Last week I paid a long-overdue visit to Tamara, one of the many acupuncturists I had worked with over the course of conceiving Lily. I have in my closet a whole stack of thank you cards with baby announcement photos and bags of chocolate, which I had intended to give to every practitioner who had helped me in some way along the way through my fertility adventure. On my list are three OBs, four acupuncturists, and two doulas. I put these packages together when Lily was three months old. She is now almost eight months old and I still working on making my rounds to drop all these off. I keep telling myself, "It's never too late to say Thank You."
As I took my turns driving up to Reproductive Wellness clinic, I remembered that the last time I went there I was chatting with my then 4-yr-old about why we were running this errand. "Well, you know I've told you that making a baby is really complicated, and when it works out it's an amazing thing. And you know that Tiddlywink (that's what we named our baby) was growing in my belly and didn't make it. Well, Tiddlywink needs some help leaving my body, and this doctor is going to give me something to take that will hopefully help that happen. Does that make sense?" That seemed to get the idea across. Always optimistic, she responded, "Well, Mama, you can just try again, right?" Sigh. "Maybe. We'll see." It had been about a week since I found my baby's heartbeat had stopped around nine weeks, and I was waiting to miscarry naturally. My acupuncturist offered an herbal concoction to help the process along. Sad times. That was almost two years ago.
As I took my turns driving up to Reproductive Wellness clinic, I remembered that the last time I went there I was chatting with my then 4-yr-old about why we were running this errand. "Well, you know I've told you that making a baby is really complicated, and when it works out it's an amazing thing. And you know that Tiddlywink (that's what we named our baby) was growing in my belly and didn't make it. Well, Tiddlywink needs some help leaving my body, and this doctor is going to give me something to take that will hopefully help that happen. Does that make sense?" That seemed to get the idea across. Always optimistic, she responded, "Well, Mama, you can just try again, right?" Sigh. "Maybe. We'll see." It had been about a week since I found my baby's heartbeat had stopped around nine weeks, and I was waiting to miscarry naturally. My acupuncturist offered an herbal concoction to help the process along. Sad times. That was almost two years ago.
I brought Lily into the waiting room with me and while I was waiting for Tamara to have a break between clients, I glanced over the bookshelf. One particular book caught my eye: Cooking for Fertility: Foods that Nourish Your Fertile Soul. To begin with, I love avacados, so the cover was a winner. The layout of the book was also lovely, just aesthetically pleasing, even though there weren't tons of photos inside. I'm not sure why this aesthetic should matter as I'm not going to be eating the book itself. But perhaps just reflecting on how fragile one can feel going through fertility challenges when all of life can feel so gloomy and harsh, it seemed that having a visually soothing book to read from was worth something.
The approach to nutrition incorporates Chinese Medicine principles, and offers enough background to give you an useful orientation but doesn't drown you in so much new information that you feel like you have to go back to school for a degree in Asian Studies. The author, Kathryn Simmons Flynn, has worked closely with Randine Lewis (author of "The Infertility Cure") to develop a way of eating that support fertility. The general nutrition and lifestyle guidelines they promote have some similarity to what I practiced myself while trying to conceive.
While I'm no longer striving toward optimal fertility, I am always looking for ways to stay healthy and being inspired by food is and important part of this process for me. The recipes looked delicious, healthy, and simple enough for me to envision following. (I'm not one who wants to spend hours prepping a meal.) Amazon offers a kindle download for $9.99 and you can peek inside the book on the Amazon page to see the intro chapters and many of the yummy recipes. I'm looking forward to learning to cook butternut squash bisque and eggplant parmesan.
When Tamara came into the waiting room, she had this vibrant happy glow about her just like I'd remembered her before. I thought she'd heard through another practitioner there that my last pregnancy had worked out, but she hadn't. So my popping by with Lily was a complete surprise. It was such a delight to reconnect and share my happy news....and to say "thank you" to one more person who had held my hand through difficult times.
The approach to nutrition incorporates Chinese Medicine principles, and offers enough background to give you an useful orientation but doesn't drown you in so much new information that you feel like you have to go back to school for a degree in Asian Studies. The author, Kathryn Simmons Flynn, has worked closely with Randine Lewis (author of "The Infertility Cure") to develop a way of eating that support fertility. The general nutrition and lifestyle guidelines they promote have some similarity to what I practiced myself while trying to conceive.
While I'm no longer striving toward optimal fertility, I am always looking for ways to stay healthy and being inspired by food is and important part of this process for me. The recipes looked delicious, healthy, and simple enough for me to envision following. (I'm not one who wants to spend hours prepping a meal.) Amazon offers a kindle download for $9.99 and you can peek inside the book on the Amazon page to see the intro chapters and many of the yummy recipes. I'm looking forward to learning to cook butternut squash bisque and eggplant parmesan.
When Tamara came into the waiting room, she had this vibrant happy glow about her just like I'd remembered her before. I thought she'd heard through another practitioner there that my last pregnancy had worked out, but she hadn't. So my popping by with Lily was a complete surprise. It was such a delight to reconnect and share my happy news....and to say "thank you" to one more person who had held my hand through difficult times.
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