[Jnails29]

I definitely want to try Yin and Tonic. My biggest fear, which my DH keeps bringing up, is that I live on LI so the calming effects may be gone by the time I hit the LIRR and head home. I thought about going at lunch and heading back to work, but that would be no good either! I really have to figure out if there is a place like that on Long Island. Jena did your friend get back to you?

[JenaNYC]

Joanna,

Since Yin & Tonic is about 3 blocks from Penn Station, it may actually be feasible for you to stop in and see her for your appointment and then be relaxed for your trip home. When I come out of my appointments I feel like mush and also feel energized at the same time! When I'm checking out, I have a hard time putting together cohesive thoughts and responding to her questions, but after that, I just let the relaxation hit me, put on my headphones, and go for a stroll. Last week I kept going and walked all the way to the Financial District (!) before meeting up with my husband and traveling home with him. I recognize that not everyone relaxes in the same way, though I do make a concerted effort to keep the zen, even when I get bumped in the street!

I'm going to send you a direct message with the info on my friend's friend, only because she asked that I tell you to mention her name should you give her friend a call. Please keep in mind that I don't have any referrals on her as an acupuncturist... my friend had just recommended that I give this woman a call with any questions when I was first starting to consider acupuncture as an aid to ART.

I did reach out to one other friend whose girlfriend may have done acu for fertility on LI, asking her to see if she could find out more.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do! I look forward to hearing more about it.

Jena

[JennHS]

So I got the old Moving on, I'm excited to continue with Acupuncture and I also found this yoga workshop for fertility in my neighborhood. Victoria also put me on Dragon Herbs and Prosperous Farmer? It's a tincture and it tastes god awful! I'm going to wait for my next cycle to start IVF so I can maybe prepare my body a little better. I don't know in the end if it makes any difference. I guess we'll see. How's your treatment going? Is your Qi flowing?
Joanna, if you're looking for a LAc in your area I can probably get you a recommendation. I actually work at an Acupuncture school. What area in LI do you live?

Jenn

[JenaNYC]

Hi JennHS, I'm sorry to hear about your BFN... I know how tough that is, but I am glad to see that you haven't lost your optimism and are already jumping into next steps!

Would you mind sharing the info about the fertility yoga class? I had seen that NYU Fertility Center was offering something but the series ended a couple of weeks ago and I haven't found anything else online.

Victoria has me on "Profound Essence" by DragonHerbs, and with the exception of ear seeds, nothing else at the moment. Does she give those to you as well? I definitely feel as though my Qi is flowing. How about you??

In fact, I'm starting to notice that a couple of days before my scheduled appointment, I start getting antsy and a bit unsettled. Almost like a craving... maybe I'm turning into an acu addict!!

I think that taking a break to better prepare your body for the next round is a great idea... I've actually been doing the same for the past month, and will be starting up again in about a week or so, once arrives.

I look forward to hearing more about your progress!

Jena

[JennHS]

Acupuncture is definitely addictive. I never wanted it in the past now I rely on it to make it through the week! Yeah, besides the herbs she does the ear seeds too. I usually forget they're even there. The fertiflity workshop is going to be in Park Slope at the yoga studio Bend and Bloom(another interesting name), but the workshop is called the Receptive Nest. You can check out details at their site Receptive Nest - a yogic approach to fertility or Bend & Bloom Yoga • 708 Sackett St. • (between 4th and 5th Ave) • Brooklyn, NY 11215 . It's only one day March 28 for a couple hours. They give you a booklet to bring home to continue your practice. You should go if you can. Then you can go to your regular studio for weekly practice. I haven't done yoga in over 10 yrs. so in April I'm going to do a beginners series.
Wow, I can't believe it's already time for you to start. The time goes so fast until you're in the 2ww! Best of luck, keep me updated! -Jenn

[Jnails29]

I'm sorry I've been MIA. Between my D&C and my FIL in the hospital things have been crazy for me.

JennHS I'm so sorry about your BFN. You do sound like you are in a good place though, ready to jump right back in. Keep up the acupunture and just rest your body for a month or so. Have you tried the royal jelly at all. Some of the girls on this site swear by it. It's supposed to help with egg quality.

I know you asked about where I live on LI. I'm in Wantagh on the South Shore. If you have any recommendations for Acupuncture I would appreciate it.

You guys are making me so jealous hearing all about Yin and Tonic!

[winkie01]

Hi:
I'm just joining this. After a recent failed ivf, I'm considering acupuncture before I start no. 2 in a couple weeks. I am als in NYC. How often do you guys go for accupuncture? I want to do it but I'm worried about the expense. Thanks!

[JennHS]

Joanna- I hope you're feeling a little better. I will definitely ask around for a practioner for you. Thanks for the royal jelly tip, I'm definitely going to try it. I read up on it a little it seems like it can be good for you through out your whole pregnancy.
winkie01- Acupuncture is definitely pricey but if you can squeeze it out of your budget it's worth every penny. Where I go the protocol is 1x/wk until you begin stims then it's 2x's/wk. It's $90 per session (consultation was a little more, I forget). You'll go the day of transfer 1x before and then again right after. This is where it can be very expensive, because if you need to see them and it's not their regular office hours it will be $200 per session. But honestly it's worth it, those two sessions saved my sanity! Once there is a heartbeat you don't need to continue if you choose. My last cycle I started about two weeks before stims and it gave me sometime to get used to it. Even if you don't do acupuncture I think it's important that we do something for ourselves. Even though I've only been doing this intensively since August I thought I was going to lose it half the time and this gives me something to cope.
Also I noticed you did a Lupron cycle, I'll be doing the same in April. How did the lupron effect you? Did you do lupron the same time as BCP or stims? Good luck to you! Keep me updated!

[JenaNYC]

to our little NYC area acu group, Winkie01! Nice to have you stop by.

I think that JennHS gave you a really good rundown of the acu schedule and experience. Mine is the same since we are both at Yin and Tonic. I absolutely love it, and I feel really good about being good to my body in that way. I think it has also pushed me to be better about other things too... I'm eating better and exercising more, and have more energy. Which is probably why I'm up before 6 AM and on the boards today! LOL!!

JennHS -Thanks so much for the workshop info. I'm not sure that it's going to be the right thing for me at the moment though since I'm such a novice at yoga. I just started an intro series last week for the first time(!!!), and think that once it is over, I'll need a regular class with instruction to make sure I'm doing the right stuff. If you are going though, please let me know how it is.

Joanna - Hope things are going well! Haven't seen you in awhile!

Additionally, I just wanted to mention to everyone that if the timing of your retrievals and transfers fall into the month of May that you might want to stop by in the May 2009 IVF thread as well. It would be nice to see some familiar names!

Jena

[Jnails29]

Hi Jenn and Jena: Glad to see we are keeping this thread alive. Things with me are good. My FIL is finally out of the hospital so I'm hoping to have time to get on line a bit more. I've been trying to just relax this past week and not worry about anything. I'm hoping to go for that massage I've been waiting to get.

JennHS if you know of anyone that would be great. As for the Royal Jelly, if you get the solid kind (not pills) make sure you don't get the one with propellis in it. It was gross I couldn't even swallow it without holding my nose.

Jena I'm still waiting to see when I'm going to do my frozen cycle but if it's May maybe I will pop on the May board.

Winkie01.

[winkie01]

Thanks for the warm welcome!
OK, I had my first acupuncture appointment today. I am seeing Dr. Rong-Bao Lu in Chinatown. He was written up in NYTimes and a friend recommended him. He's only $40/visit. But he gave me tea and herbs and it was $190! Steeper than I expected. How much do you guys pay for herbs? And it looks like only a 2 week supply. Anyway, it was relaxing. I hope it helps quickly b/c I hope to start my 2nd IVF cycle in about 2 weeks.

For those of you on Chinese herbs, what do your REs think of this? Did they tell you to stop once you are on stims?

Jenn - I didn't have any side effects from Lupron and the shot is so little its really easy. I did it the whole time - first with BCP,g then with the stims. This time I'll be doing the short non-lupron cycle since I had poor emby quality last time.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. My best friend just had a baby and my husband and I are fighting (b/c I'm insanely sensitive since my BFN) -- so it hasn't been great so far! (of course, so happy for my BF - just hard). She is the only one who knows what I'm going through.

[Jnails29]

Winkie I know how hard it can be when you friend has a baby right after a BFN. I feel like every BFN I had someone close to me was giving birth. I was horrible. The worst had to be last September three weeks after I got my BFN my GF gave birth and we went by her house to see her DH and I had to listen to him tell me all about the birth and how I would understand when it was my time. I don't know how I didn't jump across the table and rip his throat out. Of course my DH didn't even realize any of this was bothering me. About a week or so later my DH made a comment to me about how his friend kept making a comment about when I was coming by to see the baby. I finally went off on him and told him how difficult it is for me to see newborn babies. Since I've been so strong through all my cycles, he had no clue how badly it affected me. After we talked about it, he realized how upset I was and he actually explained everything to his friend who went out of his way to appologize to me when he saw me. In a way I'm glad it happened otherwise my DH would never have known what I was feeling.

As for the herbs, I was never sure what my RE felt about them. My acupuncturist was recommended by them so when I told her they didn't want me to do herbs, she said she would talk to them and the next week would come back and tell me that it was fine. Most of the herbs I was taking she had me stop right after my ER.

[mamba]

I am going to Ying acupuncture for about 6 months. We'll see whether acupuncture has worked for me or not next thursday

she charges $60 per session.

[JennHS]

Mamba! It will be great to hear a success story involving acupuncture! Best of luck to you and keep us updated!

Joanna I wasn't having much luck finding an acupuncturist referral for you at work, but I asked my acupuncturist and she said she can definitely find someone. So I'll let you know as soon as I hear back. You're gonna think I'm crazy but I love the taste of the Royal Jelly, it's in honey and it's so much better than my herbs!

Winkie, are you taking herbs that you have to cook or from a bottle. I know in Chinatown they often give you bundles of herbs you cook yourself and that could be why they're so expensive. I take 2 different things 1 is $23 the second $40 and I would say it last a few weeks. AND I hear you on the BF thing. All my close GFs have at least 2 children and it's so difficult to be around them. I've had to distance myself because I would get so depressed everytime we're together.

Jena hope all is well with you!

[winkie01]

Jnails - glad I am not the only one having meltdowns. I am going to go see the baby this weekend and hopefully will keep it together. My BF was great when we spoke. All she wanted to talk about was my failed IVF and how I was doing. She said "We can talk about my baby later." She was awesome. And I had a good talk with my DH about being more supportive. He's just a man of action rather than words - but I need both! Anyway, hopefully it will be our turn soon.

Jenn - I have pills and these herbs in a bag that I make tea with. The tea tastes like poison! I am going to ask my RE about them when I start my next round of meds. I don't think I ovulated this month so who knows when my next cycle will be - hopefully soon. I got all my meds yesterday. Hopefully, a non-lupron cycle plus acupuncture and nasty tea, royal jelly, etc. will help my eggs.

Mamba- good luck!!!