Why Wheatgrass

One of my late-stage Egg Boot Camp elements is Wheatgrass shots. Foamy, bright green, tastes-like-fresh-spring-at-first-and-then-coats-your-mouth-with-earthy-bitterness liquid. That on average costs about $2.70-$3.00 an ounce depending on where you get it. It starts out fresh, green spears of grass that get fed into an old-fashion-dy looking metal juicer/grinder that is hand-cranked (probably hence the cost in addition to the organicness of the grass), leaving behind a green poop-like husk of plant fiber while all that precious green juice goes into a little plastic cup (at not my favorite place) and an espresso cup at my favorite place. Favorite place also provides orange wedges for you to chase the shot with, which gets rid of the horrid aftertaste and makes it actually really refreshing. Sort of. I like to joke around and lick my hand before knocking back the shot and then stuffing an orange wedge in my mouth, like I'm doing tequila shots. Which would be a lot more fun, but not so beneficial for the eggles.

Why wheatgrass?

I did it the best cycle I've ever had, two years ago. DEAR LORD IT HAS BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE I LAST STIMMED. Regardless of how long ago that was and how dusty I fear my ovaries may be, when I did a wheatgrass shot every day once stimming started until the day before retrieval I had 26 eggs retrieved. 26!!! And, we ended up with 6 embryos to transfer, and, in my opinion, the most perfect blast we've ever had. I got pregnant with that frozen blast (but then miscarried), but it was our most successful cycle EVER.

A girl I went to fertility yoga with had recommended the wheatgrass shots, said they made a difference for her. I didn't really know much about the science behind it, but I thought it was worth a try. At the fertility yoga place, where I love to get the wheatgrass because of the beautiful presentation and tasty orange slices, they have a little informational poster up about the benefits in general of wheatgrass. One ounce is like eating a bushel or something of vegetables. It's chock full of antioxidants. It's super healthy for your body, whether you're trying to conceive or not. I was sold.

And, even more sold after I seemed to have better egg retrieval and better egg quality and better embryos result from daily grassy goodness.

So, wheatgrass it is! In case you were wondering how it purportedly can help infertility, I looked it up on a bunch of websites. I didn't want to post them here because so many were selling juice or otherwise advertising-ish, but the upshot was the same all over the place. Apparently, according to what I read, wheatgrass juice is alkaline and can balance your Ph, which leads to better receptivity for eggs and sperm and better conditions for implantation...which may have me doing wheatgrass shots around my transfer, too. Can't hurt. Apparently there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that wheatgrass juice lowers FSH and increases egg output and quality. Which I totally buy into because of my one personal experience but have absolutely no scientific facts to back up. Such is life in the world of infertility. Going with the gut here, and the fact that more green stuff in my body can't be bad.

The logistics of getting the wheatgrass juice each day can be daunting. Luckily, Favorite Place is right around the corner from my house. So I can get it on my way home during the week, Monday-Thursday, or after acupuncture appointments. It's the weekend that's tricky. They close at 4 on Fridays, and it is so hard for me to get out of school on time for that. I am still trying to figure out how I am going to get everything ready for Friday when I have to get sub plans on my desk for the first Monday and Tuesday after (ELA Scoring). I really don't want to come in over break, but if I have to to keep my sanity this week, I will. Then, Saturdays they close in the afternoon sometime, and Sundays at 2. And I freak out if I think I'll miss the shot. I can always go to Wegm.ans and get Green Glory juice, which has wheatgrass in it. BUT IT'S NOT SQUOZE RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. It's not as fresh. It's not as anti-oxidant-y. So says my crazy mind. But, it's better than nothing. The other place, the plastic cup/no oranges/aloof-juice-bar-attendant place is open until 5 on the weekends, so it's a good emergency go, too. But now I find myself planning my afternoon commute based on the tiny amount of fresh green juice I feel I must ingest to give myself the best shot at success.

Isn't it crazy the things we do in the name of seeking success, an end to this merry-go-round of pain? It's all a means to an end and that end after all this craziness really should be a chubby little baby or two. The crazy is temporary, although it feels neverending. It will all be worth it when I have our (hopefully not green-tinged) little one in our arms.