After 6 long years of trying to get pregnant with my first child, I finally achieved my goal at 37 years old. I knew that I wanted to have more children, but I didn’t want it to take the time that it did with my first child.  So, after hearing about Chinese medicine from my sister, I decided to give it a try and contacted Dr. Lin Zhou who specializes in infertility.

My first acupuncture treatment with Dr. Zhou was on my 39th birthday.  I was a little afraid as I had never had a treatment before. I didn’t know if the needles would hurt.  To my surprise, I loved the treatment! I felt so relaxed and comfortable afterwards. During the visit, Dr. Zhou asked me many questions about my cycles, took my pulse, and checked my tongue.  I will never forget what she said to me during that visit when I asked her, “Do you think that I can get pregnant?”  She said, “Yes, as long as you are consistent with the weekly treatments and the herbs.”  Dr. Zhou diagnosed me with Spleen Qi Deficiency and Kidney Yang Deficiency.  At the end of the treatment, she prescribed some Chinese herbs with special cooking instructions and told me to keep track of my basal body temperature.

I continued to have acupuncture treatments weekly and religiously took the herbs that Dr. Zhou prescribed.  She changed the herbs throughout my cycles modifying various herbs to improve my system.

After four months of treatments, I had a chemical pregnancy.  A chemical pregnancy is the clinical term used for a very early miscarriage. I had a positive pregnancy test before my period was due. I was able to detect my HCG level using a very, very sensitive early pregnancy test called the LifeSign1 One Step Home Early Pregnancy Test (http://www.geodesicmeditech.com/lifesign.html). (Most women don’t even know that they are chemically pregnant because your period comes a few days late.) When I told Dr. Zhou that I got a positive pregnancy test, she told me to go to my OB immediately and get a blood test to check my HCG and progesterone levels.