Read our story on how we fell pregnant in the first month of trying while taking herbs.
We had been trying to conceive our first child for almost one year without success when I went to my GP to order blood tests to see if there was anything wrong. Everything came back clear and I was sent away and told to ‘relax’ and come back in another year, if nothing had happened by then.
While I completely understand a GP’s reluctance to put someone on medication or send them for fertility treatment, this was frustrating to hear. Two years is a very long time to ‘wait and see’ when you are in your 30s and conscious of the various risks that are associated with having children later in in life.
A couple of months later a friend mentioned Siobhan Kehoe, who came highly recommended for couples seeking assistance with trying to conceive. I made an appointment with Siobhan and liked her practical and down to earth approach straight away. Her background as a midwife was also very reassuring, as were the various testimonials from other people she had successfully treated.
In our first meeting, Siobhan asked me various questions about my cycle and diagnosed my clotty, painful periods. She said the first priority was to improve my cycle and go from a clotty period with dark blood, to a bright red bleed and minimal pain. Siobhan also recommended that I see a Nutritionist and that I should cut out wheat, dairy, sugar and alcohol from my diet. She gave me a number of books which I really found useful, especially Emma Cannon’s fertility book. She also recommended that I throw away the ovulation predictors that I been using as they were only exacerbating my tendency to over analyse. Finally, she recommended that I start a course of herbs, to be taken twice a day in liquid form as well as supplements, including spirulina and barley grass. Each time I went to see her, I had acupuncture as well.
I took all the advice on board and took the herbs, changed my diet and tried to accept that whatever would be, would be. We did not actively try to conceive that first month. I was surprised when my period arrived that month without the cramps I had become used to. The second month improved again, with fewer cramps, clots and a bright red flow. I tested that month and was surprised and delighted to find I was pregnant – our first month of trying and not an ovulation predictor in sight!
I saw Siobhan a number of times during the pregnancy, especially during the critical first 12 weeks and she prescribed different herbs and treatments for the slight nausea I experienced around weeks 8 – 12, which were all helpful.
I went on to have a healthy and relatively easy pregnancy, which I actually really enjoyed. I was very strict on diet and exercise and gained minimal weight (I was slightly overweight when I conceived), practiced a lot of yoga and generally enjoyed the pregnancy.
Two weeks ago, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy who arrived weighing 7lbs 8oz. Needless to say, we are over the moon.
I know for a fact that Siobhan’s treatment and advice was the key intervention that helped us to conceive and I’ve no doubt I will continue to see her in the future.
I would recommend her very highly for anyone who wants to maximise their chances of conceiving naturally.
Martina (34),
Dublin