If you gave advice for IVF, what would it be?

Question

Doing our first round of IVF next month. Anyone have anything they wish they knew the first time around or tricks for symptoms or anything at all? I’d appreciate it.

Answer

I would say understand that things change and the plan at the beginning of your cycle might change.  It sucks, but accepting that makes it easier.  During stims I was so frustrated at every appointment when they would say ok come back tomorrow or come back in two days and my retrieval kept getting pushed out.  Then I was frustrated again when we had to do a freeze all.  Now as I prep for my fet I have learned to go with the flow and honestly it is making me feel more relaxed.  So much of this is out of our hands and we have to trust the doctor and I wasn’t doing that before.  Also hydrate, rest as needed, and know that you will get through the process!

Answer

Don’t compare yourself to other women. It will torture you. There will always be someone with more eggs,  higher sperm count, perfect fert rate, perfect embryos and success on the first try. This just isn’t likely for everyone.

Answer

I wish I would have known that my first cycle was going to be a complete fail. All of my embryos didn't make it to even freeze. You will be really bloated after egg retrieval.  I did a second cycle of ivf. We had 4 embryos frozen on day 3 instead of waiting any longer. I'm currently almost done with my 2 week wait and I'll find out Monday if it worked.

Answer

For me, I found it was so much easier and nowhere near as bad as it is sometimes conveyed; but everyone is different. 
I’d say schedule in some pamper sessions so to look forward to something or plan activities to take your mind off the whole thing (drinking & disco dancing not advised) take advantage and allow yourself to be totally lazy and eat cake. Im in tww and it’s like being in limbo land! 😶

Answer

Do not compare yourself!!! Everyone is so different. Reading people have 20+ eggs, I was like whattttt when I only had 7, but it’s quality over quantity. I actually found the transfer more painful than the retrieval but it’s pain for 10/15 minutes then over and done with. The jabs aren’t as bad as you imagine and you get used to it. I find out next weekend if it’s worked 🤞🏼I had a Day 3 transfer so don’t think the odds are as high as Day 5, but what can you do! 🤷🏼‍♀️ GOOD LUCK!! xxx

Answer

It’s SO exciting to finally have a plan in place with starting IVF but unfortunately you will still need a ton of patience & lots of more waiting. Our initial plan was stim & then straight into transfer but since my hormones were too high we had to postpone transfer. At first I was bummed at the thought of having to prolong the process even more but by the time i triggered I was veryyy uncomfortable. No pain but just uncomfortable. So I was actually relieved that I am getting a break between stims & transfer. Since I had a good amount of eggs retrieved (19) I was at risk for OHSS. After egg retrieval is when I got more uncomfortable. You have to increase your sodium, proteins and electrolyte intake to help combat OHSS which was hard cause I’m not a big Gatorade drinker (not a fan of coconut water or pedialyte) I was still so bloated and uncomfortable and sleeping on a recliner to get decent amount of sleep. Everyone responds differently but finally on day 6 I felt more normal. My suggestion would be to take it easy after egg retrieval. In my personal opinion, this is the hardest part physically & emotionally.

Answer

Agree with all the above. Specifically about knowing that there will be delays and rescheduling etc. It’s so frustrating but for some reason that’s how all the clinics are. The stims make you feel pretty rough, but only for a couple days, the ER is the worst part then it is smooth sailing from there. Definitely agree you are supposed to drink fluids that are not water and you have an excuse to eat as much salty food as you want for the few days around your ER, if you are on ohss protocol you actually can’t drink tons you will be fluid restricted so don’t go crazy. And above all else, it’s all worth it in the end. As crazy stressful emotionally and physically as this process is, it’s what we’ve gotta do.
The only other thing is related to our first pregnancy and hat is that I wish I knew what a subchorionic hematoma is and that 80% of ivf pregnancies will have some amount of bleeding. Even bright red blood dripping out faster than a heavy flow period CAN be ok as long as it stops....but after that no sex for 12 weeks! 🤦🏼‍♀️ haha :)

Answer

Progesterone is the hormone giving pregnancy symptoms for most of us, so try not to symptomspot... it's even worse to get a bfn when you've had symptoms and hoping.... 😕 ❤

Answer

I’ve done one cycle and 2 things come to mind thy may sound contradictory: 1) try to plan to take it easy, as you might find yourself quite sore, bloated, and fatigued from around day 4-5 of stims through a couple of days after egg retrieval. Nice not to schedule much during that approx 2 week period if you can. 2) There is so much anxiety-inducing waiting in a cycle that I’d recommend planning distractions. Maybe not ambitious social plans, but something more low-key like a highly addictive tv or book series? 
Good luck to you!!!

If you gave advice for IVF, what would it be?

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