Visiting a new doctor for the first time can be nerve-wracking.  To ease anxiety and stress, we make it simple to get started on the path to healing.

At Indigo Healing Acupuncture, we offer consultation appointments to...

• Meet Dr. Michelle Wendt, L.Ac., DACM one-on-one
• Ensure you feel comfortable in the clinic space
• Discuss your condition(s) and review your medical history
• Establish a Chinese Medicine diagnosis
• Discuss a customized holistic treatment plan, which may include...
  • Acupuncture
  • Laser Acupuncture
  • Moxibustion
  • Traditional Fire Cupping
  • Gua Sha
  • Chinese Herbs
  • Supplements
  • Nutrition
  • Exercise
• Answer questions you have about your customized treatment plan

Consultations generally take less than 20 minutes. You'll be asked at the conclusion of the consultation if you would like to start the treatment plan right away.  You also have the option to schedule your first treatment at a later date.  

​To schedule a consultation, contact the clinic at 512-686-0777.

Getting pregnant doesn't have to break your budget! If you have $10 per week, here's how you can use it to increase your odds of a healthy pregnancy within three months.

Here are 8 fertility tools that cost less than $10 a week over the course of three months:

1. Basal Body Temperature Thermometer: The first step to accurately tracking your fertility cycle is to record your waking body temperature under your tongue at the same time every morning before getting out of bed.  This special type of thermometer records temperature to the 10th of a degree, which is extremely important when trying to conceive. 
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2. High-Quality Prenatal Vitamins: Prenatal vitamins are important because so much happens magic occurs inside an embryo before a positive pregnancy test (typically around 4-5 weeks pregnant).  Within the first 3 weeks of pregnancy, the embryo is busy building a spinal cord, brain, eyes, heart, digestive tract, liver and face!  Your little baby will draw upon mama's stores of vitamins and minerals, but needs more!  When selecting a prenatal vitamin, talk to a health care professional (doctor or acupuncturist) to make sure you're buying the best available for your specific needs.  My favorite professional-quality brands are Thorne and Innate Response. Contact Michelle to order online. 

3. Fertility-Friendly Lubricant: If you use a lubricant, make sure it's fertility-friendly and sperm-safe. I usually recommend BabyDance because it's available at most major retailers including Amazon.

4. Fertile Living Library: Follow this link to access free fertility resources from fertility acupuncturist Heidi Brockmyre:

•  Fertility Supplement Guide
• Fertility Quiz + Solutions Guide
• Top 5 IVF Tips
• Top 5 Tips to Boost Fertility over 40
• Top 5 Fertility Food
• Top 5 Tips to Support Pregnancy
• Natural Prep for IVF Success E-Book
• Guided Audio Relaxations, including Call in Your Baby
• Videos, including Introductory Fertility Self-Acupressure

6. BBT Chart: A Google search will reveal lots of free printable BBT Chart templates or there are several fertility apps that can capture temps to produce a chart. Choose what works for you! Here's a printable PDF from BabyCenter to get you started. 

7. Warm Socks: Simply put, Warm Feet = Warm Uterus. Wear socks in every season!

​8.  Reference Books: Learn all about fertility with these two tomes of knowledge:

• Making Babies by Sami David, MD and Jill Blakeway, L.Ac.
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler

At only $10 a week, these tools can help you achieve a healthy pregnancy! Sending you lots of baby dust! 

​Do you have a sweet tooth? 
​Are after-dinner desserts sabotaging your waistline?
Do you want to stop smoking or drinking?
Are you seeking quick relief from anxious thoughts?
​
​Herbal medicine has a solution!

Sweet Change is a mouth spray that stops sugar cravings.  3-6 sprays three times a day is all it takes. 
It also calms the mind from anxious thoughts, which can help quit smoking and reduce alcohol consumption. 

​What more could you ask for?

Oh yeah, it's compliant with keto, paleo, and whole 30 plans. 

This magic potion contains these herbs:
​
Gymnema sylvestre (known as The Sugar Destroyer) has been used traditionally in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries.

• Helps abolish the taste of sugar 
• Helps manage sugar cravings and addictions
• Helps manage intestinal absorption of glucose
• Helps support healthy blood sugar & glucose metabolism
• Helps maintain healthy weight

Ku Gua 

• Helps reduce the amount of glucose released into the blood

Zhi Ju Zi 

• Helps eliminate withdrawal symptoms
• Natural liver detoxifier

Pei Lan 

• Supports digestion

Shi Chang Pu 

• Calms mind
• Clears brain fog

Contact Michelle to order Sweet Change.

It's undeniably tempting to self-educate & research the latest ways to get pregnant.  Unfortunately, it often leads to wasting money on supplements, herbs, fertility teas, and technology that don't deliver a big fat positive (BFP).

Wasting money & hope can make the whole process of TTC  even more overwhelming and  frustrating.

So, here is my advice if you have been trying to get pregnant and don't know what to try/buy next. 

Ask for help from a professional fertility expert.
It is a small investment that will save you time, money, and tears.

Here is my 3 step plan to getting pregnant on a budget:

1.  Commit to the journey:  There is no quick fix to establishing a fertile environment and it's easy to forget there are two sides to fertility story:

• It takes a minimum of 3 months (90 days) for a female to develop & produce an egg (oocyte). 
• It takes a minimum of 2.5 months (76 days) for a male to produce a sperm cell.  

2.  Commit to a plan: If you thought committing to at least a 3 month journey sounded challenging,        this step is even more daunting, but much better for your wallet. Committing to a plan requires saying a firm "no" to that herb/tea/supplement you just read about on a fertility forum. Stop throwing money away by buying every supplement you hear about. Those $20 teas and bottles of herbs purchased by impulse shopping can add up fast!

3.  Commit to a budget:  Before you start shopping, commit to a budget that works for you.  You can always revamp it if your financial situation changes.  The most important thing is to stick to your budget, because the added stress of finances can push you over the edge when you're TTC.

Here are some examples of how far your budget goes on a professionally designed fertility plan:

​Please leave comments or reach out to Michelle if you need help designing a natural fertility plan that works for you & your wallet. Specific products used in this estimate are listed after the "Read More" jump.

Sending prosperity and baby dust your way! 
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• Did you take a vitamin or supplement today? 
• Where did it come from?
• Are you sure you know what was in it?

It can be tempting to use the internet (eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, etc.) to save a few bucks on vitamins & supplements. The capsules & pills look the same so they must be the same, right? Absolutely not!  
 
There are 3 things to know before you pop pills purchased on the internet:

1. They may be fake: not contain any of the advertised ingredient
2. They may be expired: old products repackaged as new
3. They may be contaminated: unsafe handling leading to contamination or blatant tampering with ingredients

A 2013 research study used DNA analysis to identify the ingredients of 44 herbal supplements and 1 out of 3 of the supplements did not contain the advertised main ingredient! The supplements tested were brands available for purchase in supermarkets, health food stores, and pharmacies in Canada and the US. 
 
A 2015 investigation by the Attorney General of New York found 4 out of 5 supplements purchased off the shelf from big box stores did not contain the advertised ingredient and even worse contained substances like sawdust, powdered vegetables, wheat, rice, and even powdered houseplants! 
 
I urge all of my patients, family and friends to purchase vitamins and supplements from trusted sources. My definition of a trusted source is a seller that you can contact easily and will accept returns of a questionable product (i.e. safety seal broken, unusual odor/color/taste, unusual reaction to taking the supplement).  Licensed healthcare practitioners often carry high-quality brands that are not available for public sale... these are the brands I trust for my own family.
 
Know this: High-quality vitamins & supplements always cost more because they contain high-quality, verifiable real ingredients without cheap fillers. 
 
You may think popping vitamins & supplements everyday will improve your health, but if they are counterfeit, fake, mislabeled, expired, or contaminated they are most likely causing harm to you now and damaging your long-term health.