30 Things...Try Acupuncture

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Yesterday I had my first acupuncture session. My midwife recommended it as it is supposed to prepare the body for labour and make it go smoother and faster when it does come. She told us that the needles were placed on the legs but otherwise I had no idea what to expect.

She started by explaining that acupuncture is a way to transfer energy and information between my physical and spiritual bodies. I was sat in a chair and had to practise the labour breathing techniques, which are like those used in yoga, in order to ground myself.

Three needles were then inserted into each leg. Two on the outside below the knee and one on the inside above the ankle. They were left there for about half an hour. When she was searching for the points I could feel when she had found them. It's hard to explain but it almost tingles, then she puts the needle in. It doesn't really hurt. You're not allowed to move and you don't feel them the whole time.

When the needles come out, it may bleed a little but it stops quickly, the marks fade quickly and so does the feeling. 

I'm on weekly sessions from now until labour starts. It's hard to tell what effect it has had until we see how labour goes...I'll let you know!

The German Dentist

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Anyone who knows me, knows that I have had a love / hate relationship with my dentist for as long as I have been going to the dentist.  Having had chickenpox damage the enamel on my teeth at a young age, trips to the dentist became torture for me, even though I knew it was all for the best.  I know try and avoid the dentist at all costs by flossing and using an electric toothbrush.  In fact it's been eighteen months since my last visit.  I'm normally very good at keeping up with checkups but both the move and my resentment at paying £16.50 for the dentist to tell me to come back in six months have led to a long break.

Having found a new optician the other week, I decided to roll with it and update my other medical checks too, hence a visit to a new dentist on Friday.  I expected the experience to be doubly scary, doing it all in a second language but I was very pleasantly surprised.  I managed to fill out the forms and speak to the dentist with no language problems and I got the all clear to come back in six months.  The best part though - it was completely free!!  Normally in Germany, you pay 10 Euros for your first doctor appointment of the quarter plus whatever treatment you need but apparently dentists are different, and contrary to the British system, they are different in a way that saves our purses and makes me more inclined to keep up to those six month check ups!