My name is Teresa Gregan, I am 35 years old and I recently gave birth to my first baby in August 2010,thanks to traditional Chinese medicine. A healthy baby boy weighing 7lb 10oz. This was a happy ending to a long 3 year wait. When myself and my husband decided to start our family we thought it was just a matter of deciding when we wanted to have a baby and that was it. But is was not to be so simple.
After trying for a baby for almost a year and to no avail I started to become concerned that there might be a problem (only two periods a year). So I went to see my GP, who did blood tests and after finding them to be all clear he referred me to a consultant in Wexford. Again after further blood tests were done and I was prescribed Clomid to help increase my chances of getting pregnant. I took this for 9 months but still did not get a period and more importantly no baby. After been tested 3 times on certain days in my cycle to see if I was ovulating it was discovered that I was not. I then had a lap and dye done to see could they find anything wrong. on completion of this I was told I had small amounts of endometriosis and some cysts on my ovaries. I was then referred to a fertility clinic in Dublin.
While I was waiting for my appointment in the fertility clinic, we decided to look at our other options. We went for an information meeting on adoption in Waterford and we thought this might be the way we would go. A friend of mine recommended that I give Siobhan Kehoe a call as she specialises in fertility treatment. On the 31st of July 2009 I had my first appointment with Siobhan. As I was very overweight and never had a regular cycle since beginning my periods apart from when I was on the pill (2 periods a year). She gave me nutrition and diet advice. She talked a lot about an egg white discharge, in which I had never heard of or seen before. She gave me some herbs to take on a daily basis and I attended Siobhan’s clinic. Within 2 months I had a bright red regular period which I had never had before.
I eventually got my appointment in the fertility clinic in Dublin in November 2009. We had our first consultation with the fertility specialist in which he outlined our options mainly IVF. It felt like I was looking down a black hole. He gave us a date of the 12th of January 2010 to go back and have more blood tests done and to decide our form of treatment. During this time I continued to attend Siobhan for acupuncture and herbs. In November I noticed the egg white discharge that Siobhan had done so much talking about. Things were starting to look up.
On the 22nd of December 2009 I did a routine pregnancy test and was expecting the usual result- Negative. To my surprise it said pregnant not like all the others I had gathered up over the previous 2 and a half years. Because this was such a surprise and the fact I had received no treatment from the fertility clinic in Dublin. I waited to have it confirmed by my GP and to our delight he did that the next day. I continued to go to Siobhan for a while after I got pregnant and thank God I had a very happy healthy baby boy in August 2012.
As I stopped taking Clomid in June 2009 and had not received any treatment from the fertility clinic. It is my belief that herbs, Siobhan’s dietary advice, her experience as a midwife helped me get pregnant. In my opinion dream can come true with a little help from Siobhan Kehoe. I went back to see Siobhan when the baby was 7 weeks old for treatment on gallstones. I still have not had a period since having the baby. She did a session of acupuncture and gave me some herbs to take on a daily basis. 2 days later I got a very healthy period and have been pain free from gallstones since then.
Teresa Gregan, October 2010.