These are words that would NEVER have crossed my lips before trying to have a baby.
I used to have serious needle-phobia. I mean I was TERRIFIED of them. When I was a kid, I worried for DAYS when I knew I had a doctor's appointment coming. I once had a pretty badly infected spider bite that needed draining. My doctor wanted to numb it before cutting it open and squeezing the puss out. Barf. After explaining this to me, it took two nurses and my mother to hold me down while they did the procedure. Summer after my freshman year in college, a friend was exposed to Hepatitis (the restaurant and toilet seat kind, not the STD) so the four of us who worked closely with her had to get vaccinated just to be safe. I was so pissed at her. FURIOUS. Summer before my senior year in college I took classes at UC Davis and had a weird skin rash. The doctor wanted to do a blood test. I sat in the waiting area SOBBING because I was alone and so scared. I also left the building two times and almost got in my car and just drove away because I was by myself and no one could stop me (I didn't actually leave by the way. I hiked up my skirt and did the blood test. And cried the whole time.).
I grew a little tougher as an adult. I was still terrified but I could control and deal with it like a fairly normal person. I even got a couple of tattoos. But not until fertility treatments did they become no big deal. Now I'm a CHAMP. I pull up my sleeve, ball up my fist and don't even flinch when the needle goes in. I know that its easier to find a good vein in my left arm. I compliment a good phlebotomist (and there are bad ones, we all know it). Its kind of like a girlie exam. They were neither ENJOYABLE nor terrifying, but it was something I did not look forward to. Now, I'm like "Undress from the waist down? Sure! You're like one of 5 doctors left in the area who HASN'T seen my vagina, so have at it."
Back to the needles. I'm starting acupuncture again. I am so NOT needle-phobic anymore that I am willing to pay someone to stick like 15-20 needles all over my body (go back in time and tell that to College Leah and she would squirt keg beer out her nose and laugh her ass off.) I figure if we are going to spend all this friggin money, let's do everything we can to improve our chances right? So I went to my new acupuncturist yesterday. I liked her. She's going to make it so I can get pregnant again. And eat gluten again. Its going to be so awesome. Except for the herbs. The herbs are NOT awesome. They taste like shit.
