Trying to be the queen bee

Over my two years of trying to conceive I have been adding more supplements, vitamins and herbs as the months pass.  Some have been the advice of my acupuncturist, some have been touted by other bloggers and I just had to try them.  Some were recommended by people who have gotten pregnant while taking the particular supplement so of course, I had to try it too.

It all started very innocently with a prenatal vitamin and a one-a-day energy multivitamin.  When I got pregnant my doc had me ditch the one-a-day because of the B12, gave me a prescription prenatal vitamin and added extra folic acid.  After the miscarriage I carried on with the prenatal and folic acid.  Somehow my morning and evening ritual now involves 11 pill bottles and 1 elixir for a grand total of 68 pills a day!

That's a little excessive, eh?  Thank God I got a pill holder.  Seriously, I was so excited the day we bought one large enough to divide my pills into morning and evening, as well as have enough room for J Bird's morning and evening pills.

So from left to right:

The first two are Chinese herbs- I can tell you the name but I really don't know what the hell they are! I put full faith in my acupuncturist.
Fertilaid- I bought this a few months ago but then realized I can't take it with Clomid.  I started taking it this month and it's a multivitamin, but it's supposed to also help regulate ovulation and increase cervical mucus.
Pycnogenol- Reduces inflammation due to endometriosis.  There have been studies that compared Lupron and Pycnogenol. Pynogenol has been found to decrease endometriosis symptoms as Lupron does, but does not create menopause-like symptoms.
Spirulina-high quality protein, also includes vitamins, minerals and may help improve egg quality.
Coq10 (Coenzyme10)- includes antioxidant and anti-aging properties
Fish Oil- omega 3 fatty acids and helps prevent painful periods
Prenatal Vitamin
Evening Primrose Oil (EVPO)-I take 2 pills a day to help with cervical mucus and to decrease painful periods
Folic Acid- I take this just in case I get pregnant because it helps to develop the brain and spinal cord.
Royal Jelly- Improves quality and quantity of eggs.  Ordinary bees that live on royal jelly become queen bees laying 1000's of eggs daily. I'm trying to become a queen bee :)
Vitex Elixir- I started taking Vitex this month in place of Clomid.  It's supposed to take a few months to kick in, but I am pretty sure I ovulated this month.  The elixir contains chaste tree berry and red raspberry leaf which support the luteal phase.

The left hand contains my morning pills and the right contains my evening pills.  The small balls are the chinese herbs.

Every month I tweek the supplements a little bit, depending on the acupuncturist, what drugs the doctor is giving me or whatever I think is going to make a good balance.