So my acu treated me today. She said my digestive issues were related to the stomach actually. Either combined with spleen qi deficiency so that qi wasn't flowing the right way or blocked so that everything was messed up. Yes, that sounds like what it's felt like for me all week. She did stomach and spleen points and it helped ease things though I am still constipated Even a cup of coffee and a long walk have done nothing. It's so irregular for me but totally tied with the jetlag I believe.

A Little TLC

With the suggestion of my friend Christy and someone else on the Ovusoft loss board I cracked open Coming to Term again to read the parts about TLC, in summary:

Study 1 -- in addition to regular prenatal care plus weekly medical exams for "optimum psychological support" the researchers advised the test group patients "to avoid heavy work and travel, as well as bed rest druing the two-week gestational period at which they had previously miscarried. 86% of these women successfully carried to term versus only 33% of the control group.

Study 2 -- study participants "attended a physiotherapy class each week at which they leraned relaxation skills. They also received a 'relaxation tape'". For hospital visits they had a specially decorated room. 86% of the treated group carried to term versus only 33% in the control group.

Interesting isn't it?

Who's On Your Support Team

There's this amusing book I picked up at Anthropologie a few years ago titled The Fabulous Girl's Guide to Decorum. It has a section in it about how celebrities have their people and how fabulous girls need their support team as well.

One's support team can include:
hair stylist
colorist
manicurist
dry cleaner
dentist
etc.

It is in that spirit that I think we should all think about the following QOTD...

Question of the Day: Who's on your support team for your next pregnancy?

Mine first, and this is as of right now:

ob/gyn
acupuncturist
chiropractor
massage therapist

I hope to add on a counselor and I really should get a regular doctor to round out my care providers.

Jumping in, feet first and with eyes closed

I think I'm going to ovulate today. Several online friends of mine are close enough to be cycle buddies -- that means we get to live through the ups and downs of the 2ww together.

We did in fact DTD and so we'll see what comes of that. No sooner do I pull out the Pre~Seed then my partner tells his friend that we're trying again (within hours). I'm like "Dude! What up with that?" He explained that his friend was confiding a lot of personal stuff about his dating issues and recent confusion about a relationship he should just let go and that was all my partner had to offer that was personal at the moment to empathize with him.

Working on my support team

I set up an appt. with my ob/gyn for June 6th to discuss our game plan for my next pregnancy (should I be so lucky) as I feel a little vague about how he intends to make me feel supported through this time. I've decided to hold off on RE treatment for the foreseeable future, it wasn't sitting right for me. Still I need to have the confidence that my ob's office isn't going to treat me like any old obstetrics patient, not after four (give or take) years of TTC and two miscarriages.

Why does that seem to be such a loaded thing -- seeing the doc two weeks after O......I had already scheduled an appointment with my RE for the day I found out I was pg the first time two year ago. With my second pregnancy last year I was scheduled for a pelvic exam a few days after I tested positive but I cancelled because it made me nervous to just be meeting with a nurse-practitioner, especially one that I didn't know -- it was with a different ob/gyn practice though. Hmmmmm.

I still think I need to definately add a counselor to the mix, so that I'm feeling more supported psychologically through this endeavor and not as isolated. I've got some counselor recommendations through the PNWSMTB Yahoo group -- Pacific NW Seattle Mommies To Be -- which has been helpful. Now I just have to work up my courage to call.

Preparing for Delivery

Here are a few links about selecting care providers for your pregnancy and how to prepare a birth plan that might help you to understand your choices and opportunities better.

Caregiver Selection

Choosing a Caregiver for Pregnancy, Labor and Birth

What's a Doula

About Midwifery

Birth Plans

Five Things Labor and Delivery Nurses Wish You Knew -- don't create your birth plan in a vacuum

Birth Preference Tips (PDF)

Birth Planning FAQ

A Birth Plan

Interactive Birth Plan

Eyes-Open Childbirth: Writing a Meaningful Plan for a Gentle Birth

Preparing a Birth Plan -- from Parents Magazine

Where to Deliver

Where Women Give Birth

Home Birth Reference Site

Home Birth Reference

Labor Induction

Inducing labor

Induction: Getting Labor Started

Labor Induction: Can You Say, "Induce My Labor"? Sure you can, but maybe you shouldn’t

To Induce or not to Induce: Know the Risks Involved in This Increasing Trend

Other Delivery Info

Labor & Delivery -- info from I Dream of Baby

Calculating Due Dates and the Impact of Mistaken Estimates of Gestational Age

Role of the Anesthesiologist in Labor Delivery (Microsoft PowerPoint file -- it appears to only work for download and not open directly)

Expecting the Unexpected: When Your Delivery Doesn't Go As Planned

A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth -- chapters available for download as PDF

Signs of Labor

Online Childbirth Class


Other

Babyzone Labor and Birth Index - a whole host of articles

Getting a Stubborn Patient to Say Yes

Binsi -- clothing designed and approved for delivery

I'm just back from my trip to Paris and I had a great time. There are benefits to being child-free in that you can actually get away like that and just do what you want to do.

I'm still feeling trepidation about TTC right now, I think a friend of mine pinned it on the head when she said that it was probably more that my caregivers haven't really shown me that they have a good plan for monitoring my next pregnancy which is causing more anxiety about it. After the two losses that kicked me to the ground and all our difficulty conceiving in the first place its just frustrating and the way the docs deal with it just makes me feel like I'm going to have to go it alone again. I'm thinking of going for counseling and also talking to my current ob/gyn about it. I don't know if there's any chance that I could not feel like a total wreck should I get pg again but at least I shouldn't have to feel like I'm being treated like a regular ob patient -- I've cried too many tears and had too much pain for that at this point.

Apprehension

My partner was talking to his friends who just got knocked on a Clomid cycle, got engaged and bought a house all in the same week. They were asking him when we are going to try again and he said maybe July. I feel so torn about it all. I just have no confidence in the process of procreation at this point in time, and even if it works I still feel a lot of apprehension about all the pg fatigue and yuckiness. Not good is it.