For the past 16 months my husband and I have been trying to create a wonderful little baby and have yet to succeed. In the first month I went to the grocery store and purchased Pre-Natal vitamins, and Omega 3's to prepare my body for a healthy pregnancy. I thought to myself, I shouldn't have any issues with getting pregnant, I've been healthy all my life. I started charting my body temperature, cervical fluid and cervical height, I learned from "Taking Charge of your Fertility," by Toni Weschler. After the 5th month of trying, I thought to myself, maybe I should set up an appointment with an OBGYN just to establish a relationship and make sure I'm preparing my body appropriately. The appt. went well, she gave me thumbs up to my vitamins and sent me on my way. After about 2 more months my body started to change. My menstrual cycles were getting longer, my breasts were more tender and cramping wasn't around the normal start of the menstrual cycle day. I was having cramping mid-cycle which had not happened before. I made another appt. with the OBGYN to discuss this and she thought that because I was starting to pay attention to my cycle I just hadn't noticed these things before. I love answers like that....ARGG! I explained to her that I have always been aware of my body because I understand that's the importance to health, listening to it! She said she'd like to run some hormone tests and sent me to the lab.... Well after taking my hormone tests on day 7, 14,and 21 they found nothing wrong with me. My hormone levels are completely normal... She said the next process to find out why you are not getting pregnant was to perform and HSG, (Hystertosalpingogram) which is a procedure where they shoot dye into your uterus to see if your fallopian tubes are open. She asked that I wait a few more months, relax, try not to think about getting pregnant, and then come back. In the meantime, I'd done a tremendous amount of reading about HSG's and what to expect. I read that it could enhance your fertility because it could clear anything that might have been in the way, I read about other women's mildly painful and not so painful experiences and I also read that the test is inconclusive because your fallopian tubes could spasm. All in all, I expected it to be uneventful. I scheduled my appt. after a few more months. They took me to a big room with large machines. While my OBGYN was preparing the x-ray tech. said to my doctor, "you know if you're going to start doing these procedures more we really need your pager number." I thought to myself, GREAT, it must have been a long time since my doctor's performed a procedure like this, CRAP, am I in the right hands? In the beginning of the procedure it felt like I was having pretty severe menstrual cramps, then the pain built and I went into another world, I was breathing very heavy and screaming so the entire x-ray floor could hear me....not pretty. My husband said he almost got sick because I was in so much pain and he couldn't do anything for me. The worst part was I couldn't move because they had to take pictures of my abdomen. It was the most painful experience I've ever had. The dye did not go through my fallopian tubes, so she asked me to come back w/in 24 hours to see if any dye spilled through into my abdomen and they'd take an x-ray. In the x-ray there was no dye. I was crushed, sad, confused, hopeless, and also doubting the test was true. I felt my doctor's lack of experience in performing this test could have been why I was in so much pain. My husband and I had some very long talks and decided it was time to make an appt. with a Fertility Clinic. So, we made our appt. and I was poked and prodded some more, the dr. wanted to make sure I had enough eggs, which I do... I'm safe! What he said to me is he's not sure what the issue may be, it could be endometriosis and or blocked fallopian tubes. He said he'd like me to come back in a week or so and run a few more test, then schedule me for laparoscopic surgery to explore my uterus and abdomen. I felt at that point I was his next test experiment, I felt unheard, and sickened by it all. At that point, I had shared my experience with a dear friend of mine and she strongly suggested I listen to my intuition and consider taking the "whole body and mind approach." She said the power of the two are incredible. So... I did, I started listening to my body more. I started acupuncture once a week, meditating and simply listening to my intuition. I felt very obsessed and crazy from my experience with Western medicine, and I needed to let go of this. I'd read about more natural remedies to clearing fallopian tubes, and there are very few. I found this site called www.clearpassage.com and it sounded amazing. I had a phone interview with the founder and the method and felt as if this is the type of care I'd been looking for this whole time. I'd read a few things they do while your there, such as craniosacral therapy and the connection to the mind and body. So I decided to see who in my local community I could receive similar care from. I found a Craniosacral therapist located in Crown Hill, her name Ursula Popp. She's AMAZING, I can't say enough about her after seeing her for almost 6 months now. She's absolutely changed my life. I've cried with her, explored all the deepness in sexual and relationship health, she's helped me change my relationship with my mother, brother and more. Most of all she's helped me to see how much I love my husband more than anything. I also did some reading about abdominal massage to improve pain and reproductive health. I found the "Tummy Temple" where Marty Ryan is certified in Mayan abdominal massage. He also is an amazing person, with wonderfully warm, positive energy. He listens to me and provides me so much strength and confidence. After a few months of receiving their care my mid-cycle and menstrual cramping was almost gone. After a few more months of receiving their care, I thought that it might be interesting to see a Naturopath/Homeopath. I again, did more research and found Dr. Hannah Albert at her own practice called the Fertile Ground. I felt I had met someone that wanted to team up with me, rather than treat me like her next experiment. She listens, she's intrigued and enthusiastic about all the possibilities of becoming a healthier person. Her and I have been taking my body through a process that I feel only makes me more prepared and stronger to have a child. I also was given a wonderful book called, The Spirit Baby by Walter Makichen. This book gave me a whole new perspective to the spirit of a child, it made me relax, strengthen my meditation and to simplyslow down. Through this entire process I've not only become an expert in my own situation, but it's changed my life. I've become more connected to welcoming a child, I've become more aware of what may not have been welcoming to a child, i.e. my personal baggage. I've realized that a child is a gift and they will come in their own time, this whole process is really out of my control. All in all I've become a better person, and I thank my body everyday for giving me this challenge.