egg retrieval report

As I mentioned before, I was doing an IVF cycle this month to freeze embryos.

Did the egg retrieval yesterday, they got 4 eggs from the left ovary and 2 from the right. Some of the follicles on theleft didn't have eggs in them. And on the right he had a terrible time getting to the ovary due to the fibroid being in the way. (He also thinks the fibroid is interfering with the ovary, and in fact the right ovary has never been as productive as the left based on info before the IUIs this past year)

Today got a call, 5 fertilized.

This is not too bad given my age, but am also thinking that theoretically I should be able to do better next time (planned for the fall) because eggs take 150 days to grow but I only started the new vitamin regimen based on knowing about my MTHFR mutaiton about 10 weeks or so ago. And I only started the special egg-boosting regimen of l-arginine, wheat grass, and royal jelly about 6 weeks ago. And was only able to find a protein powder I could tolerate as of last week. So next time will have had better nutrition over the full developmental life of the egg. Also in the next month will finish my heavy metal detox which should help too...

inositol can help egg quality

According to the study quoted here.

Inositol is in the Thorne Ultra-Nutrient supplement that I take.

excellent resource on xenoestrogens

they are the enemy of every fibroid shrinker -- and may be why we got them in the first place

resource is here

treatment of uterine fibroids in Ayurveda

Interesting paper on this topic.

Personally I find Ayurveda hard to understand and overwhelming, but it is supposed to be very helpful for fibroids.

resource page with lots of info on mercury detoxification

it's a bit overwhelming, but lots of good info in here
www.dreddyclinic.com/mercury_detox_procedures.htm

stopping chlorella

I had been taking chlorella after getting my mercury fillings out, to help detox the mercury. However, we stopped it this week, as my acupuncturist says it's not good for long-term use. It's energetically very cold and thus not good for the spleen especially.

I have been having a cold feeling in my abdomen. Not sure if it's because I'm doing an IVF cycle right now and injecting myself with stimulants, or due to the chlorella but anyway stopping the chlorella now.

I am still doing the wheat grass juice so am getting my green stuff that way!

Foresight website

I was poking around on the web and found this U.K. website of a program where they test your hair and on the basis of that give you a personalized vitamin prescription to promote fertility.

The basic principles are supposedly outlined in this book by the founder of the program:
Planning for a Healthy Baby

Here is the fertility forum where I found out about this: http://boards.gingerbeer.co.uk/index.php?topic=81737.0

Judging from the site, it looks like they focus on a lot of the things I am focusing on, like proper diet and detoxing from heavy metals.

brown rice protein powder

My acupuncturist wanted me to get more protein, but we had trouble finding a protein powder that worked for me -- so many of them seem to have a lot of miscellaneous junk in them.

Finally the Source Naturals brown rice protein powder seems to be a good match. It's pretty basic, not a lot of extra stuff in it.

She wants me to start with three scoops per day! I am putting it in a smoothie but now I am finding out why these powders have a lot of miscellaneous junk -- it's not very tasty just itself, kind of chalky. I am going to need to experiment with it to find out how to mask the flavor better!

But I am eager to do the protein powder because protein is said to be important for egg quality.

l-carnitine

My acupuncturist added L-Carnitineto my regimen today, 1000 mg per day (500 each am and pm).

L-carnitine is supposed to help with fat metabolism (an area where she feels I have an issue) and could help with egg quality.

As some of you may know, it's also often recommended for men for helping their sperm, so this was a new idea for me to take it.

Autogenic Training

While looking for info for my next post, I happened to run across an interesting fertility clinic in Osaka which takes an alternative approach, offering a whole gamut of things from reflexology to belly dancing. The fact that their home page is in English suggests that this could be a good place to stop by if you are in Japan.

Particularly striking was their information on the reported difference in IVF success of people who got "autogenic training" (a stress management technique) and those who didn't.

I had not heard of autogenic training before. It seems to have similarities with what one does in yoga and meditaiton. I ordered this Progressive Relaxation & Autogenic Training CD which has excellent reviews. Good timing as I'm rather bored with the relaxation CDs I have been listening to over and over again.

yoga DVD that focuses on thyroid-related poses

This morning I did this Fertility Yoga DVD. It's a nice gentle yoga practice.

For those who already do yoga, there is little here in terms of new poses. For that reason would recommend this more to those who are new to yoga, or for those who want a basic and relaxing practice. The explanations are good and the pace is not too fast so this would be a good way to start a yoga practice.

I felt that this DVD was particularly notable for those who have fibroids because it includes quite a few poses that focus on the thyroid -- and many people with fibroids have thyroid issues. The thyroid is also important for overall hormone health, which is important both for those with fibroids and those who want to enhance their fertility.

One quibble with this DVD -- there are a couple of inversion poses, and she does not warn viewers that if you are menstruating you should not do such poses.

great vegetarian recipe archive

The Vegetarian Times site has a great recipe archive (over 10,000 recipes), and when searching you can specify that you want dairy-free, low-cal, gluten-free, or vegan, or all of the above. Very handy. I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for new and interesting ways to cook vegetables...Love to be able to screen out the dairy and gluten ones.

EFT and Chinese medicine

As I've written about previously, I am enjoying using the EFT technique (www.emofree.com) to help balance my emotions.

This interesting article on the website clarifies how EFT and Chinese medicine relate. http://www.emofree.com/Articles2/qi-healer.htm

Taming self-criticism

I'd heard of people like those in this article who feel like every good thing they accomplish is undeserved, and always felt "at least my self esteem is better than that!" But then I took the quiz and found that my score was 39 -- definitely a bit above average in terms of how self-critical I am. Good food for thought.

switched to new Bach remedy -- Wild Rose

I pick my flower essences using the Bioset machine that my acupuncturist has. She uses it to tell me if I need to keep going with the current one, or switch to a new one.

In her machine are the Bach and Australian flower essences, and perhaps others but I haven't asked because until now one or the other of those has always worked for me.

It's always amazing to me how accurately the machine hones in on what my mood is and what I need. I tell you it's quite eerie really.

This time, we switched me to Bach Wild Rose. Here is the description:

Wild Rose (Rose Canina) is the Bach Flower Remedy for people who have accepted all that life throws at them and have given up the struggle for fulfilment. Instead they have resigned themselves to the way things are, to the extent where they don't even complain or seem particularly unhappy. Instead they shrug their shoulders - there's no point complaining or trying to change - and seem happy just to drift through life.The remedy is given to reawaken interest in life. The positive Wild Rose person will still be a happy-go-lucky type, but instead of apathy will feel a sense of purpose that will bring increased happiness and enjoyment.

That describes me exactly the day that I went in. I was feeling really blah about everything, worn out by all the stuff that's been going on. Not unhappy, just completely flat and apathetic.

After just a few days of taking this remedy, that mood has lifted and I feel a lot more positive. I'm glad to be in a good frame of mind (or heart) given that I'm starting the stimulation meds this week and that is of course has the potential to be stressful esp. if one is not grounded. Really I do think that these flower essences are something akin to magic...

an amazing new alternative to milk

The woman in front of me in the grocery store line was fascinated.
"What's that?" she said, "I've never seen that before."
Me: "My acupuncturist just told me about it. It's a milk alternative, made from coconut and unsweetened."
She: "Wow, that sounds great."
Me "I'm really excited to try it. I don't do dairy or soy."
She: "And rice milk just doesn't do it."
Me: "That's right. And we won't even go into the atrocious hemp milk I tried the other day..."

I'm happy to say that the So Delicious Coconut Milk beverage completely lives up to my expectations. A clean taste, not too coconutty, would be an excellent substitute for milk. I tried the unsweetened one. Look for it in the dairy case, next to the soy milk.

I'm so excited, I can make smoothies again!

Also on the site they have coconut-based yogurt, will have to see if Whole Foods has that too. That's another thing I miss...

I had written previously about the health benefits of coconut, here is some info from their site on the topic: http://www.purelydecadent.com/health/why_coconut.html My acupuncturist says that the fatty acids in coconut are very good for health. However I can only eat so much coconut curry, it's nice to have a different way to get coconut into my diet...

sleepy stones

When I was at the yoga retreat, at the Center's store I picked up a set of these stones for grounding your bed for better sleep. In the category of "can't hurt!" Just put them on the bed today, we'll see if it works! (Actually my sleep is pretty good, my husband is the one with sleep issues...)

why Chinese medicine may not always work for fibroids

I just ran across this interesting and honest article by a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner about how it's not necessarily so easy to shrink fibroids. What this article says is consistent with what I have experienced so far -- Chinese medicine has been great for addressing my symptoms but has not helped yet with shrinking.
I'm not giving up (especially given that the clinical evidence for Chinese herbs is better than for anything else I've seen) but this does underscore why patience is needed when trying to shrink fibroids.
Oh, and when I went back to put in the article link, I found this new one apparently just posted today offering more comments on the same topic.

doesn't hurt to try -- ankle bracelet

When I was researching reflexology for fertility the other day, I found (and now for the life of me can't find again) a page that said that women in India wear ankle chains to help promote fertility by stimulating the ovarian point, which is on the ankle.

And the uterine point is also on the ankle, on the other side. See the chart and instructions here on fertility reflexology: http://www.paperblog.fr/1643551/boosting-your-fertility-with-reflexology/

I'm doing the reflexology (actually, am having my husband do it!) but also I decided to try the ankle chain idea.

I got one like this one http://auntiestreasures.com/beaded-rose-quartz-ankle-bracelet-p-11120.html that has small rose quartz beads. It is a stone that is supposed to help with fertility, see here: http://www.ehow.com/how_2223877_use-rose-quartz-energy.html

Kind of crazy idea, but I'll try anything that might help!

reviewing some recent videos

I bought a few videos recently to spice up my exercise routine. My feelings about them varied widely.

I loved Yoga Bliss Hips, by Ana Bret and Ravi Singh, the same duo who did one of my favorites Journey through the Chakras. I was looking for more of the same, and got it. This is a Kundalini yoga workout, with good pace, clear instructions, enjoyable music and nice mix of movement and meditation. Since it focuses on the hips, it gets the middle of your body moving which is good for both fibroid shrinking and fertility. It is also good for stretching out my hips after too much time sitting at the computer. I also like their style of the instructor against a white background -- easy to follow, not a lot of distractions.

I also ordered their DVD Naval Power. It was pretty good, but it is an earlier one made while they were still perfecting their style, so it's not quite as slick as Yoga Bliss Hips or Journey through the Chakras. I'll use it once in a while but probably won't be a regular. As the name implies, it focuses on the belly area so a lot of sit-ups and similar.

I do need to work on my belly, which is why I got the Beautiful Bellyby Hemalayaa. I had really liked her Bollywood Bootyworkout, but the Beautiful Belly was not as good. I didn't feel like it was a good workout -- in other words she has a lovely belly but I am sure she did something other than this workout to get it that way. Also, she was filmed wearing saffron and rust against a saffron and rust background, which made it really hard to see her distinctly to follow the movements. I plan to give this one away.

Really disappointing was the Dance off the Inches: Hip Hop Party. The music was boring and so was the routine. No wonder it was on sale for half off. This one is being given away too.

my current supplement regimen

I've made some changes to my supplement regimen lately, particularly adding things that are supposed to help with egg quality and also to help with my anemia issues. Also still working on supporting my liver for detox.

The first three supplements are specially selected to address my MTHFR mutation discovered this spring, which affects how the body processes certain B vitamins. Commonly prescribed for that is a strong prescription vitamin called Folgard, however according to my acupuncturist these supplements are especially designed to be more easily processed by someone who has the MTHFR mutation. So for those of you with MTHFR, these could be useful for you to know about, as strangely most western doctors just seem to stick with the Folgard. But in my mind, what's the use of a getting more of the B's through Folgard if the body is not processing them -- better to get ones the body can process. (For more on MTHFR, check out the book Is Your Body Baby-Friendly?)


Thorne Methyl-Guard (B6, folate, B12, Betaine) 1 per day
Pure Encapsulations Ultra Nutrient (vitamins and minerals plus antioxidants including vitamin E, alpha lipoic acid, hawthorn extract, turmeric, milk thistle, ginger, coenzyme Q10, glutathione), 5 per capsules per day
Metagenics Arginine Plus (Folic acid, l-arginine, l-glycine), 4 per day
Thorne Siliphos (special form of milk thistle), 180 mg per day
Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omegafish oil 3000 mg per day
Pure encapsulations black currant seed oil 1000 mg per day
Theramedix LPSdigestive enzymes (lipase, amalyse, protease, lactase), 3 capsules per day
Thorne Iron Citrate, 50 mg per day
Fergoniron gluconate, 54 mg per day
Pure encapsulations DHEA 5 mg per day
Biotics Research Bio-D-Mulsion (Vitamin D3)drops 1 per day
Pure encapsulations Calcium Magnesium (currently adjusting type and dosage)
Chinese herbs (adjusted periodically), 2x per day
Dandelion root, 1040 mg per day
Chlorella, 2500 mg per day
Royal Jelly capsule2000 mg per day
Wheatgrass juice from 3 tablespoons powder per day
Bioset Probiotic (acidophilus, bifidus etc.) 310 mg, one every few days
Green Magma(barley grass powder) – every few days
Quinton (concentrated seawater, for trace minerals) – every few days
GoChi goji berry juice 4-8 oz daily

Yes I know this sounds like a lot, but it's only about a dozen pills each breakfast and dinner, and then 4 at lunch and a few things between meals. Really it's not that bad at all. And lately I've been feeling great so I think I've got a good regimen going.