Lately I’ve been feeling like my life has been taken over by infertility - the appointments, the information, the decisions, the questions, the support, etc. While all good and important on the journey, I’m starting to feel like I’m stuck on a merry-go-round and it keeps getting faster and faster and I forgot to think about when I want to get off. I read a really interesting archived post at EggsBenedictArnold.com  that I thought I’d share today:

“I’m losing faith, feeling like I should stop the madness. I’m beginning to succumb to the finality of infertility. I actually considered what life would be like living childfree. In the world of infertility there are categories of resolution. We have (a) success, (b) success by other means (donor egg/sperm, surrogacy, adoption) and (c) childfree. I’d love success, am considering success by other means and until now simply banished the thought of living childfree. I never thought I’d feel living childfree would be less painful than infertility, until today. Today, on the way to work, I thought- I could live childfree. We’d travel, have a nice house maybe even a summer beach place. I surprised myself. I was happy picturing life without children. It felt luxurious. I’ve heard some people say that it’s time to stop pursuing infertility treatment when the pain becomes worse than the need/want for a child. We’re getting close to that line folks. Hopefully the break I take this summer will lure me back to the warm fuzzies of family planning.”

Actually this woman goes on to adopt a little girl and really has some great insights on her ongoing journey. If you’d like to read the rest of this particular post, click here.

Ultimately no one else knows what is best for you but you. Don’t ever forget that.

We also have a private group set up on Facebook.  It will not show up in your profile and only members can see the wall and message board posts, etc.  If you would like to join, first make sure that you are in the Indianapolis, IN network, then send a friend request to me, Karen Timby.  Make sure you add a comment that says you’d like to be added to the resolve group so I know who you are.

I am really excited about having this group because it allows members to communicate directly and we can make plans for dinners out, etc.  Hope to see you there!

It seems that I keep hearing more and more about acupuncture in relation to infertility.  I just started seeing an acupuncturist in January and I am already impressed with the changes I’ve seen.  We have the dreaded “unexplained infertility” diagnosis with my only “symptoms” being a borderline progesterone level and very short periods (just over a day long and very heavy).   After only 2 visits, my period lengthened out to a full 2 days with medium flow and a little spotting before and after.  I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it was a noticeable difference to me.

The other thing I’ve noticed is that this cycle my luteal phase progesterone is much higher.  I have as many (or more) symptoms as I did when my RE experimented with giving me supplemental progesterone in addition to follistim, and I noticed it immediately after ovulation, instead of a week or more later.  Since I am currently on an unmedicated cycle, this is huge for me.

I don’t know yet whether any of that will make any difference in trying to conceive, but I believe that getting my body back into “balance” will have a positive influence. 

I’ve also felt more mellow and relaxed since starting acupuncture.  Just the process of going to the appointment and being forced to lay still and listen to quiet music is a benefit to me.

If you are thinking of trying acupuncture instead of or in addition to your current medical treatment, I strongly encourage you to try it.  But of course, you probably don’t want to take just my word for it, so here are some references that include some statistics and more specifics:

http://www.acupuncture.com/conditions/fertility.htm

http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/features/ancient-art-of-infertility-treatment

http://www.pregnancy-info.net/infertility_acupuncture.html

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/infertility/acupuncture.htm

http://www.acupuncturebydawn.com/files/Acupuncture_for_Infertility.pdf

If you’ve tried acupuncture, please share your story with us in the comments section!

Thanks to a new group member who came last night and shared about the Cade Foundation, where couples can apply for a grant to help with fertility or domestic adoption costs. For more information, e-mail grantinfo@cadefoundation.org, call  443-896-6504 or visit their website at:

http://www.cadefoundation.org/page.php?id=4

To read about an Indiana couple that received the grant, please visit:

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/18546803/detail.html