Stephanie McKenzie's blog

I had all the products and advice I needed now to really become pregnant.

According to the medical medium, I had the Epstein-Barr virus, which he
said was most likely obtained through a childhood tetanus shot.

Part of my new strategy was to talk to a medical medium about my
fertility issues and some other conditions I'd been dealing with for
decades.

I love acupuncture in general. I've been a fan of it ever since I inadvertently went to an acupuncturist when I was 25.

Another thing I really wanted to do with my new natural fertility program was to do fertility hypnosis.

When I decided to go the natural/semi-natural way of getting pregnant one more time before going "all the way" with IVF, one of the things I wanted to try was a product I found.

In keeping with my new decision to approach getting pregnant more naturally this year before going the IVF route next year if it became necessary, I was also keeping up with my other thought of pursuing adoption again.

A week and two days past my period due date and no period had me concerned. I'd only taken the first week of the new pack of birth control pills, so I figured maybe a week late was reasonable. However, this extra two days now had me concerned.

After making my decision to use intrauterine insemination and fertility acupuncture and herbs to get pregnant semi-naturally before moving forward with the IVF, I immediately stopped taking the birth control pills the fertility clinic put me on.

I've found it's always best to trust one's intuition. It rarely leads you astray. I've had strong feelings before about whether or not I should do something, and they've always proven to be correct. Intuition is a powerful thing. Everyone has it. 

Seeing as there was no way for me to avoid seeing my step-sons the day after Christmas, other than to simply leave the house (and my husband would have been upset if I'd made such an obvious display of my resentment toward them), I had to grit my teeth and accept it. 

With the holidays coming up, I knew there was going to likely be some kind of get-together with my step-sons. This was a real problem for me because I was still very resentful of their lack of support or compassion during my IVF fundraiser. 

I let myself quiet my financial concerns and clear my mind for the first time in a long time. I couldn't help but feel that the financial pressure buying all of those fertility medicines was putting on me was the universe's way of saying now wasn't the time to be doing this.

It seemed like I was on the road to IVF, and I was eager to do it. However, the sudden declaration that I would have to pay thousands of dollars in medications that weren't covered by the package price I paid was putting me under a lot of pressure.

Two days after I faxed in my Compassionate Care forms, I got a call from the fertility clinic saying I'd been approved for a 75 percent discount on Gonal-F and Cetrotide. It wasn't the 100 percent discount I was hoping for, but it was the next best thing.

The closer I get to actually going through the IVF procedure, the
more my mind and whole way of thinking is switching into what I call
"mommy mode." I'm thinking like a woman who already has children.

The medicines for IVF are many and expensive. However, there are assistance programs to help you get some of them. One of the better-known programs is called Compassionate Care. It offers 25, 50, 75, and 100 percent discounts on Gonal-F and Cetrotide

It became clear pretty quickly that the finances to get all of the necessary fertility medications just weren't going to be there during the holidays. So, I called my IVF coordinator at the clinic to see if we could put it off for another month.

So far, I was only on the initial one-month pack of birth control pills prescribed by by fertility doctor. They were the same brand I took in college, though the packaging had changed somewhat.

While I was contemplating what to do about the costs of the IVF meds
and whether I should do the procedure in December or wait another month
till the stress of the holidays were over, I got a private Facebook
message from a friend.