IVF Stories: What Does Good Look Like?

Published by Bethany on August 23, 2017August 23, 2017

In any goal oriented activity, it’s important to ask yourself what good looks like. When I was in the corporate world, this was a huge buzz phrase, we were constantly studying the habits of successful salespeople to find behaviors we could emulate.

The process continues when you start working for yourself and is amplified by even more decisions daily. Am I doing the right steps in fleshing out my book? Are we doing the right things to help Grit and Dirt reach a wider audience? Should I bug the editor on the status of my latest queries or would it just be annoying at this point? Should I say yes to this commitment because it’s a good thing to do or should I drop it because it might not be the best thing to do.

IVF Stories: What Does Good Look Like?

We’re in Day 10 of our IVF stimulation phase, and it’s hard to say what will happen. Right now we have three follicles that have grown to a good size. Three is not many but it’s more than some with low AMH get. Some may get zero. Heck, I may get 0 still.  So should I be disappointed, discouraged, or excited? Who even knows! If everything looks good for the next day or so the nurse says we will continue with the egg retrieval process.

In the last few days I have discovered another reason why this process can be frustrating. It is the complete lack of control that accompanies the process. First of all, experts don’t seem to agree on the best things to do. Should I sit around and eat pineapple and Co Q-10? I have one gel nail that met an untimely demise. Is it okay to get it repainted or no?  Should I delay fixing the crown that fell out of my mouth after an unfortunate encounter with a piece of lonsdaleite? It could only have been lonsdaleite because it was literally the hardest substance on earth.

My point is, everyone seems to have a very strong opinion on what should or should not be done. So it’s hard to say what good looks like!

My good friend, Michelle, and I discuss this very issue later tonight on a bonus episode of the podcast. We’ll also talk about the differences in our experiences so far and why we each believe IVF remains such a ‘secret’ thing in many circles.  We’ll talk about the lack of information out there specifically on female athletes and IVF, and how we wish there were more athlete mamas to be out there sharing! Definitely check it out!

Next Up: “Race report” after my next egg retrieval attempt