and some treatments were not even successful. What bothered me the most was the thought of having all these medicines pumped into my body, my immune system will be tampered with and yet the success rate was at only 25% without even considering the side effects.

I was in so much pain, I was so confused whether to undergo all these treatments despite my concerns and hesitations. What if the treatment will just mess up with my body? What if complications will occur and it will just prevent us from having a baby.

We went back to the Ob/Gyn after consulting the immunologist and he was recommending that we undergo the treatment and then go through iui or ivf.

On top of this, we also found out that my husbands sperm had low motility levels.

Talk about obstacles in conceiving a baby. How lucky can we get? I am just thankful that my husband is very supportive.

Hubby and I decided to weigh our options before deciding what to do next.

Thyroid Issues Affecting Fertility

Hyperthyroidism symptoms: palpitations, heat intolerance, weight loss, trembling hands and light menstruation. I experienced all that and was further confirmed by my blood test.

I decided to focus on curing my thyroid first because it does affect the chances of conceiving.

So I consulted my endocrinologist, she prescribed medicines to at least normalize my TSH before scheduling my operation. I had to have surgery because it was cystic and it continued to grow.

In September 2005, I was operated and I had high hopes that now we will be able to conceive because we have eliminated the thyroid problem.

After the operation, i had my regular blood test to check on my thyroid hormone levels and I found out that this time I developed hypothyroidism as an effect of removing my thyroid. By the way I already had one part remove 15 years ago so there was really nothing left with my thyroid.

The doctor recommended for me to take medicines for life to ensure that I will be able to maintain my thyroid hormones at the right level. After 6 months, everything was back to normal.

After receiving the good news, my husband and I decided to consult a new OB to begin our fertility work-up for the second time.