1. Plan Ahead: Think about what you need to get to the fertility clinic on time and with minimal stress. You may want to take into consideration parking options, potential traffic, weather, and other issues that may cause a delay. Also ensure you have enough of your medications to support you throughout the “two week wait” (or 10 days as it more typically is).
2. Follow Advice: We always recommend that you follow all of the directions from your Fertility Specialist and learn about what to expect on the day of the transfer and recommendations for the subsequent wait period.
3. Find Your Joy: What makes you happy? Think about how you can incorporate this into the next two weeks. It might be cooking a delicious meal (or arranging for it to be delivered), finding a book to enjoy, revisiting your all time favourite feel-good movies or a funny series, catching up with a friend, pampering… Whatever makes you feel good!
4. Mindfulness: Engage in a form of mindfulness that suits you. Our Yin practitioners can recommend a number of good guided meditations that you can access for free on your phone. We also have recommendations for local allied health practitioners that can assist with in person activities such as hypnotherapy, coaching and counselling.
5. Time Off Work: We see many of our clients having positive outcomes for IVF with both taking time off work and going back as usual. Our general recommendation is that if you work in a high stress environment or physically demanding job, and you can take a couple of days off following your transfer, then why not! But it depends on your job, how stressed it might make you feel and how supportive your workplace is. Some people enjoy the distraction of work and it can be one way to keep your mind off things whilst you wait.
6. Support Team: You may want to keep your fertility journey private (which is totally understandable), however, we like to know that you are getting some form of support along the way. Whether this be your partner (if applicable), your family, friends, a support group, a therapist, the fertility clinic or an online community. It is well known that IVF can be stressful and we encourage you to talk to people you can trust. We’re always here to chat with you too.
7. Acupuncture: No surprise here… we recommend regular acupuncture in the lead up to your IVF cycle, directly around your embryo transfer and into the two week wait. The research supporting acupuncture to complement IVF originated with acupuncture studies specific to treatments directly before and after embryo transfers (1)(2), however, more recent research (3)(4) shows stronger evidence supporting acupuncture in the two to three cycles leading up to the IVF process. See our blog “Acupuncture for IVF – what’s the research?” for more information about the evidence for acupuncture and IVF support.
8. Take It Easy: We encourage regular and gentle movement, but prefer that you avoid excessive exercise. You may like to enjoy a nice walk, somewhere outside to enjoy the scenery. We often suggest exercise during the two week wait period to focus more on calming the mind, than getting a sweat up.
9. Follow All The Pregnancy Guidelines: You may have already heard the acronym, PUPO? Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise. We love this and encourage you to avoid all the things you would as though you are already confirmed as pregnant – eg avoid alcohol, cut out raw or undercooked meats and eggs and other foods that may have a higher risk of bacteria such as listeria, limit your caffeine intake etc.
10. Home Pregnancy Tests: Here is where we’re supposed to say “don’t take a home pregnancy test” but we also understand how strong the desire is! We won’t judge you either way and see our clients feeling better for both testing and not testing and sometimes changing their approach along the way. The risk is if you test too early, it’s more likely to show as negative, and then you know you took it too early and there is a chance you are actually positive… so test again the next day…which might still be too early! IVF medications may also mean you get a false positive.
11. Keep Warm: If you’re already getting treatment with us, you’ll know we love warm feet! If there’s ever a good time to treat yourself to a new pair of slippers or uggboots, it’s NOW! We also fully support updating your pajamas and/or casual wear to feel your best whilst relaxing around the house in the coming weeks. Plus, we think you’ll appreciate these in the early stages of your pregnancy too! 
If you would like to know more about how we can support your IVF journey, please give us a call on 0406 331 737 or book as per the link below.
References:
1. Paulus WE, Zhang M, Strehler E, El-Danasouri I, Sterzik K. Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy. Fertil Steril. 2002 Apr;77(4):721-4. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(01)03273-3. PMID: 11937123.
2. Westergaard LG, Mao Q, Krogslund M, Sandrini S, Lenz S, Grinsted J. Acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer significantly improves the reproductive outcome in infertile women: a prospective, randomized trial. Fertil Steril. 2006 May;85(5):1341-6. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2005.08.
3. Smith CA, Armour M, Shewamene Z, Tan HY, Norman RJ, Johnson NP. Acupuncture performed around the time of embryo transfer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Reprod Biomed Online. 2019 Mar;38(3):364-379. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2018.12.038. Epub 2019 Jan 2. PMID: 30658892.
4. Hullender Rubin LE, Opsahl MS, Wiemer KE, Mist SD, Caughey AB. Impact of whole systems traditional Chinese medicine on in-vitro fertilization outcomes. Reprod Biomed Online. 2015 Jun;30(6):602-12. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2015.02.005. Epub 2015 Feb 24. PMID: 25911598; PMCID: PMC4458185.