“PRACTICE PATIENCE”

by Contributor

(May 12, 2020) — Bringing a new life into the world is a beautiful thing, whether you strategically planned to get pregnant or not. But for some women, the actual journey to pregnancy is certainly not an easy one… in fact, it can be a complete emotional rollercoaster.

For a woman who very much wants to start a family, failure to conceive over a period of time can be emotionally draining and frustrating but still no cause to lose hope in motherhood altogether.

According to the Office of Women’s Health, 10% of women in the US experience infertility, which is the inability to get pregnant after trying for at least one full year. If you’re 35 years or older and haven’t been able to conceive after six months, then there’s a possibility of some underlying causes of your infertility.

Those two age categories and symptoms are what makes an ideal candidate for IVF treatments. Aside from age, there are, of course, other causes of infertility as well.

What Causes Infertility?

There are a number of causes of infertility in women, but the most common causes of infertility have to do with problems ovulating.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common causes of infertility in women. PCOS is an imbalance of a woman’s hormones that disrupts a woman’s ovulation process. But other causes of infertility include:

• Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)
• Uterus Issues
• Endometriosis
• Uterine Fibroids

All of these causes of infertility can cause devastation in your life but it’s not until you go to see a fertility specialist that you’ll know which route to take in treating your infertility issues.

Getting Prepared Physically and Mentally For IVF

In order to prepare your mind and body for the IVF process, you must first understand the process and how it works. There is tons of information on the internet that tell you how IVF works but if you’re seriously considering this as an option to conceive, you’ll want to consult with fertility specialists. They’ll be the ones to really tell you how the process works.

Typically, IVF treatments have a 5-step process:

1. Ovarian stimulation
2. Egg retrieval
3. Sperm sample
4. Fertilization
5. Embryo transfer

That is the 5-step process in order. And despite it only being five steps, the process is pretty time-consuming so it’s important that you practice patience during the process and understand that it’s not going to happen overnight.

Preparing Mentally

Researching Fertility Clinics

In making the decision to undergo IVF treatment, it’s very important that you do your diligence in researching fertility clinics. There are over 400 fertility clinics operating in the US today but you can’t just go with any clinic… you want to go to a clinic with proven results. So extensive research plays a huge role in your mental preparation.

Setting Realistic Expectations

IVF is one of the best ways to treat infertility and help women conceive but it’s important that you have a clear understanding in your mind that the treatment doesn’t always work for everyone.

The daily injections and the financials of the process can become quite stressful, emotionally and financially. So, it’s vital to understand that the process may or may not work for you because every woman responds differently. The sooner you can come to this realization and accept it, the sooner you’ll be able to accept whatever outcome you have.

Preparing Physically

Upon starting the IVF process, you’re going to have to take medication as well as hormones to start the stimulation of egg production, in the first step of the 5-step process. Being consistent in taking your medication and hormones is vital to how your IVF journey will go.

In preparing yourself physically, your doctor might recommend some lifestyle changes like exercising more and eating a more nutritious diet. With your exercising, it doesn’t need to be anything too strenuous… Things like light walking or Yoga are great ways to prepare your body physically for the changes that will come during the IVF process.

Practice Patience

As much as you will be going through, the only thing that you keep playing in your mind is the countless ways to announce your pregnancy. Do you want to announce it with a small photoshoot or a surprise announcement to your entire family…

It’s fun to have those thoughts but you can’t fester on those thoughts. In making the decision to undergo IVF treatments, you need to be as calm and endure the least amount of stress as possible.

These treatments won’t show results overnight, so you have to be patient through the process. It may be hard but if a baby is what you want, you’re going to have to practice patience and remain hopeful.