My husband and I were trying to conceive for about 2 years until we discovered recently we had a baby on the way. We can’t believe it! It still seems unreal that this is really happening, but it is and I am so grateful. I was 34 when we first started trying and after a year we met with a doctor and realized we had a male factor issue that involved the morphology and motility of my husband’s sperm. We decided to try IVF-ICSI and I was trying to protect myself emotionally and think, “It’s probably not going to work, but it might,” which was completely the wrong way to go about things. It didn’t work and though I was disappointed I remained positive because I knew my time was going to come, it was just a matter of when.
The second time we tried IVF-ICSI (PCRM-amazing!!) we changed our whole mindset and before beginning anything new we wanted to do everything we could to invest emotionally and physically in the treatment by giving our bodies the best chances of conceiving. We were so happy to find Spence, someone that specializes in fertility issues, that could expertly advise us in a program. We both monitored our diets and my husband went on a cleanse to start fresh. We had acupuncture for a few months, we took Chinese herbs to stimulate different parts of our bodies and most importantly we really felt like we were taking charge of things by understanding how the body works. The first time I did IVF (UBC) I felt like something was being done to me that I couldn’t control. It was completely external and something that felt so strange. After acting more on a holistic approach to fertility I felt like I was in charge of things and having changed my mindset completely I believed that all these things I was doing were going to help us conceive. I really believed it. I had a mantra taped to my mirror everyday that helped me focus on what was going to happen in our near futures, and pictures of the procedure during the IVF treatment, meditation every now and then was good to keep my goals clear. We met with Ryan who made us feel so comfortable in the environment and ended up having our sessions with Spence who was experienced with male factor issues and who walked us through our many questions always patient, calm and supportive. We had an acupuncture session on the day of the IVF transfer which helped contribute to our journey. We invested in our positive thoughts, the support of friends and family (it was not a secret!) and were conscious daily of welcoming a baby into our lives. We had so many people sending out good thoughts for us. My advice to anyone trying to conceive is to be open-minded and educate yourself. Don’t read fertility websites that cause you to doubt so many things and plant negativity into your consciousness. Do everything you can to feel as involved in the journey as you can, and with patience believe it will happen.
