Hi!
In November we did our first IVF, and i have to tell you, watching a lot of Youtube video's really helped prepare me. I especially liked the video's of things to have when doing it. For example, comfy clothes, expect to feel bloated, drink lots of Gatorade, eat salty snacks, take it easy, and have a heating pad in case you need it. Also, about the shots, i watched some video's on women showing how they did it, and thought i was prepared, but my dr told me to give them in a slightly different place. But it was still helpful to be prepared b/c if it wasn't for the video's, i would have known nothing!

The egg retrieval was thankfully fine, although i was sick that night from the anesthesia. I was medium to high risk for OHSS so prior to the retrieval, we knew it wouldn't be a fresh transfer. On retrieval day just bring a crossword puzzle or book to read.. nothing that you're super into b/c you probably won't be able to concentrate so well, but just something so you aren't pacing around.

Hopefully this is a little helpful! Keep us posted and sending you great thoughts!!

xoxo

Thanks for your reply!! I have watched a ton of YouTube and it has been an awesome resource! Did your doctor recommend the same advice (high sodium diet) to prevent OHSS? Mine recommended no sugar, carbs, and limited caffeine... But I also saw the recommendation for high sodium from YouTube. I plan to ask my doctor as it gets closer but I love to have multiple opinions!

My biggest thing was the find a way to really organize your medication. Write everything down so you feel really confident that you know what meds you are doing at what time. I also felt like icing my skin before my injection was such a great tip! It made it so easy and essentially painless! Prepare to be very moody and bloated. Also, IVF meds make it really hard for your body to deal with hot temps. I learned that the hard way last year! Be prepared for constant med changes too. It can feel last minute and overwhelming, but it may not be so bad if you expect them!
Transfer is super simple. You'll blink and it will be over.
Retreival wasn't bad for me either time. Prepare to couch surf for a few days afterwards. I always took the day of retrieval off and then took it easy for 3-4 days following the procedure. Ibuprofen as needed... and I used a heating pad.
If you can get yourself mentally prepared and have good support, it really isn't that bad!

Thanks @mrsmooney! Did your doctor recommend bedrest? It looks like the recommendation for me is for bedrest upto 24 hrs after the procedure.. I'm glad to hear retrieval wasn't too bad. I feel like that's the part I'm nervous about the most. My type A personality would love to know when it's all going to happen but I realize it depends on how I respond to the meds...

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the great advice everyone. I am also starting soon 3/23, @prayerfullywaiting ! What is your start date?
I'm more nervous about the meds making me feel bad or giving me migraines and the waiting than anything to be honest.

Hey Natalie_Rose! My start date for the medication is 3/24. So we will be in the thick of if together! Are you doing a fresh or frozen transfer? I'm really happy you reached out :)

@ Natalie_Rose (and all): I am getting close to my first IVF cycle, too. If my period is on time at the end of the month, looks like I'll be starting early April. My clinic highly recommends FET, so I feel like I still have a ways to go (if all goes according to plan - which, as I'm learning, doesn't always happen!). I've been shying away from reading too much online, but appreciate learning about your journey. Sometimes, I'm not even sure I have a question for the doctor/clinic, and hope this forum can help in these early stages - please keep us posted.

Hey Hopeful15, I feel like I have a million questions when I am at home or doing my own "research" lol but when I go into the clinic sometimes I draw a blank. I have definitely found this forum to be helpful, as well as YouTube. It has really helped prepare me to know what to expect. I guess we will find out how prepared here in a couple of days. Good luck to you and stay in touch throughout the process!

I forgot to answer the previous question- that I'm doing "the works" of FET with PGS and ICSI. I'm going to be totally honest- I think my dr. sensed that our journey has already been too long and was wearing on us and I just turned 35 last week. I also have insurance for IVF, which I know is a huge privilege and I am so thankful for for. I had to switch to my husband's insurance since he works for a huge global life-science corporation, one of the insurance plans they offer to people in other states covered IVF. But I'm sure the lack of financial constraints also helped her come to that decision. Even though it's not all covered, the 25k in coverage obviously makes a HUGE difference in our decisions.

Also- I totally write down and take all my questions unless I feel confident that I've found answers online. Sometimes I even tell her what I read and "check" to see if it's correct. I have even used our hospital system's online messaging system to contact my doctor between visits (I'm sure she loves that!). But I have had the experience before of drawing a blank and leaving with more questions than answer. When I was seeing doctors years ago for cycle pain, I was always thrown by their questions and never got to what I wanted/needed to say. Which is probably how we ended up here! So I've change my attitude and have become an advocate for myself. I hope you all get any answers you need and I'd be happy to help investigate them as well because I'm sure I'll have them too!

Natalie, I definitely should be writing down my questions! Good idea. I have started to write down the things that I have learned in my "fertility" notebook to use it as a reference. What all have you found about diet related to IVF? I just went grocery shopping today and stocked my fridge with protein rich foods, fruits/veggies, threw out all the tempting sugar treats, and bought a ton of sugar free gatorade...

I really wish our clinic had a messaging system LOL, I would be all over that.

That is awesome that you were able to get on your husbands insurance for coverage. Ours does not cover any of it--but that's okay because we were mentally prepared for that. We've been saving "just in case" for awhile.

be prepared for the multiple medications- but also warn your significant other of the moods swings you will experience- they are quite something! He will need to be supporting and understanding. Also for the shots Ice the area before it does help a lot and soft massage after and heating pad to minimize discomfort after the injections. I had 2 day bedrest after Implantation so prepare for these days to keep your mind occupied while you lay in bed/couch, and lastly I don't want to be on the negative side but talk to your husband for success of IVF as well as failure to be better prepared- we just did our first round of IVF and did not prepare ourselves for the bad news and are not dealing with all those emotions/thoughts that come with a failed treatment. I wish we would have had backup plan while on the treatment so we wouldn't have to be making decisions now while we are dealing with this disappointment. Wish you best of luck and I hope to read good news from you soon :)

@PrayerfullyWaiting - I did my 2nd FET and it worked just this month !! I felt FET was more easier , lesser number of scans and no shots !! I always found the 2ww the most dreadful but the first two times I was very careful took a lot of bed rest etc. This time I wanted to be myself I took off for 3 days and it was not complete bed rest but taking it slow. Watched a lot of movies & slept a lot ! You will still have anxiety and what not but it's normal , I just tried my best to divert myself being busy at work . Weekends were a lot of overthinking for sure but went shopping and had a nice dinner . Good luck & baby dust to you !

@PrayerfullyWaiting & @ Natalie_Rose: I've just started to look at YouTube given the recommendations of the group. Similarly, as I see/learn a few more things about the process, it helps me to ask more questions/check with my clinic on their approach. Thus I learned they typically only do FET, as opposed to fresh transplant (because their empirical data shows it's been increasing their success rate).

I may be in a similar boat as Natalie_Rose: Just turned 36, and I am fortunate that insurance is covering the majority of costs. However, my insurance does not cover PSG, and my doctor has not necessarily recommended it. The doctor does recommend, ICSI. We've been trying naturally for one year, this will be my very first IVF cycle, and diagnosis is solely male-factor. Not sure I can stomach the added cost of PSG, but maybe that's short-sighted (?!).

I'm also not sure how many embryos I want to transfer (assuming all goes according to plan and I have plenty to choose from!). I have a tendency to equate IVF with twins, but not sure I'd really be prepared for twins. The clinic typically transfers two (success rates!), but as with them all, the decision is ultimately ours...

Doctor hasn't said anything (yet) about changing diet. Only recommended that we stay away from any areas with high counts of Zika virus!

@Sindy-- Thank you for your reply and advice. I'm always interested to hear other approaches by different physicians. I'm SO sorry that your IVF was unsuccessful. Sending a big hug your way. That is something that is definitely on our minds as well. None of this is for certain. I pray that you can find comfort as you grieve--and don't give up. Listen to your body, take the time you need, but then give it another try. I'm here for you if you need anything!

@Jash--Congratulations!! Did you do a fresh the first time? FET is definitely in our future whether or not this first transfer works. It makes sense that it would be an easier process as compared to doing the full cycle--retrieval plus transfer. I look forward to more updates from you!

@hopeful15 My doctor has actually told me that they typically only do FET because of the success rate. Which made me questions the decision for us to do a fresh transfer.. but he reassured me that he thought I would be a good candidate for it. We are unfortunately in a tough position in the fact that we are moving (Military) pretty soon. We have put so much time into this clinic evaluating our situation and establishing a care plan we thought we at least wanted to give it a try. We were supposed to do our treatment in January but unfortunately there was a HUGE miscommunication between the satellite clinic that we go to and the main clinic. We missed the start date for the cycle and had to wait for the next start date to come around.

If it turns out that it does not work for us, then we will do a FET after (as long as we have embryos). If it does work, we will still do a FET in the future. So here we are, we start our stims at the end of the week.

My doctor mentioned something about only being able to transfer 1 embryo for me because I am under 30 (i'm 29). I thought I would be allowed to choose too.. but I was not. It's interesting that your clinic typically does transfer two. I'm going to ask about that because I so want this to work. What is your timeline? Do you have an anticipated start date?

@hopeful15 - I was happy/relieved to hear that (at least at our clinic) if you do PGS testing they will only allow you to transfer one embryo because the testing helps to ensure the embryos are "normal". When they do not genetically test embryos some could be abnormal and lead to those embryos being rejected by the uterus/miscarried. This is at least the policy for the first attempt.

As for insurance- yeah I'm pretty sure we pay out of pocket for ICSI and PGS. We also had to pay for a lot of the meds (today) as we ordered. The insurance has all these limits and terms like "no compounds" or a quantity limit. That said- still so grateful for anything and everything they cover.