Acupunctured

I went Thursday for my first acupuncture appointment. The practitioner seemed very nice. A good mix of soothing and professional. She asked several questions about my history of infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, and menstrual cycles, then about my sleep and whether I'm generally hot or cold (as Will will attest, I'm usually freezing). She proceeded to prescribe hot ginger tea with cayenne in it and went to work.

The acupuncture itself was strangely stimulating and relaxing. More...um...penetrating...than I thought it would be.

A little like this...(except I have much less hair on my legs):


It felt like she was putting the needles in along the nerve pathways in my feet, ankles, calves, thighs, wrist, face, and head. She remarked that I was not reacting at all to the placement of the needles and I told her that between IVF and lymphoma treatment, she was going to have a hard time fazing me. After she placed the needles, she covered me with a thin aluminum sheet, dimmed the lights, turned on some soft chanting music, and left for about a half an hour.

I felt relaxed and alert. Not sure if it will help with our IVF cycle, but it was actually fairly pleasant. She wants me to return twice a week once I start the stims. I'm supposed to see her again on Monday.

Those of you who've done acupuncture, what was your experience like? Do you think it helped?

Mo

And we're off...

First Lupron injection was tonight. It was a little harder than I thought it would be to stick the needle in. Not because it would hurt - I know from the last 1,000 IVF and cancer-related sticks that it wouldn't be that bad. I was hesitant because it meant climbing back onto the IVF roller coaster again. It meant accepting that we are fully committing to IVF #3 and all the excitement and dread that goes along with it.

I also surprised myself by booking my first acupuncture appointment for next week. I'm kind of a skeptic about non-western approaches to medicine as the research for and against seems equivocal. But I figured, it can't hurt. I want to make sure all my i's are dotted and t's are crossed.

Please please please let this cycle be the one. Wish us luck!

Mo