My husband and I decided to have a child when I was 30. We stopped BCP, but nothing happened! After 7 months of trying we went to see the doctor and she did all possible tests, which came back completely normal. The following 6 years we did not use any birth control and I got pregnant 3 times – all miscarriages. Fertility clinics labeled me with “unexplained infertility”. At age 36 we tried a few IUI – no result. We moved on to IVF.
I had my IVF cycle in Toronto at very popular and busy clinic. LOL The Doctor said that my ovaries looked very good and my blood test (FSH etc) looked good too. However, the lining of the uterus was a bit on a thin side … To increase our chances he suggested that we use a surrogate. I was lucky – a woman who agreed to be my surrogate happen to be the most wonderful person on Earth! She agreed to help and I started the stims. At that time I was working on a very intense project at work, very often I stayed over time… being constantly under pressure I did not realize how stressed I was. I was sweating at work all the time – never at home, I had heart palpitations at the office all the time -never on the weekends etc…
However I HAD NO IDEA how important it was to maintain the balance in life! I thought the fertility drugs will do the job: my body will make the eggs! I started the stims and on Day 5 of my IVF Cycle I traveled to Toronto. The rest of my cycle I was totally jet lagged and did not eat well (fertility drugs made me a bit sick on my stomach and I had no appetite). As a result I lost a few pounds instead of gaining as I expected and was completely exhausted… However my RE managed to get 17 eggs and 7 healthy looking embryos out of them. Both my surrogate and I had a transfer and full of hope went home. The result was devastating: I did not get pregnant – she miscarried at 6 weeks. What happened later I would call a nightmare: the doctor called me and said that “he strongly suggests that we move to donor eggs now”. My surrogate said that she was afraid to miscarry again and she would not transfer my eggs anymore…. My husband was devastated… He wanted to have my baby so much! It was so important for him!
I decided not to give up and started my research: I found TCM clinic in Vancouver and booked an appointment. This was the best decision I have ever made in my life!!! I met Dr. Erin Flynn at the clinic, told her about my situation and we started our work together. I had acupuncture twice a week , and in a mean time I changed my diet, drank some herbal medicine, following her suggestions, stopped stressing at work, and started meditating and practicing yoga. Three months later I noticed a tremendous difference in how I felt: I was full of energy, I felt I could run a Marathon! I had another IVF cycle right after that and the Doctor had to stimulate my ovaries for 3 days less than the first time. We got 14 eggs and 7 embryos and my surrogate got pregnant! (She decided to try one more time, seeing how hard I was working on nourishing my ovaries). She got pregnant and now, 10 months later, I’m looking at my 1 month old precious daughter sleeping in her bassinet 🙂
The Doctor said he was surprised with the result! But I was not! I knew what kind of job Erin and I did to achieve that result! Yes, Western Doctors will tell you that there is no scientific evidence that TCM works – but if you feel your body – you can tell: yes it does!
Based on my experience I would say: Give it a try! It would not hurt, right? Don’t listen if Western Doctors tell you that your eggs are bad. They tell that to everybody so that we would blame on our body, not on the doctors. The truth is – Western doctors can’t help you to improve quality of your eggs, if it was compromised by poor diet, stress, and environment. But you can help yourself! Work on your balance, get plenty of rest, follow your TCM Doctor’s dietary recommendations – and believe me, the chances that your next cycle will be “surprisingly” successful – are super high!
In conclusion I want to thank Dr Erin Flynn for her help! She did a great job guiding me out of the woods of poor balanced life! She helped me to see the Sun shining again. After our appointments I left my depression behind and now I know the techniques how to keep it at bay! I also would like to thank an amazing woman, my surrogate, for her help to bring my baby to this would – she is happy to be here with her mom and dad! I also want to thank all the people who helped me not to lose hope!
I hope more and more women will awake to acceptance of TCM as a tool to improve fertility and overall health!
-name withheld, New Westminster
