How to survive your IVF Cycle - Tips from the "team"

Take one day at a time.

Simplify anything and everything in your life during this time period.

Have a good support system and USE them.

Listen to classical music or any kind of music that you love.

Take a few extra naps.

Watch a funny movie.

Buy yourself a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers. (and NO baby's breath!)

Have lunch with a friend, even if she doesn't know about your cycle.

Try and stay OFF the internet. You will become obsessed with every
little thing and it will stress you more. Remember, every clinic has their own
protocols, so just because one of your cycle buddies are doing something different,
it doesn't mean that you should be doing the same thing or that your clinic or
your physician doesn't know what they're doing. Tell your cycle buddies you'll
post after retrieval.

Go shopping, but stay out of baby stores! :)

Pamper yourself: get a facial or a massage.

Use your usual coping mechanisms: journaling, calling your best friend, going for a walk,
meditating or praying.

Read a good book that is not about: fertility, infertility, pregnancy, children, or families

Do anything that will distract you from focusing on: the cycle day, the next injection,
when you'll go to retrieval, how you'll decorate the nursery, when your due date is,
whether your ovaries are getting bigger, how big your follicles are, how many follicles
you have, what you will do if you are pregnant, what you will do if you are not
pregnant, blah, blah, blah!!! (You get the picture)

If you have a question, worry, or concern, call the nursing staff at your clinic. That's
what they are there for and should be helping you every step of the way, especially if
you are "stumbling" on the path.

Try and remember that everything right now is totally out of your control. You
cannot control your period, your ovaries, your follicles, your blood test levels, your
retrieval or transfer dates, fertilization of your embryos, implantation and whether or
not your cycle will be successful and you'll become pregnant. Try and let the control
go. Trust your doctor and the team. They are doing everything they can do to
make your cycle successful. They want you to get pregnant too!