# First time IVF questions - any advice appreciated!



## LauraAB

Hi all,

I'm starting IVF likely in September and have a few questions!
1.) How long in advance did you change your dietary, lifestyle habits? I've already started cutting down on alcohol, caffeine and eating better even though it's only May but I heard you start developing eggs months in advance.
2.) What about your DH's? When should they be cutting back on alcohol, caffeine, etc? My DH is being a little stubborn on this one.
3.) Did you take time off during IVF? At what point in the cycle?

I think that's it for now; I appreciate any responses!

Laura


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## cupcakesarah

I had IVF in January this year. I went on a diet October -December to try and lose a few pounds, I lost 9 which put me closer to having a better BMI, mine was 27 when I had IVF. As for drinking I didn't drink once I started taking the meds but there was no ban beforehand. 

As for hubby, i just kept him away from hot baths, I also avoided these, we always have a bath every night so I just made sure they were cool. We also were taking vitamins for the whole time we were trying (27 months), I had a pregnacare conceive, a vit c and a cranberry as I started getting cystitis while TTC. For hubby the only vitamin I substituted was my pregnacare for a multivitamin with iron. Hubby likes to go to the gym so he just kept doing that. I didn't do any special exercise, we just go for a long walk on a Sunday but during the cycle we didn't go, not sure why.

As for time off, that was difficult for me, I'm a teacher so can't take holiday. I had to go for early morning bloods and scans but only a couple of times thankfully. I had the week off that the eggs collected, I was in a lot of pain so just called in sick. The eggs were collected on the Monday and our embryo's returned on the Thursday. I had the next week as a school holiday anyway so it was nice to be off and I really really took it easy.

A friend of my husband advised me on a couple of things, firstly drink plenty of water after egg collection (I maybe didn't get enough as I ended up with OHSS). The second piece of advice was not to do anything after embryo transfer and as hard as it was I didn't, I sat on the sofa, hubby looked after me, i watched films, surfed the net,maybe after about 5 days I started going out a bit but only for a few hours. I'm happy to say the IVF worked for me and I'm still keeping my fingers crossed now that I reach the end of my pregnancy. I suppose struggling to conceive leaves you quite nervous about it all.

Good luck when it comes to your cycle, I'd say it will definitely be worth getting yourself as healthy as you can before, glad I made some effort with that. 

Just remember everyone's cycles are different so despite people offering advice, do what you feel is best for you. Try not to get stressed by it, considering how stressed I was about a previous IUI I was amazed at how well I was with this, there were moment of crying, mostly at work when the stress of my job plus this got too much for me. I think having previously done the injections helped and having hubby do them for me(I have a massive fear of needles), it felt like he was more a part of it. Plus he went with me to every morning appointment which helped lots as on my IUI cycles I'd always gone alone, so he was there to keep me focused while having blood taken.


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## cupcakesarah

Oh and as for caffeine, i've had decaf tea and coffee since before starting TTC


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## LauraAB

cupcakesarah said:


> Oh and as for caffeine, i've had decaf tea and coffee since before starting TTC

Thank you so much for all your advice, it is really helpful! Good luck with your pregnancy!


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## sammy1987xxx

Just thought if say good luck. We start in aug so I know what ur feeling xx


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## zanDark

I also had my IVF in January...looks like cupcakesarah and I had ours at the same time :haha:

TBH I didn't change anything before my IVF and neither did my husband. 

As soon as I started my injections I started to drink LOADS of water and made sure to eat lots of protein. Egg whites are an excellent source of protein and my clinic recommended having 3 a day to avoid OHSS and help with egg production. I just boiled a bunch of them and kept them in the fridge...just make sure not to eat all those egg yolks! Protein and water is especially important during the stimming phase! 

I also made sure to cut out salt to avoid water retention and just ate carefully and avoided sugar and junk food. Thankfully we were successful and I didn't have any weight gain, or OHSS. I drank coffee as I normally do, and wasn't told to stop drinking it, just make sure that it is in moderation and it's not keeping you from drinking water (if you have iced coffee for example)

Even without OHSS you get a bit bloated after egg retrieval and it's a bit painful for a couple of days, so if you work I'd suggest taking the day of retrieval and the next day off as well so you can recover. 2 days after the retrieval I was fine with no pain and just a bit of bloating. 

As far as after the transfer, my clinic suggested 5 days bed rest since the embies will implant during that time, but since I don't work I spent the whole 2ww on the couch. If you have an office job and don't stand up or lift things, then I think you will be fine after the transfer, but make sure you don't climb loads of stairs or tire yourself out too much! I think working will help the 2WW go by easier as mine was absolute torture! 

Best of luck to you and loads of baby dust :dust::dust::dust::dust::dust:


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## MMW430

I did my first ivf in april/may. We really didn't change anything. We're not smokers or heavy drinkers so there wasn't anything to really stop there. I do remember not drinking any alcohol between retrieval and transfer. We got our BFP on the first try. 

I pretty much did whatever the doctor said to. I had 3 days off after transfer, and took one day off after transfer. I had the transfer on a Sunday, so since I had the time, took Monday off.


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## LauraAB

Thanks for the advice ladies, it has helped a lot!


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## Bma11

I started my ivf cycle in April. I honestly didn't change my diet too much. It's not the best but its not too bad either. And I'm not overweight. Anyways.
I did cut out caffeine the whole stimming cycle as well as alcohol 
I did take a supplement called pregnitude for many reasons but the main reason was for egg quality. It gave me headaches so I did it but stopped because I didn't want to be taking migraine medicine while stimming. 
Other supplements I took during the ivf cycle low dose aspirin 81mg, prenatal vitamins, vitamin d3 1000 iu and coq10, which is supposed to help egg quality too :)
My doctor told me I did not need the low dose aspirin but if I wanted to take it that it wouldn't hurt!

My estrogen level got too high and I could not do a fresh cycle, I had to do egg retrival and freeze all my embryos! After egg retrival drink loads of Gatorade, coconut water, v8, this all is pretty high in sodium which is good so you don't get ohss. You will feel super super bloated and nasty but it's well worth it! Also, I had mine on a Sunday and went back to work on Monday. I felt 100% better after the retrieved the eggs, it was so uncomfortable after I did my lupron trigger. Anyways... I did my frozen embryo transfer yesterday and my clinic has me on 3 days strict best rest and no lifting anything over 2 pounds. I hope this helps. 

ALMOST FORGOT- DH doesn't drink a lot at all just socially. I told him that they said he could not drink during the cycle either!!! :haha: as for sodas it didn't bother me, he has great SA. And he kinda refused to take any supplements- he said it naturally occurs in your body etc etc- weirdo. Anyways I had 30 eggs retrieved and 23 fertilized and 13 made it to freeze!


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## zowiey

Hi!

We did our 2nd cycle in Jan/Feb this year and honestly I didn't do all that much. I took pregnacare conceive vits, only as there has been a link between them & a higher positive outcome for ivf. I'm sure there's not, but figured it didn't hurt to try! Diet wise I just cut out caffeine completely, I don't drink hardly at all, I had one glass of wine over Xmas & new year. I just ate a normal diet for me. Hubby was on a alcohol & caffeine ban (his spermies are our problem ;) ) and was taking a whole load of vitamins, selinium, vits a,c,e, zinc and a multi vit. He didn't change his diet either, but it was a long hard slog to get him to make the few changes he did!

After transfer I ate 3 Brazil nuts & had a small glass of pineapple juice every morning until my test date. Again I doubt it made any difference, but I guess I'll never know!

Also, and I know if you're anything like me this will be near impossible, but try not to let ivf take over every aspect of your lives in the months leading up to & after it. On our first attempt I was a woman possessed and spent all my time researching everything trying to find out as much as I possibly could. It was all I talked about for months. Then when we got our positive, but sadly lost it a week later I really struggled. I'd done everything by the book, why did this happen? It was hard, and it was 15 months before I was ready to try again, but in that time we properly came to terms with everything. We made plans for life after ivf, without children. We built our relationship up, we went away. Basically remembered that there is life beyond infertility & ivf. When we started this cycle I kept it low key & realistic. My expectations were nil, and really I suppose we kept our hearts safe, and didn't invest emotionally in it at all. 

I'm not saying for one minute that's why I think it worked, it really is just a numbers game, and no matter what you do, it won't really make a whole lot of difference. Well at least that's what our consultant told us! But everyone is different :) it's just my experience. This 2nd cycle the odds where against from egg collection, only 6 eggs collected (after 13 1st cycle & I'm only 30) But 3 made it to blastocyst & 2 were good enough to transfer & they are currently getting snuggly on my bladder ;) 

Sorry for the preachy essay, I got carried away! I really hope your cycle is successful :) good luck! xx


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## LauraAB

zowiey said:


> Hi!
> 
> We did our 2nd cycle in Jan/Feb this year and honestly I didn't do all that much. I took pregnacare conceive vits, only as there has been a link between them & a higher positive outcome for ivf. I'm sure there's not, but figured it didn't hurt to try! Diet wise I just cut out caffeine completely, I don't drink hardly at all, I had one glass of wine over Xmas & new year. I just ate a normal diet for me. Hubby was on a alcohol & caffeine ban (his spermies are our problem ;) ) and was taking a whole load of vitamins, selinium, vits a,c,e, zinc and a multi vit. He didn't change his diet either, but it was a long hard slog to get him to make the few changes he did!
> 
> After transfer I ate 3 Brazil nuts & had a small glass of pineapple juice every morning until my test date. Again I doubt it made any difference, but I guess I'll never know!
> 
> Also, and I know if you're anything like me this will be near impossible, but try not to let ivf take over every aspect of your lives in the months leading up to & after it. On our first attempt I was a woman possessed and spent all my time researching everything trying to find out as much as I possibly could. It was all I talked about for months. Then when we got our positive, but sadly lost it a week later I really struggled. I'd done everything by the book, why did this happen? It was hard, and it was 15 months before I was ready to try again, but in that time we properly came to terms with everything. We made plans for life after ivf, without children. We built our relationship up, we went away. Basically remembered that there is life beyond infertility & ivf. When we started this cycle I kept it low key & realistic. My expectations were nil, and really I suppose we kept our hearts safe, and didn't invest emotionally in it at all.
> 
> I'm not saying for one minute that's why I think it worked, it really is just a numbers game, and no matter what you do, it won't really make a whole lot of difference. Well at least that's what our consultant told us! But everyone is different :) it's just my experience. This 2nd cycle the odds where against from egg collection, only 6 eggs collected (after 13 1st cycle & I'm only 30) But 3 made it to blastocyst & 2 were good enough to transfer & they are currently getting snuggly on my bladder ;)
> 
> Sorry for the preachy essay, I got carried away! I really hope your cycle is successful :) good luck! xx

I so appreciate this "essay" which isn't preachy at all. I can see that it will be hard not to let IVF take over our lives but I'll definitely try to go with your advice and keep everything in perspective. Thanks so much!


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