Prepping for IVF.....Getting Ready for Petite Parish (Baby #2!)

January 15, 2013

Chip and I are planning on beginning our in vitro process once again after Elijah's first birthday.  We do not have any eggs frozen so we will be starting from the beginning. I feel really good about starting this process over because (even though I lost our first baby) I was able to get pregnant two out of two embryo transfers plus I feel like I am a lot healthier both mentally and physically this time around. Still, I want to maximize our chances of success and hope to have better egg quality and quantity this time.  I have been studying diet, supplement and lifestyle routines for fertility and IVF preparation.  I have taken the information I learned and developed a diet for myself to follow that I would like to share. I have also been seeing a holistic chiropractor, who is helping balance me and get my body ready for a new resident! 

Fertility IVF Diet:

It is best to start this at least three months prior to beginning the IVF process to get maximum benefit as what  you are exposed to effects your eggs the most three months out.  

Every Day

Walk- Exercise in moderation is great! It helps with circulation and energy but it is important not to overdo it.  Maintain a BMI of between 19 and 23 for optimum health and conception chances!

Meditate- Stress is a definite factor with fertility and IVF.  I don't expect this time around to be nearly as stressful because we are blessed with an incredible, wonderful, amazing baby boy! As much as I would love a large family, if we remain a family of three because this does not work, I am at peace with that. But I long deeply for Elijah to be a big brother and I meditate daily to release my stress and give our upcoming embryos the best chance possible.

Food- 2 servings of colorful veggies, 2 eggs, 1 serving of raw sesame seeds, 1 serving of sunflower seeds ( I sometimes use sunflower butter!), 1 avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, fertility smoothie (recipe to follow), 1 vitamin C fruit, 2 other fruits (can be vitamin c), dark leafy greens, at least one of garbanzo beans/lentils/black beans, raw pumpkin seeds, blackstrap molasses tea

Weekly: two serving of seafood and two servings of organic, free range chicken or grassfed beef. (This one is tough and I don't always do it because I maintain a mostly vegetarian diet but I am trying to incorporate meats into my diet. 

Supplements: Fermented Cod Liver Oil, Selenium, Vitamin B Complex., Probiotics,  Prenatal vitamins (I am actually on Theralogix lactation support since I am still breastfeed which has all that I would need from prenatals, Chia Seeds. DHEA could be added (once I'm not breastfeeding) if I was a poor responder to the medication but we had not trouble last time so I won't be needing that.

STEAR CLEAR OF: Dairy, Gluten, Refined Sugars, Fruit Juices, Bottled Water (chemicals from the plastic can sometimes find their way into the water, soy except fermented, and limit grains.

FERTILITY SMOOTHIE:

Two scoops of vanilla protein powder

One cup almond milk

One teaspoon of Royal Jelly (what the queen bee eats that makes her the queen and produce all those eggs!)

Two teaspoons of Ultra Greens (Fertilica)

One teaspoon of sesame seeds

A Squeeze of local honey

5-6 ice cubes

1 Banana

Blend and Enjoy!

February 7, 2013

I went to see our Reproductive Endocrinologist (AKA Fertility Doctor), Dr. Williams today to plan our IVF for Petite Parish! Because I had a C-section, I will need to have a hysteroscopy to check for scarring. This will happen just as soon as my cycles return as well as baseline bloodwork. The good news is that if my cycle returns before I wean Elijah, we don't have to wait between weaning and IVF whereas originally we thought there would be a four week waiting period between weaning and beginning the IVF meds.  I am glad they do the hysteroscopy to check for scarring. No one looks forward to surgery but it will put my mind at ease to know what we are dealing with and I know I have the very best doctor who has walked this journey with me from very early on.. I feel very positive right now that we will be welcoming Petite Parish into our family in about a year.

February 21, 2013

Our hysteroscopy is scheduled for one month from today. Big time prayers are in the works for them to find no scarring. A little piece of me thinks...him...maybe while they are in there they will peak around the corner at my fallopian tubes and find that they have been miraculously healed! Yeah, one can dream. I am relieved to have our procedure date set.

I have also begun to incorporate self fertility massage, castor oil packs and IVF meditation CD's into my daily regime. These are all things that have been shown to improve success rates of IVF. Some claim this is soley because they relax you while others say the healing and balancing goes to a deeper level. Either way, I'll take increased odds!

March 21, 2013
I had my hysteroscopy today and it appears there is no scarring from my c section and no other surprises so we are all systems go for IVF....as soon as my cycles start and Elijah is weaned. I anticipate starting meds in early May! 

April 18, 2013
Cycles have returned! We have our baseline blood work Monday!

I have adjusted my IVF supplement support for what I can do while I am on meds! Ultra Greens had to go because there is some stuff in it that might interfere with meds. Even natural herbs and such can effect the efficiency of the fertility meds. SO....this is what I am taking throughout the next two weeks or so up until they do my egg retrieval.......

Fish Oil - Now that we are days away from medication, no more Cod liver because of the levels of vitamin A however fish oil is very important. I get mine from Costco. According to Livestrong.com "Increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids may boost your chances of becoming pregnant. Before you undergo IVF, your doctor may recommend some lifestyle changes including taking a fish oil supplement. A 2011 prospective study published in “Fertility and Sterility” found that increased intake of the polyunsaturated fats, including omega-3 fatty acids, help to improve embryo morphology, or the shape and appearance of embryos, during IVF. Researchers suggested that two particular types of omega-3 fatty acids, alpha-linolenic acid and docosahexaenoic acid -- both of which are present in fish oil -- are especially important to improve the chances of conceiving during IVF

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/558723-fish-oil-ivf/#ixzz2QxSLarlg"

Multi-Vitamin - I still have some of my lactation support left so I am just continuing to take that until gone and then hopefully will switch over to a prenatal vitamin!

Folic Acid (800MCG)  - So so so important in pregnancy and good to start taking before you are pregnant if possible. You should take less than 1000MCG but more than 400 MCG or .4MG. According to WebMD "Folic acid, which is also called folate, is a B vitamin. The best food sources of folic acid are fortified cereals. Folic acid plays an important role in the production of red blood cells and helps your baby's neural tube develop into her brain and spinal cord."

Selenium AND 5 or more Brazil Nuts a day (natural selenium) - This helps create a nice thick uterine lining.....good for embryos to stick to! :) Yes, I know they don't stick, they "implant" but the IVF community wishes one another "sticky babies". :)

Juice Festiv - This is a generic version of JuicePlus and you can get it the cheapest at Sam's but they do have it at Amazon. It contains vitamins and minerals from 46 different fruits and vegetables and has been recommended by several IVF web sites by RE's for before and during IVF/Pregnancy.

Royal Jelly (in protein shake) - Here is what The Infertility Cure has to say about Beel pollen and royal Jelly: "Bee pollen and/or royal jelly is regenerative and tonifying. Bogdan Tekavcic M.D., a Yugoslavian gynecologist, conducted a study in which the majority of women who were given bee pollen with royal jelly showed improvement or disappearance of their menstrual problems, while there was no change in the placebo group. Another study showed bee pollen significantly improved sperm production in men. Bee pollen, which is worker bee food, is rich in vitamins, minerals, nucleic acids, and steroid hormones, and improves health, endurance, and immunity. royal jelly is modified pollen fed only to the reproducing queen bee, whose job is to produce more infant bees. The nutritive tonic might be considered the bee equivalent of fertility drugs. Rich in amino acids, vitamins, and enzymes, royal jelly helps the queen lay millions of eggs and live longer than the worker bee."


Avocados, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil - I found several sites that claim these forms of monounsaturated fats can almost triple your chances of conceiving through IVF! So make sure to eat these foods as many times a day as possible along with nuts and seeds.  "Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health studied the fat intake of 147 women, who were mostly in their 30s and undergoing IVF treatment, and found that women who ate the highest amounts of monounsaturated fat were 3.4 times more likely to have a child after IVF compared to those who ate the lowest amounts."
Read more at http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/10752/20120710/ivf-avocado-fats-pregnancy-harvard.htm#bXVdyRjuSAMuVWDT.99

 Circle and Bloom IVF Mediation CD's- These meditation CD's that I mention earlier have a mediation for every day of the IVF cycle and studies have shown this type of meditation to greatly increase your success rates!

Self Fertility Massage - I also mentioned this earlier. I used the self fertility massage in the months leading up to my hysteroscopy and got great results. It is not advised to do self fertility massage during menses or during your IVF medication cycle however once the eggs are harvested and BEFORE the embryos are transferred, self fertility massage is a great way to get circulation going and I will be doing it in the days between those two events. I will also be going to my chiropractor for a full body massage.

Chiropractic Care- Earlier I talked about a holistic chiropractor that I was seeing. Since then I have become uncomfortable with this methods so I called a local birth center and asked for a recommendation. Dr. Amber Smith was recommended to me and I have never looked back! She is amazing! Both Elijah and I get weekly adjustments from her, though I will probably cut back once I get pregnancy to twice a month. Both Elijah and I have experienced a boost in our immune systems and I feel an improvement in my overall general health. Chiropractic care is also said to increase your chances of IVF success and a healthy pregnancy!

Hot Water Foot Soak -  I have seen several places that state this is helpful during the follicular phase of the IVF cycle. Just 15-20 minutes in the evening. This is one that I am not sure how it helps but it can't hurt so we will be doing this as well.

April 22, 2013
I had my base line blood work done today and found that I have AT LEAST 10 follicles on each ovary! That means we could possibly get over 20 eggs! Yay! The last time we go about 25 but only 4 developed so I am hoping that we have higher number this time....but I am also really hoping that it just takes one transfer to get that BIG FAT POSITIVE. I also found out that I have to wait two weeks to start my meds. I am put on birth control for two weeks. This is done to give you body (and ovaries) a rest before the big push to produce. I had hoped to start the meds this week but I know that it is all in God's time and I hope and pray that timing is lining up with this first two week wait. :) I also have a little bit of a sinus infection and itchy throat so this give that a chance to clear up.