IVF - advice

We were also referred under male factor. I started taking vit d and folic acid quite early on and made sure we were both eating healthy diets. When I was going through it, I made sure I was relaxed and not getting to stressed. Make sure to have a lot of pamper evenings and communicate. Good luck! Xx

Supplements, healthy diets, and exercise (my partner's test improved massively). But most importantly book things from now till then to break down the wait: theatre, concerts, weekends away, a dinner out. Anything you can do/like to do, otherwise the wait will feel endless!

We were also referred under male factor and were delayed because we wasn't told to start impryl 3 months before starting. It is has really helped aswell, we have seen alot of improvements in the samples. xx

My advice is to take all the advice about IVF with a pinch of salt. A lot of it is old wives’ tales anyway. At the end of the day, the largest factors that will determine your success are age, genetics, and sheer dumb luck. Try not to put it all on yourself and whether or not you did acupuncture or ate x amount of pineapple or threw out all your non-stick pans. You actually don’t have a huge amount of influence over the outcome so the kindest thing you can do for yourself is to trust your doctors and give yourself over to fate.

Get a giant calendar to stay organized! Call insurance company once you find out what meds you need to help decide what to order (there are a few that are the same but have vastly different costs). Good luck!!!

Are you uK? Are you nhs or private? Sperm takes 3mths to make so your partner needs to not smoke, massively curb the booze, stop gym protein shakes, no hot baths, no tight clothing, take vits and eat well. His only part in this is the 3mth run up and a wank so he should give it his all. Assume you are doing ICSI? This is gold for male factor issues. Keep calm, destress, stay positive. It’s a numbers game but you have a window to really both get into a good place health wise. Try not to overindulge over Christmas. I started Accupunture weekly 3 months before and during my stims. Loved it and convinced it worked for us :) Exciting times ahead, I wish all the luck in the world

I’m also starting January it’s nice to find someone on the same journey, feel free to message if you’d like to keep each other going 😊 We aren’t changing anything really, we are taking the same supplements and sort of relaxing over Christmas because it’s going to be a stressful few weeks so we are focusing on each other and hopefully our last Christmas as the two of us x

Know that success rates go up with cumulative IVF cycles, up to 6 according to studies. One failed cycle doesn’t mean the subsequent ones will also fail. Mentally prepare that it might take more than one cycle, if the 1st one works great, but if it doesn’t you aren’t completely devastated because you know you’ve planned for more tries. Bad outcomes are not your fault and in most cases there is nothing we could have done differently to avoid them. Don’t beat yourself up, you are already taking the important first steps!

You might find it useful to read the book 'it starts with the egg'. The author gives alot of useful information about supplements and things that are harmful for males and females.