I already mentioned how I feel God is ultimately responsible for my pregnancy, but here is my honest opinion on what changes I made and how I believe they contributed.
1. Acupuncture - I would say this was the biggest game changer. I cannot explain how or why it works but I do think I had internal inflammation that acupuncture relieved. I don't think it works in one or two sessions--not even one or two months necessarily. I estimate I did not really see improvement for six months. This is obviously hard given the hefty price tag.
2. Diet - I'm up in the air on this one in terms of its correlation with the pregnancy, but I would definitely say it was healthy. By eliminating processed carbs/sugar/dairy, I lost between 10-15 lbs. I am a tall person so weight is hard for others to distinguish. I didn't really change clothing size but I lost that bloated look and close friends and family noticed. My digestion was also much improved.
The diet was hard at first and never really fun--that's the biggest downside. Other programs let you splurge or cheat once in a while. I never did on this and it took a lot of the joy out of eating, drinking, hanging out with friends, etc. I decided to give it 100% while I tried and I was successful for at least six months, but since I was nearing the Thanksgiving hormone deadline I had begun to cheat here and there (a random glass of wine, a few chips with salsa, a bite of dessert).
3. Supplements - Not sure. I think they fall in the healthy for you section but again I don't know if they contributed to making my eggs better or ovaries more responsive or getting me pregnant.
4. Herbs - Similar to supplements but I would give them more credit. I do feel they helped alleviate my hot flashes when I first started. Once I had a cycle, I took herbs designed to help with the different phases. Lastly I was on Dr. K's special blend of who knows what. I probably took 5-6 bottles of that--he says most women are pregnant in 2-3. Another note about herbs, you have to take a lot of them and they smell funky (which makes you smell funky).
5. Hormones - This is referring to hormones when I was diagnosed with POF--the ones my OB wanted me to go on immediately due to early menopause and a lack of estrogen. I never wanted to take these and am actually mad at myself for taking them as long as I did in the form of birth control pills for the many years I was preventing pregnancy. Unfortunately, I will likely be on them again in the future. Once all the baby gestating and breastfeeding ends, I fully expect to be back in menopause. I will need to supplement until I reach older age.
I have heard other POF'ers discuss their use and seen a few pregnancy success stories but from everything I read and discussed with my RE, hormones will shut your reproductive system down even further. It synthetically supplies hormones so your body does not ovulate. My RE said the odds are similar to a woman getting pregnant while on the birth control pill (less than 1% chance)--then add in your already next to impossible chance of getting pregnant with POF. This is why I chose to go with Eastern/holistic treatment.
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