Tag Archives: essential oil

The Waiting Game.

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It seems like this infertility journey is primarily one of waiting.  We wait to ovulate. We wait to test. We wait to stimulate. We wait to suppress. We wait for phone calls. We wait for lab orders. We wait for lab results.   And we wait for a baby. I’ve been waiting 502 days, 75.5 weeks. 17 months, and 12 cycles to have a baby.  Put like that, it isn’t so bad, but it feels interminable. Today, I’m just waiting for the bleeding to begin.

My hCG level on Monday was 120, down from 410 on Friday.  In case there was any doubt, this pregnancy is not viable.  My doctor calls herself an interventionist, but in this situation she recommends I wait for the bleeding to start on its own, given that my body has already started the process.

The problem with that? No blood, no spotting, and a cervix shut tight.  There is absolutely no movement towards a natural miscarriage. Any signs of forward momentum ceased well over 24 hours ago, with the worst of it on Sunday.  By “the worst of it” I am referring to a scant show of blood on a pantyliner. It has been 36 hours since my last injection of progesterone.  Surely things have to begin soon, right?

To that end, I’ve done some googling.  Burdock root, dandelion root, parsley, ginger, sage, and rosemary can all help to hasten along the process when steeped as a tea. However, that sounds awful.  My bet is that it would not taste as bad as my cleanse smoothie, but would be about as bad as the many iterations of Chinese herbs I’ve consumed.  It is hot here in the desert.  Perhaps I should ice it and chug it after my workout.

Additionally, angelica, chamomile, cinnamon, clary sage, basil, ginger, jasmine, juniper, myrrh, peppermint, rose, rosemary, fennel and marjoram essential oils are also known emmenagogues.  That doesn’t sound as bad.  I may even smell nice.

Alternatively, I could wait until I have an appointment with my new RE tomorrow.  I’m hoping he will confirm the diagnosis and prescribe some misoprostol so I can stop waiting and move forward. I hate, loathe, detest, abhor, despise waiting.

Miscarriage Aromatherapy.

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The pregnancy market in the US is monstrous.  Over 20 billion in sales, if not more (not including the healthcare market).  This includes all the different clothes, gadgets, supplements, foods, books, and personal care products marketed specifically to pregnant women.  If you type “pregnancy” into Amazon’s search engine you receive 42,320 results falling into the categories of books, movies, Kindle, health and personal care, clothing, magazine, apps, and more.

I wonder what the size of the miscarriage market is? An estimated 1 out of 4 women experience miscarriage.  This does not take into consideration the male partner, either.  Yet, an Amazon search returns  only 1,454 products, the majority of which are books.  This is surprising and not surprising.  It is surprising because the American market jumps on the prospect of selling almost anything, regardless of taste, and the market for miscarriage is vast.

Our souls? On sale at Wal-Mart.

It isn’t surprising because miscarriage is often an experience shrouded in silence.  An experience that is shushed, quieted, toned down.  So many women have stories of others minimizing their emotions, or of their inability to process and express their grief.  It is a grief that often goes ignored and unacknowledged.

As for that miscarriage market, well, for these reasons it just doesn’t exist.

When I miscarried I turned to several sources of comfort, one of which is aromatherapy.  I first started using aromatherapy after a casual suggestion by my therapist as a way to cope with anxiety.  I ambled down to my local apothecary and started sniffing the essential oils.  Two stood out for me on that trip, mandarin and sandalwood, and an obsession was born.  I now own countless aromatherapy books, products, and essential oils.  I think my consumption of aromatherapy constitutes at least a quarter of the American market.

As one can guess, there are a variety of companies marketing pregnancy essential oil blends for a variety of aches and ailments.  Sadly, none of them have produced aromatherapeutic products for women that are currently are or have experienced a miscarriage.  I then turned to the countless number of aromatherapy books on my shelves, and there weren’t many sources within the texts either.  There was one exception in The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy.  Worwood provides one aromatherapy miscarriage blend for women.  I cross-referenced the essential oils with additional essential oils that assist with female hormonal balance, as well as grief and pain.  I created the following blend and I thought I would share it in case anyone out there is looking for just this thing.

Miscarriage Aromatherapy Blend:

Grapefruit – 12 drops

Roman Chamomile – 7 drops

Geranium – 5 drops

Rose – 5 drops

Clary Sage – 3 drops

Sandalwood – 8 drops

Place essential oils in 2 oz glass bottle.  Swirl and sniff.  Add drops to suit your taste.  Fill bottle with a carrier oil such as jojoba oil or sweet almond oil.  Use as a bath, body, or massage oil.  When making a bottle of body oil, I aim for 20-30 drops per ounce.

Alternatively, alter proportions to equal approximately 30 drops total.  Place oil in perfume rollerball and fill with carrier oil.  Apply to palms and pulse points as needed.  The proportion of oil to perfume is equivalent to an Eau de Parfum.

This blend is just an outline.  The proportions can be altered to suit your taste.  To do so, start with just 3 drops of each oil.  Sniff and adjust until you have reached the appropriate amount of drops.  Hint: Roman Chamomile and Geranium both have a strong odor that will be prevalent in the blend. Less may be more.

Aromatherapy supplies can be purchased online from Mountain Rose Herbs,  Ananda Apothecary, at your natural goods grocery store, or your local apothecary.

Breathe. Settle. Release.