My husband and I started trying to conceive when we got married six years ago. After a couple of years went by with no luck, we decided to go into our doctor’s office to see if there was a problem. The doctor couldn’t find anything wrong but suspected that damage from a surgery I had four years earlier to remove some pre-cancerous cells from my cervix might be a contributing factor. This meant that we needed to get help. Over the following four years, I had six minor surgeries to try and repair the damage from the first surgery and underwent six IUI fertility treatments as well as several more months of fertility drugs. We eventually realized that if we wanted to have kids, we would need to try IVF. We’re happy to say that acupuncture and IVF = successful pregnancy after 6 years.
Once this decision was made, I did a lot of research on IVF, found the fertility clinic that had the best stats, and made an appointment. The doctor at the fertility clinic recommended I try acupuncture. She admitted that she didn’t know why it worked but that studies and statistics proved that acupuncture increased the odds of a successful IVF. So I made an appointment with Ryan Funk at Acubalance to give it a try.
When I got to Acubalance, I was very nervous. I’m in my late 30s, I’m significantly overweight, I had been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby for six years, and had been through several surgeries and many rounds of drugs. I was self-conscious and felt like a failure. Ryan immediately put me at ease without even trying. He never looked at my past failures; instead, he put me on a path to be healthier moving forward. Acupuncture at Acubalance is about much more than needles; we talked about exercise and healthy eating, relaxing when necessary, dealing with the stress of IVF, and the IVF procedure itself. Yes, there were needles but they were easy, I never even felt them. I was comfortable asking all the silly little questions that you usually think are too insignificant to ask and Ryan took every question seriously and gave me a well-thought-out answer. There were days in the process that were more stressful than others, where I would come in agitated; Ryan always listened to my ranting and took the time needed for me to slow down enough to relax before starting. I never felt self-conscious and I never felt like a failure again. Instead, I went through the process feeling relaxed and positive. I looked forward to every one of my appointments as an opportunity to relax and recharge.
Ryan and the staff at Acubalance are knowledgeable, kind, and professional, and turned a stressful situation into a positive experience. I was successful in my IVF and am now 16 weeks pregnant with my first child. Even though I’m not a doctor and don’t know that much about acupuncture, I firmly believe that the small lifestyle changes that I made, combined with the more positive outlook and relaxed nature of the staff at Acubalance, made all the difference. I would have to recommend Ryan and Acubalance to anyone considering acupuncture for fertility treatments.