Vegan + Eggs + Fish - Sugar - Yeast - Soy

= Ashley is HUNGRY

In January I modified my diet to clean out my body in hopes of regulating my hormones naturally. I got the idea from three books I was reading at the time, as well as in-depth meetings with a traditional Chinese medicine doctor and a nutritionist.

I was reading the following books and they seemed to contradict one another, each having a different set of rules for balancing your hormones naturally:

1) Inconceivable, Julia Indichova = Vegan

2) The Infertility Cure, Randina Lewis = Non-Vegan

3) The Fertility Diet, Jorge Chavarro & Walter Willett = High Fat Dairy

Slightly confused, I decided to meet with a traditional Chinese medicine doctor (TCM), a naturopath & a nutritionist, here was the final breakdown:

1) TMC = No Sugar, No Yeast, No Cheese

2) Naturopath = Vegan OK, but add fish for the good fats and proteins

3) Nutritionist = Add eggs, remove soy and eat mainly whole foods

So.....since January I have pretty much been on track with my food intake:

Vegan + Eggs + Fish - Sugar - Yeast - Soy

About once a week I eat something with sugar, calling it my Mardi Gras day, thanks to a dear friend, Abby Warden, that turned me on to the name. I also tried adding poultry back into the mix but it didn't make my body feel great and so I occasionally eat it on my Mardi Gras day, as long as it is organic & cage free, but for the most part I tend to stay away from it.

Since January I have tried beef twice, both times I became very ill and so now I fully stay away.

Overall I miss food, sometimes more than others, but I have found great success sticking to this new eating style. As a side bonus, I also lost about 15 pounds that I didn't even try to lose, which was a great benefit AND I would have to say that overall my body feels GREAT!

The Most Annoying Thing To Hear...

When you are infertile, the NUMBER 1, most annoying thing to hear is when others, that have absolutely no idea why you are infertile, tell you that it will happen, after you relax a little bit.

This is rude.

Please don't ever say this to a woman having a hard time getting pregnant.

I am usually able to bite my tongue and stop myself from spatting out, "No, it's probably not, as I have no eggs." And instead plaster a super fake smile on my face and say "Maybe...."

GIVE me a BREAK!

Yes, I know there are women out there that this has appeared to happen to. They are extremely blessed, and usually, almost always, have an undiagnosed type of infertility. I do agree that stress is not good on the body for numerous medical conditions, including infertility. But by telling a woman that she just needs to "relax" it is almost like blaming her for her own infertility.

What people that say these things don't seem to realize is that the chances are pretty high that the woman was not stressed out about having a child initially. It was probably after months and months of trying unsuccessfully that she started to become a little nervous. And perhaps after years of trying, never knowing what is exactly wrong, she is usually pretty worked up about the idea that she might never be able to conceive.

Put yourself in her shoes. If you thought that you would never be able to have a family, that you would never see a little mix of you and your husband, and that maybe, just maybe, you might die completely alone, then perhaps you might have a hard time "relaxing" as well.

So, take it from me, an infertile woman that is actually as fully "relaxed" as they come, and never, ever, ever tell an infertile woman that, "it will all happen after you relax a little bit."

Turning A New Leaf

A lot has been going on since January 2010 and I have been delaying adding any of the details to the blog until I made it private.

I am going private for three main reasons:

1) With our Adoption site up and running we are getting a large amount of unknown traffic to all of our blogs. This is A-OK with us, in fact it is a GOOD thing, but with all these strangers we have decided to pull our super personal aspect back a little while we are in the midst of it all.

2) I am just starting on a book. I know, I never thought I would be a book writer, but with everything that I have gone through in the last year I have discovered that writing is more cathartic than anything else I have found. I did not truly begin to heal until I started to write about my heartache and with everything that I am currently working on I think it will help to keep track of the ups and downs by blogging about it.

3) I have been told that my chances of conceiving are below 2%. Some of my past doctors consider what I am currently working on to be a complete waste of time and others have been a little judgemental of the direction I am headed. That being said, I want to kind of do this under the radar for the moment. I don't need the additional pressures or meddling.

So there you have it. We have turned a new leaf with infertility and are now working at it in a way that feels right in every aspect. So, sit back, wish us luck, keep us in your prayers and enjoy the ride.