Acupuncture!!

OH MY GOODNESS!  What an exciting day this has been!!

So today we went up to CCRM for my lining check, and a blood draw to check my Estradiol again. I am so excited for this post, because I am just so shocked by the results, in a very good way!

I had my first baseline Doppler Ultrasound back in December, and at that time the news wasn’t so good. My left side was 5.45 and my right side was 4.76, and the blood flow was also slightly reversed. I was told that with those numbers I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant and/or sustain a pregnancy. 

To hopefully combat this problem I was advised to start Electroacupuncture twice a week starting 4 weeks prior to the transfer.  What is Electroacupuncture, you ask? I like to call it acupuncture on steroids, but there is a little more to it than that.  It's a back treatment where needles are on the lower back, legs, and ankles. After all of the needles are placed, little clips similar to jumper cables are attached to each needle. The clips cause electric pulses, so basically each needle gives a little zap every few seconds. Each session starts by working needle-by-needle, slowly increasing the electricity until each is at a comfortable level. The goal is to have it high enough to be able to feel it, but not high enough to where you can’t relax and fall asleep. There’s quite a science to finding that place where the levels are just right. It can also be hard to maintain the levels, after about 8 minutes your body gets used to it, and the sensations lessen. There have been many times that I have needed the electricity cranked up a little mid-session for that reason. It probably sounds worse than it is, it really isn’t that bad.  Sessions are 30 minutes, and the time goes pretty fast. I have done some regular treatments as well, and those have been just your average acupuncture, but 2/3 of my treatments have been the Electro.

Ok, so where am I going with this? With my lining check today they did another Doppler, and I am STILL in shock with the results. Today, the blood flow was not reversed at all, it was perfect, and the values went down significantly! The left side is now 3.2, and the right is 3.0, they want to see those values below 3. I’m not quite there, but this is amazing considering where I was just a few short months ago. I originally had one more session scheduled on Friday, (not including the 2 on transfer day) but they wanted me to add one extra session tomorrow to hopefully get them a little lower before the transfer, but even if we don’t, this should be fine. YAY!! :) 

Everything else went pretty well with the appointment. My lining is at 9.2, and they want that over 8, so that is perfect. The only concern is my E2 level…They want it over 300, and I’m only at 196. As a result, we’ve added an oral Estrogen pill that I need to start today. Hopefully that pill combined with my Estrogen patches will get me to where I need to be before the transfer. Otherwise, things are still right on track. Today I had my last Lupron injection, and I will now start Progesterone tomorrow morning, along with some pills-an antibiotic, and Medrol. Things definitely seem to coming along nicely, and I am so thankful for that!

I hope you all are having a great day!

XOXO