Told ya...

I told you that I've never been good with the journaling thing, and here I am proving it. Previously, I had been watching my blood pressure and waiting to see my primary care physician. In order to be medically cleared by the fertility doctor, I need to provide proof that my blood pressure is not high, but that itself is anxiety inducing! 

I feel like so much depends on that reading, and when I hear the velcro rip open and feel that cuff tighten around my arm, I can actually feel my tension increase. What to do when the measurement your taking is affected by the taking itself? 

Well, to make a long story short, I saw the doctor today, presented my recorded BP readings from home (which were all within the normal range), checked my cuff's reading against his, and determined that I am experiencing "white coat syndrome." After a few quiet minutes, during which time I took myself through a visualization* and breathed deeply,  my blood pressure was perfectly normal. My doc was delighted that I had made it drop so significantly in just a few minutes of self-hypnosis.

I faxed off the note from my doc and now I'm just waiting to hear what the fertility specialist wants next. My case manager at GG said they have a couple they'd like to match me with, and hopefully that will happen soon. That's the really fun part.

*I imagined putting the sphygmomanometer in a box, hopping into a hot air balloon and drifting out over a lake. Then I dropped the box over the edge and watched it fall then sink into the crystal-clear lake below.