Acupuncture for the two-week wait

Acupuncture for the two-week wait

The two-week wait is that time post ovulation to menstruation / a positive pregnancy test. When you are trying to conceive this time can be filled with a heady cocktail of hope and despair. When there has been an assisted reproduction technique such as IVF, this time can be fraught with emotions.

Feeling a little rudder-less?

The agonising two-week wait before your pregnancy test can leave you feeling a little lost. If you are under a clinic then you will have had months of tests, scans, and appointments and will have been closely monitored by your IVF team, and now it may feel like you are on your own. You will likely go on ‘symptom watch’, sway between green smoothies and banoffee pie, fall in and out of love with Dr. Google, check the loo roll every time you have a wee, and generally lose your damn mind. If you feel a little untethered without any appointments in the diary, now is a good time to up the self-care or to book in with me for some acupuncture or craniosacral therapy. If seeing a therapist isn’t accessible to you then here are some accessible and affordable ways to look after yourself during this time:

• Breathe: If your breath is slow and long it will send a message to your nervous system that all is calm. It doesn’t have to be a full meditation, even a few minutes per day focusing on your breath will have a positive effect.
• Move: Get out in nature as much as possible; there are shapes in nature called fractals which have been shown to help us to recover from stress, but we don’t need scientific studies to tell us all of the positive effects of being in nature, we already know - but sometimes need reminding.
• Sleep: Good quality and quantity of sleep are healing, so your affair with Dr.Google should only be carried out during daylight hours because the light emitted from screens disrupts our sleep.
• Keep warm: Traditional Chinese medicine believes that cold feet or cold on your abdomen can cause cold in your womb. Keep your feet warm in cosy socks or slippers, and listen to your grandma and wear a long vest and big knickers.
• Make out: Rather than making love (which may be discouraged if you are having IVF), make out with your partner. Research shows that kissing, hugging, and skin-to-skin contact or stroking the dog are all ways of promoting oxytocin (your love hormone) which reduces your stress hormones.
• Connect: Science doesn’t know the exact conversation that goes on between your uterine lining and your embryo; have your own conversation. Connect with your heart or womb and imagine what they would say to your little embryo, be receptive, and show your embryo how nurturing you are to yourself. Create the space you need in your life.

Feeling out of control?

Ultimately, what will be will be. You cannot control this one, and unfortunately ‘being good’ or doing everything to the letter doesn’t always get you the result you want. One of the worst aspects can be the feeling of a lack of control - we all like a bit of certainty in our lives, and uncertainty is rocket fuel for anxiety. Practicing surrendering to the process can feel overwhelming, so instead, every day, write down or name 3 things you did well and 3 things that you are grateful for. That way, you are re-wiring your brain to focus on all of the positivity and good that you have in your life.

Acupuncture during the two-week wait

If you really are losing your mind, then book a therapy session so that I can help to calm your mind. During this time I also tend to use CranioSacral Therapy as it is really effective at nourishing the nervous system. I will give you the space to express all of your ‘what if’ inner chatter so it isn’t simmering under the surface. There tends to be a sense of breath-holding while you wait for your pregnancy test; booking a therapy appointment will help to alleviate your anxiety, and calm your nervous system.

Alison is a registered acupuncturist and co-owner of Blossom Natural Health in Chelmsford. She has been specialising in fertility and women's health for the last 20 years and is the fertility acupuncturist for Bourn Hall fertility clinic in Wickford. She loves combining Acupuncture, Cranio-Sacral Therapy and Somato-Emotional Release to help her clients with stress, digestive issue and pain relief.