I began seeing Dr. Cherry after miscarrying our first pregnancy and three failed IUI’s. We were heading into our first IVF and I read that acupuncture can often help increase your chances of getting pregnant. I had very little experience with acupuncture. My grandmother had used it several times for arthritis, but I had no idea there were fertility benefits.
My first meeting with Dr. Cherry completely put me at ease. I was not afraid of the needles, he answered all my silly questions about why this point? Why that? What is up with all the pulses? Overall, I felt very comfortable and relaxed in his care. I saw Dr. Cherry once a week for 2 months leading up to my IVF. At 40 years old, I was anxious knowing odds were not in my favor, but acupuncture seemed to ease that anxiety. My side affects from the medications were reduced (I suffered from headaches very badly with the last three rounds) and my overall attitude going into the stressful IVF process was less than with our previous, less invasive procedures. My husband commented several times about how calm and relaxed I was (and if you know me…these are not adjectives usually used to describe me).
Our first IVF resulted in a good number of follicles and a good transfer of 3 embryos. I did get pregnant, but sadly… lost the pregnancy very early. These things cannot be stopped if they are meant to be. But I did acupuncture before and after transfer and it was wonderful.
We continued to see Dr. Cherry as we decided on our next steps. One more try…that was the answer. And this time I needed acupuncture even more as this was the LAST attempt. That along increased the anxiety level. But once again….my weekly appointments calmed me, gave me hope and kept me centered. We sailed through the procedures, continued the acupuncture and had a wonderful outcome. Once my pregnancy test was positive, I saw Dr. Cherry once per week for the 1st trimester and once per month for the remainder of the pregnancy. He helped me with swelling, back pain, nausea and to relieve my stress and fear about another miscarriage. Overall….a fantastic experience and I have since recommended him to anyone I know who needs help conceiving.
Fast forward 2 years later and we are back. We decided to adopt embryos and do a frozen embryo transfer to grow our family. I would not even consider doing and fertility treatments anymore without including acupuncture. And this time, we sailed through and got pregnant on the first try. But…the first several weeks were scary with spotting and questionable ultrasounds. I was a wreck emotionally and looked forward to my weekly (and sometimes biweekly) appointments as they calmed my nerves and put me at ease. We are now anxiously awaiting the birth of our 2nd child and I enjoy my monthly visits to see Dr. Cherry.
Not only would I recommend acupuncture for anyone struggling with infertility… but specifically I would recommend Dr. Cherry and his phenomenal staff. They feel like family to us and we miss them when we are not here regularly.