"O" Woes

I've been sitting around drumming my fingers, waiting for ovulation to happen, but it hasn't happened yet. I should have O'd a day or two ago, but my ovaries are probably either daydreaming or have decided to follow another planetary time zone! So POAS madness has kicked in. I am now waiting for the next pee-on-a-stick session that requires a 4-hour minimum wait. Hmm... Another hour to go... Fingers drumming...drumming...drumming...

It's just so weird that I don't know what my own body is up to! Hello me? What's going on dear me? What am I up to in there? My body must be one of the greatest mysteries in this milky way!

So this is how the ovulation drama is unfolding: On Thursday/Thanksgiving, my OPK was half positive. That meant that my LH was on it's way up. Well, damn I thought-you're actually on time! I was impressed! Friday came around and my BBT had plunged from 97.8˚F to 97.3˚F. A dip in temperature normally indicates ovulation. Hot dang! Ovulation! Woohoo! But my OPK was NEGATIVE! No sign of any luteinizing hormone anywhere. Zip! Nil! ZERO! WTF??? So no "O"!

I went to see my TCM doc later in the day and told him that I should be ovulating soon so I might not need moxa, because he did tell me that I cannot have moxa when I am ovulating or have ovulated because the egg does not like it when it's too hot. So he proceeded to read my pulse and tells me,

"You're not hot enough!"

To ovulate I presume. Goddamn! How does he know these things? I certainly never told him about my dipping temperatures! I never ever tell him about my obsessive POAS and temping anymore because when I used to do it, he told me to throw them all away because I was stressing out unnecessarily! Err... Of course I was a bad patient and kept going at it. So I have to sneak around my doc's back and do it secretly! But it's really good to have this data to cross check with what he reads from my pulse. He hasn't been proven wrong so far! So he asked me to do a little bit more moxa--12 minutes instead of my usual 20!

So Saturday comes around and my BBT plunges even more from 97.3˚F to 97.1˚F! And the OPK is still NEGATIVE! No sign of any luteinizing hormone anywhere! Or ovulation! Again, Zip! Nil! ZERO! WTF???

With the warmer weather and a total of 10 moxa sessions this cycle, I thought my eggs would have thawed out really well by now. But they're stuck frozen somewhere in la-la land...

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OK- I just peed on another stick. My egg is still MIA! It's already CD20!  Here eggy-eggy-eggy..... Where the *@#$%! are you???

Hot Bods & Pimples

I've had 4 moxa (moxibustion) sessions todate and boy! Am I burnin' up! It seems that my body has been responding so well to this heat treatment that pimples have broken out on my face! In fact that was the first thing my TCM doctor so very kindly pointed out to me when he saw me today! How sweet! He attributed that to the moxa because for me, an occasional pimple every now and then is normal-5 overnight is not! And it's not just the pimples - my body felt like an overheated nuclear reactor. I've had to throw off the blanket last night and crank up the a/c because I was so hot. It felt like I could fry an egg on my body! I am not sure how far I've got to take this, but I will just have to put my trust in my doctor, who is monitoring me closely. He says I should push on with the moxa.

So today, I had my 4th moxa. This moxa thing may sound like some hocus-pocus waving of a burning wand over my needle-pricked body, but its effects are surprisngly real. I've had 2 unusual experiences during today's session that convinced me that the moxa has opened up my energy channels - once my doctor had inserted all the acupuncture needles, my bed started to sway. It felt like 2 people were bumping the foot and head of my bed back and forth, back and forth. I thought - "Oh no! Earthquake? The building is swaying!" So I extended both my arms outwards and braced myself against the walls (the private room was quite narrow) to stop the bed from swaying, but the swaying didn't stop. It was then that I realized that the sensation was occurring from inside my body. The needles had triggered the circulation of Qi or energy up and down my body. So the surging of the energy made me sway! It was quite an amazing feeling! No one else said they felt the building swaying, so it must have been all me.

The second unusual experience I had was the burning sensation I had on the back and left side of my waist. I had just completed the 50-minute moxa and acupuncture session, and was walking around when I felt it. Immediately I asked the doctor about it and he explained that the moxa had opened up the channels and hormonal glands in my kidney. Well, it made sense because that burning was where the kidney's located. Apparently, my other kidney is still asleep...

"Fired" Again!

Today, I had my 2nd moxibustion session and WOAH - What a difference it felt from yesterday's. It must have opened up my energy channels because I felt the heat very quickly today. Yesterday, it took a long time before I felt the heat on each needle, but today, it was a matter of seconds before I was yelling, "OK-HOT!" , which was my cue for moving on to the next needle. The lady who was firing me up was laughing because just yesterday, I had told her what a high tolerance I had for pain!

I didn't feel any different after the session yesterday, but I remember feeling terribly hot a couple of hours later, which was rather unusual. I mean, I was sweating and feeling uncomfortably hot for no reason. That feeling didn't last though. However my TCM doctor read my pulse today and said that the moxibustion had made a significant difference. That's the kinda stuff I like to hear! I'm stoked! Hopefully that puts me on the fast track to Preggerland!

Come On Baby, Light My Fire!

After discussing with my TCM doctor today, it was decided that we should treat my condition a bit more aggressively. The progress with my daily herb and twice-weekly acupuncture has been slow, and it was not helping me eliminate the "wind" left over from my miscarriage. Wind! Yes it seems I do have "wind" in my body! I am still trying to wrap my head around this "wind" terminology - Apparently it is not the smelly type that comes out of the butthole, nor is it some kind of breeze blowing through your body, but an "evil" thing that is bad for the body. It is a form of chilled condition, or obstruction of energy in the body, or something like that. Anyway, it is bad for me and I have to get rid of it as it is still causing me circulation problems, resulting in blood stasis/endo and cold uterus. That means painful periods, blood clots, and infertility. For optimum fertility, everything in the body has to be warm and flowing.

So today, I started my first Moxibustion treatment. Moxi-what??? It is just a fancy name for a simple procedure that heats up acupuncture needles. First, the needles are poked in the usual places, and then a cigar-like stick made of herbs called moxa (or mugwort) is burnt and placed near each needle to warm it up. The heat is then transmitted through the needles into the body. This warms up and activates the whole energy channel and organs in the body. There is no pain, but it is wise to let the person know when the needle gets hot beyond your comfort! Then it is moved to the next needle. For me, the session lasted 20 minutes, covering a total of 8 needles in my body.

I will do this Moxibustion everyday in addition to my usual herb/acupuncture treatment until my TCM doc feels that my body is well heated up, and I no longer have the cold conditions or wind. I am really looking forward to seeing some real progress and getting this 38 year-old body all revved up for pregnancy. I hope this month is it for me. I am keeping my fingers crossed!