The Power of Information

Yesterday, I wanted to see what I could find out about the DaVinci surgery. You might know what it is if you watch Grey's Anatomy. In the 2009 season finale, the Chief bought one of these robotic surgery machines and it was a huge deal.

Now, I am not in the habit of researching the latest medical trends, but lately when I have been on hold for my doctor, I kept hearing one of their ads that 2 doctors in her practice now perform the DaVinci surgery. I then found that it can be used to remove big fibroids.

In fact, recovery is 4 weeks for the Da Vinci surgery versus 6 weeks for the open, c-section surgery. I asked my doctor about it. She and the fertility doctor that she has been consulting with are determining if it would work for me. That's why I needed an MRI.

Knowing that it could be an option, I did a search for fibroids and DaVinci surgery. I found a great website with hundreds of testimonials. I found it so incredibly helpful. You can also YouTube a video and watch a surgery being performed. Don't know why you would want to, but if you wanted to, you could.

This really got me thinking about how much my fertility process has been influenced with the Internet.

I started reading online months before TTC what I needed to do. When I started trying, I googled pregnancy symptoms, I joined babycenter.com and learned more than I ever thought existed about pregnancy, until I was fluent in the language (DH, DD, TTC, TWW, BFN, BFP). I learned about the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor and read tons of reviews before I bought it. I then learned how to decipher it with a chat group. I charted my fertility with fertilityfriend.com. I researched people who had bleeding during miscarriages, miscarriages, trying to conceive after a miscarriage.

What I learned was many people, including myself, were just looking for hope. Someone who had their symptoms and turned out to be pregnant or someone who lost a baby but went on to have 3 healthy kids. Now I am looking for success stories of people who had their fibroids out after having miscarriages and went on to uneventful pregnancies.

It is funny how we learn to trust strangers in similar circumstances more than we sometimes trust our friends and doctors. I also wonder if I would even know how to get pregnant without the Internet. I have to be honest, I didn't remember much from Human Growth and Development in fifth grade and I think they were trying to teach us how to avoid, rather than achieve pregnancy.

I feel like this information I have garnered on the Internet has given me the power to make better decisions.

Putting my Best Foot Forward

I had my weekly Reflexology appointment tonight and I asked my reflexologist why she thought reflexology helped fertility. She attributed it to a couple of reasons.

1) overall stress relief
2) when you stress about something (getting pregnant) your body, unbeknownst to you, stores tension in those areas (you can actually feel this as she works your feet, it feels tender in areas you are holding tension)
3) it brings balance to organs and systems (endocrine system), so reflexology helps balance your hormones.

I have to say it has definitely worked for me. She also has mentioned that reflexology couple with acupuncture can be very effective. I feel like I am not ready for that additional step. It isn't so much the needles of acupuncture, as the time commitment. It is hard to bust out of work at 5 on the dot, commute home and then walk over to the reflexologist every week.

Sometimes when it seems a bit too hokey, I think about that fact that people have been doing these practices for a thousand years and it has sustained itself. Have you had success with getting pregnant by using alternative medicine?