Guest Post – Getting Pregnant Naturally (Thanks GAPS!)

My friend Celia sent me this post. Such an exciting victory for her and so inspirational I had to share. Here we go…

When my husband and I first decided it was time to start a family I really didn’t know what to expect.  My husband, though, did…”oh, honey, we’ll be pregnant in a few months…it will be easy.” 

Six months and still no pregnancy. I started to feel like it wouldn’t be so easy after all and wondered why I’d spent 13 years on birth control pills and was that the cause of our infertility (I did stop taking them a full year before we started officially trying)?  Deciding to get serious I armed myself with a thermometer, charting paper, and more knowledge about cervical mucus than anyone really needs to know. I became very focused. When that didn’t work I consulted an herbalist, the internet, ate maca root (YUCK!!!!!), did acupuncture and finally went to see an infertility doctor.  The infertility doctor tested for blockages; none.  He tested my husband’s swim team; swimming just fine. 

He then did an ultra sound and mentioned something called PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) , which is a common cause of infertility in women.  Not really liking his diagnosis I left the office and did nothing for a few months. Then one day I found myself doubled over in pain so intense that I passed out in the doctor’s office.  Whisked away to the ER I went.  Upon arrival I underwent a series of tests until they found internal bleeding.  I had a ruptured ovarian cyst.  Ah, yes, the PCOS…lucky for us a very nice gynecologist was on call that night and he became our new infertility doctor.  I gave in too.  I accepted the PCOS diagnosis and we went down the road of clomid plus HCG shot and in our second cycle we got pregnant.  A happy ending, right?  Well, yes, our son is fabulous, but I still felt like my body had seriously let me down.  For years I’d followed a nourishing diet based in the Weston A. Price principals.  Why was this happening to us?  What was wrong with my body?

Fast-forward three years and I was still wondering.  My husband and I hadn’t used any birth control since the birth of our son (aside from having a co-sleeping, breastfeeding toddler in our bed;-) and we weren’t pregnant with number 2.   I was also dealing with irritable bowel issues.  A friend, Laura, suggested I try the GAPS diet.  Eager for the promise of no more carb cravings and no more diarrhea I went full steam ahead onto the intro GAPS diet.  WOWZERS, that was tough and I certainly detoxed hard!  But after two weeks on the intro I moved onto the full GAPS diet and felt great.  Two months into the diet we got pregnant!  NATURALLY!  A SURPRISE!  Yes, my body could do it without drugs and doctors!

While on the GAPS diet (and through some cheating) I learned that I am sensitive to eggs, tomatoes, gluten, and canola oil.  I’ve slowly come off the diet; though still eat in a very GAPS-ish way.  Today I’m 16 weeks pregnant!  I truly believe GAPS is the reason we were able to get pregnant naturally.  It allowed me to identify foods that my body can’t handle and helped me detox so my body was ready for a health pregnancy.