Honest Truths About My IVF Experience

Honest thoughts about my #ivfjourney (after my two-week wait)..

1 - You can choose to put 1 or 2 embryos (the actual number is usually decided depending on your age and how many eggs you have managed to harvest too)

2- For embryo transfer, some doctors will prefer day 3 embryo or day 5 blastocyst. My doctor prefer day 3 embryo while I know a lot of other doctors swear by day 5 blastocyst!

3 - After embryo transfer, we are advised not to have coffee, tea, CHOCOLATE, COCA COLA 😱 I love chocolates so much so it was quite heartbreaking for me🥹💔 see more here on Care tips after Embryo Transfer

4- after your two weeks wait, if you managed to get a POSITIVE, you are actually week 4 pregnant (cos the pregnancy is calculated based on when was your supposed last menses cycle) 😮

5- IVF is not as scary as it seems. Most people show bruised tummy (if you search IVF on Little Red Book (小红书) cos of the hormone injection we take on, but honestly, the pain level is super manageable (I rate it 2 out of 10) and I only had one small little bruise due to my trigger shot 💉

6- NO subsidy at all if you are going the private route. 💸We can use some of our medisave, but medisave is technically still our money. So it’s not considered a subsidy from the government.

7- MONEY matters. The cost of the IVF could be a hefty sum for many. And because success is not guaranteed, having a pool of money will reduce your stress if your cycle is unsuccessful.

8- It’s hard to resist NOT testing your pregnancy results during the TWO WEEK WAIT.

9- Spotting is okay during the two week wait cos it could be implantation bleeding (which is a good sign) 🩸👌🏻

10- Spotting is okay only if it’s PINK 💖 or light brown 🤎 in small volume. Shocked to hear that it could be pink, but it really was for my case 🙈🙊

11- Was asked to go to a 24-hour clinic for a proluton injection 💉when spotting happened to me during day 7 of my two weeks wait (TWW). This is a jab on the butt (for extra progesterone support).

12- Having faith or a religion is good cos whenever you feel anxious, you can pray. Doctor told me that IVF is a 50-50, 50% chance of success and 50% chance of failure. There’s no actionable steps you can take to “increase the chances” of implantation, so a lot of it will depend on “luck”. Having a religion can help you tide through negative thoughts or when you are in a dark place.

13 - Staying positive and happy all the time is DIFFICULT (especially during the two week wait). There’s a lot of anxiety. Eg thinking why am I not experiencing breast tenderness/tiredness/nausea as these are common symptoms after embryo transfer. A lot of crippling thoughts will creep into your mind when you have too much time on your hands.

14- IVF is a long journey. Cos it’s usually dependent on your menses cycle + body conditions + whether you are going for FRESH or FROZEN transfer.

For me, I had to remove polyp, rest. Then wait for menses cycle to start egg retrieval, rest for 2 months. Then can start embryo transfer. My entire TTC journey with Dr SF Loh took approx 1.5 year.

15- Apparently a lot of ladies swear by acupuncture before embryo transfer. Even the clinic asked if I did acupuncture right before my embryo transfer (it’s an actual qns where they actually note it down in the patient record) 😅

16- You need a supportive partner and encouragement from your loved ones 💖 I was very OPEN about my IVF journey, and I received overwhelming love + encouragement from friends & family. Having these support makes a lot of difference to how you are going to feel.

17- Work might need to take a backseat. A lot is at stake when you are doing IVF (bcos of the time, energy & effort we put in), so having flexible work schedule and a nice boss/colleagues will alleviate stress.

18- Emotional sensitivity and outburst is REAL. The stress of IVF comes from the fact that it’s an “uncontrollable outcome”. It’s not something as simple like - you put in effort = you get good results. Learning to accept the outcome is an art of its own.

19- Learning how to embrace the UNKNOWNS. There’s so many unpredictable elements and unknowns in this journey. You don’t know how your body will react to the medicine, jabs or even the embryo. You can only go with the flow 🌊

20-You just gotta trust your embryo will stick to your uterine lining🥚👶🏻🙏🏻

Above are my personal opinions and I’m just sharing things that I’ve learnt during my IVF journey. And I hope this can help any lady out there with my experience. Like and save this if it helped you 💖

All the best to your #ttcjourney 🥰

Your adulting Jiejie,

Jacelyn

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