Special warning: this post may contain information about periods and such that may make some quesy. If you are sensitive to such information, please don’t read on.
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Back when we were originally having trouble getting pregnant with our first child, we suspected it was from halachic infertility. We received a lot of advice which ranged from sort of helpful to pretty useless.
A lot of people suggested taking ibuprofen with Vitamin C to shorten my periods, or eating more meat. Some suggested wearing only tampons (which to me seemed to have the opposite desired effect). People suggested I daven harder. Which I’m sure was coming from a good place but only made me roll my eyes. Clearly, they didn’t see me davening as much as I could.
I even got really desperate and called several big Rabbis who pretty much gave me the aforementioned advice again. But the best was calling a major Rabbi and getting advice to “just get IVF and after that, you’ll be fine and should be able to get pregnant on your own”. I wasn’t about to spend $20,000 and inject myself with tons of hormones just because I wasn’t able to go to the mikvah a few days earlier.
Someone very special gave me the best advice that helped solve my problem and I really hope will help someone else out there too. Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, founder and director of Midreshet B’erot Bat Ayin in Israel, suggested chaste berries or vitex, which helps regulate your period. But she said that you have to take it for about 3 months until it will really work.
And whenever you have your period, on the 2nd day (end of 2nd day, beginning of 3rd) until the end of your period, you should drink tea that contains shepherd’s purse.
She also gave me other personal advice, which I won’t share here. But she is someone who is very easy to talk to and also offers something called emunah healing, which may or may not help you. For more info please contact her via http://www.berotbatayin.org/contact/
Last but not least, drink red raspberry leaf tea which is in Third Trimester Tea (see ingredients here). I don’t remember who gave me this advice, but it seemed to work the best for me. According to Dr. Google, it works as a tonic for the uterus, and can significantly shorten your period.
Also, consider asking your OB/GYN about prescribing femara. While we were having trouble with halachic infertility, my doctor prescribed this and I think it did help me to finally get pregnant.
I remember my doctor saying that maybe it would push my ovulation to later, but I honestly cannot begin to describe why this works. Prescriptions can be very expensive and the cost can vary widely depending on its location. I would suggest looking at healthwarehouse.com, as they have the best pricing according to Consumer Reports.
My hope is that this information will help someone else out there going through the same. Please share in any infertility groups you are apart of or with any friends who may benefit from it. Above all, keep asking and searching for help. Please, don’t get discouraged. Just keep on moving on and all you can really do is try your best to find answers.
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