Not a whole lot has happened since my first post about how we planned to start IVF, except that the start date is getting nearer! My husband and I have our final appointment before the process starts on March 22nd, where we will go over all the consent forms (the packet is almost 40 pages of details, risks, and the process of the whole cycle), and take a brief class with our nurse on how to administer all the medications. There will also be a final semen analysis to be sure that there will be sperm to use when the day comes.
In the meantime I am trying to prepare my body as much as I can for a successful IVF procedure. There are a lot of studies and advances every year when it comes to IVF and reproductive health, and there are also plenty of wives tales that may or may not actually be helpful. Here is what I have chosen to do in the weeks and months leading up to the most expensive and involved series of procedures I have ever gone through!
1. Eat Healthy
It would be assumed that one would want to eat healthy before trying to get pregnant, and when doing IVF there is a lot more time and money on the line, so I really started feeling the pressure a few months ago. I feel best when I eat grain-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free, so I tried this starting in January. I did great in the month of January, and sadly things have slowly declined. But, I trying to avoid gluten for sure, and also sugar and dairy as much as possible. I’m sure if this IVF doesn’t work and we decide to do another round I will be more strict with myself. No one has told me anything specific to eat and I’ve never heard of anyone suspecting their IVF did or didn’t work based on having a bowl of ice cream every night, but I would love to get my body in the best shape I can if possible.
2. Acupuncture
There are studies that show that acupuncture has positive effects on fertility (both male and female), especially if done before and after transfer. I also find that acupunture does wonders for my anxiety, and since I assume that the entire IVF process will affect my level of anxiety, this is something I started doing twice a month in December. I am now going once a week as we get closer to our start date in April.
3. Mayan Fertility Massage
This is something new to me. The acupuncturist that I found that specializes in fertility is also a certified Mayan Massage specialist. I heard on a recent fertility webcast about how effective Mayan Massage is, especially before IVF, so I tried out a session with her. The focus of the fertility massage is about getting the uterus into an ideal location and restoring blood flow to the pelvic area. It’s especially helpful for women that have had fibriods, cysts, and endometriosis. I don’t have a history of those things, but I figure that getting my uterus into a good place won’t hurt either. The cool thing is that most Mayan massages include teaching patients how to do the basics on themselves, so I’ve been doing the self care massage during the first part of my cycle this month.
4. Castor Oil Packs
Here is another thing that is new to me. Castor Oil is very detoxifying, so is only recommended during the first part of your cycle (you wouldn’t want to be detoxing if you were pregnant) and is helpful to again clear out things like fibroids, cysts, and endometriosos. I have only done it a couple of times, but the simple version is that you soak a wool or flannel cloth in castor oil, place it over your uterus area, then cover with a heating pad for about 30 minutes. It’s important to only do this the first part of your cycle as well. Here are more details if you’re interested to try it yourself.
5. Supplements
I’m taking good prenantal vitamins in addition to Vitamin D. Studies show that low vitamin D can have an adverse affect on IVF outcomes, so I’m continuing to supplement as we go into our cycle in April. I also have tested hetrozygous for the MTHFR mutation, so our RE has me on a high dosage of a methyl-folate prescription.
6. Exercise
There are various schools of thought on this. Some say to scale back when doing IVF or trying to get pregnant, and others say to keep doing what you’re doing or increase exercise. I’m sure this depends on the specific person. In my case I’m trying to get regular exercise (also helps with anxiety about it all), but not really increasing anything. I used to run, but plan to stick to speed walking until I’m either out of my first trimester or get a negative pregnancy test. I’ll probably just do yoga during my actual IVF cycle, but until I get started I would like to do a decent amount of cardio.
7. Avocados!
This might be a subset of #1, but eating mono-saturated fats has been linked to higher IVF success rates. I am obsessed with avocados, so I figure I might as well eat them and see what happens. I’ve been trying to eat at least 1/2 avocado every day.
8. Medication/Relaxation
I’m not very good at relaxation (have you noticed I mentioned anxiety a few times? haha), but there are some really good fertility relaxation and medication albums out there! Since it has been 5 years since we started trying to get pregnant, I also figured that some fertility affirmations would be helpful too. I like to do affirmations in the car while driving to work or running errands and the relaxations at bedtime or when I do a self care massage or castor oil pack.
Here are my favorites:
2) Fertility Affirmations by Sarah Arkell
I really like the affirmations I repeat to myself from Track #2. Track 3 is apparently subliminal affirmations to music, but it’s not bad to listen to when I’m in the car. I’m not sure if the subliminal messages are working or not though.
3) Hypnosis for Fertility by Bree Taylor Molyneaux
I’m not a big believer in hypnosis, but I will say that I almost always fall asleep listening to the Hypnosis Track on this one (#3). The affirmation track is really similar to the “Fertility Affirmations” in the album above, and they’re both good for when I’m feeling discouraged or finding myself having racing thoughts.
4) Hypnosis IVF & Guided Relaxations – Your Stimulated Cycle – I like that these two albums are specifically for IVF, so I plan to try these out during the specific parts of each part of the IVF cycle.
. . . . .
I know that even if all of these things I’m doing increase our chances of a successful IVF cycle, that still doesn’t give us close to a 100% chance. I know in my head that just like fertile couples that try to conceive naturally, it often takes a few tries to get and stay pregnant. So, it will be the same way for us. IVF is far from a guarantee! National rates indicate a 40% chance per cycle, but I’m hoping that doing these things will help my body to be more prepared to create healthy eggs and then grow a healthy embryo. And of course, these are just the things that I am choosing to do. Everyone’s body is different and needs different things, but this is what I have chosen to do for myself.
Have you done IVF before? What did you do to prepare?
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
I did IVF and acupuncture. I started fertility acupuncture while I was doing IUIs so probably a good 2 years before I started IVF. As for additional relaxing, I liked the circle and bloom CDs. It really helped me visualize and relax my body during my cycle.
nectarine / 2433 posts
For our IVF cycles I worked with a Naturopath who specializes in fertility and made the following recommendations for us:
1. Supplements: The most important of these for me was Ubiquinol to help improve egg quality. She also put my DH on a couple of things to help his numbers (we had MFI).
2. Chinese Tea: 2 specials teas that I drank twice a day which was supposed to help balance my hormones (TBH I did this leading up to my cycle but not during my actual IVF cycle because I was concerned about it interfering).
3. Low glycemic diet: This essentially mimics a GD diet and she strongly encouraged this for me because of some blood test results that showed some blood sugar issues.
4. Acupuncture: She followed the German Protocol and I had sessions up to a day or 2 before retrieval. The I had a sessions prior to transfer and immediately after the transfer at the clinic.
* The ND would play the IVF Circle & Bloom sessions during my acupuncture treatments which I really enjoyed.
Best of luck with your upcoming cycle!
guest
These are all great ideas, thanks. My doctor suggested loading up on protein so I ate so many eggs during my cycle. I also stuck with my exercise regime, mostly weight lifting because if I felt strong physically I felt I could handle it mentally. In the months leading up to and during IVF, I gave myself permission to say no more and not do so much. I stayed home, relaxed and just focused I staying positive (easier said than done)
persimmon / 1272 posts
I did acupuncture for several months leading up to our IVF cycle and did once or twice a week during the actual cycle as we got closer and closer. She also suggested I not eat/drink cold food. I was pretty strict about this during my IVF cycle and for a little while after our positive test. I have no idea how important that was but it was something different than my usual routine. I also at a touch of cinnamon each day. I would sprinkle it into a dish of apple sauce. Cinnamon is supposed to help keep your blood sugar level, which helped me to eat less sweets (and thus eat cleaner).
I tried to generally reduce processed food.
I did laser acupuncture at my clinic the day of the transfer for 10 minutes before and after the transfer.
Good luck!!!!