Hi everyone! I know it’s been a while since I wrote a post – but like I said in my last post, I don’t really want to write something unless I actually have a good reason to write it. Anyway, after asking some people on my instagram (@_ivfgotthis if you don’t already follow it!) I decided to make a post about IVF superstitions.

There’s a bunch of superstitions that are supposed to help IVF “work” better. I thought I’d share the three I did this round.

 

1. Lucky Socks/Warm Feet

So they say, warm feet = warm uterus. Warm uterus = more likely for the embryo to get cozy in there.

I am not sure about the lucky socks part, but a lot of people SWEAR by wearing “lucky socks” to their transfer. To be honest, for my transfer in early December, I wore fun socks and I even wore the same shirt I had worn the day of my transfer with Scarlett. I thought for sure those things would bring me luck, but not so much.

However, this time around I did decide to just wear a pair of fuzzy socks and my Ugg boots. The next day, I wore more fuzzy socks and kept my feet in slippers a lot. I figured it couldn’t hurt; plus it was super cozy!

 

2. Pineapple

This one does have a bit of science to it. Pineapple has a enzyme in it called bromelain. Apparently, bromelain helps with implantation. Specifically, the pineapple core has a lot of bromelain in it. What every IVF-er tells you to do is – get a pineapple, cut it into 5 slices (like disc shaped), eat for 5 days around the day of your transfer. Some say to start a day or two before the transfer, others say start on the day of your transfer. Either way, I hadn’t done this one before, but this time around I decided to go for it. I was pleasantly surprised that the core was not too bad to bite through; and if you get a bite of the regular part of the pineapple with your bite of core, it’s not totally terrible! Pineapples are also the symbol of IVF – “stand tall, wear a crown, be sweet on the inside.” I even wore my pineapple tank top (with a cardigan) to my transfer this time!

 

3. McDonald’s fries

This one supposedly came from doctors recommending high-sodium food after a fresh transfer. This is because your body is at risk for OHSS after your egg retrieval and the sodium helps prevent that. Anyway, now it’s a big thing to eat McDonald’s fries on the way home from your transfer. Honestly, when I had my transfer with Scarlett, I didn’t know this much about the IVF community like I do now. I think I got lunch after my transfer with her (which was a fresh transfer), but I couldn’t tell you where it was or what I ate. However, I can almost promise it wasn’t McDonald’s.

Anyway, this time around I figured – why not?! Plenty of people mentioned still going to get fries the day of their FET (frozen embryo transfer), and it clearly has just become a pure superstition. But, as I said, this time around I’ve decided to do every bit of anything I can!

 

There are probably some others, but these are the three that I really stuck to this time. Now that we are in the TWW, I am having a hard time deciding what to do when I find out the results. While I want to immediately post it for you all – I also don’t want to tell the world super early if my husband isn’t comfortable with it!! I plan to keep my next few posts kind of general until I know what he wants to do.

Meanwhile, quick tips for surviving these dreaded two weeks – keep yourself as busy as possible (without overdoing anything or stressing!!) For example, this weekend I went to visit a friend that lives quite a bit away from me, and I stayed the night up there with her. We didn’t do anything too crazy or too active, but it kept me entertained. Not to mention, work always keeps me busy. The main difference, is I am trying to be super patient with my students and find the silly things they do as entertaining as possible. They do honestly keep me distracted, and if I can stay calm when they are being a bit silly – it keeps my life much more fun!

 

As always, thanks for reading!!

xoxo