So its been over a year since my ectopic pregnancy and we have been trying ever since for our second child. Its just not happening! Finally I took the advice of my friends and went to Sharkey's Natural Healing Centre http://www.sharkeyshealingcentre.com.au/
I have been SO impressed at what I have learnt and how far my body has come since I went!
The atmosphere at the centre is absolutely wonderful, everyone who works there is friendly and accomodating. The last few trips I've had to the doctors to talk about my fertility I've felt that they were very condescending and dismissive of my concerns or symptoms. So Sharkey's makes a wonderful change!
One thing I have learnt about my health is that I was putting too much pressure on myself as a mother. When it was suggested that I was stressed I was like "no I'm not! I'm a pretty chilled out person"... but I was told that although I have a high emotional tolerance to stress, that my body was under stress. I had never even CONSIDERED that! Having breastfed for almost 3 years, and having Butterfly wake hourly from 6 months to 2 years old had thrown my body out of whack. I have a very loving and supportive partner but I still shouldered a lot by myself, and neglected giving myself any down time, to be alone or do something I enjoyed. It never occurred to me that "me time" was necessary not only for emotional health but physical health as well. So, being finally given permission to put myself first for once, I started going for a run in the afternoons as a way to get healthy and take some time out from being "Mum" (I've since been told to cut down to every second day with my running!) I have also set some boundaries for Butterfly (especially as I plan to homeschool this is important)... I'm a person too, I deserve to do things I enjoy during the day, whether she approves or not!
It is so fascinating to me how naturopaths can tell so much from listening to you! Simple things I barely thought worth mentioning, such as having trouble falling asleep or being moody before my period, told them so much about my body! At Sharkey's they make up a herbal concoction specific to each patient, and soon after I started the herbs I had so much more energy, my cycle started shortening (its usually 38+ days long) and I no longer had trouble falling asleep!
My doctors had tested my thyroid recently, and I was told I was fine. However, at Sharkey's they gave me a different referral (I wish I could remember what the difference was, I think it was testing FT3 as well as FT4?). Based on these results, and my temperature chart (my temps were so low pre ovulation that they were below the limits of the chart!), it appeared my thyroid wasn't functioning properly after all! So my herbs were tweaked and I was put on Thyroplex supplements, and the following month my temperatures had already improved!
As part of the fertility plan, I started eating gluten free, which is actually not as hard as you think it would be! I mean I was also trying to eat more healthy, fresh foods, and when you aren't eating much that is processed its pretty easy to avoid gluten. I thought I already knew a lot about health, but it turns out health is not as simple as eating fruit instead of chocolate. 2 servings of fruit a day is the maximum you should consume, because although it contains natural sugars, they are still sugars. And I thought a banana made a perfect morning tea snack, but I was advised to eat them with some protein because of the ?glycaemic index. So now I have a small handful of nuts if I eat bananas or strawberries, or eat them at the end of a meal. I also make sure I have some protein if I am eating something with lots of carbs (although I no longer have massive carb meals like home made potato and sweet potato fries!) Apparently apples are fine to eat alone.
When starting a healthy eating plan it can be daunting, but its actually not as hard as I thought, especially when I am doing it so I can have another baby. I have been off sugar for so long now, I no longer crave it... that is MASSIVE for me! I was such a sweet tooth.
I highly recommend going to Sharkey's if you are having trouble concieving. They are located on the Gold Coast, but do skype consulations to all over the world! They can ship the herbs to you. At the very least I would recommend seeing a naturopath, and taking your basal body temperature every morning when you wake up to show to them. You can get apps for your phone where you can enter your temps and they will give you a graph! I love iperiod personally. Another option is to buy the Fertility Bible from Sharkeys, which will help with the necessary lifestyle changes you can make to help you concieve. I know, I know, there are plenty of drug addicts who live on processed food who fall pregnant with no worries. But everyone is different, and although it may not be fair, some of us have to make serious changes in order to fall... and doesn't everyone need to be healthy?
Honestly, I don't think I would have ever fallen pregnant without Sharkey's... I know I haven't fallen pregnant yet but I have been able to FEEL the improvements to my health and my cycle! Maybe my thyroid would have evened out after another 5 years? But seeing improvements the first month with Sharkey's was AMAZING!
