I have suffered from infertility for a long time. I had done an IVF that went really bad. I got 14 eggs, 6 mature that 5 of them arrested the next day. I had just one very bad quality embryo to transfer and of course no pregnancy. When I saw my doctor after this failed IVF he strongly recommended donor egg to me. I was devastated.
My Husband and I were overjoyed when we found out we were pregnant. After months of excited anticipation, our Daughter was born and our world changed forever. I always knew that I was put on this earth to be a Mother, and I loved every minute of it. Yet somewhere in the midst of sleepless nights, endless dirty diapers and shear exhaustion, I felt myself starting to dissipate. Every day I would drag myself out of bed, look in the mirror and not really recognize the person staring back at me.
In the summer of 2012, my husband and I embarked on the IVF journey; a potentially stressful experience, which is both expensive and emotional, with no guarantee of success. I had read positive research that supported acupuncture in combination with IVF. Because we were spending so much money on IVF, we wanted to do everything we could in our power to help make this work! Having tried acupuncture in the past, I wanted someone who was familiar with fertility issues. Since I was going to PCRM for my IVF treatment, I decided to meet with Dr.
"Dr Pentland quickly became "Spence" such is his easy-to-be-around manner. He clearly has a passion for helping couple's achieve their goals, and that is, the successful birth of a wee monkey. Or in my case, a not so wee monkey. His optimism and expertise made him an invaluable part of both my IVF and first trimester journeys."
- Mary-Jo Dionne
"My main goal when I approached Dr. Pentland for acupuncture treatment was to help me with anxiety and stress relief following up to and including my IVF procedure. Both of these goals were met. Dr. Pentland has a very sincere, caring manner that is both professional and respectful. I was very much at ease with Dr. Pentland and was particularly impressed with how familiar he was with the IVF procedure. I have no idea whether acupuncture helped medically the IVF procedure work, but I'm pregnant now and that's all I really care about. I would enthusiastically recommend Dr.
After being a long time Endometriosis sufferer since my late teens I came to grips about my infertility issues after two major abdominal surgeries within one year. My husband and I had been trying to concieve for over 2 years. After my second surgery I was referred to Dr. Pentland for treatment before and while we were undergoing IVF treatments at PCRM. If only I had met him years ago!! Not only did he help with pain, bloating, fatigue, anxiety, his patient and kind ear was a wonderful bonus.
Before I saw Dr. Pentland I was always a bit wary of chinese medicine mostly due to a lack of understanding. However, now I can honestly say that it was the best health care experience I have ever had. Dr. Pentland is a warm and intuitive person, but what I was most impressed by was his sound knowledge base which includes but is not limited to; nutrition, physiology, reproductive health, mental health and chinese interventions. I came to see him because I had decided to get pregnant and wanted to start the adventure on it's healthiest course. I had been off of an i.u.d.
After some time trying to conceive, I became concerned that my body was somehow subtly out of balance. According to western medical methods, everything was completely "normal", but I had an inkling that my IBS and the years I had spent overseas working in a stressful environment had taken a toll on my body.
Dr Spence, as I called him, made me feel really cared for. My husband and I went to see him because we wanted to find out why we were having early losses. He helped us develop a new approach that included thinking about our diet and relaxing so that the natural process of conceiving could take place.
We started treatment with him April 2011 and we are now very happy to expect our first child for May 2012 :)
It’s hard to believe I am actually writing this email...but we are really REALLY excited to share that we are expecting a baby!! After nearly three years of waiting and hoping and praying (along with some struggling and crying and pounding our heads against walls), L was finally able to pee on the stick and see a positive result! Best bathroom break EVER.
I have been a patient of Dr.Pentland's for the past 2 months. My weekly treatments are specific to lower back problems and infertility. These visits have been beneficial in helping me feel less stressed and more relaxed. I have noticed a dramatic decrease in my lower back pain with each visit. I have also noticed an increase in my libido since the start of my treatments. I would recommend acupuncture to anyone who wants to find balance in their bodies whether it's back pain or infertility. Thank you Dr.Pentland
E
When my partner and I decided to start on our journey of conception, we were excited about the prospect of having a child as well as the intimate, joyful process that goes along with making that happen. We trusted that nature would take its course and that we would be pregnant before we knew it.
My husband and I married when I was 33. We both knew we wanted to have a family, so we started trying right way. Having been on birth control pills for years, I found in the first year of trying that I had an irregular cycle. After a year of trying I went to my obstetrician for a fertility workup.
In 2005 after a failed IVF treatment and emotionally drained from struggling with infertility, I decided to try acupuncture along with my fertility treatments. I did not know anything about acupuncture but simply wanted to make sure I was covering all the bases. The thing I feared most was failure and I needed to know I had done all I could possibly do. What I did not expect was the profound impact acupuncture would have on me.
There’s a saying “it takes a village to raise a child”. In our case, it took a village to create a child. Well, maybe not a village, but a team of dedicated medical professionals who’s one goal was to help us create our child.
I came to Dr. Spence after having a stillborn baby in 2009. I never considered TCM or acupuncture before and didn’t even know that it would help me (and frankly was terrified of needles!). I only knew that I needed more that what my family doctor was offering, which was to get pregnant and “hope it doesn’t happen again.”
My baby making journey started after not getting pregnant for a year on my own without any contraception. I had always had a cycle that was erratic. When i mentioned this to my neighbour, she told me that she had sent two of her friends who were having the same problem to see Dr. Spence and within two months, they were both pregnant. I wanted to try something more natural and it didn't take long for me to call and book my first appointment.
My husband and I were trying to conceive for about 2 years until we discovered recently we had a baby on the way. We can't believe it! It still seems unreal that this is really happening, but it is and I am so grateful. I was 34 when we first started trying and after a year we met with a doctor and realized we had a male factor issue that involved the morphology and motility of my husband's sperm. We decided to try IVF-ICSI and I was trying to protect myself emotionally and think, "It's probably not going to work, but it might," which was completely the wrong way to go about things.
My husband and I had been casually trying to get pregnant for about a year. As part of a journey into more holistic living and alternative medicine, I researched more about how acupuncture could support my fertility and found the Acubalance Clinic and Spence Pentland. From our first consultation, I was immediately put at ease by Spence's calm and caring demeanor. He took the time to really get to know me and my situation and I truly looked forward to my acupuncture sessions every week.
I want to thank you so much for all your care and attention to my treatment, I know it has made a big difference, and in particular in the last few months, you are truly gifted in knowing what people need, and helping them see that. I am very excited to have had such a great response during this last transfer, as well, so is my Doctor, and he is confident we are on the right track and would like to continue. We have a number of things to consider and will take some time to mull everything over and get ready to take on our next challenges.
Wow, I’m not sure where to begin, I think the title alone says a lot. I just wish I had learned about Spence a lot sooner. I first learnt of Spence from a flyer in the waiting room of the IVF office in the fall of 2008. At the time I was only days away from retrieval. This was technically our 2nd attempt at IVF but the first one was 10 years prior, it took us that long to muster up the courage and strength (emotionally) to give IVF another try. In the meantime we had tried numerous alternative therapies with no success, and also taken time off to enjoy life too.
I would like to thank Spence for his stellar knowledge and support in my successful 'pregnancy achievement'. I am now 37 and 25 weeks happily pregnant with my first child. My partner and I had been trying to conceive for 5 months, when I visited the doctor, and started acupuncture. My feeling was that being 36, and never having been pregnant before, I needed a boost to help my fertility. I was starting to feel anxious, but hopeful that it wouldn't take too much help to get pregnant.
After a long and frustrating journey with infertility I am proud to announce that I am 14 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby! My husband and I recently had the pleasure to see our angel baby on ultrasound and we were amazed to see the beautiful result of our endurance and resilience. We would not be at this settled place without the help of Dr. Spence Pentland.
I was diagnosed with endometriosis after experiencing both bleeding and pain during intercourse. An ultrasound examination showed that I had a 10cm endometrioma on my right ovary and laparoscopic surgery was scheduled to follow. During surgery it was discovered that I had severe endometriosis affecting my ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix and bowel.
My husband (age 38) and I (age 36) tried to get pregnant for one year - which isn't that long, really, but when you want something badly, any amount of time can be frustrating. I know firsthand how much it sucks to get your period and then wait another month and so on...
He came very highly recommended to help deal with an fertility problem my wife and I were having and quickly morphed into a total body and mind experience. I felt so incredible after each treatment, I found myself looking forward to going back (which isn't how I usually feel about going to doctors). Amazingly, after just a few treatments, my wife and I got pregnant!! Even without that happening, I recommend Spence and Acubalance to everybody I know, being pregnant is the icing on the cake. Run, don't walk to see him.
Bill S. from Vancouver aged 33
My husband and I have just gone through an IVF cycle with an egg donor and we're now looking forward to an upcoming pregnancy test. Regardless of the outcome of that test, we are still a success story and we appreciate what Acubalance has done for us ...
Western medical science cannot solve my specific problem and I thought that Traditional Chinese Medicine was an esoteric last ditch effort in a fight against the unknown. Fortunately enough, I came into contact with Spence Pentland.
I received acupuncture in the late Spring of 2008 at your centre in an attempt to conceive my first child. I wanted to let all of the wonderful staff at Acubalance know that I successfully conceived in June and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in February 2009. Thank-you to all of the practioners at Acubalance for helping make my dream come true. In particular I would like to thank the staff that treated me in my journey, Alda, Raeghan, Spence and Ryan.
I write you hereby a short description of “our story”. I imagine every couple’s story will be different, but still, the doubts and disappointments must be there for everyone, and I would be most glad to encourage those who have lost faith.
I was only 3 days away from embryo transfer (IVF with donor egg) when my doctor discovered that my body was not reacting as he had hoped to the estrogen, therefore, the lining of my uterus was not as thick as it should be for implantation. He suggested I have acupuncture to bring more blood blow to my uterus, hoping to increase the lining. I found Spence on the internet and he knew exactly what to do. With only time for 2 treatments, we hoped for the best.
When my doctor scanned my uterus, he said my lining had improved by 75-100%!
LG
After a long time of trying to get pregnant I was feeling pretty frustrated and hopeless. I was already seeing a fertility specialist at Genesis and doing what I thought was everything I could to better improve my chances. Due to my husband and mines situation we were doing artificial insemination to try and achieve a pregnancy. After about 6 months of unsuccessful artificial inseminations I was trying to remain optimistic but it was getting harder and harder to put on a happy face around my family and friends. I was feeling like a failure and it was really hard emotionally.
I had been through one complete IVF failure: 24 eggs, but nothing to freeze, and no pregnancy. I decided to use acupuncture to support the second attempt at IVF. My husband and I had both felt something was missing from the first treatment, even before we knew it had failed. I am now in the late stages of pregnancy, carrying a set of what appears to be very robust, healthy twins, from two implanted embryos. I also have eighteen great quality embryos in storage, a complete turnaround from the first procedure, after a change of IVF clinic too.
Dear Spence & Alda, After a long difficult journey including several unsuccessful IVF attempts, I was beginning to believe that I could never become pregnant. When a friend recommended Acubalance we had already decided that this IVF cycle would be the last but that I would do anything to increase my chance of success.
I did not anticipate the profound effect of acupuncture on my sense of well-being and on my emotional, psychological and physical state. The teatment enabled me to find my balance again.
My husband and I started trying to conceive in January of 2006. Because of my having PCOS, we had already seen an infertility specialist at Genesis. I wasn’t ovulating as I hadn’t had a natural period in over a decade. My doctor started me on clomid right away. After about six months of trying and having no success, I heard of Acubalance through a friend. I decided to give it a try and met with Spence. Aside from receiving the acupuncture treatments, it was really nice to be able to discuss my infertility frustrations with someone so knowledgeable.
My infertility nightmare started almost 3 years ago when my husband and I started trying to conceive, I was 36 at the time. After 7 months I became pregnant but unfortunately lost the pregnancy at 6 weeks. The months following my miscarriage are a very black time in my life. I grieved our loss and became increasingly depressed due to our inability to conceive and maintain a pregnancy. (I had chemical pregnancies following the first miscarriage).
Here is my story. I couldn't have done it without Acubalance. right from day one, Spence and I had a connection. He made me feel important and cared. My simple quest was to battle infertility. My husband and I never felt alone in our fight! Ultimately, that feeling of being cared for relaxed both of us and, to a large degree, allowed us to concentrate on ensuring a successful outcome to our treatment. We never doubted that we were getting the very best care that we could hope for.
After two early miscarriages and almost two years of trying for a successful pregnancy with no identifiable reason for our troubles, we decided to look into IVF and happened to come across the website for Spence. I decided to try acupuncture and herbal teas as way of preparing for IVF. I enjoyed my weekly treatments, in part for the opportunity to simply relax and take some time for myself. After all the frustration and disappointment of the previous two years, it was nice to have hope again and a sense of well being from taking care of myself.
After my wife and I tried unsuccessfully to conceive for two years, we were faced with the daunting prospect of finding out "why"? Through a series of tests it was determined that my sperm morphology was a likely culprit. Thus began my adventure with Spence Pentland.
The idea that my sperm were somewhat dysfunctional was a thought that had never occurred to me. I admit that I did not handle the news all that well. In particular, I remember two disheartening sessions with a urologist who made me feel quite inadequate. The medical prognosis was non-existent. In other words, hard luck!
