As I was pregnant with IVF on the first try, many people asked me what they could do to help implantation after IVF. In this blog post, I share with you what I did to help implantation or to increase a chance of pregnancy after embryo transfer from IVF treatment.
I have talked more about my experience/symptoms during the two-week wait period day-by-day here.
Things I did during the two-week wait period to help implantation
Relax and rest well
- Try to relax as much as possible – I tried to think positive and not to worry about anything, even my day work (which is normally quite stressful). Went to work late and came home on time, and chose to do less stressful tasks during the two-week wait period. Well, to be honest it was not easy to concentrate on work when your mind is busy thinking about a possibility of being pregnant….
- Watch comedies and laugh a lot – this is one of the first thing I did straight after embryo transfer. Lied down on the sofa and watch my favourite comedies on TV. Had a good laugh for 2-3 hours before went for a 30 mins walk. Get a free trial for Amazon Prime Video, if you can’t think of what to watch. You can certainly find your favourite comedy programs there.
- Rest when you are tired – sit back or lie down when you feel tired. Don’t stress your body or mind.
- Sleep atleast 8 hours a day – I went to bed really really early like 9pm because I felt tired and partly because I did not want to stay up worrying about things.
Eat and drink healthily
- Eat healthy diet – high protein food, a lot of veggies and fruits.
- Eat pineapple including its core – I read from somewhere that pineapple contains an enzyme call ‘bromelain’ that can help encourage implantation, so I ate pineapple everyday during the two-week wait period.
- Drink lots of water – drank probably about 5 litres a day.
- Quit food and drinks that contain caffeines – quit tea, coffee and chocolate since I started IVF because too much caffeines is known to cause miscarriage in some cases. So I avoided anything with caffeines to maximise my chance of getting pregnant.
- Quit alcoholic drinks – quit drinking totally long before IVF treatment just to get my body into good health.
- Food supplements – make sure you have vitamins and mineral necessary for good quality eggs and for pregnancy. I had Pregnacare Vitabiotics for conception one tablet every day.
- Have light exercise regularly – I went for a walk about 30-45 mins at least twice a day.
- Keep yourself warm – especially around your tummy
- No hot bath
Things I did not do
- I did not give up sex as I believe it helps with implantation
- I did not have acupuncture at all during the whole IVF process
These were things I did and did not do to help implantation after IVF. I don’t really how much each of these things help with the implantation, but it worked for me in the end. I got pregnant from IVF!