It’s an emotional and physical burden to have to go through ivf. Do I regret it now? No. The only side effect I had was that I was emotionally all over and I got bloated. They put you under for the retrieval but I had no pain after. I did a frozen transfer because they said the success rate but higher. I did not get pregnant and I went from taking a break to throwing in the towel. I wish my will was stronger but countless failed iui’s and the one failed transfer did me in

Hi judithbeast - I hope your consultation went well and you're on your way for next steps! I just had retrieval a couple weeks ago so I hope I don't ramble on - I was so exhausted from the stims that after work I just kind of did the bare minimum. It was recommended to me no working out during stims, not even yoga or going to a chiropractor. The first few days of stims I got a pretty annoying headache which went away, and didn't get any stinging in my belly until about day 7, and 7 days later was my retrieval, but all manageable, just uncomfortable. I watched a lot of netflix and movies and didn't make any plans. Not that you probably can't but I just felt like being house bound.
I did buy the following prior to IVF to prepare:
-gatorade & cocounut water to mix to stay hydrated
-comfy pants and maxi skirts/dresses because you do bloat
-a basket to keep things organized
-a cold eye mask
-neck heat wrap was helpful
-prune juice to keep things moving because that's the last thing you need
-unscented body wash because retrieval you're not supposed to have anything scented on you (not even deodorant!)
Also tried to clean my house well prior and have meals and snacks on hand so I wasn't worrying about running out too much.

I had a tough time after retrieval but that is not to say that will happen. I was fine the next day but after that for 2 days I had shooting pain walking, standing and peeing. Bloating is very normal (mine worse than stims). I think i was very underprepared for after retrieval, but what helped get rid of, and would have probably prevented my pain, was having a lot of gatorade, salty foods and protein (chicken soup became my new favorite thing), do not over-eat and try to have smaller meals, sleeping on your back and staying propped up to help your stomach heal, too. We are Hopefully having our FET in August.

Best of luck to you and I'm happy to answer any other questions!! XX

Hi Judithbeast! I hope all went well with your consultation. The process is very intimidating at first, but it will be worth it! As far as side effects, I basically had most menopausal symptons - hot flashes, bloating - I was luck not to have much in the way of mood swings, which my husband is thankful for! My doc did not put me completely under for the retrieval, but I wish he had. It was painful during, but I felt OK after. We were lucky enough to have success on our first cycle - which was a real blessing, because financially we only had one shot. I now have beautiful twin girls - I can't begin to tell you how blessed I feel.

Hi Judithbeast! This is my first IVF cycle, Stims are not bad just some mild headaches for me and drowsiness. The last two days before egg retrieval I started to really feel the bloat. I’m now two days post ER and still not feeling myself ...very tender stomach and spells of nausea and dizziness every time I stand up. I think it may be due to some of the meds they gave me upfront to help prevent OHSS since they retrieved so many eggs.

They are going to end up doing a freeze all due to my high PG levels so right now I am praying for some good embryos to make it to day 6! I had a total of 38 retrieved of which 35 were mature and 32 have now fertilized. I will be hearing from my embryologist again tomorrow (day 3) for an update on progress.

As far as working out I am very active but told myself I was going to take it easy once I started Stims just to be safe!

Best of luck to you and I hope you can get going soon ! :)

I cannot help with personal experiences, but a few friends of my sis underwent IVF in Zlin and Gdansk, and have been very happy with clinics and treatment. Ladies also liked places where they stayed,