“After two years of trying unsuccessfully to have a baby, I knew something was wrong. My periods had always been very irregular and I was frustrated because my family doctor would not refer me to a fertility specialist until we’d been trying for at least two years.
Finally, we were referred to the Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine (PCRM) and started on Clomid. After four cycles without success, I wanted to get more aggressive with our treatments since we are not getting any younger. I came across a Yinstill brochure in the waiting room at PCRM and made an appointment. I had seen two acupuncturists before meeting the Yinstill team. One, for my migraines was helpful, but the second who focused on fertility, made me feel awful about not being able to conceive. When I would tell her how much she was hurting me, she would actually tell me that if I wanted a baby, I had to suffer. I felt discouraged and guilty. I felt like it was my fault we couldn’t have a baby because I couldn’t handle the suffering and pain. I thought there was something wrong with me– that I was the problem. I was severely depressed at the time and had to take a leave of absence from work.
In spite of my bad experience with my previous acupuncturist, I was willing to try again with someone new. Luckily, Dr. Pentland was encouraging, extremely understanding and supportive. I felt like he really cared about me instead of seeing me as just another patient. I always enjoyed going into the clinic; it was a time for me to relax rather than feeling like I was going in for medical treatments. Spence made me feel confident and hopeful again and my husband and I truly believe that the treatments I received from Yinstill helped us on our journey to parenthood. I am forever grateful to Spence and Harris for not only the treatments but also their kindness and support throughout.
When I met Spence, we had just started our first IVF and I was feeling hopeful for the first time. Our treatment plan was to help my body work harmoniously with all the fertility drugs. The first round of IVF was not a success and I saw Spence sporadically after that but then I decided to get serious and do everything I could to make it work. I started going regularly once a week and also had a transfer day session with Spence. Sadly, that cycle didn’t work either. By our third and final IVF though, I was going religiously twice a week and had a transfer day session. I was also more conscious of what I was eating. I ate healthier and more regularly and took some more time off work so I could be as relaxed as possible for the big day. It worked and I became pregnant!
Throughout our whole journey, seeing friends get pregnant and have kids was definitely painful. I felt like I was letting my husband down. I hated my body for not cooperating and doing what a woman is supposed to be able to do naturally. It was a lonely journey because at that point, we were still very private about our struggles and there was no other couple we knew of that were going through the same thing. I felt that life was very unfair to us, we are good people and we did not deserve this. The pain of seeing friends get pregnant and have children did not disappear until we got pregnant ourselves. There were good and bad days but overall, I think our struggles with fertility have brought my husband and I closer together. If we can survive this, we can survive anything, even raising a child!
My treatment at the clinic with Spence and Harris made me more hopeful and less negative. I knew that we were doing everything we could to make it work and if it didn’t, we had tried our best and that’s all we can ever do.
Our son was born in July 2013. Even after I was pregnant, I continued to see Spence and Harris for my morning sickness. I would receive emails from both of them from time to time to check in and see how we were doing. I am a huge proponent of TCM and would recommend anyone trying to conceive to go see Spence. There are no immediate plans for us to have more children but if we change our mind, I would not hesitate to go back to Yinstill.
I can’t describe what it is like to be a parent to our amazing miracle baby. I tear up thinking how much we’ve always loved him, before he even existed. It was a very difficult journey to get here but we would do it all over again to have him. Watching him learn new things every day is a gift and seeing him smile when he sees us is just incredible.”
