In May 2013 at the age of 33, I was preparing for my wedding. Wedding preparations bring about it's own pressures including trying to look your best. I was exercising a lot and watching my diet. I had always been a fitness fanatic but was probably doing extra now. My periods disappeared. In December 2013, after 6 months, my periods returned. I was relieved that they had returned and put it down to pre-wedding stress. I believed that once the wedding was over my cycle would return to normal.
However, by May 2014 my period had still not returned to its normal cycle. I decided to see my Doctor. The Doctor did some hormone tests and put me on the gynaecologists list. She said there could be a waiting period of two years. She mentioned seeing an acupuncturist called Siobhán Kehoe. A friend of mine had also mentioned Siobhán before. I had never thought of acupuncture and I was a bit sceptical. However, I decided to give it a go. I was anxious to get my cycle back on track as I was 34 and always had a regular cycle. I also hoped that starting a family would be in the not too distant future. I believed to do this I would need to get my body back on track and prepared.
In May 2014, I booked an appointment to see Siobhán Kehoe. Within 10 minutes of meeting and chatting to Siobhán I was amazed about what she could tell me about myself from looking at my tongue. She believed I had a tired blood deficient body and may not be able to sustain a pregnancy to term even if I did get pregnant. Siobhán put me on raw herbs, Spirulina and Barley Grass and did some acupuncture on me every few weeks. She told me that I must cut back the exercise to a minimum as I needed to nourish my body and make blood. I also had to make a few changes to my diet. Everything that Siobhán had said to me made perfect sense. I took her advice seriously. The hardest thing for me was cutting down on the exercise.
In July 2014, I got a period. This was a healthy period. The blood was much brighter and heavier than previous periods. After this healthy period, Siobhán recommended that we start trying to conceive. She believed that my body was now making the sufficient amount of blood to conceive and hold a pregnancy. When we did decide to try to conceive, I was pregnant within a month! It was Siobhán who first suspected I was pregnant while visiting her for a treatment. I am 37 weeks pregnant and still see Siobhán every 5-6 weeks. I find the acupuncture great for back and hip pain and general pregnancy aches and pains. Getting pregnant wasn't an issue for me but I firmly believe that if I didn't see Siobhán when I did, that maybe getting pregnant would have been an issue.
I would highly recommend Siobhán Kehoe. She has been a great support and source of advice throughout my pregnancy. She is honest and straight talking and she genuinely cares about her clients. She is very passionate about her work and is a great source of knowledge. Her passion for alternative medicine is infectious and has had a huge effect on my attitude towards my health and well being.
Thank you Siobhán.
UPDATE: May 2015: Healthy baby boy born at full term
Michelle - Co. Wexford