Some Advice

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Do not, under any circumstances, eat a pop t.art the morning before you go to acupuncture. Not even if you don't have time to make your usual oatmeal because you have to make it to your early RE appointment.

Because your tattle-tale digestive pulse will give you away, that you ate a processed breakfast. And then your acupuncturist will ask you "what have you had to eat today?" and then she will try to keep from passing out when you answer "a pop ta.rt".

HA!!!

She told me (in her sweet organic voice) that a po.p tart is reeeeeally not the best choice of breakfasts, and I am not sure if she believed me that I usually eat oatmeal. But even the oatmeal I usually have (Apples & Cinnamon) is not the best- as I should be eating whole/regular oats, and sprinkling some actual apples and/or cinnamon on there for the sweetness (not to mention, apparently cinnamon is a great herb/spice anyway for warming the body). Okay okay.

Eating organic sounds so idyllic to me. I mean, I don't think we eat like crap- I make a balanced, from-scratch dinner every night- Mr. A doesn't think those frozen skillet meals are any kind of dinner!- and I promise I usually have oatmeal for breakfast. We don't normally keep alot of sweets or fattening snacks (chips, etc.) in the house. But I guess we could always eat better.

Like making old-fashioned oatmeal! Time to break out the small sauce pan instead of using the microwave, I guess!! If feeding my body regular oatmeal rather than processed oatmeal makes it more happy and better for our baby, then you will find me at the stove every morning indefinitely!!!

But all of that aside, I had another great acupuncture session today. Very relaxing, very soothing, and a nice treat to myself. She repeated the same points as last time- focusing on strong kidney and abdomen points, and I again experienced the same warm/"energy" feeling when those needles went in and came out. It is so neat. The one abdomen point on my hand was so powerful that my muscle twitched when she took the needle out!! She also included a couple extra points to try to soothe my face- with all these hormoneys, I definitely do not have the clearest skin....

She also put a seed on my ear (for general calm)! NEATO! And two magnets on the strong kidney points behind my ankles. If I want to, I can massage those points, but just the magnet/seed being there is supposed to keep the good energy flowing. Come on, flow!

And speaking of flow (Aunt, to be exact), my baseline appointment was excellent this morning and we are now just waiting for CD1 to get here!! I start lupron tonight. I better not forget- it has been almost a whole month since I did nightly injections!!

You will be happy to know that even though I was armed with a gabillion questions, my RE patiently and thoroughly answered each of them, and I am now confident in his approach and experience.

Basically, my biggest question was about the lack of estrogen supplementation. He said that in his experience/interpretation of the data available, estrogen supplementation is only beneficial if the lining does not appear to be thickening up to an acceptable point. He said it has not been shown (in his opinion) to increase the response as far as quantity or quality of follicles go. And since my lining has always been great, he does not see the need to add estrogen as a rule. He said that if it looks like my lining is thin when we get to the stim-monitoring stage, he will not hesitate to add estrogen.

AND, Mr. A's detailed/high-stakes SA from Monday came back great! They do not recommend ICSI. I was so thankful- he was nervous with the sickness/meds.

AND, the best part ever.... when we were going over the paperwork last night, we noticed that one page said that the total cost would be $9800, and another page said it would be $7400. That is a big difference! So I asked this morning, and guess what, the cost is only $8100!!!!! Oh my gosh! How awesome is that?! And given that our meds only cost us $200, we are feeling so thankful and blessed regarding the finances of all this, and how God has provided/inspired us to live so that we will be able to pay for it.

You know you're infertile when you are totally stoked about "only" paying $8100 for a 50/50 shot at a baby!!

And now I will round out my great day with some yoga before me and Banana take our walk on this beautiful spring afternoon. Pulled pork sandwiches for dinner, so come on over!!

25 comments:

Jessica said...

I was pumped about ONLY spending $7500 on our IVF cycle. LOL!! It is crazy because that is still A LOT of money!!

AL said...

LOL at the pop tart incident!! That's hilarious. I'm glad you're enjoying acu, i think it's really relaxing as well.

Yea for $2k back in your pocket! T&P with you this month. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

That is pretty funny about the pop tart! My acup. always gets me when I don't drink enough water :(.
A little tip for "quick" made-from-scratch oatmeal: you can soak the oats overnight with a tbsp of some acid medium (like yogurt or whey), and water. They cook in about 3 minutes, so it's very quick!
So basically-
1/2 cup oats, soaked in 1/2 cup warm water, 1 tbsp yogurt or whey
bring 1/2 cup water with a dash of sea salt to boil, add soaked oats and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Easy peasy :). Before starting my new diet, I used to eat oatmeal almost every morning with a little maple syrup or a dollop of cream. Yum!
Glad to hear the total cost of the cycle is cheaper than you thought it would be!

... said...

Great news on the costs. If you would like, I can email you a make-ahead oatmeal breakfast. My husband is supposed to eat a lot of oatmeal and I make it so he can take it on the go in the mornings.

Melissa said...

Mmmm to Pop Tarts and Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Totally had me laughing at the Pop Tart incident.

That is GREAT news about the money! Whoop!

I'm glad your RE listened and answered all your questions. Your RE pretty much rocks in my book.

Anonymous said...

So glad your feeling more confident about things and that you don't have to pay as much :)

Lisa said...

We have been doing mostly organic since December. Also ALL whole grains, brown rice, no sugar added ANYTHING...I feel a ton better than I did when I was eating my old diet. And we used to eat fairly healthy too, but HUGE difference eating the whole grains and no sugar!

Anonymous said...

Lol the pop tart thing cracked me up! I always felt so guilty going to acupucture, but mainly b/c my charts were always out of whack. She told me cinnamon is very good as well, and also garlic and red wine =). Just a tad though, and cooking with it is good too. And $8100 is great!!! (I feel weird saying that too). I'm wishing you lots of luck and praying for this to work!

Dear Diary said...

Wow that's great that is $8100, its so crazy how much we are willing to pay for a baby!! So I hope this month is your month =)

Ashley said...

Boy, your acupuncturist would have a hay day with me. I eat poptarts almost every day! And if not that, it's frozen waffles or some yummy chocolatey cereal! ha!

Andrea said...

You're doing so great! Keep up the good work. :-)

Oh yeah, and I'd be in pretty bad shape if I couldn't eat Pop ta.rts for breakfast! lol I actually usually eat oatmeal too (the microwave Apple and cinnamon kind, haha).

Hillary said...

So glad your appointment with the RE went well!! It sounds like you are in good hands.

Our clinics charge about the same for an IVF cycle - which I thought was actually pretty "cheap" compared to other clinics I looked at (at lease in So. CA). Saving an extra $2000 would totally make my day, too!

And, seriously, the pop tart story cracked me up!! Thanks for sharing :)

LiL Moo & Mee said...

LOL at the poptart..would never of thought of it.

Leah said...

Bummer! A pop tart is one of my favorite breakfast choices. Too funny that she new. Love it! :-D

Hannah said...

Oh, I love pop tarts! Good thing I rarely ever eat them, huh?

So glad your RE was so patient with your questions and that God's helping you with the finances. And less money, awesome!

Thank you too for your sweet comment on my post today. I appreciate that so much!
HUGS!

Alison said...

That's funny about the pop tart. My acupuncturist would guilt trip me about my eating habits/water intake - too funny.
Good news about the $$ - every little bit counts!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's a great deal (about the money). I bet you were excited to hear that news. :) Now come on AF! I hope she arrives soon so you can get this cycle started.

Basic Girl said...

Hah, I love that your accupuncturist called you out on the pop-tart. At least you know she's good at what she does ;). And that's aweseome about getting back some cash, man every penny counts right? I just put down my IVF deposit of $3K...YIKES! So hard to believe that's just the tip of the iceberg!!!

Kacey said...

I loved acupuncture!!! I have kidney yong deficiency too...Acupuncture was successful with me! I just found out I'm pregnant through IVF 2 days ago!!!! I wish you all the luck in the world!! If you have any questions, I'm here for ya.
Kacey
hisplannotmine.blogspot.com

Noelle said...

You sound like you are doing well, and are having Hope. I am so happy about that.

It was so funny, because I was just eating a pop tart! Oh man those things are good. My mom never let me have them as a kid, so now that makes me want them even more!

I am thrilled that the expense is less than you thought. Also, your doctor sounds knowledgable and I am glad that you feel good about his response.

I pray that this is the only money that you will have to spend, and that you will get a beautiful little miracle coming your way soon.

Anonymous said...

So glad everything is going smoothly for you and that you got your questions answered. Too funny about the pop tart incident. :)

Adam and Julia said...

Wow! I can't wait to see what our bill will be...lol. how is acupuncture working for you?

Mrs. Chapman's 2nd Grade Class said...

Laughing about the poptart! So glad you liked your experience. Yea for the big savings. That's definitely something to be happy about.

Becky said...

Glad things are going so well (less money, no ICSI, less drugs!!!) and your RE was able to answer all your questions.

I love acupuncture! I never used it for infertility, but I used it when I was in the army for various injuries. I don't really understand the how and why, but it seems to work for many things that Western medicine has few answers for.

I have been thinking about you quite a bit recently and am praying for your upcoming cycle.

Anonymous said...

haha, LOL about the poptart! you got caught! my acupuncturist caught me drinking caffeine. the things they can pick up on! :)

so glad you're liking acupuncture. i'm a big fan.

hoping the lupron is going well!