Fertility Journal: the beginning
Happy Easter! I absolutely love the springtime. I’m a total sucker for the sweetness of Easter bonnets, pastel colors, bunnies, and the symbolism of rebirth.
Spring season begins the creative cycle, it is associated with fertility and the awakening of new life. In the days of coronavirus and shelter in place, I’ve been aching to find ways to creatively express myself and missing deep connection with others in the community. As I sit with these aches, I always come back to this question, how do I contribute to the wellbeing of others while also caring for myself during this time?
I meditated, reflected, talked to my circle of people and a clear idea emerged. It was right in front of my face, as most ideas are, it just takes a sister asking, AH yah, why haven’t you done this already?
I felt so lit up with inspiration and I’ve been riding it ever since.
SO here goes 🌸 I want to share my personal fertility journal. 🌸
Behind the scenes, I’ve been preparing for pregnancy. That may seem extra to some of you and commonplace to others. To me, it’s about fully embracing where I am in my life with conscious awareness and about contributing what is real for me in the hopes of supporting others. It’s also about practicing the medicine that I study, aspire to and prescribe because I can’t expect clients I work with to take these steps if I haven’t done it myself.
Also, I don’t mean that we’re pregnant right now. I mean the journey of preparing my body, mind and spirit to become pregnant. In many cultures, and often most notably in Asian cultures, women begin preparing for the coming of a child early on in menarche by following culture specific lifestyle and nutritional suggestions, usually overseen by moms and aunties. I’ll be drawing a lot from Chinese medicine’s fertility practices but also looking at traditional practices from the cultures of which I descended in Western Europe.
In American culture and Western medicine, as far as I have seen, preparing to get pregnant isn’t really focused on other than increasing vitamins and supplements. It seems like fertility is either a problem or it’s not, there‘s not a whole lot of forethought. I imagine that other women are in similar places in their life, who feel that becoming a mom is in their future and want to know how to take care of themselves in a way that supports their options when they are ready. I know it is a privilege to do this work in preparation and I hope making information about it more widely available creates accessibility.
I want to share all the work that I am already doing and will continue to do. It’s work that provides me a sense of purpose. That includes pondering, during this world pandemic, if bringing a child into the world is responsible or fair, it includes what I’m eating, what I’m practicing and what I’m reading from all the aspects of life that matter when you are making a baby: relationships, nutrition, physical health, spiritual health and emotional wellbeing.
This journal is meant to uplift, nurture and creatively nourish myself and others. It is meant as soul food, to share myself in an authentic and raw way, to open up a conversation and to be in community. It’s not meant to shame, blame or make light of all that is happening in our world or the birth world. These are not light times and I don’t want you to misconstrue my intentions. Please take what is useful to you and leave the rest.
As an acupuncturist, if you come to see me or another acupuncturist for fertility, depending on if there is a pre-existing condition, you will most likely be asked to work together over the course of 6 months. I’ll go more into why that is and what is done during those six months in later posts. I’m experimenting with 6-month time frame of sharing, which feels like a perfect amount of time to bring more focus to the preparation work.
I’ll be posting here and my blog. If you would like to follow along with me, awesome, and feel free to share this with anyone who is interested in supporting their fertility, first-time moms or not. And these principles are all about building health and vitality so they’re great for anyone at any point in life. You can follow along here or sign up for my email list (link in bio ~ you’ll also get a free gift!) to receive my monthly newsletter.
Lastly, there are no guarantees in life. I try and practice the Buddhist philosophy of non-attachment as much as possible. I could do this preparation and life simply doesn’t take hold. That’s a vulnerability I’m willing to take and Tim, my partner is in full support. I want to accentuate here that I am doing this for the love and care of my own body, heart and spirit not to have a perfect journey but to be completely and lovingly present in my own journey to motherhood, whatever that may look like.
I hope you take pleasure in what I bring forth and that there is something there for you. Please always feel free to share with me your own path in preparing for pregnancy or beyond. This is meant as a community safe space.
I’ll be back with the first theme soon. Thank you for your open-mindedness and support. 💗
Jessica Wakeman, L.Ac, CCHT, is an acupuncturist, herbalist and certified clinical hypnotherapist. She is an all around explorer of wellness practices and wisdom traditions.
To learn more about her, visit KinMedicine.com and join her on Facebook or Instagram. You can also sign up for her newsletter to receive new posts and upcoming events.
