Land of Lemons

Since stress leads to histamines released and increase in cortisol which would affect the menstrual cycle which would affect fertility, I shall do a post on stress management because I cannot simply tell myself "be good girl, don't stress k?" First I will look at it from a spiritual point of view. How to have joy? Proverbs 15: 13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine. A crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 18:14 The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear? Psalm 34:18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. So, we understand now that a joyful heart is the key to a healthy body. How do we go about allowing God to heal the brokenhearted and save those who are crushed in spirit? If your heart has been broken due to a relationship...

Since Jan, I have been suffering from asthma everyday. Having asthma prevents me from trying for a baby because the inhalers I have taken disrupted the beautiful menstrual cycles that Dr Tan Siew Buoy have built up.  As a result, I read quite a lot of articles on asthma. I must recover from asthma if I want to have any hope of conceiving. I discovered that people with irregular cycles tend to have asthma as well. I used to have childhood and teens asthma. This is what I have read so far, which I think explains the link between the two. Stress releases histamines http://www.livestrong.com/article/549502-severe-stress-induced-allergic-reactions/ http://voices.yahoo.com/what-histamines-why-we-them-491407.html?cat=68 Stress releases histamines and histamines are the chemical substances in the body that will cause allergic reactions like asthma. Histamines are needed to start inflammation so that the body can fight off the invaders, parasites and infection. Emotional highs woul...

I have taken a year break from work. My leave is ending in one and a half month's time. Ironically, I failed to get pregnant during the break. Although it has been ten months, I spent the first few months recovering from the third failed pregnancy. The next few months, I wasn't feeling well with so many people down with flu around me. My cough developed into asthma - an old foe from childhood who has returned to haunt me. I am still seeing TCM Tan Siew Buoy. Nowadays, she will say "no good news?" and expressed disappointment if my menses came. I took it in a good way cos she seemed really determined and concerned about me. My mother-in-law has been dropping hints for example "how nice it would be to have kids blah blah blah". My mind always flashes ,"你以为我不要吗？” (Do you think that I did not want kids?". she also expresses desire that I see this and that doctor or even go overseas to find some famous TCM doc despite us telling her that we are alread...

I have been spotting for three days. The spotting gets worse. I have a feeling my period is coming. If my period comes tomorrow, this cycle would be a 26 day cycle. Not too bad since the ideal cycle is 28. We definitely did our homework in bed. That's what Dr Tan SB refers sexual intercourse to : 做功课. Yesterday I was hopping so much that it would be implantation bleeding and not period. I would check every now and then that the blood is still a brown tinge. I would check internet to assure myself that there is a high chance that it could be implantation bleeding. Sometimes, I would test for pregnancy and sulk even more when the test kit is negative. Today it worsened in the evening and I could feel my body deflating, together with my hopes. Whenever my period comes, it would be days loaded with bad emotions. After the first few days, I would be restored with hope and the whole cycle would continue. Disappointment.  All those nights of making love despite my husband's...

Despite my grief over my loss and helplessness over my dismaying tests results, I managed to pluck up whatever courage was left in me and looked for my fourth TCM Physician - Dr Tan Siew Buoy, someone that I found myself visiting for the longest period. I was pregnant for the third time in May. I started spotting and my pregnancy was failing around end of May but my first real bleed was only around the beginning of July because I had consumed too much oral progesterone. The sac had miraculously disappeared on its own when I went to visit Prof Mahesh to be scanned around June. The doctor said that my body had absorbed the sac! I visited Dr Tan Siew Buoy the same period I saw him. I was not looking for Dr Tan Siew Buoy. I did not even know who she was. The person I was searching for high and low was Dr Tan Siew Lan as my colleague was healed of her infertility through her when she prayed to God. She was supposed to go for a surgery for her fallopian tubes but she went to Thong Chai i...

I had mixed feelings before receiving the results. Part of me wanted to find out what was wrong so that I could treat it. Part of me hoped that there was nothing wrong so I just needed to be patient. Eventually I had hoped that they would find something that would be easily resolved for example a cyst that could easily be removed. It was bad news, worse than I had expected. HSG - Hysterosalpingogram -  HSG : revealed that I had possible uterine synechiae . Another name is Asherman syndrome or just womb scarring. Prof said that the only way to confirm it would be a laparoscopy which he would not be recommending because it was not worth the investigation. He suspected this was not the cause because people with such scarring, it was very difficult to get pregnant in the first place. Moreover I had not gone for DnC before. Transvaginal and Transabdominal Ultrasonography :  Ultra sound scans - polycystic ovaries    (not surprised since LC Cheng had already told ...

I was mentally prepared for the HSG test because I had read about it online. I checked with a colleague who had gone through the test and she told me that she only felt discomfort. The odd thing about having your tests done in NUH was the fact that you had to proceed to different departments to do different tests. If I had gone to any private clinic in Thomson Medical Centre, the gynae would be the one doing all the physical examinations.  For HSG, I needed to proceed to the Imaging Department which was in another part of NUH, away from the Women's Clinic. I loathed hospitals. The journey to the Imaging Department was very uncomfortable as I had to witness different types of patients being wheeled around in their beds. I read that there might be adverse reactions to HSG such as severe cramps or even passing out. Therefore, I asked my parents to accompany me. I located the Imaging Department easily as I had spent some effort in finding it prior to my appointment. I had but...