Questions for the Surgeon

This weekend I had my 3rd Fertility Sport Group meeting and as always

I was incredibly inspired by these strong, outgoing woman. Each of these

woman have chosen to take different paths on this fertility journey, and

as a group we all support each others choices.  In Just one afternoon 

they reminded me that I am in charge of what path I take and how fast 

I walk it, they reminded me to stand up for myself. 

I know I should already know this, I work as a doula and every day I 

am encouraging others to advocate for the birth they want. I have now

decided to treat myself as a client and follow the advice I would give 

when a woman is feeling pressure from the medical system. 

The first piece of advice I would give a client is to ask questions, find out 

if your doctors philosophy on birth  (or in this case fertility) matches 

yours. For example if you have a doctor that gives every first time mom 

an episiotomy and you believe they should only be done when medically 

necessary, then perhaps that's not the doctor for you. If you had not 

asked where they stand on episiotomy, you may have never known what 

was soon to come in your future. 

Tomorrow is my consultation with the laproscopy surgeon, and as you 

may have read before on this blog, I am terrified of this surgery. I know

I need to have it, and I can accept that, but I can also follow this advice

and make sure I have a surgeon that I feel comfortable with. I will go 

in there with my list of questions, the only problem is, I don't know 

what questions to ask. That's where you come in, does anyone out there

in the blog world know what questions I should be asking the surgeon

so that I know I am getting the best care possible? 

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help me out here :)

Yoga Poses for AF Part 2 - and breaking news!!

First the breaking news, Hubby turned to me last night while we were

sittin' on the couch and said "Is there any of that energy, woo hoo, yoga, 

acupuncture stuff I should be doing to help us out?". 

ummmmmmmmmmm......what????? excuse me? did he say what I 

thought he said??? YES HE DID

I tried to stay calm and simply replied "well, if your comfortable with it

I have heard wonderful things about sperm count and acupuncture, 

but I've also heard good things about yoga as well". The conversation

ended there, but in the morning instead of doing his usual weight work

out, he did one of my Yoga Videos!!!! YEAH HUBBY!!

Ok, now on to the yoga, AF is still here so my yoga session was very 

much the same. My cramps were a bit better so I decided to add some 

more movements that were still gentle but not restorative. Here is 

what I added:

I started my session off again with 10min of Meditation and moved

into cow/cat, which you see here, I would go from cow to cat then 

move back into child's pose. When I had done I few rounds I rested

in childspose for 5min with my bolster under my upper body.

Then I moved back up to hands and knees for some hip 

rotations to bring circulation to my pelvis and open up the 

hips. I did a few on each side, just going with how I felt. 

Next I tucked my toes under and sat back on my heels, this can be 

QUITE intense so I can't really sit all the way back, I have to breath 

to get through it. As far as the arms go, I did not do what this woman

is doing, I just interlaced my hands behind my back to open 

my chest. 

When these exercises were done I moved back into the rest

of the restorative poses I showed in my last post and finished

off with a shavasana. Overall it was about 40min, but I felt really

great for the rest of the day!!

Yoga Poses for AF

AF came today, she was kinda shy at first, just kinda knockin' on my 

door and then hiding when I came to open the door for her. Last night

she finally decided to hang up her coat and stay for a while, but now 

that she is here I'm not so keen on her. She is much more annoying 

then I remembered, this month she really wanted to make her 

presence known and decided to keep me up all night! Really though, 

last night was brutal, instead of the dull all over feeling I usually get, 

it was a sharp, relentless feeling of near death. The only thing I could 

do was to sit on the edge of the bed, for hours. 

Hubby of course was shocked by AF's visit, he once again thought 

FOR SURE that this was the month. I think his head space is kinda

where mine was a year ago. I am really no longer puzzled by her

appearance, I have decided to welcome her and treat her well for 

the days she is here. (who knows, maybe this will piss her off enough 

to stay away, for say...10months?)

I got up this morning to do my 10min. of meditation and I moved 

right into a yoga sequence that I put together in hopes to alleviate

some of the pain and relax a bit. As promised I have listed the 

poses I did below. It really did help, I played some nice music, 

meditated before the session and did a long shavasana after. I still 

have cramps, but they are better and not as "emotional" 

(if that makes sense). I don't have all the equipment in these pictures

(I took those off the net) I used a couple bolsters and some pillows/

blankets from around the house. 

 

This pose relieves cramps, I like to put an eye pillow over my eyes so 

I can zone out. 

This pose is great to calm my brain and the bolster in my belly helps cramps,

I put a bag of rice on my low back, 'cause it feels good!

This helps to open hips and circulate blood into the pelvis. 

This pose is good for lower back pain and cramps. I find that I like 

the "opening" aspect of this pose if I stand up and do 1/2 moon instead.

I find this really relieves cramping, but it take a bit more work. 

This is a good counter pose for the above forward folds. Its good for 

regulating hormones and can help to slow a heavy menstrual flow. I

did another child's pose after this, cause my back felt like it needed it. 

So there  it is, my yoga poses for today. I will probably continue these

poses until AF goes on her way. It is going to be hard for me to do 

only these poses (or variations of them) as I prefer to do a vigorous

yoga class. I promised myself though that I will only do yoga that is 

appropriate for my cycles for a while, and what is appropriate during

AF is relaxation. Its a time for cleansing, nourishing and restoring

so I can start a fresh new cycle :)

MEDITATION CHALLENGE .......and an apple

The Meditation Challenge starts tomorrow!!! 10 min. of Meditation for 

the next 30 days. There are a few of you interested in taking on this 

challenge, and I am so excited to see how this helps in our lives. 

Please let me know of your progress and if on day 30 (May 5th)

you did all 30 days, and I will send you your prize!!! 

On another note, my hubby and I had been fasting for a week, on the

request of my MIL. Then, Just before Easter dinner she presented us

with apple pieces she had blessed by her church. She believes the 

combination of fasting and consumption of blessed apples will make

us fertile!!! Like I said before.........I'll try anything!! 

Hubby now says that If I get pregnant anytime in the near future I will 

have to name the baby Apple (hey, maybe thats what happened 

with Gwyneth?).

Fertility Yoga - 30 Day Meditation Challenge

I received a lot of response to my last post about the Fertility Yoga 

I'm working on, and also about the meditation practice Not only was 

I really excited to see everyone respond so fast, but it also inspired 

me to turn my meditation into a challenge. (leave it to me to turn 

something as pure as meditation into a contest!) 

I'm calling it the 30 Day Meditation Challenge, starting Tuesday 

April 6th, all those who would like to participate will meditate for

10 min each day, for 30 days. At the end of 30 days I will give each 

and every person who made it to the end a little prize!!! This contest

will have to be based on the honor system, if at the end of 30 days 

you meditated everyday, let me know and the prize is YOURS! Just

remember though, its bad karma to lie :)

On another note, Jelly Belly asked me what Asana's I will be doing 

to rejuvenate my cycle. In response to this I promise to keep good 

notes here on my blog so those of you who would like to also do 

these Asana's can follow along, or at least look back at these posts

when that time of your cycle comes around. 

Thats it for Today, Happy Easter for those of you who celebrate, and 

I look forward to Meditating with you on Tuesday morning!!  Please 

let me know if you would like to participate, we can use each other for 

support! Also if you need any advice on meditation please feel free to 

ask!

Fertility Yoga

Ok, it's time to move forward, just a little bit. For the last year I have 

been reading, studding, researching everything Fertility Yoga related.

I even found myself a woman who has been teaching Fertility Yoga at

a Fertility Clinic here in the city with great success, she has been 

helping me with my research/traning. But now I think it's time to 

move forward, start applying what I know, I've been teaching yoga 

long enough to know how each pose effects the body, how breathing

and relaxation can bring the body's hormones back into balance and 

I also know a lot about cycles, I mean, what woman TTC doesn't? 

So....as AF approaches I have decided to put all this research into 

action. On the first day of my next period I will begin to apply the 

Fertility Yoga Program I've designed to my OWN cycle. Each day 

I will meditate for 10min, I will also do yoga poses appropriate for 

each stage of my cycle and ones that promote fertility. This program

must work for me first, before I decide its time to teach it to a 

classroom of ladies. Do I expect to get pregnant from these sessions?

no, but I hope to start alleviating some of my PMS symptoms and 

bring a bit more health to my body. 

Now I don't know if anyone reading this blog meditates, or has tried

to meditate but 10min of meditation each day can do wonders for your

body but it is SO HARD TO DO. There always seems to be something 

more important to do, something more exciting or urgent, but this 

month, it will be my priority. If anyone would like to join me for

this meditation marathon I would love the support. 

All you need to do is get up 10 min early, put on a pot of your favorite 

tea, sit crossed legged on a pillow or blanket with your spine straight 

and set a timer for 5 or 10 min.  Now Focus on ONE THING while all 

other thoughts just kinda swim back and forth without taking your full 

attention. You can focus on your breath or an affirmation, if thoughts 

come into the for ground just name them (work, friends, pregnant 

woman in the grocery store) and focus again on the breath. 

I am writing the "problem" area's of my cycle here for reference, I will

look back on this at the end of each cycle to see if anything has changed

(I will be taking no herbs or medication as I work through these cycles):

1. Short Luteal Phase

2. Small amount or no Cervical Mucus

3. EXTREME MENSTRUAL CRAMPING 

4. irritability before AF

5. strong emotional instability (that's putting it lightly) before AF

6. Sore Breasts at different stages in my cycle

7. Spotting 

8. Under-active Thyroid, Low Temperatures

My goal is to help some of those problems with some relaxation and 

yoga. I know it sounds a little "granola" but the research is out there, 

relaxing tense muscles and allowing blood flow back into our lady bits 

can only help, plus, how could you NOT benefit from some R&R?

Gullible?

Today was an AMAZING DAY....I think! To me, it was the first time 

in a LONG time that I have felt at peace with myself and those around 

me. Today was the first day of the Yoga Conference, a weekend long 

conference of all things YOGA, which I love. Today was all about 

learning how to heal your body through the Chakra's. I listened to 

every sentence, word, syllable that came out of that teachers mouth, 

especially when she talked about the 2nd Chakra, the channel that 

governs fertility. Of course they all work together, but it was SO nice 

to hear that I could possibly heal MYSELF!! I remember I used to 

believe this, but after all the R.E. appointments and tests ext. I forgot 

that we have this type of power!

Of course I am not silly enough to think that I can fix everything by 

chanting VUMMMM all day long when there is a medical reason for 

our issues, but I believe it can help. Everything just seemed to become

so clear the more she talked, of course blockages can come up in your

body when you ignore somethings and focus on others! One thing I 

found of particular importance is that this Chakra relies heavily on 

community, and in our society community has all but been lost. This

could be the reason for the growing number of menstrual/fertility 

issues. Perhaps this is why we have this urge to blog? I know myself

all of my family lives away, my friends too...I have very few close 

friends in this big city!

This chakra also needs creative arts to thrive, she suggested singing

making art ext. to feed this channel. She even suggested writing a 

love letter to yourself, which I can only see as being VERY hard, but

perhaps healing? Perhaps this will be my next post? If I am brave

enough?

Anyway, if you don't think I'm gullible enough yet, it gets worse. 

Immediately after this lecture I went RIGHT to the psychic that 

was down stairs at the conference trade show. I can never resist 

a psychic, especially when I'm feeling slightly optimistic. I probably 

should have quit while I was ahead though cause he really freaked 

me out. 

The very VERY first thing he said to me, before I even said my name 

was "why are you not a mother yet?".....................after about 15 min. 

of crying I finally answered "because I can't be one". He let me know

that I will be a mother and a really good mother, but the problem is

I will never feel complete until I am a mother. He said there may be

a breakthrough in our "treatment" by July and "good news" by 

November. One other freaky thing, he said I am a year passed the time 

I was meant to be a mother!

Now here is a secret, one that I have told NO ONE, only my hubby 

and I know. 2 Christmas's ago I was late for my period, I am 

never late, but there I was 2 weeks late, we thought for sure I was 

pregnant. When AF came It was heavier and more painful then 

ever, we have both always suspected a miscarriage but I never did 

follow up with a doctor. I really did not want to think/talk about it 

again, so I did not, not ever......until today. Perhaps I am one year 

passed the time I was meant to be a mother?

Ok, enough of that, I must just watch TV and veg. for the rest of the 

night. You will be happy to know though, that I will make lots of 

money in my lifetime ;)