Acupuncture and all it has to offer!

I still have been doing acupuncture weekly.  It really is an amazing stress reliever and I feel confident that it has worked to calm my nerves while I anxiously await this next adventure in the not so traditional baby making world.  I am learning with every hurdle that I cross that I really am a nervous Nelly.  I used to be able to run away my stress and get lost in a 10 or 15 mile run but I don't really have that opportunity anymore.  My doctors have suggested that I not run and stick to more low impact exercise.  I still walk about 5 miles a few times a week but it does not compare to the "runners high"  I used to get.

Many people think I am crazy for doing acupuncture... I would too if you told me that some lady was going to stick about 30 needles in my body and tell meto lay still and quietly for about 45 minutes.  But hook line and sink I am totally sucked into it!  In fact I find acupuncture to be so relaxing that almost every time I fall asleep, even if I am not tired.

So what does it feel like??  I barely feel the needles on my head, face, ear, neck, shoulders, or sternum.  I do feel a little pinch on the hands, wrist, forearms, legs, shins, and top of my feet.  The needles that I hate most are the needles that she puts in my stomach.  They are right above my surgical incision from my abdominal cerclage so the skin there is still numb and it makes me squeamish a little.

Once she has all of the needles placed she turns the lights off and that is when the magic happens.  I've recently started to see colors within the first couple of minutes after she has all the needles placed... blue and white.  When I first started I would close my eyes and just see nothing... black.  But now when I close my eyes I have a flash of white or blue light that lasts for a few minutes.  Matt and I looked up what this means and its something to do with expression and feeling the highest chakra you can feel or see (ya.... I don't get it)

At first my body doesn't really feel anything but after probably 5 minutes I start to get a numb/tingling sensation.  Stronger in my legs and arms and some light pulse like sensations in my tummy.  The first time my body started to go numb it scared the shit out of me!  I thought I was paralyzed but per Jing it's just the "energy" flowing throughout my body.  

Recently (the past two sessions) I have had this feeling like something is pulling me.  It feels like when you are on a roller coaster or on something fast and you have a tugging/pulling sensation but your body is not actually moving.  It is soo weird and a few times I actually had to sit up to make the sensation go away but it came right back.  I am sure this is "energy" as well but it makes me realize that these needles are doing something (or maybe I am just crazy!).

Perhaps it is all hocus pocus but when I first started doing acupuncture I had taken an evaluation and much of my energy and qi were "unbalanced."  She then repeated the same test and I was much more balanced.

She uses this test to determine as well as how I am feeling that day where she will stick the needle in.  I am not sure if I will continue acupuncture after I get pregnant but I may do it for a while to hopefully curb my nausea.  With the two last pregnancies I got really really sick.  In the mean time I will continue going weekly so that I can calm down and relax as I wait, and wait, and wait!  Hopefully it will be here before I know it though!!