Thursday, April 20, 2006

Progress?

I had acu this morning and she switched my herb formula because she said my signs of dampness had diminished. I told her I felt like I was on a bit of a roller coaster but she told me that the dampness and phlegm obstruction had stopped the qi from flowing.

Now with the dampness mostly resolved the underlying condition of liver qi stagnation is surfacing -- all that stopped up qi from the obstruction is now trying to flow but it isn't flowing smoothly. The new herb she added in will help build the blood but also help with the liver qi stagnation. Go figure eh? It makes me feel like such a mess but I feel crappy without treatment so that isn't an option for me right now.

I have been good putting a hot water bottle on my belly in the evening to help with the fibroid (though I can't bring myself to do the castor oil pack), drinking my tea and then getting more exercise.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

UB62!

I had a headache all day yesterday, and felt vaguely full of water -- but not really bloated. I couldn't figure it out but it wasn't the kind of headache that Tylenol will fix. It was the kind that I've had over the past week, that's like when I took Vitex and Blupleurum last year and they were too moving for me.

Last night while in bed sipping my fibroid herbs from my acu, with a hot water bottle on my belly I took out The Infertility Cure to see if I could find anything -- which is hard as you know b/c not everything in it is indexed. Then the outside of my foot started hurting out of nowhere and I looked it up -- UB62. When I looked further into that in the book (Governing Meridian key point) it sounded like it was perfectly connected to
excess hormones and headache that I've been experiencing. I rubbed it once, but just thinking about that spot seemed to get the Qi flowing as I started feeling tingly sensations going up the backs of my legs and back.

I woke up really sleepy this morning and still with a little headache.

I did have a chiropractic treatment yesterday afternoon, one of my vertibrae mid back was stuck I noticed at dance class on Saturday. I don't know if that might have contributed as well

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Miscarriage Tips

I just wanted to write down a few things that might be helpful for people dealing with their first losses. Others feel free to add on your advice as well.

-- Unless your pg is dating more than a week behind in the 6-7 week range, you can't be sure about what's going on with your pg until you have waited a week and had a repeat scan unless you are already losing it and bleeding or have blood tests showing that your HCG level is dropping.

-- Don't just get a d&c after one bad u/s, wait a week just to confirm -- barring other situations that might preclude that such as ectopic, molar pg, etc. Sometimes things look badly and then it turns out to be just a bad scan. Not a majority of the time but you don't want to make a decision hastily and then feel guilt-ridden later that you hadn't given it a chance.

-- the medications that they use to knock women out during a d&c can have a side-effect that you might wake up crying. Doctors and anesthesiologists don't often tell women this and when you are dealing with the already emotionally traumatic experience of pg-loss this s/e can really make you feel worse and more out of control. (light sedation won't do this)

-- you usually have the option of doing a d&c under light sedation or under general. Ask your doctor about it. Some gals have had better experiences with light sedation. I've had both but only general during the d&c to remove retained tissue -- one didn't strike me as better than the other but each has it own benefits and drawbacks.

-- You can choose to m/c at home on your own. You need to know what to watch for (hemorrhaging and signs of infection) but lots of women do it. (see my miscarriage prescription)

-- Even if you have a d&c to end a failed pg more quickly you still might go into labor a few days later. (see my miscarriage prescription)

-- you might want to save the POC/baby if you miscarry at home. Some women here have planted it in their garden or even it potted plants. Some women feel guilt later if they have flushed it down the toilet. It's totally up to you what you want to do but don't feel like a freak if you feel the need to honor your loss in that way. And if you don't want to it's okay too.

-- if you have a full-time job it is hard to know how much time to take off and when. Miscarriages can be draw out affairs. Many women take at least a week off, some go back to work right away. I've alternated, going to work when I was up to it and stayed home on the days when I just couldn't cope at all. It's hard, and I think we've all had to deal with it. Know that others have struggled as you have and that it's okay. Just try to be gentle with yourself.

-- its easy to want to stop taking care of yourself after you learn of your baby's demise, wait to miscarry and recover physically afterwards. To go from being so careful about what you eat and taking all your vitamins to eating junk food and drinking wine. Try to do better than that, keep taking your prenatals as your body will need the extra nutrition as it reorganizes your hormones and body back to an unpregnant state. Drink lots of water, go for walks, and eat healthy meals. It's okay if you aren't perfect and can't manage to be super fabulous about it, just make an effort. Not taking care of yourself isn't going to make you feel better ultimately, it might make you feel worse.

-- If you have lost a lot of blood make sure to add in more iron into your diet and take iron supplements for a while. I think taking a separate supplement separately from my prenatals is easier for my body to absorb -- I take a chewable iron that doesn't disagree with my system.

-- bleeding more than two weeks after a d&c should be looked into via u/s or at least a beta draw.

-- you should have a beta draw a week after a d&c to help make sure you have no retained tissue

-- if you continue to have a dragging pregnant feeling after your miscarriage and your doctor hasn't done a f/u beta draw you might have retained tissue.if you have retained tissue that is still growing and engaged the progesterone produced post-O will make you feel more pg

-- your body can ovulate after the hcg level drops below 40-50 ng/ml.

-- you might ovulate a couple weeks later or your body might need more time to recoup and get things reset and restarted after your loss.

No tears at dance class

I went to modern dance class again yesterday and got through class without any big swelling of emotions. Hopefully that was just a fluke thing, triggered more from lack of fitness than anything else -- it reminds me of why I feel so crap.

I was able to go through all the class this time but I only marked the composition as there was something pinching in my spine and I didn't want to push it just in case. I have a chiro appointment on Monday afternoon so hopefully that will help. At class another dancer mentioned a Pilates instructor she has worked with that really helped her with a major back injury (lower back slipped disc) and now it never bothers her. I'm going to look her up as well and see if maybe that might help strengthen things. I also got some new ballet slippers so I can continue to focus on some basic barre and floor work at home for strengthening my back and core gently.

Except for the recent hormonally induced PMS issues over all I'm feeling so much more myself finally. Each day I feel like I've been sleeping for the past few years. My partner even recognizes it, and it had a lot to do with my original fibroid diagnosis; it really caused me to lose my sense of self and caused me to shut down a bit. Overall I feel really relieved.

Yesterday on the Ovusoft Miscarriage board I read a post someone made about how her losses took all the joy from her life and how she finally stopped trying because she didn't want to live like that anymore. That's sort of what I feel as well. I can be happy and childless or struggling with TTC, infertility and miscarriage. Right now just being me is bringing joy to my heart and spirit.

Charmed Star Pregnant with Second Post Fibroid Surgery

I thought you might be interested to know that Holly Marie Combs from the TV show Charmed is pg with her second child. She had a fibroid surgery several years ago.

Mentions of her fibroid surgery:

"I had a few fibroids removed, and they left me with a Grand Canyon of scar tissue in my uterus. The doctors weren't sure I'd be able to reproduce. I was prepared for a rough road, and then out of nowhere we conceived."
From: Celebrity Mom Interview: Holly Marie Combs

"Actually," she says, "I'm not quite sure if I want to talk about this, but I kind of do, because I'm so sick of all these rumors. I just had surgery (for a uterine fibroid) recently, and we shut down for two weeks.

"These girls, I mean, Shannen was with me through every doctor's appointment and held my hand, and Alyssa was in my hospital room every day, she even climbed into bed with me. These are kind of life-and-death things when you really need people, and they're actually there. It's pretty nice.

"It made a huge difference in how fast I got better to have them around and have them be so supportive of me. These were not pleasant doctor's appointments and tests that they sat through with me. And my crew was so supportive of me. It's really become this family atmosphere where we take care of each other."

From: Holly Marie Combs' "Charmed" Life

From other links I found it sounds like she was a vegetarian for years and her fibroids might have been discovered when she was 24.